Trip Report: Tanzania, Kenya & Zanzibar with MICATO May /June 2006
Oct 27th, 2006, 05:33 PM
#203
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Sandi - the duct tape WAS on my list - and you are even credited with the wrapping around the pen bit!!! (see my list for Marsha about 8-10 posts up from the bottom in this thread....)
I travel with both the little stapler & the duct tape - mine is a mini roll that I bought from Magellans , but that was before I read your suggestion of wrapping it around a pen. When this mini roll runs out (I've had it since 2001 & there is still some left) I will use your incredible idea!
But oh yes, it has come in handy over the last 5 years!
I travel with both the little stapler & the duct tape - mine is a mini roll that I bought from Magellans , but that was before I read your suggestion of wrapping it around a pen. When this mini roll runs out (I've had it since 2001 & there is still some left) I will use your incredible idea!
But oh yes, it has come in handy over the last 5 years!
Nov 11th, 2006, 12:58 PM
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<b>DAY 18, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14TH, 2006 NOWHERE IN PARTICULAR</b>
This would be a very long day for us – that dreaded travel day. Knowing this, we took our time getting ready, and barely made breakfast before they stopped serving! One thing about living out of a suitcase (or duffle bag in our case) is that it is REAL easy to pack up on the last day. Basically we just made sure that anything we needed for our stop over in London was on top and presto! We were done. As we hadn’t yet gone shopping in Zanzibar, we decided the rest of the morning could be dedicated to this task. The Serena is right in Stonetown, which made a real short walk to browse some of the small shops along the waterfront. We bought a ‘mini’ Zanzibar chest in a shop at the Africa House, just a small, but nicely made chest to give to our son’s friend Andrew back home.
A cute story here – after much deliberation we chose one of the nicest ones, bargained for a price and said ‘OK, we’ll take it’. One clerk literally beamed at us and said ‘yes, you chose well and drove a hard bargain, I will just wrap it up’. And, being experienced travelers, Jim was watching for what came next – the old ‘bait & switch’. The second clerk came over to us and tried to interest us in some paintings. We politely looked at them, and by then our package was wrapped, I handed the clerk the money. Jim proceeded to unwrap the package (taped up in newspaper) and the clerk said ‘no, please it is wrapped for traveling!” Without saying a word, Jim handed the guy the chest, which was not the one we picked, it actually had a broken hinge. The guy smiled a crooked smile, took the chest back and gave us the one we had chosen. No word was spoken, just the smile. Jim smiled and said ‘thankyou’. And some say travel experience only costs money, never saves! Huh!
After one last delicious lobster lunch, followed by an incredible chocolate mouse at the Serena; we were ready to go, Mussa was waiting for us. We checked out, and were surprised to find, in an envelope that Mussa handed us as we were getting in the van, $50.00 USD. It was from Micato he said, to pay for the departure tax at the airport! Wow, I was impressed – only one other time had this ever happened and that was when we cruised with Orient Lines, they would give us vouchers for any airports that levied a departure tax. We arrived at the airport at 3 pm, and Mussa and Ilias made darn good and sure that I didn’t fall into any more ‘sucker’ traps with porters here. (Jim’s the savvy traveler, not me) Actually, they almost got us for overweight baggage, but Jim stepped up and said – ‘no, we are going through to Nairobi en route to London – here are our forward tickets.’ The guy looked at them, hummed and hawed and then said – ‘OK, that’s fine’. Whatever works, right?
We hugged Mussa and Ilias goodbye, promised to come back, and then proceeded into the airport. If anyone out there ever needs a good driver and guide for Zanzibar – I would highly recommend Mussa, he was fabulous. He doesn’t work for Micato; he is a local person, working for a local agency who was hired by Micato.
