Sarvowinner

Hi Rocco
You've sold us on the Humvee vests, but looking at the sizing, it is suggested that it is best to go down a size. Do you mind letting usin on your views on the size, and how it matches up with your normal size?
We will get them delivered to my brother's house in Toronto & will pick them up en route from Sydney. This means we won't have the opportunity to change them or send them back.
Thanks
You are the expert
I'lll try to get a trip report on the service from ATR written in January before you leave.
Cheers
Julie

Roccco

Sarvowinner,

I am 5'10" and pushing 250 pounds...too much damn pizza and pasta, and those donuts don't help either...I am a bit like Homer Simpson when it comes to donuts...Mmmmm, DONUTS!

If you have seen my photos, I believe I do carry so much weight pretty well thanks to my wide shoulders. An Exra-Large suited me just fine...it was actually probably even just a little bit big.

I would say that whatever is your normal size, go down a size for your Humvee vest. It really is a great vest and has pockets and zippers everywhere.

Yes, please try to get me information on ATR when you return. This is the biggest trip of my life and I would appreciate your feedback and suggestions to possibly help me with my own experience with ATR. I don't know if you saw it, but I booked my 5 night Zanzibar extension with Sandi at Africa Serendipity. It was a real toss-up between ATR and Africa Serendipity to begin with, but there was something about the Nomad camps that I really liked. However, I do prefer the personalized service that I seem to get with Africa Serendipity so I did not think twice about who I was going to use for Zanzibar. ATR takes me as far as the Seronera airstrip and then I am in Africa Serendipity's hands from there.

My final itinerary is as follows:

Moivaro Coffee Lodge (3)
Manyara Tree Lodge (2)
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge (2)
Olduvai Camp (1)
Nomad Masek (2)
Nomad Piaya (2)
Mbuzi Mawe (2)
Palms Zanzibar (3)
Serena Inn Zanzibar (2)
Canal House, Amsterdam (2)

I do hope to take some amazing photos from this next trip. I just picked up a new lens, a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens for my portraits and close-ups, and I will pick up a better wide lens before I leave, as well. I just wasn't satisfied with the results I was getting from my Canon 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS lens.

I have been able to stay busy with my photography so hopefully this will help me be a better photographer in Tanzania and Zanzibar. Here are my latest photos (they appear under my real name).

http://www.fightnews.com/1011.htm
http://www.fightnews.com/robinett01.htm

Anyway, I can hardly wait for Tanzania. I expect to be completely overwhelmed by the amount of wildlife and it will be a perfect escape from the end of winter. I must confess, that although I booked it before it was announced, I am giddy about having the opportunity to stay at the #1 voted Conde Nast Traveler property in the world again, the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. It was voted just above Singita, and if it is anywhere in the same league as Singita, then I will be extremely pleased.

Good luck with the vest!

bat

rocco:
You don't seem to mind sharing pricing--how much is the Zanzibar extension costing?

Roccco

bat,

$2,250 pp sharing. It includes the following:

Flight from Seronera to Zanzibar
Road transfer from Zanzibar airport to Palms Zanzibar
3 nights at Palms Zanzibar (all-inclusive resort but with only 6 or 8 villas)
Road transfer to Serena Inn
2 nights at the Serena Inn in an upgraded prime room which is bigger than the standard room, features a bathtub and shower instead of just a shower, enjoys a better ocean view than a standard room, and features an oversized balcony with a hammock.
Road transfer to Zanzibar Airport

Given the small size and exclusivity of the Palms Zanzibar and the fact that there are only six Prime rooms at the Serena Inn, I don't know how much, if any, of a discount that I received from rack rates. However, I felt very comfortable in booking this with Africa Serendipity as Sandi is always just a telephone call away and answers more often than not. She is completely candid with the places she recommends and I appreciate that.

95 days and counting, I cannot believe it. Bottom line, given the stock market and now the stagnating real estate market, Tanzania is the best investment I could make. Next up will probably be a combination of Botswana, particularly Kwando's camps and possibly a visit to Kafue. Something like this for late October/early November???

