Heading to the Lewa airport to depart, we were greeted by a couple giraffes walking across the runway and two white rhinos. We took in our last look of rhinos knowing we were likely not to see any in Masai Mara. But we were looking forward to possibly seeing more big cats on safari, especially the elusive leopard! We said a quick goodbye to Mike and hopped on the plane to take us south!

Landing in Masai we were disappointed we didn’t see any animals from the air nor near the runway. We could tell right away the Mara was way bigger than Lewa as there were over 20 safari trucks waiting to pick passengers up. There were also two planes that landed after us to drop off passengers. We met our new guide for the week, Edward, who was later joined by Debra for our evening game drive. Emboo Camp is an eco-friendly camp and they converted all their Land Rover vehicles to solar powered electric vehicles. The safari truck was so quiet compared to what we were used to in Lewa. Since our camp was less than 20 minutes away, Edward took us on a short game drive to see a group of lionesses they had spotted earlier. There were four of them lying in the bushes for a shady nap. 

Driving into the Emboo Camp, we were welcomed by the team with a song. We got a quick briefing of the camp and activities possible for us to choose from and then it was time for some lunch. The Emboo Camp is known for being eco-friendly and most of the food is vegan. (Grant was a little unsure how he would do with a mostly vegan diet but ended up enjoying every meal!) Our server, Layler (pronounced like Layla) was great and ended up being one of the team members we got close with during our time there besides our two guides! We ended up talking to her for an hour and half after lunch about various topics on differences between Kenya and the US. Before we knew it, it was time for our game drive! 

We were joined by another couple for most of our game drives during our stay at Emboo. We got so used to having the game drives by ourselves at Lewa, we weren’t sure how it was going to be. But we ended up loving our time with Kenny and Andy! They lived in Prague and he is originally from Kenya. It was great getting to know them over our two days with them.

Our first (full) game drive was amazing! We of course saw plenty of zebras, antelope, and Buffalo but we also saw two guys near the airstrip playing futbol just in an open field. Everyone thought it was crazy as there were lions that could come at any moment. Further along our drive, we ended up getting to see lions mating which is supposedly rare to see and the act is super quick (and I got one of my favorite shots of the trip!). The couple break off the group for 5 days and don’t eat during that time. We followed them for a little bit before we headed off to where the elephants would be. We saw a massive family across the river, but to get across would have taken us too far out of the way so we just enjoyed from afar. Our game drive ended with a sundowner filled with drinks and popcorn (my favorite snack). I of course finished the bowl on our way back to camp before dinner. 

One of the things we enjoyed about the Emboo Camp was that they wanted everyone staying there to enjoy some time by the campfire to share stories of the day before dinner is served. That’s where we got to talk to more of the guests staying there since everyone eats separately. Dinner of course was a lovely three course meal with a delicious serving of Masai curry! Then it was off to bed for an early morning game drive. 

Day 3 was another activity day with a walk in the nearby forest to view waterfalls  and take a walk across the canopy. We were met by one of Lewa’s rangers, Daniel, at the truck as he would be the one to guide us through the forest. 

Our game drive started out with finding a pair of lion tracks (male and female) along the road. Both Mike and Daniel were good at spotting them and had to get out a couple of times to see where they had turned. Although we weren’t successful in finding them, we saw the most elephants that morning of any game drive so far. Several families of 5 with one having almost 12-15 elephants walking around the hillside. And of course some more rhinos (both black and white). One rhino (who was around 3 yo) was off by itself and started crying when he saw our car. We were told that the rhino’s mother just recently left him to go deliver another baby. The mothers leave their child around 3 yo so that they can learn to survive on their own until they find another rhino to pair up with. 

We were surprised with another bush breakfast, but this time it had a whole setup with tables and chairs. We had papaya juice (which has an interesting flavor), oatmeal, eggs, potatoes, and muffins. The amount of food we had eaten throughout the week (though all very good) was starting to upset my stomach so I didn’t eat too much of the breakfast.

After breakfast, it was about a 45 minute drive to the forest where we were met by another ranger who would be joining us on the walk. The first part of the hike wasn’t too bad as we were in the shade. We walked down to catch a glimpse of the first waterfall before heading to the swimming hole. There we were able to jump in if we wanted to. As the water comes off a glacier from Mount Kenya, it was like taking the polar plunge into the swimming hole. Definitely took your breath away! But the second time was better as we were already used to the cold water. Another group came down and one the guys dove off the highest point of the “cliff”. He made it look so graceful while Grant and I just have arms and legs flying in the air. 