Security checked the baggage; we paid the departure tax, went through passport control and then got to security. Oh, I should mention that on the way past we read the sign that said it was illegal to give any airport official or worker a tip. It was illegal to ask, and illegal to give it. Nice, we thought. You guys know what’s coming, I’ll bet! There were two security personnel at the scanner – a man and a woman. The man informed us that the scanner was broken and the he would have to check our bags personally. No problem, we said, go ahead. The woman checked Jim’s camera bag, and the guy took my purse and my carry bag. He only glanced in the carry bag, but literally pulled my purse apart. There was 2 Canada pins in it, he held them up and said ‘what are these?’ He looked at me with a look that indicated he wanted them. I told him we were from Canada, and would he like them? Yes, he said and put them in his pocket. I sure didn’t mind. The guy seemed to be looking for something else that he couldn’t find. My wallet perhaps I thought? I don’t carry one when I use this purse, I keep money in a zipped pocket at the front of the purse, and the change in a little change pouch. And, truthfully, I didn’t have anything but a couple of coins left. He held out his hand and said ‘tip, please’. I couldn’t believe it! At the same time I caught out of the corner of my eye, who had heard this, say to the lady – “well, that’s all I have, you guys will have to share it”! (and that was the truth) He handed her 1500 TSH, which is all we had. She took it, said something to the guy, he snarled, and put my purse back together. I was shell-shocked, I really couldn’t talk. As we sat down, Chad, and two other ladies who were on a Micato extension as well, said they had been shaken down too.
Chad kept saying not to worry about it, it’s a small amount, but I was doing a slow burn, and did all the way back to Nairobi. Odd for me to feel this way, but they were standing not 20 ft from a sign that said it was illegal!
But I did get over it, the flight was nice, we passed very close by Mt. Kilimanjaro, which was incredible. We landed in Nairobi at 6, and there to greet us was Daniel. He said Micato would take us for dinner, but I hadn’t expected that and I had emailed Kennedy asking him if he and his family would like to have dinner with us, as our treat. Daniel said no problem, made sure that we met up with Kennedy, we hugged goodbye, and he took Chad for supper. Thinking we didn’t need our luggage for supper, we went into the departures airport. On the way in, our luggage was hand searched not once, but twice! Now that’s what I call security. Over at the BA counter they said we were a little early, but they would check us in and check our luggage. We went back outside to meet Kennedy to go for supper.
But Kennedy had other plans for us, not a supper out. What a WONDERFUL surprise; we climbed in the Suzuki, and set off to his place for dinner! Valentine (his wife) had cooked us an incredible home made African meal, and I must say, this was one of the most AWESOME experiences of our trip. To go to someone’s home in another country has always been a special treat for me, but to have a meal made was just awesome! These are friends that we will hold near & dear to us for the rest of our lives, I only hope someday that I can return the favour and show Kennedy and his family around our lovely town and have them stay with us someday!
We were back to the airport by 9:30 pm and found out why the girl had told us to be back by 9:30 for a midnight flight. Security going into the airport checked us over again, our hand baggage this time. We went past passport control and upstairs to the gate. There was another security check on our hand luggage to get into the gate. And – you won’t believe this – ANOTHER one inside the gate! Each time they took almost everything out of the bag! But finally we reached the lounge where we sat, and sat, and sat until 11:30. And then sat on the plane for an hour while they removed some freight that was apparently making the plane overweight. But, finally, we pushed off at 12:30 and winged our way to London, England.
<b>DAY 19, THURSDAY, JUNE 15TH, 2006 SHEPISTON LODGE, NEAR HEATHROW</b>
As this is an African forum, I won’t bore you guys with too many details of the London portion – except of course about the dinner with Julian and Kavey!
Needless to say, we were late arriving as we had been put in the eternal hold pattern over Heathrow. After an hour, there was still no gate for us on the ground, but I guess we were running out of fuel as they told us to come down, and then put us in a freight terminal, on the tarmac. We were bussed to T4 and were just in time for MASSIVE line ups for passport control. And then, if all this wasn’t enough – there were no green bags to be seen on the luggage carousel. Ah crap, we thought, it was because we had checked in early! We waited ½ hour, along with some of the other passengers and then set off to find a desk to register the lost luggage. As we set off, I could see green bags way at the back of the terminal, way behind the luggage carousel. I walked over, and there was a ton of luggage there – ours included! Seems someone took them off the carousel and set them down at the back, probably as we were waiting in the massive passport control lineup. Note to self on that – get my British passport for next time… (I was born there) At least that way I can go get the luggage while Jim is stuck in the ‘foreigner’ line up.