Buenos Aires (3)
Buenos Aires - Sao Paulo - Joburg - Lusaka
Lunga River Lodge (2)
Busanga Bush Camp (3)
Chiawa Camp (3)
Kwando Lebala (2)
Kwando Lagoon (2)
Kwando Kwara (3)
Buenos Aires (3)

Sarvowinner

Rocco
Wow!! You've got a corgi!!!! -just looked at your full gallery. We have three - Teddy, Honey & Candy. Candy is the progeny of the first two. Her brother Paddy lives in Melbourne. We've had corgis all our lives. We brought our first one with us when my family migrated from Australia to Canada in 1969. That dog, Sandy, went everywhere - Prince Edward Island, Kentucky, all theway down to Ensenada, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, LA, SF, Vancouver - the Rockies and back to WIndsor.
Nobody ever recognised the breed. "Hey y'all - what kind of mix is that?" was a constant question.
My friends even called him the thalidomide dog. THey just didn't get them. They are so brave and loving. Juat a little furry. I'll take somepictures and post them when I figure out this gallery stuff. Only problem is that Teddy doesn't like cameras. The girls are real hams.
BTW Candy has a tail. Our inner city vet wouldn't dock the puppies. They have the most gorgeous tails. Real plumes. Highly recommend leaving them on.

bat

rocco:
Your Zbar trip sounds wonderful adn super luxurious.
BTW, you are flying KLM from Amsterdam, yes? In case you have not traveled KLM before, you can get request your seat assignment on the 90th day.

wjsonl

Rocco, sounds like a great trip. You say, though, that: "given the stock market and now the stagnating real estate market". That perked up my curiosity, so I went to the HUD website and the latest issue of "US Housing Market Conditions" states:

"...gross domestic product increased. Employment continued to grow... New records were set for single family permits, new home sales, and existing home sales."

And the stock market is at 10,775.61 as we speak which is a very high level.

So, I totally agree that Tanzania is a good investment (I'm going back in June), but so is the US economy!

Roccco

Julie,

My corgi, Scooter, is a Welsh Pembroke Corgi. They are born without tails...just a little stump of a tail that one can barely see wagging. Out of my 10 dogs (six at home, four at our Alzheimer homes), Scooter is the most spoiled of the bunch. While he loves female dogs and people, I cannot put him around the other male dogs, even his own two sons. My home is like a prison warden where Scooter can never be mixed with the three other male dogs, especially one who is a Chow/Shepherd mix who is twice the weight of Scooter and three times the height.

Like your own corgis, Scooter is definitely very brave...sometimes too brave!


wjsonl,

I don't know about all that. GM just cut 30,000 high paying jobs, homeowners who took out interest only loans are having their loans converted to variable loans, Americans are only saving about 1.6% of their income compared to Chinese people saving about 30% of their income and Indian people saving close to 20% of their income (Japan is not far behind in saving either), and while the real estate market in Southern California has been super hot these last few years (one of my homes has gone up in value 350% in the last seven years, an annual gain of 50%), it is now starting to stagnate. Let's not even mention the debt that this administration has incurred.

Therefore, especially since I am starting Destiny Africa and this is all a startup business expense, my money is best spent in Tanzania.

So, what does your June itinerary look like and with whom did you book it?

Roccco

prison warden = prison cell block

wjsonl

Hi Rocco,

That's interesting about what Chinese and Indian people put in savings accounts, but that's a real stretch using that to somwehow put down the US economy, doncha think? And your housing investment has fallen below a 50% annual return? What's it now, only 20-30%? Poor baby. But if that's stagnation, send me some of that misery, bro!

But enough of that political stuff, Rocco. Let's get back to Africa, what this thread is supposed to be about.

My son and I will be spending a week in Tanzania in late June starting with a night at Gibbs Farm, then on to the Serengeti where we're staying in the Ikoma and Olakira tented camps.

I never intended to return to Africa so soon (we were in Kenya and Tanzani for two weeks in June), in fact I figured that trip was our proverbial once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa, but my son loved it so much that I decided to give a return trip to him as a present for his graduation from Texas Tech in May.

Our outfitter is Green Footprint Adventures.

Roccco

>>>And your housing investment has fallen below a 50% annual return? What's it now, only 20-30%? Poor baby. But if that's stagnation, send me some of that misery, bro!<<<

When you put it like that, I guess things aren't so bad! Hehe.

GREAT graduation present.

Well, as long as I am able to keep returning to Africa every year, I have little or nothing to complain about. I do think, however, that I went a bit overboard with my upcoming trip and I am not helping the overall average of American's savings!

wjsonl

I agree 100% (now that's a good percentage, huh) that Tanzania's a good investment, as is Kenya, Zambia, Bots, Zim, SA, etc, and I guess that I got bit by that bug that seems to bite so many people when they go to Africa, no, not the mossie or the tsetse, I'm talking about the addiction bug that makes you want to go back again and again. As a wise soothsayer once said, Africa is good for the soul, and I couldn't agree more.