After drying off, we grabbed some drinks before hiking the 3.5 km to the canopy walk. The guides were surprised when I said to hike as we had the option to drive up there. We had already been sitting so much during all the game drives that it felt nice to get a hike in. Once to the top,we got to walk across the second largest canopy walk in Africa. It was 450 m long and thankfully had side rails that I could hold on to as we walked across. We were told they’re actually going to add some length to it in the coming year so they can claim it as the longest canopy walk in Africa. Afterwards, Mike had set up a picnic table for our lunch in a nice open area in the forest. Again there was so much food from two salads, pasta, quiche, chicken wings, and brownies! Both Grant and I weren’t too hungry so we finally felt we were able to eat until we were satisfied and not stuff our faces to finish the meal. 

As we were headed out of the forest, we drove through the neighboring community and saw several people walking back home from church. The kids again were all smiling and yelling “How are you?!” just like they did in Uganda. Although I did happen to get flipped off by a teenage boy as we were driving by. It was one of those sly hold up the hand to the face kind of moment where the finger slowly goes up. We all just started laughing as soon as we realized what happened – kids are so similar no matter where they are in the world. We got back to the camp around 4pm and were able to relax by the pool before heading to dinner. Prior to dinner, we hung out in the main area with our cocktails and struck up a conversation with a German couple who was also staying there. She shared where they had traveled in their lives and told us a crazy story about how they were in the US when 9/11 happened. She was visiting San Diego with her family and they were at the hotel preparing to head to the airport when the airplanes struck the tower. A lady at the hotel told them that they wouldn’t be heading there as the country was locking down airports. They were confused and were told to turn on the TV to see what was going on. She said it was a process trying to get back to Frankfurt and were finally able to catch a flight back to London out of San Francisco. 

 As we got to pick our meals, we chose bruschetta thinking it would be a lighter dinner. However, we were shocked when it turned out to be slices of naan bread with large chunks of peppers in between them. This was probably the only meal we weren’t a fan of. We headed back to the room to pack up and head to Masai Mara in the morning for another great adventure!

The morning started out with coffee and biscuits delivered to our room before we headed out for the game drive. As we are driving along the road headed to where we spotted the lions last night, we were greeted by a bull elephant walking alongside the road. It was a beautiful site as the sun was rising behind it and the view of Mount Kenya behind us. Bull elephants are usually solitary or paired. We also saw a group of hyenas near where the lion kill was in the meadow – there was no longer any sign of a zebra having been there the night before. Mike explained to us that they have the strongest jaws amongst the animals in the Savannah and are able to bite through bone. After some time, their droppings turn white due to the calcium in the bones they eat. 

We noticed that once there has been something spotted, the guides usually radio to each other to let them know where the specific animal is. Mike heard some of the lions from the night before were still in the same general area so we headed that direction. At Lewa Conservancy, they restricted it to only three vehicles at a time near the animals as not to stress them out so we had to wait for a few minutes before we could get close enough to see the lions. We were able to catch a male and female lying down as well as a female climb up up a tree. They are very agile and can climb quick! We really had to zoom in with our cameras to catch a glimpse of her in the tree. 

Mike then drove us out to an open area where we could enjoy a “bush breakfast” before heading to Lewa Conservancy HQ to learn more about their operations. The conservancy was started as a way to protect black rhinos in the area from poaching. Now they have broadened their knowledge about conservation and protecting the wildlife to the communities who have started their own conservations. It was impressive to learn about how many people are out on the property counting the rhinos and protecting the borders. They also created tunnels for the elephants and other animals (besides the rhinos) to move around and reduce human wildlife conflict. They track several different groups of elephants with GPS collars and the worker showed us a couple that were over in Uganda. They’ve even made a channel the elephants can use to migrate up to Mt. Kenya during certain times of the year without getting in the way of the neighboring communities. Grant made a suggestion to check out their trackers on our survey (even in Africa always talking about SpaceX…) 