We hopped a cab, (and cabbie never complained because we were only staying at a close hotel), checked into the Shepiston Lodge (nice place, I liked it), showered, rested, changed our clothes and then took our all day bus passes that we had pre-bought and set out on an adventure. Two busses, a train and a subway later we were at The Eye – just in time to catch a quick lunch, by pass the ticket line up and go straight to our meeting area of a ‘small group pre-booked tour with a guide’. Jim kept telling me that the only reason he married me was because he knew I would do research and find out how to by pass all of the extremely long lines of life. The Eye was incredible – it wasn’t there last time we were in London. It was a clear day, we could see forever, and the guided tour was worth EVERY penny. Or Shilling.
After the EYE we set off double decker bus # 453 through the city, catching the sights of this incredible city from the ground. We disembarked at Baker Street, and walked to – you guessed it, 221B Baker Street – the Sherlock Holmes museum. You see, Jim has a Sherlock Holmes pipe and we needed a picture of him smoking that pipe in Sherlock’s den!
Another bus later, we were walking along in Camden Town – a pretty funky area! Over the bridge just over the locks, down the street past a pub with TONS of cheering World Cup fans (England was playing someone that night) and then – there was Kavey sitting waiting for us at Fogg’s Restaurant! We hugged as old friends, almost like we had known each other for years and while waiting for Julian (the bus from Oxford was delayed due to an accident on the road) we talked and talked. Julian arrived, we ordered dinner and the four of us had a most incredible time!! What a treat it was to meet 2 other Fordorites!
<b>AND THAT’S MY STORY AND I’M STICKING TO IT !!</b>
<b>CONCLUSION</b>
(did you guys think I’d ever get here?)
Here’s my best conclusion – it was the BEST, most AWESOME trip of our lives. But, I have some fears.
I fear now that all other trips, in the future, can never measure up. And, I fear that the rest of my world map may never get coloured in as we visit each of the 181 countries in the world, which has been # 1 on our <font color="red"><b>101 Things to Do Before We Die</b><font color="black"> list; as I fear that we will no longer want to go to any other countries after East Africa.
And, I am sure no conclusion is necessary as to whether or not I would go with Micato again – YES, in a heartbeat! Although I know a group trip is not for everyone, for those that do like group trips, I highly doubt few companies can deliver the same kind of consistent quality that Micato does. To me, it was a first class operation; they delivered, with a special delivery stamp, everything that their incredible brochure said they would – and more. A few surprises, of the nice kind, not mentioned in their brochure; and no surprises; of the nasty kind, that no one likes. It is a first rate operation, their staff was incredible, their drivers were very knowledgeable, their vehicles were clean, comfortable, reliable, roomy and well-stocked, and the logistics worked as smooth as ice. And had anything not gone as we expected, we knew they would be right there fixing the problem. For this we do not mind paying a little extra.
And it is really true what Travel & Leisure says – “they treat everyone like out of town guests”. They really do.
</font></font>
This would be a very long day for us – that dreaded travel day. Knowing this, we took our time getting ready, and barely made breakfast before they stopped serving! One thing about living out of a suitcase (or duffle bag in our case) is that it is REAL easy to pack up on the last day. Basically we just made sure that anything we needed for our stop over in London was on top and presto! We were done. As we hadn’t yet gone shopping in Zanzibar, we decided the rest of the morning could be dedicated to this task. The Serena is right in Stonetown, which made a real short walk to browse some of the small shops along the waterfront. We bought a ‘mini’ Zanzibar chest in a shop at the Africa House, just a small, but nicely made chest to give to our son’s friend Andrew back home.
A cute story here – after much deliberation we chose one of the nicest ones, bargained for a price and said ‘OK, we’ll take it’. One clerk literally beamed at us and said ‘yes, you chose well and drove a hard bargain, I will just wrap it up’. And, being experienced travelers, Jim was watching for what came next – the old ‘bait & switch’. The second clerk came over to us and tried to interest us in some paintings. We politely looked at them, and by then our package was wrapped, I handed the clerk the money. Jim proceeded to unwrap the package (taped up in newspaper) and the clerk said ‘no, please it is wrapped for traveling!” Without saying a word, Jim handed the guy the chest, which was not the one we picked, it actually had a broken hinge. The guy smiled a crooked smile, took the chest back and gave us the one we had chosen. No word was spoken, just the smile. Jim smiled and said ‘thankyou’. And some say travel experience only costs money, never saves! Huh!
