Grounded

Zannerpalooza World Tour 2011 has come to an end.  I have a new sense of appreciation for different cultures and ways of life.  My year off has provided me with a sense of calm and peace that I will forever be thankful for.  I look forward to returning to work so I can save up for my next adventure.

The tally is in.  I visited 21 countries and took 29 planes (with NO lost luggage!), 52 trains, 4 ferries and logged a total of 110,422 kilometers.  This is equivalent to 2.75 times around the circumference of the earth.  It was worth every kilometer!

COUNTRIES:

Argentina

Uruguay

Peru

Chile

Bahamas

Jamaica

Great Britain

Wales

Ireland

Scotland

France

Belgium

Netherlands

Germany

Czech Republic

Austria

Italy

Switzerland

Ethiopia

Kenya

Tanzania

*The above list is the answer to the quiz in the FLAGS blog entry.

It's The Little Things...Part 5

Some gems from Africa that made me smile, or at the very least say "Hmmmm".

Walking on the grass here is Organised Crime?

Yum, Carnivore.

Check out the address.

Shopping in Addis Ababa looks just like home.

Addis supermarket called Bambi's offers comforts from home.

Look familiar?  It's Coca-Cola Light!

Amazing fruit juice from Kaldi's.

I love Mirinda, an orange pop that is not too sweet and very refreshing.

Greg likes beer - the above is from Kenya.

And these beers are from Tanzania.



This is someone's mobil home.  Innovative, but heartbreaking.

This is a cell phone tower disguised as a tree.

Believe it or not, you cannot buy Coca Cola at this view point.

Who doesn't love hugs?

Souvenir batique in Tanzania.

The Crater

On my last day, we left the Serengeti with a fun view of the striped mongoose.  A mother lion, tagged with a radio collar, strutted for us in clear view.  I will miss the close interaction with animals, watching them in their natural habitat.

Striped Mongoose.

Which one of you is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi ?

One of my favorite photos.

"Hey buddy, can I rest here a while?"

We saw a male baboon and he was not shy about playing with himself.  That got a few giggles out of the tourists.  Even funnier was when he got tired of playing with himself, he walked over to his buddy and grabbed the buddy's baboon-hood and gave it a yank.  We all found this was hilarious.  I guess playing with yourself evolved along with opposable thumbs.

They don't show this on Discovery Channel!

I was sad to say goodbye to the Serengeti.  We had one last stop to make on our adventure and that was the Ngorongoro Crater.  The crater was created from a volcanic eruption and it is 19 kilometers across and 400 meters high.  Inside the crater are lush grasses, swamps and lakes that attract many animals.  We spent the entire day on a game drive within the walls of the crater.

A good jump shot that shows the volcanic rock of the Ngorongoro Crater.

Greg does the Ngorongoro pose.

A view of the view from the bottom of the crater during Safari rush-hour.

Our accommodation was perched on the edge of the crater.  At the end of the day, Greg and I sat in our room overlooking the crater, soaking in the stunning scenery and reminiscing about our amazing African adventure. 

View of Ngorongoro from our suite.
 Greg had a Kilimanjaro beer, and I had red wine in a plastic cup.

Thinking back, I was petrified of Africa and thought it would take me years to be brave enough to travel to this continent.  Now that I look back - I realize that I was silly to feel scared.  What a wonderful place!

Greg and I left the crater and the Serengeti behind us, and started our trek home by driving to Mt. Kilimanjaro, which is 300 kilometers from the Serengeti.  Due to our flight leaving at 3:30 am, we did not have a chance to hike the famous Mt. Kili.  I did get some amazing photos at sunset.   We snuck onto the roof of a hotel for the photo opp.  The hotel security guard finally found us, I thought for sure we were going to get arrested.  Instead he approached us and said:  "Beautiful, isn't it!  Where are you from?".  The people are so nice in Africa!

Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

One of many gorgeous African sunsets.

I must return and hike Kili someday.  Toto may be redeemed if I discover when I am at the top of Kilimanjaro, that you in fact can see the Serengeti.   

 I will let you be the judge.   Take a close look at my photos of Kili.  Do you see snow?  Think of this next Christmas when Band Aid is singing:  "And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmas…"

Bats and Hyrax

The lodge I stayed at in the Serengeti was in a rock.  The Seronera Wildlife Lodge  was carved out of the kopjes and rock outcroppings.  The lodge had an open concept and an amazing architectural design with million dollar views. 

Outdoor seating by the bar.

Dining hall with rock walls.

Lounge/Bar area.

View of main entrance.

All around the lodge were many different types of lizards, all very strong in numbers.  They were everywhere!

 

Pretty pink and purple lizard.

Then there were the rock hyrax.  These rodents look like a rat, but without the tail.  There were hundreds literally everywhere, including inside the lounge,  in the hallways, by the bar and swimming pool due to the open concept.    

Rock Hyrax eating a snack.

Suntanning Hyrax.

Trying to be cute.

They were very tame and love to suntan on the rocks and on the stairs.  In fact, I wanted to use the stairs to get to my room and I could not.  The rock hyrax had taken over and wouldn't move out of my way.  Geez, who's the paying customer here?

Although I loved my time in the Serengeti - I did not like this lodge.  Bats were hanging in the rafters of the dining hall, and the place was swarming with insects.  During dinner,   a waiter asked me to "hold still" so he could pick a bug out of my hair.   If bats are hanging above your dinner table, you can imagine where the poops fall.  I was happy to say Sayonara to the Seronera.

Seronera did have great views, I'll give it that!

Viewer Discretion Advised

We woke at 5:45 am to view the Serengeti at sunrise.  It did not disappoint.  At first it was pretty cloudy - but we found a hippo out of the water, walking towards us and gritting his teeth.  We kept our distance. 

Sunrise in the Serengeti.

Two cheetahs greeted us along the road during their morning stroll.  I fell in love when they eventually posed for us on top of a mid-sized rock.  According to our guide, Jerry, it was a mom and her 1-year old cub.  Cheetahs are sleek and elegant, true nature's beauty. 

Strike a pose.

A cheetah cub and his mom.

As mentioned, the Serengeti was the inspiration for The Lion King.  I laughed when I learned that Pumba, the warthog, actually means 'stupid' in Swahili. 

I am Pumba, call me Stupid.

The warthog lacks so much intelligence that when it is being chased by an attacker, it runs away and points it's tail straight up in the air - like an antenna for everyone to see.  The warthog will then stop, look around, almost as if to say "Why was I running?".  As the attacker approaches, the Pumba says "Oh yeah - I'm being attacked!" and starts running again.  Very comical to watch. 

Simba means 'lion' in Swahili.  And the lions are a key reason why I wanted to visit Africa on safari.  I saw lions resting on the kopjes (rock formations that are pronounced 'kopees').  I saw lions sitting in the vast openness of the Serengeti.  I saw a pride of lions doing more than ignoring us!

Kopjes are the dutch name for the rock formations found throughout the Serengeti.

A pride of lions resting on a kopje.

Young female lion.

Cheese!

Open wide.

Stretch.

The lions did not disappoint when we found a pair on the side of the road, and our Land Cruiser was able to  park right next to them.  The male was absolutely gorgeous with a huge mane and commanding stance. 

Male lion that stole the show.

Male and female lion, resting.

However, it turns out the female was in command.  The female was in heat, and she insisted that her mate perform.  Perform every 7 minutes for two days that is!  The 7-minute mating ritual of lions results in cubs born 110 days later.   Yes folks, I have Lion Porn.  View discretion advised.