After our HQ talk, it was back to the camp for lunch and quick rest break before we headed out for our afternoon activity. We decided to do a camel ride because honestly when’s the next time we would be riding a camel on safari (and after the ride probably never again…). We had to drive over to Lewa Wilderness Camp which was owned by one of the Craig brothers. (The Craig’s are the ones who used their ranch to start the conservancy). The place was beautiful and very green. Mike pointed out the vehicle that Prince Charles used while he visited the place back in the 60s. And of course Grant had to point out how much I follow along to the Royal Family (but I mean what American female doesn’t). The workers had already tied the camels up thinking they were done for the day so we had to drive down to their stalls. Getting on the camel was very interesting. The first part was like mounting a horse but then you had to hold on tight and lean back as the camel rocked forward and back to stand up. Thankfully the ride was maybe 30 minutes, but my hands were so sweaty from holding on tight trying not to fall (though I don’t think we actually would have). The guides told us that camels are very easy to train and don’t get spooked easily. They also told us that they don’t spit which was nice to know as I was worried Grant’s would since he came right up to me when we stopped a couple times.  The ride was definitely bumpy and I was glad when we got to the top of the hill so we could hop off. It was a very neat experience and something to say we had done, but one is probably plenty enough for me. 

On the drive back to the camp, Mike was told there was a lion spotted earlier in the day so we tried to find it. We were unlucky in our search but did get really close to a mother white rhino with her baby. I was a little worried because she stared at us for a little bit before turning to continue grazing. Those horns could do a lot of damage to the truck! We also got to see some amazing views en route as he took us up a mountainside that overlooked all the animals on the plains below.

We returned another great 3 course meal and prepared for our last full day in Lewa.  

As we left Nairobi, we were surprised we could see giraffes and zebras in Nairobi National Park literally just outside the airport gates – we’d never seen such a large city with wildlife like that in the mix. Flying into Lewa Conservancy, we could also see giraffes, elephants, and zebras from the plane. We were greeted by our guide, Mike, and some snacks prior to heading out to the lodge. The Lewa Safari Camp was the furthest one from the airport so we were able to get a game drive in on the way. It was crazy to me how close we were to these animals on the conservancy. On the drive, we saw several giraffes, grant gazelles, both common and grevis zebras, along with several types of birds flying around. Mike pointed out several different type of acacia trees along with one that is nicknamed “Yellow Fever” tree. He said that soldiers/settlers used to lay under these trees for shade and many would acquire Yellow Fever, although they spent a lot of time in the swampy area that held many mosquitoes carrying the disease. They originally thought the tree was giving them the disease rather than understanding it came from the mosquitos.

Upon reaching the camp, we were greeted by the staff with hot towels to wipe our hands (which we have noticed happens at all of these lodges we’ve stayed at in Kenya/Uganda). We were then given a short briefing before we were guided to our tent. We were surprised upon entering our tent with a bottle of champagne, bed decorated, and a complimentary 30 minute massage for each of us for our “late” honeymoon. We keep joking that every trip we’ve taken after getting married has been a honeymoon, so this world trip would technically be our 4th. We opened the bottle of champagne and enjoyed the deck area watching out for any animals crossing the Savannah in the distance. We did see a giraffe right before we headed for lunch. Again the food did not disappoint! Lunch at the lodge was always served family style and dinner we could choose between a couple options for the starter, entree and dessert. 

After a quick nap, it was time for the afternoon game drive! We learned the following facts as we saw them along the drive: 

• Male black rhinos make a pile of dung and that is the one place they go. Kind of like marking their territory 
• Giraffes are very solitary especially the males
• Lions are easily scared away by buffalo and rhinos

Near the end of our drive we game across three lionesses that were feeding on a zebra they had killed earlier. We were surprised that we had already seen 4 of the Big 5 in the first evening: the lion, elephant, buffalo, and rhino. Mike had told us they call the leopard the “elusive leopard” as it is very hard to spot. They like to spend their time in thick bushes or up in the trees. So it was likely we weren’t going to see her as there was only one in the conservancy. We enjoyed a nice sundowner with some white wine and snacks as we watched giraffes cross the horizon as the sun was setting along with rhinos and Buffalo joining the lions in the meadow. Once we finished our wine, we kept driving along the road and were shocked when we spotted 4 more lions (3 of which were males). They enjoyed a short rest before getting up and moving to a different location. They ended up walking right past our truck as they headed deeper into the forest. It was unreal being so close to these animals that we are only fortunate to see in zoos for the most part. And hearing them roar was also incredible. It was a lot deeper than I expected. We were going to continue to follow them but one lioness was blocking the bridge so it was time for us to turn around and head back to camp.

