huladolphin

Alright, the trip report can be found at the link below, which is my blog. I promise you I'm not trying to sell you anything or lure you into a bad site, I'm kind of lazy and don't want to recopy it below. It's a bit long, but I tend to describe things with more details rather than less. There are picture links placed throughout the report, I'm fairly certain they work. If not, give me a holler.

To give you a brief background before you launch into it: I'm studying Arabic in Egypt right now, and my family came to visit me over my loooong vacation (almost 6 weeks!) We had quite an adventure, and it was their first time in Africa and the developing world. Unfortunately, a few mishaps somewhat clouded their exeperiences, one being that Air France delayed their luggage for two days, and, two, I was effectively robbed in Khan El Khalili. Now, I don't want to scare you, because the Khan is truly one of my favorite places in Cairo and I've been there at least 20 times now serve as guides for my friends, and have been back twice since the robbery. But, somehow, a shifty salesman managed to steal my bag, in which I had foolishly placed much of my life, including camera, credit cards, and, worst of all, passport. Thank God the American Embassy efficiently issued a new passport within a week, otherwise the safari would have been delayed, or, worse, cancelled, and we would have lost all of that money. Happily, this was not the case, my family spent a lovely week in Sharm, and then came back to Cairo, picked up the passport, and my mom and proceeded onto safari. Enjoy!

http://talesfromthemiddleeast.blogspot.com/

Laura

dssxxxx

Great.....great trip report.

atravelynn

When did you take your safari?

I read up to the unfortunate fate of the baby giraffe. How wonderful you saw lions in the trees in Manyara. I'll check out some more of your report later.

huladolphin

I was on safari in Tanzania from the 13th to the 21st of Jan. After that we were in Nairobi for two days and then came home.

Dssxxxx, glad you liked it ;-)

Laura

Patty

Thanks for your report and photos!

atravelynn

I went through Tanzania with you so far and just met up with Kennedy. Your account will make anyone considering a trip to Tanzania call up their agent today!

Informative details on Sopa with the hot water restrictions and the doctor.

The photo links work perfectly. You have a nice variety of photos.

That leopard is an elusive creature, but glad you see its cheetah cousins.

Back to your photos. Are those on Facebook? The display is very good and they load quickly. Much better than some photo sites Is Facebook free? (I know that question shows I am out of mainstream culture, which I am.) Thanks for enlightening me.

atravelynn

Was Nico a nickname? Was your guide's real name something like Nicodimos? Did he mention if he was ever staff member at Sopa Lodge?

As you can tell, I think I might know him.

huladolphin

atravelynn,
Glad you like my very detailed report. Yes, my photos are on Facebook, which I also find really easy to use. The photos download very quickly are are easy to edit, add captions, etc. It used to just be for us college kids ;-) but now Facebook's open to everybody, and it's free. If you have any friends who join, it's a great way to stay in touch with people across distances (and kind of fun, because you can set up crazy profiles and write on peoples' walls, etc.).
Anyway, about your other question, yeah, Nico is a nickname for Nicholas, but all of his friends called him Nico and it was shorter to type. From what I heard about his past, I don't think he worked at Sopa. He's been with Roy for six years, and I think at Ndutu before that.
Thanks for reading!

Laura

atravelynn

Thanks Laura!