After one last delicious lobster lunch, followed by an incredible chocolate mouse at the Serena; we were ready to go, Mussa was waiting for us. We checked out, and were surprised to find, in an envelope that Mussa handed us as we were getting in the van, $50.00 USD. It was from Micato he said, to pay for the departure tax at the airport! Wow, I was impressed – only one other time had this ever happened and that was when we cruised with Orient Lines, they would give us vouchers for any airports that levied a departure tax. We arrived at the airport at 3 pm, and Mussa and Ilias made darn good and sure that I didn’t fall into any more ‘sucker’ traps with porters here. (Jim’s the savvy traveler, not me) Actually, they almost got us for overweight baggage, but Jim stepped up and said – ‘no, we are going through to Nairobi en route to London – here are our forward tickets.’ The guy looked at them, hummed and hawed and then said – ‘OK, that’s fine’. Whatever works, right?
We hugged Mussa and Ilias goodbye, promised to come back, and then proceeded into the airport. If anyone out there ever needs a good driver and guide for Zanzibar – I would highly recommend Mussa, he was fabulous. He doesn’t work for Micato; he is a local person, working for a local agency who was hired by Micato.
Security checked the baggage; we paid the departure tax, went through passport control and then got to security. Oh, I should mention that on the way past we read the sign that said it was illegal to give any airport official or worker a tip. It was illegal to ask, and illegal to give it. Nice, we thought. You guys know what’s coming, I’ll bet! There were two security personnel at the scanner – a man and a woman. The man informed us that the scanner was broken and the he would have to check our bags personally. No problem, we said, go ahead. The woman checked Jim’s camera bag, and the guy took my purse and my carry bag. He only glanced in the carry bag, but literally pulled my purse apart. There was 2 Canada pins in it, he held them up and said ‘what are these?’ He looked at me with a look that indicated he wanted them. I told him we were from Canada, and would he like them? Yes, he said and put them in his pocket. I sure didn’t mind. The guy seemed to be looking for something else that he couldn’t find. My wallet perhaps I thought? I don’t carry one when I use this purse, I keep money in a zipped pocket at the front of the purse, and the change in a little change pouch. And, truthfully, I didn’t have anything but a couple of coins left. He held out his hand and said ‘tip, please’. I couldn’t believe it! At the same time I caught out of the corner of my eye, who had heard this, say to the lady – “well, that’s all I have, you guys will have to share it”! (and that was the truth) He handed her 1500 TSH, which is all we had. She took it, said something to the guy, he snarled, and put my purse back together. I was shell-shocked, I really couldn’t talk. As we sat down, Chad, and two other ladies who were on a Micato extension as well, said they had been shaken down too.
Chad kept saying not to worry about it, it’s a small amount, but I was doing a slow burn, and did all the way back to Nairobi. Odd for me to feel this way, but they were standing not 20 ft from a sign that said it was illegal!
But I did get over it, the flight was nice, we passed very close by Mt. Kilimanjaro, which was incredible. We landed in Nairobi at 6, and there to greet us was Daniel. He said Micato would take us for dinner, but I hadn’t expected that and I had emailed Kennedy asking him if he and his family would like to have dinner with us, as our treat. Daniel said no problem, made sure that we met up with Kennedy, we hugged goodbye, and he took Chad for supper. Thinking we didn’t need our luggage for supper, we went into the departures airport. On the way in, our luggage was hand searched not once, but twice! Now that’s what I call security. Over at the BA counter they said we were a little early, but they would check us in and check our luggage. We went back outside to meet Kennedy to go for supper.
But Kennedy had other plans for us, not a supper out. What a WONDERFUL surprise; we climbed in the Suzuki, and set off to his place for dinner! Valentine (his wife) had cooked us an incredible home made African meal, and I must say, this was one of the most AWESOME experiences of our trip. To go to someone’s home in another country has always been a special treat for me, but to have a meal made was just awesome! These are friends that we will hold near & dear to us for the rest of our lives, I only hope someday that I can return the favour and show Kennedy and his family around our lovely town and have them stay with us someday!
We were back to the airport by 9:30 pm and found out why the girl had told us to be back by 9:30 for a midnight flight. Security going into the airport checked us over again, our hand baggage this time. We went past passport control and upstairs to the gate. There was another security check on our hand luggage to get into the gate. And – you won’t believe this – ANOTHER one inside the gate! Each time they took almost everything out of the bag! But finally we reached the lounge where we sat, and sat, and sat until 11:30. And then sat on the plane for an hour while they removed some freight that was apparently making the plane overweight. But, finally, we pushed off at 12:30 and winged our way to London, England.