The night ended with a wonderful 3 course dinner before it was off to bed for an early morning wake up (which was how the week of safaris went as we started morning game drives before sunrise). 

First off, I have to give a shout-out to Jay and Brandi with Wander Africa as they planned one of the best weeks we could have asked for here in Kenya! It was absolutely incredible. There are so many pictures that it was too much to add to every blog. You can check out the rest on the photos pages!

After a short flight from Entebbe to Nairobi, we were met by Faith who helped get us through customs within minutes (we ended up going through the diplomatic line). And then once our bags were secured, we met up with our guide Titus and driver, Godfrey who would take us the short drive to our hotel.

The next morning we grabbed a buffet breakfast at the hotel that included fruits, grilled tomatoes, potatoes, omelet station, and much more. Then it was off to explore Nairobi for the day before we head off on our safari! First stop was the Sheldrick’s Wildlife Trust to see the elephant orphanage. This place rescues baby elephants from out in the different wildlife parks across Kenya who have recently become orphaned and rehabilitates them in Nairobi. After a few years (can’t exactly remember the number), they are able to reintroduce them back into the wild. They said that over 80 new baby elephants have been born from these orphans. It was so cute watching them be bottle fed, play in the water hole, and throw dust on themselves. After a quick hour and several photos/videos later, it was off to the next place.

We headed to the Giraffe Centre where we got to feed them pellets and learn more about them. There were a few facts that we didn’t know and were quite surprised by like:

• They sleep only 5-45 minutes of the day
• There are three different types of giraffes in Kenya: Masai, Reticulated, and Rothschild
• Their heart weighs about 25 lbs and is 2 ft long!

Then it was off for some delicious food and drinks at Tamambo. Grant enjoyed the blueberry gin and tonic as recommended by the waitress while I got the Malibu sunset. After filling up on pizza and salad, it was off to do some shopping in the local shops. We stopped at and arts and crafts store where we explored some local painted plates, wood carvings, and bead work. There was also a shop full of beautiful paintings of the safari animals. One guys paintings looked more like photographs and were so realistic. We ended up getting some colorful small dishes along with a carving of Africa. The worker told us it would be $30 and Grant tried his hand at bargaining. He offered $20 and we met in the middle at $25. Back in the car, we were asking if it’s good to barter with the shops and explained what happened. Both Titus and Godfrey told us Grant did a terrible job and should have started out lower to get a better deal.

Our last set of shops was in Langata Links. My main goal of the day was to try and find a “safari hat”. There were plenty of African designed clothing, homemade soaps and beauty products, shoes, and jewelry. I found one in the beginning but decided against it as it was about $70. I thought I was going to be stuck with my Nike baseball cap, but was able to find one in the last store! And it was a great price!

On the way back to the hotel, we passed a sign that said SpaceX Bar & Grill. I quickly pointed it out to Grant so he could snag a picture. It had the same “X” as they use for their company.

On the way back to the hotel for the night we were on a fairly major freeway when a family of baboons crossed the road in front of traffic and stopped everyone. It was so cool to see the wildlife so intermixed into even a huge city like Nairobi. We ended back at the hotel in the early afternoon and decided to actually get a quick workout in before dinner. As we were working out, we had a little visitor outside the window jumping along the back wall (a monkey), although the guard did try to chase him away. Back in the room, I loaded up our pictures from the day into our Photos page for Nairobi and we enjoyed an episode of Shrinking. (If you haven’t checked it out in AppleTV, it’s pretty good.)

Then it was time to prep our bags and prepare for a new adventure in Lewa Conservancy!

Another early morning rise for the drive back to Kasese airport for our next leg of Uganda. Although we left at a decent time, we think we were running a little bit behind as there were times Godfrey would be flying down the roads past kids heading to school or people heading into work. We found out that February 6 was the first day back for kids in Uganda and Godfrey told us some kids may have to walk up to 1-2 hours to make it there. We saw numerous kids starting their walk to school in the darkness just as we too were starting our drive before sunrise.

