Leely

Eben,

Aha! So that's what you all do when you send the guests off on game drives. Internet poker.

I have a picture of Squack looking VERY Crocodile Dundee that I am going to email to his friend Mirjam who booked our day trip to Arusha NP. I think she'll get a kick out of it.

dlo

I'm way behind on my reading here Leely but great trip report.I really enjoyed your thoughts on your guides and i feel the same way.I am still in contact with guides from both my trips and my experiences with them still rank as high as anything else.

Okay you asked me after my trip so where next for you?

Leely

dlo,
I still haven't come to terms with the reality that this trip is over...

But when I get a little $ together, it's definitely gorillas, either Uganda or Rwanda. The traditional safari to go along with the treks will be Kenya or Tanzania. I want to try new places, but it's difficult because I do feel (perhaps mistakenly/naively) that I have made friends in TZ, and so I want to return to visit them.

Leely

I haven't gotten my "real" photos together, but here are some half-a**ed camp photos for interested parties:

http://tinyurl.com/pk88s

Nyamera

More photos!
I liked the sunbird and all the camps looked lovely.

Favor

Leely - Thanks for a great and totaly useful report!

Don't be sad, African trips are never really over. Though we may not be there, we're certainly all somewhere on a path back. ;-)

cooncat3

Nice shots...and how could you possibly be thinner - or lovelier? (If I may say.)

Leely

Thanks, Fodorites.

I am working on my real photos--the wildlife ones, the ones I care about. Nyamera, I one of you in profile that I think may turn out to be a keeper.

Patty

Thanks for the camp photos. Looking forward to more!

CarrieS

Thanks Leely. I love camp photos.

bat

Hi Leely:
I looked for your report right away but have not had time to read it carefully--was a tad nervous when it seemed at first that Edward was too reserved and that the Nomad segment had been somewhat mixed--but overall it sounds like a fantastic time.

I'll give it the full attention it deserves tomorrow.

And, yes, I agree, Herman is cute (and single as I recall).

LyndaS

Great photos, Leely! And, a great photo of you - you actually do look almost exactly what I pictured you looked like! I wonder if that's because all candlestick makers look alike

I am loving your report - it's wonderful, you have a fabulous style of writing! Can't wait for more!

bat

Hi Leely:

I am glad that you had a great time and really enjoyed your report. As you might imagine it brought back vivid memories.

So sorry about the tse tse flies--our very brief encounter with them was miserable. Even sorrier about the news about your cook.

Very glad that you enjoyed being with Edward. Great sightings with him--the rhino in the crater for example. As important, it sounds as though you got along well. I agree completely with your description: strong, opinionated, independent. When he opens his own company I think that it will be a great operation. He has paid a lot of attention to what makes customers happy. That was very sweet of him to arrange the meeting with your former guide.

Your description about the lions at Ronjo was thrilling--like Patty I slept through it and was very disappointed that I had (and just like you, if I had been able to hear them it would have guaranteed I would have felt that I had to visit the loo). Yikes on that story about the lions at Ronjo that Africa related.

Re only Squack at dinner, we had a different experience. At both Nomad camps all 3 guides came to dinner with the guests.

One of my favorite lines from the report is not about seeing the animals (shame on me?)--it is this one:

“Very fun dinner companions, and you’ve already paid for your booze, and they’re all hammered anyway, so . . . “--only I would have to delete the “just kidding” part.

The pictures you posted are great--looking forward to the rest of them.

lovetodiscover

Thanks for giving us a "teaser" view of the pictures. Good job! So whatever happened to that Spider?

Eben - saw you shared your picture... are you the one in the middle?

climbhighsleeplow

No, I am the old man on the right! Our friend Karl from Sweden is in the middle - he was on his honeymoon and still brought his notebook! Actually, it was for photo transfers - according to him!

Patty

Will there be a final installment for your final day in Arusha and school visit?

Leely

Patty, I was trying to keep up my tradition of never finishing my trip reports.

<b>Final thoughts</b>

Our last day in Arusha we went to visit Sekei Primary School with Wilbert from Kiliwarriors. Kari is a second-grade teacher so one would think she'd have numerous questions to ask the principal and teachers. Well, her bashfulness kicked in so I had to do a lot of nonsensical babbling.

We felt a little intrusive and awkward (mainly because we <i>are</i> rather awkward), but overall were very glad we went. Then Wilbert took us to the house he's building for himself and then to the house he's built for his mother. The Mollel family is extremely gracious and welcoming! I can't say enough good things about them.

It was nice to go to a village with someone who lives there and check out his projects and his alma mater

That evening Edward took us to the airport where I spent all the rest of my $ on gew-gaws and gimcracks. Then the looooong trip home.

I suppose I haven't wanted to write &quot;The End&quot; to this trip. It was, in many ways, more difficult than our first safari. The tsetse flies, the dust that bothered my eyes in the west, and of course the painful conversations we had with our old guide. And Adrian would never want us to feel bad about that at all!

Yes, I'll go back as soon as I can. With each trip it gets harder, because I do feel that I've made friends with the guides and drivers and...lots of people. And so I want to visit all of them again. So how do I go to new parks much less new countries?

Sheesh, it's tough being an addict.

sundowner

I'm glad this post was topped because I missed it the first time around.

Leely, it sounds like you had a wonderful trip (except the tse tse flies). You tell a great story and I think it would be fun to be on a safari with you. Thanks for telling us all about it.

I think the camps with detached toilets should have chamber pots in the rooms. It's pretty scary to go out to the toilet in the early, dark mornings. Night time is just out of the question!

Which places were your favorites? I haven't been to East Africa yet and really need to work up a plan.

Cindy

Leely

<b>ALMOST forgot</b>

to say <b>THANK YOU</b> to the generous, patient and unbelievably helpful and humorous people on this board. What on
earth would I do all day without you? Work?

Cindy,
We were posting at the same time.

Favorite park: Serengeti <i>if</i> at the right place at the right time, 4 nights minimum split between 2 areas to hedge your bets. Tarangire for elephants and with a good guide, two nights, probably better later in the season. The Crater is crazy-busy with tourists but it's stunning and right on your way into the Serengeti, so why not?

Next time for me: Uganda and/or Rwanda paired with Mara/Serengeti eco-system depending what time of year I can arrange this.

And of course, Selous, Ruaha and Katavi are all on my wish list. A list that's a mile long.

Patty

Thanks for finishing your report! =D&gt;