<b>DAY 19, THURSDAY, JUNE 15TH, 2006 SHEPISTON LODGE, NEAR HEATHROW</b>
As this is an African forum, I won’t bore you guys with too many details of the London portion – except of course about the dinner with Julian and Kavey!
Needless to say, we were late arriving as we had been put in the eternal hold pattern over Heathrow. After an hour, there was still no gate for us on the ground, but I guess we were running out of fuel as they told us to come down, and then put us in a freight terminal, on the tarmac. We were bussed to T4 and were just in time for MASSIVE line ups for passport control. And then, if all this wasn’t enough – there were no green bags to be seen on the luggage carousel. Ah crap, we thought, it was because we had checked in early! We waited ½ hour, along with some of the other passengers and then set off to find a desk to register the lost luggage. As we set off, I could see green bags way at the back of the terminal, way behind the luggage carousel. I walked over, and there was a ton of luggage there – ours included! Seems someone took them off the carousel and set them down at the back, probably as we were waiting in the massive passport control lineup. Note to self on that – get my British passport for next time… (I was born there) At least that way I can go get the luggage while Jim is stuck in the ‘foreigner’ line up.
We hopped a cab, (and cabbie never complained because we were only staying at a close hotel), checked into the Shepiston Lodge (nice place, I liked it), showered, rested, changed our clothes and then took our all day bus passes that we had pre-bought and set out on an adventure. Two busses, a train and a subway later we were at The Eye – just in time to catch a quick lunch, by pass the ticket line up and go straight to our meeting area of a ‘small group pre-booked tour with a guide’. Jim kept telling me that the only reason he married me was because he knew I would do research and find out how to by pass all of the extremely long lines of life. The Eye was incredible – it wasn’t there last time we were in London. It was a clear day, we could see forever, and the guided tour was worth EVERY penny. Or Shilling.
After the EYE we set off double decker bus # 453 through the city, catching the sights of this incredible city from the ground. We disembarked at Baker Street, and walked to – you guessed it, 221B Baker Street – the Sherlock Holmes museum. You see, Jim has a Sherlock Holmes pipe and we needed a picture of him smoking that pipe in Sherlock’s den!
Another bus later, we were walking along in Camden Town – a pretty funky area! Over the bridge just over the locks, down the street past a pub with TONS of cheering World Cup fans (England was playing someone that night) and then – there was Kavey sitting waiting for us at Fogg’s Restaurant! We hugged as old friends, almost like we had known each other for years and while waiting for Julian (the bus from Oxford was delayed due to an accident on the road) we talked and talked. Julian arrived, we ordered dinner and the four of us had a most incredible time!! What a treat it was to meet 2 other Fordorites!
<b>AND THAT’S MY STORY AND I’M STICKING TO IT !!</b>
<b>CONCLUSION</b>
(did you guys think I’d ever get here?)
Here’s my best conclusion – it was the BEST, most AWESOME trip of our lives. But, I have some fears.
I fear now that all other trips, in the future, can never measure up. And, I fear that the rest of my world map may never get coloured in as we visit each of the 181 countries in the world, which has been # 1 on our <font color="red"><b>101 Things to Do Before We Die</b><font color="black"> list; as I fear that we will no longer want to go to any other countries after East Africa.
And, I am sure no conclusion is necessary as to whether or not I would go with Micato again – YES, in a heartbeat! Although I know a group trip is not for everyone, for those that do like group trips, I highly doubt few companies can deliver the same kind of consistent quality that Micato does. To me, it was a first class operation; they delivered, with a special delivery stamp, everything that their incredible brochure said they would – and more. A few surprises, of the nice kind, not mentioned in their brochure; and no surprises; of the nasty kind, that no one likes. It is a first rate operation, their staff was incredible, their drivers were very knowledgeable, their vehicles were clean, comfortable, reliable, roomy and well-stocked, and the logistics worked as smooth as ice. And had anything not gone as we expected, we knew they would be right there fixing the problem. For this we do not mind paying a little extra.
And it is really true what Travel & Leisure says – “they treat everyone like out of town guests”. They really do.