It was a quick flight over to Kihihi, even with first making a stop in Kisoro to drop off passengers. A local woman on the plane told us Kisoro gets very windy later in the day so the pilots likely wanted to make that stop first. It was then only a 10 minute flight from Kisoro to Kihihi where we were picked up by another driver, Levan, who drove us to our lodge in Buhoma. We were thankful we had switched our lodging from a different one as Buhoma Haven was just 2 km outside the park for gorilla trekking. It was a great view of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Although we were offered to take a tour of the community, we decided to have lunch and just relax the rest of the day knowing our upcoming Kenya leg is going to be very full. And again the food at this lodge did not disappoint! We had spaghetti for lunch and another 3 course meal for dinner with pumpkin soup, rosemary chicken, and a banana fritter. The service at every lodge in Uganda was always pretty formal and you could tell everyone was trained to be as helpful as possible. We chatted with the waitress a bit on differences in fruits and vegetables between our countries – we figured what they call pumpkin here is likely equivalent to our butternut squash (we had great “pumpkin” soup numerous times). After finishing dessert and our chats with the waitress we turned in for bed so we could get an early start the next morning to meet a gorilla family!

We could tell the difference right away with the gorilla trekking from entering into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and arriving at the briefing center. Before entering the area, we had to sanitize our hands and get our temperatures taken (first real COVID precautions we’ve had to do traveling). Then we were ushered to the waiting area where we were entertained with local Uganda songs and dance from members of the community. After a quick video and separating into groups, it was off into the forest to find our gorilla family. Unlike the chimpanzee tracking, it was a 10-15 minute walk up a road and then 5 minutes into the forest before we were greeted with gorillas hanging out in the trees. Once we arrived, they started climbing down from the trees (some passing right by us) and congregating around some trees on the ground. We maybe saw 10-15 members of this family, 4 of which were infants and the dominant male (which was a silverback). The infants definitely added to the fun of watching them as they would run around playing with each other and climbing the trees. Most of the time the trees would bend and the infants would fall out. The energy of the infant gorillas spread to the older gorillas as well, and we had times where they would wrestle each other and even beat on their chests with their open hands as what seemed like and expression of joy or fun. Even with all the action, they would walk right past any human almost as though we weren’t there, but with the exception of an infant reaching out to touch a woman that we caught on video. With all the surrounding trees and foliage, it was sometimes hard to get clear shots of them so it was easy to video. But there are plenty more on the photos page to explore!

It was crazy how fast the hour flew by before we had to leave them. Again, Grant and I were left in awe that we had just experienced that. One of the ladies in our group had done this over 16 times with this trek being her 4th of the week. She had two more planned for this week before she heads off to Kenya. She got some amazing shots, especially of the infants that she posted on her Instagram. She told us she has also won an award for one of her shots that ended up in the Kennedy Center where she got to meet the Prince of Monaco. Her driver was also very interested in talking to Grant since he worked for Spacex and his son was obsessed with Elon Musk. They exchanged info so that his son could reach out and learn more from Grant about what he does. It has been fun to meet new people along this trip and hear their stories. We also met two Americans in our group that were recently laid off from tech companies in San Fran, one of which being Twitter. So needless to say he wasn’t too happy about Elon taking over, but they said they’re still getting severance while on this trip so makes it feel like a vacation still.

Ending our leg in Uganda, we stayed at a resort nearby the airport in Kihihi so we didn’t have another early morning drive. It was nice to finally sleep past 6 am. We realized we were the only ones staying at this lodge as it is near the end of their “busy” season before rainy season comes. We enjoyed breakfast with Levan, who has shared so many stories with us especially his time in Iraq. He is also very up to date with everything going on the world (way more than me as I don’t keep up with any news…). Heading back to Entebbe we were joined by a lovely Dutch couple we had first met a few days prior on our flight to Kasese. They gave us some great tips for what we were going to see in our next few weeks left in Africa. They had also previously lived in Cape Town and are giving us a list of places we should do and see.

Next up Kenya Safari! And Grant will finally get to see the big cats he’s been waiting for!

Our first major animal event of Africa! Honestly I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got up that morning to head into the Kibaale National Forest. We had a short 30 minute drive from the lodge to the park entrance where we had to sign in and wait for the briefing. Godfrey is a very early person, so we were one of the first ones to arrive (which I didn’t mind at all). After all the tourists arrived (about 30 people or so), they gave us a quick briefing describing what to expect and what we needed with us on the trek. One of those things was a face mask for when we got close to the chimps. However, I had just pulled our bag of masks out of our daypack not thinking they would be needed. Thankfully, our seat neighbors gave us two to use so we didn’t have to buy any.

