Posts in the Africa (2008) Category

After day 1 on Safari….

This has to be quick… We are leaving anytime now for the rest of our Safari.

So far Tanzania has been nice. Arusha–where we are staying– is one of the most modern, upcoming cities in country.

Marvin and I camped last night at “Masai” camp just outside of Arushatown. Attached to the camp–where many Africa overland tours stop–is a huge club. I met many “gap” year English kids volunteering for a year teaching English in Africa. Two of the girls I met are teaching classes of 110 students large.

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On the ground in Africa

Not surprisingly, the internet cafes in Arusha–our hub city in Tanzania– leave a bit to be desired. Nonetheless, marvelous Marvin and I hit the ground in Africa last night after 24 hours on the move through such beautiful cities as Detroit and Amsterdam.

On the first leg of the trip I sat next to a guy that must have been 6 ft 8 and 275 pounds and wore a full sweat suit. He took up at least 27% of my useable seat space in addition to his own.  Aside from that and the extremely crappy airline food, the flights were great.

We spent a good part of today–our first day on the ground in Africa– meeting with 5 different Safari companies and attempting to get money out of the ATM’s here unsuccessfully.

Sidenote: Be sure to tell Bank of America next time you are traveling to Africa BEFORE you leave the country.

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Why Mt.Kilimanjaro?

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In less then 24 hours my dearest of dear friends Mark (aka Marvin) and I will be 30,000 feet in the air heading to Tanzania via Detroit and Amsterdam. Yes, you heard it correctly, we have a layover in Mo-town. Maybe Diana Ross will be there to greet us?

Regardless, the question remains, how in the hell did all of this all happen? Why in God’s name are we setting off on a three week journey to Northern Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro? Would it not have been dramatically cheaper to take a relaxing Caribbean Cruise?

The root of the answer to that question lies in a book I read 5 years ago. “Travels” is a book full of short travel stories written by Michael Crichton–of Jurassic Park fame– in 1988. When he was 33, he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro on a whim and absolutely got his ass kicked. After I read the 20 page account of his adventure sometime in 2003, I decided that I was going to do it as well. I simply made it a goal.

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