</font></font>
Nov 11th, 2006, 01:59 PM
#206
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Oh oh - forgot my ending quote:
<b>"Twenty years from now you will be more disapointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did too. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the saffe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-Mark Twain</b>
A good friend gave me this quote a few years ago. "Words we should all live by" she said as she handed it to me - "It reminded me of you".
As she is now my new boss, she has regretted giving me that as I have already put in requests for the next three vacations!
<b>"Twenty years from now you will be more disapointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did too. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the saffe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-Mark Twain</b>
A good friend gave me this quote a few years ago. "Words we should all live by" she said as she handed it to me - "It reminded me of you".
As she is now my new boss, she has regretted giving me that as I have already put in requests for the next three vacations!
Nov 11th, 2006, 03:24 PM
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Oh Lynda, I'm so glad I caught the end of your report - the entire thing was wonderful, but I got chills reading "These are friends that we will hold near & dear to us for the rest of our lives..." I know exactly what you mean. And your ending quote is one that I am <b>constantly</b> giving to people - I actually have a list of people to whom I have given it!
Your trip was fantastic - thanks for making the <u>huge</u> investment of time to share it!
<font color="green">Cyn</font>
Your trip was fantastic - thanks for making the <u>huge</u> investment of time to share it!
<font color="green">Cyn</font>
Nov 12th, 2006, 01:22 AM
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Lynda,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your incredible experience in such fabulous detail! I can't tell you how helpful and motivating it has been to have your report to read as we went through the process of selecting a Micato tour. We are now about three months from departure. My first task is to start working on getting the travel visas (remember we are in Germany so we'll probably have to go to the embassies directly).
I am sure I will have more questions as we start thinking seriously about clothing and packing (although honestly, I think you've answered it all in your report!), but one thing that springs to mind (and forgive me if you mentioned it) is what vaccinations and/or malaria medication did you need? My information from Micato says we only need malaria medication, but I am curious to know if you had any other vaccinations before you left. I will be going home to Michigan in December so I can go to my own doctor if I need to get vaccinations and prescriptions (the idea of navigating the German medical system with my limited language skills is still quite frightening!).
That's it for now. Thanks again for taking us along on your journey, and please go to Africa again soon so we can read more!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing your incredible experience in such fabulous detail! I can't tell you how helpful and motivating it has been to have your report to read as we went through the process of selecting a Micato tour. We are now about three months from departure. My first task is to start working on getting the travel visas (remember we are in Germany so we'll probably have to go to the embassies directly).
I am sure I will have more questions as we start thinking seriously about clothing and packing (although honestly, I think you've answered it all in your report!), but one thing that springs to mind (and forgive me if you mentioned it) is what vaccinations and/or malaria medication did you need? My information from Micato says we only need malaria medication, but I am curious to know if you had any other vaccinations before you left. I will be going home to Michigan in December so I can go to my own doctor if I need to get vaccinations and prescriptions (the idea of navigating the German medical system with my limited language skills is still quite frightening!).
That's it for now. Thanks again for taking us along on your journey, and please go to Africa again soon so we can read more!
Nov 12th, 2006, 03:18 AM
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Linda,
Thanks for such a wonderful report. I love all the quotes you used at the start of each section. I will be using a lot of them when I do my safari scrapbook/memory book. Like a previous poster said, hurry and go back so we can get another report!
Bravo for a job well done!
Lily
Thanks for such a wonderful report. I love all the quotes you used at the start of each section. I will be using a lot of them when I do my safari scrapbook/memory book. Like a previous poster said, hurry and go back so we can get another report!
Bravo for a job well done!
Lily
Nov 12th, 2006, 08:30 AM
#212
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Thanks guys, I do appreciate it!
And, I will go back soon, I promise!
Hasufrau - nothing is required for either TZ or Kenya (or wasn't when I went, but things do change occasionally). We already had our TwinRX (maybe not the proper name, but something like that) Hepatitis shots (A & B I believe) that are now good for life, as well as we updated our tetanus, polio, diptheria (one shot). We did get the Yellow fever said, the travel clinic docter said it couldn't hurt, so we did - but it wasn't required. Well, it hurt the pocketbook come to think of it - it was 100.00 each (cdn).
We used malarone, and even though it was quite expensive, I think it was worth it. Neither of us had any reaction to it, and we both actually remembered to take it every day!
Are you by any chance on the Feb 10th Stanley Wing?
And, I will go back soon, I promise!