Then it was time to split up into our groups with a guide and head off into the forest! In our group, there was a couple from British Columbia and a family from Germany (who didn’t seem very well prepared for the trek). Our guide’s name was Milka (like the German chocolate). She was quick walking through the forest and being the one behind her, I got smacked a couple of times by branches she would pass by. I tried to hold them out of Grant’s way so they didn’t smack him. When we first heard a chimpanzee call, my jaw dropped. You don’t realize the power they have until hearing/seeing them. They like to call incredibly loudly and beat on their chest, ground, or trees as well with their open hands. It was impressive to see how well the guides knew the area and how to find where the call was coming from. We found one male chimp up in a tree and after other groups had left, our guide decided we were going to follow this one to see if his friends would join up with him. There were a couple of times his calls took my breath away as it was unexpected. We followed him to a tree where he went up to graze on some fruit before heading down to travel some more. Our final spot watching him was on a log. Grant got some amazing photos on his camera while we were watching him (more on the photos page).

Our guide kept inching me towards the log to get a better view of him. I have a healthy respect for animals and can enjoy viewing them from a distance. And good thing because the next thing we knew he was running down the log at us before hopping off into the woods! My hands were shaking a little after this video. Grant was still on the other side of this log at this time and saw the chimp rush past him quite closely as well.

We continued walking for a little bit more before I heard our guide talking on the radio about a group nearby. When we got to the site, there were two chimps on the ground. One of them ended up being the alpha male of the community and walked right past us before calling others to join him up in the trees. That’s when we started hearing more chimps running through the trees! It was crazy to watch them communicate with each other but also walk so close by us. In one video, you can hear my breathing get heavier as he gets closer. But they are so used to humans now that they just walk right past you.

It was kind of sad when our trek came to a close, but we both agreed this was definitely an adventure to remember. And it made us even more excited for the gorilla trek later on in the week! After getting back to the base site, we got a certificate for completing a successful tracking. And our guide let us take a pic with her! Leaving the forest we ran into a bunch of baboons on the roads and even saw a couple of babies. They are like the bison of Yellowstone and are just constantly on the sides of the roads and will try to get into your car if they see any signs of food.

Back at the lodge, we were greeted with a traditional Uganda meal with sweet potato (not orange like ours), mashed plantains, smoked fish in a peanut sauce, pea stew, rice, and collard greens. It was really good! I may have had several helpings… Our last activity at this lodge was a swamp walk and community tour. We saw a couple of red-tailed monkeys and doves along the trail and our guide taught us about plants locals use for various medicines and even leaves from a plant as toilet paper. It was actually pretty soft! Then we drove back to the office where we started our community walk. They took us to a traditional doctor who taught us about various remedies he makes from the local plants to help treat burns, malaria, muscle aches, and even running off bad neighbors (he buries a chimp skull in their doorway so when they enter the house they get the idea they need to leave town). Next was visiting a group of women who make baskets from the local plants. He showed us how they use the different materials and how they crush fruit and flowers to make the different colors. Then we were entertained with local dancing and singing from the group! We felt bad because they offered us to purchase anything in the pile of baskets/bowls that they made but none were really small enough to fit in our bags.

The last two visits were trying some local banana beer and banana gin along with some local coffee. Grant definitely enjoyed the gin and I surprisingly enjoyed the banana beer. It had a sweeter flavor. It sounded like quite a process to make the banana beer and gin. Over 100 bunches of bananas will make just two 20L jugs of gin. The guy who makes it is the only one in the community who does and is able to sell to locals and bars in the community. Our coffee stop included showing us how they crush the sun dried coffee fruits to get the beans out before they roast them. We were served two small cups of coffee along with peanuts (which we realized were another staple of Ugandan food).

We finished off the night with another great 3 course meal and it was off to bed for another early wake up before we head to Kihihi for gorilla trekking.

Another long travel day to start out our Africa leg. First up: Istanbul to Entebbe with a quick layover in Rwanda. We were wondering what the layover would be like since our tickets were only showing Entebbe as final destination. But turned out we just stayed on the plane to let passengers off and then passengers on. Kind of like a shuttle between the countries. Once in Entebbe, we had a slight issue with our visas but after a quick ATM visit all was resolved. We then had to wait about 2 hours for our small flight to Kasese. Grant was excited for this flight as it was on a small puddle jumper plane. And instead of getting to jump out of it, he got to enjoy the views of Uganda and land in a grassy field.