Hasufrau - nothing is required for either TZ or Kenya (or wasn't when I went, but things do change occasionally). We already had our TwinRX (maybe not the proper name, but something like that) Hepatitis shots (A & B I believe) that are now good for life, as well as we updated our tetanus, polio, diptheria (one shot). We did get the Yellow fever said, the travel clinic docter said it couldn't hurt, so we did - but it wasn't required. Well, it hurt the pocketbook come to think of it - it was 100.00 each (cdn).
We used malarone, and even though it was quite expensive, I think it was worth it. Neither of us had any reaction to it, and we both actually remembered to take it every day!
Are you by any chance on the Feb 10th Stanley Wing?
Nov 12th, 2006, 09:28 AM
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Great conclusion. I'm glad you got to meet up with other Fodorites. Your comment on the I'm done! thread that you can now start thinking about another trip since you have finished this report is not quite accurate. I recall some exploratory posts about trip #2 before this completion. Anything happnening with #2?
I share your fear about not seeing the rest of the world due to the pull of Africa. Maybe it should be a comfort that you've found your home away from home and don't need to search more. Plus Africa is a big continent to explore. What a lucky problem we have.
I share your fear about not seeing the rest of the world due to the pull of Africa. Maybe it should be a comfort that you've found your home away from home and don't need to search more. Plus Africa is a big continent to explore. What a lucky problem we have.
Nov 12th, 2006, 11:21 AM
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Thankyou Lynn! You are right, it is a nice problem to have - you seem to be doing really good on colouring in those countries though! (I really do have a 'teachers' map that I colour in the countries on)
No 2 - well, it definitely hit a small brick wall last week. Not too tall of a one though, I am trying to climb over it at the moment. Basically our son & his girlfriend probably will not be able to go, so I am seeing at the moment where this road might lead us. No one says we can't go by ourselves though, right???
No 2 - well, it definitely hit a small brick wall last week. Not too tall of a one though, I am trying to climb over it at the moment. Basically our son & his girlfriend probably will not be able to go, so I am seeing at the moment where this road might lead us. No one says we can't go by ourselves though, right???
Nov 12th, 2006, 12:11 PM
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Oh Lynda, what a wonderful, wonderful ending. The perfect end to a perfect report and I concur with the other comments on your ending quotation..... Now, it reminds me that I never actually posted the last day of our trip - I definately will do once we get settled back home (we moved back in Friday night and we're still sorting out the mess but there's no place like home )
Imelda
)Imelda
Nov 12th, 2006, 03:48 PM
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I hope trip #2 works out in some shape or form. I recall in your first posts that you wished to avoid surprises of the negative kind on your trip. I'm glad your safari lived up to that goal and produced some positive surprises as well.
Nov 12th, 2006, 11:17 PM
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Thanks for the vaccination info, Lynda. We should probably get updated on a few shots - I'll talk to my doctor in Michigan about it. The last time I had to go through all this was for Costa Rica over 10 years ago and my husband has never had to get travel vaccines or medication.
We're one week earlier - arrive in Kenya on Feb 4th, I believe. Do you know someone going Feb 10th?
We're one week earlier - arrive in Kenya on Feb 4th, I believe. Do you know someone going Feb 10th?
Nov 13th, 2006, 04:52 AM
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Hi Lynda:
The dinner at Kennedy's home --what a lovely finish.
As Lyn indicated, there are alot of countries in Africa, so you can continue to "color in" countries for awhile. And yes, the two of you could go alone.
Thanks for the report.
The dinner at Kennedy's home --what a lovely finish.
As Lyn indicated, there are alot of countries in Africa, so you can continue to "color in" countries for awhile. And yes, the two of you could go alone.
Thanks for the report.
Nov 13th, 2006, 10:03 AM
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Lynda,
I am almost fainting from shock: you have finished your report!!! No way!
Loved it. Thank you so much for taking the time (and then some > ) to turn your adventure into such riveting reading.
I hope hope hope that among all the other countries and continents you and Jim have in your future, there's room for a return to Kenya and Tanzania.
I am almost fainting from shock: you have finished your report!!! No way!
Loved it. Thank you so much for taking the time (and then some >
) to turn your adventure into such riveting reading.I hope hope hope that among all the other countries and continents you and Jim have in your future, there's room for a return to Kenya and Tanzania.