In Kasese, we were met by our driver, Godfrey, who would take us the 2 hours to the Chimpanzee Forest Lodge. He offered us some bananas to eat along the drive (which were actually better than grocery store ones!). And the crazy thing was we could throw the peels out into the road! Though it did take me a little bit of time before I actually did. There were so many goats, cows, and banana trees along the roads. Coming in on a Saturday, lots of people were dressed in their best coming/going to church. The road to the lodge went through many towns and along different types of terrain. So many smiling faces along the road especially among the kids. Godfrey noted it’s like we are special guests when people from our country travel through and the kids jump with excitement and yell “How are you?” if you smile and wave at them as you pass by. Godfrey stopped along the road a couple of times to allow us to get pictures especially of the crater lakes. The views surrounding the lodge were incredible. There were so many tea plantations around. We didn’t realize how prevalent tea plants were in Uganda, but we learned it is one of their biggest exports.

Once at the lodge, we grabbed some breakfast that ended up being a pretty big spread. We each had an omelette, pineapple, African coffee (coffee with milk), passion fruit juice, and bacon. Then we were shown our room where we were able to catch a power nap. That was much needed after the long night of traveling we had.

Our afternoon activity was a walk around the lodge’s tea plantation and around one of the crater lakes: Lake Nyabikere, which means “Lake of Frogs” in native language. Thankfully we didn’t see any along the route! Our guide taught us how the tea plants are grown and harvested. Very interesting process as they only take the top fresh green leaves. He also noted that the harvesters are paid by the kilo and really only make 4-5 US dollars a day. As we made our way down the hills, he continued to teach us about various trees like the parasol tree and eucalyptus tree. They use eucalyptus for a lot of things from medicine to firewood to furniture/housing. We then entered onto safari park land where we were able to see the hippos that live in the lake! We didn’t think our first day we would see any animals beside the local farm animals and birds. We were still maybe 10-15 m away but it was incredible to see them in their natural habitat and not behind a glass wall at the zoo. Last little bit of trek was walking through various plots of land containing banana trees, coffee, and vanilla plants. He told us the three major cash crops in Uganda are tea, coffee, and vanilla. Vanilla was a recent addition as they realized how much money it could make for them. We passed many locals as they were carrying their crops and tools along the trail. It still amazes me how they can balance these baskets/bowls on their heads and walk for over 3 miles if not more. Our guide seemed to know everyone and even stopped at someone’s house with us to try their homemade banana gin – we were already finding that everyone in Uganda is so friendly and willing to share their craft, food, etc. with friends and visitors.

We ended the day with another great meal. They served us a 3 course meal including vegetable soup, salad, BBQ pork or veggie stir fry, and watermelon for dessert. We are definitely going to gain some weight during these next two weeks on all our safaris. They serve a lot of great fresh food (and we feel bad if we don’t eat at least most of it…). Then it was off to bed to get ready for an early morning of chimpanzee tracking!

Random tidbits:

• Seems like each tourist group is assigned a waitress at the lodge
• Sandals for men and women are provided for the showers
• Have to let water run for few minutes before water heats up
• Miles traveled: 10,380 across 4 planes
• Total miles traveled for trip: 29,586 miles

Our last night in Istanbul included being woken up by a thunderstorm and later a crying baby in the room next to us. But we were still able to get some decent sleep before another night of plane rides.

After packing up our bags and storing them in the lobby for a few hours, we headed off across the bridge again for breakfast. Grant found a quaint little spot where he enjoyed an omelette and I tried the Turkish breakfast. This included two pieces of toast, two jams, boiled egg, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, and various cheeses. Obviously not our typical breakfast spread in America but was still delicious. You can definitely tell the blend of cultures within Istanbul between European, Asian, and Mediterranean influences.

After finally feeling full from a breakfast this week, we headed down to Galataport. This is a large outdoor shopping/business area. You had to walk through metal detectors in order to get into the area. One of the first things we noticed was a Popeyes, Burger King and Starbucks all located together in one of the buildings. The amount of American brands and fast food places we have seen here is crazy. We’ve seen the following:

• Arby’s
• Burger King
• KFC
• Pizza Hut
• Subway
• Starbucks
• And then saw Shake Shack, Sbarro, and Carl’s Jr in the Istanbul Airport.

Now it’s time to head off to Uganda where we have a chimp track and gorilla track planned! And finally some warmer weather!

Day 3 we decided to hop over the Bosphorous into the other side of Istanbul (though still on the European side). We realized trying to find our breakfast spot that Google maps didn’t always find the correct location and would have us bypass it by a few meters. After getting some coffee and a toastie, we were off to figure out how to get across the river to visit the Galata Tower. We tried getting a metro card but did not have any Turkish bills under 100 (machine was max 50) so decided we were going to walk across the bridge. Following the locals, we learned how to quickly dart across the streets when there was a clearing in the traffic or if traffic got congested. Once across the street to the riverside, we found a kiosk to obtain a metro card with our credit card so we grabbed two and hopped on the metro to the correct stop.

Once over the bridge, it was a quick 10-15 minute walk up the hill to the base of Galata Tower. We realized doing any touristy things in Istanbul is best to do in the morning to beat the crowds. Thankfully there was no line to get tickets and we were able to hop right in the elevator to the top. The elevator opened up on the 7th floor where they had a mock up of the city of Istanbul. The city is sprawling and we realized we probably only explored maybe 1% of the city (there are 15.5 million people there after all)! A few steps up the staircase opened up into a gallery where you could step outside and get a 360 degree view of Istanbul. Grant enjoyed another moment of photography and trying to get more panoramic views of Istanbul. Meanwhile, I would enjoy the views and head back in for some warmth. (When you have a weight limit for trip, there’s only so many warm clothes you can bring. I obviously didn’t bring enough to keep adequately warm). Grant laughed because he would turn around and I would be gone back inside or hiding behind a column for wind protection. But the views were great! Here’s some of the photos Grant took from the tower. (There’s more in our photos page for Istanbul).

Leaving the Galata Tower, the line had tripled and was now wrapped around the entrance of the tower. We decided to explore the neighborhoods around the tower and poked into one of the local coffee shops to grab a drink and a quick snack. There we looked into possible Bosphorous cruises for the evening and were able to book a sunset cruise with one company. Having a few hours to kill, we continued to explore the area and ended up on Istiklal street which is a notorious shopping avenue. This is also the area in which the bombing occurred back in November. There was definitely a heavy police presence while we were there which we later read was due to both the previous bombing but also the European embassies sending employees home as a precaution for heightened terrorism risk as a result of Koran burnings recently around parts of Europe (Istiklal is a huge westerner attraction so they heightened security there).

We were able to get a quick time to warm up back in the apartment and load some photos onto the blog before it was time to meet our tour guide for the sunset cruise. This ended up being a nice and relaxing way to see more of the city from the river’s point of view. And we were pleasantly surprised when the crew handed out two rounds of Turkish teas and several snacks throughout the cruise. The tour guide offered some historical tidbits about certain sites along the route, though it was kind of hard to hear him on the speakers sometimes so it was more about taking in the views.

We did enjoy chatting with a guy sitting next to us from Seattle. He was a nature photographer who was originally supposed to be in Budapest but due to missing his connecting flight and meeting, he decided to enjoy the weekend in Istanbul. We learned several tidbits about how he obtains some of the shots he gets and showed us some amazing photographs he had taken of various animals. The amount of effort it takes to achieve some of those photos was astounding to hear between laying down in a canoe at water level to laying sheets of foil down on the water in order to control where the egrets can fish. Hopefully we’ll be able to capture some great shots of animals during our Africa leg (when we mentioned we just did photography for fun he said Africa is so full of animals that it can make anyone look professional)! His Instagram is avin.ci if you want to take a look at some of his photos!

The sunset portion of the cruise was beautiful. Though it was cold and windy sitting on the front of the yacht, it was definitely worth the views. The sky background behind the historical buildings added another level to their beauty. Grant was able to capture some great night shots once we were headed back to the port (I let him do most of the shooting during this trip as I was just trying to stay warm…).

And this night we finally managed to stay up past 7pm! Though we ended up just enjoying the night in going through photos and trying to determine what to do with our last hours in Istanbul the next day.

Random tidbits:

• Turkish people are super nice and constantly offer Turkish tea or coffee (we felt bad saying no sometimes)