Prison Island and Nungwi

Last lazy day in Stone Town led to a trip to Prison Island to see the peacocks and giant tortoises as well as snorkeling the local reefs. So difficult to get the motivation to relocate to a new area, too relaxing and comfortable...hakunamatata (an actual Swahili word, not just Disney).

Finally made the move, bunked down in the northern most tip of Zanzibar in Nungwi. Lovely people and somewhat less touristy. White sandy beaches that never get hot to the touch (low iron content?) and the clearest blue ocean.

Took a Dhow boat out to Mnemba Island to snorkel the reef. Great sea life but the sun was too strong. Even with SPF 45 I got sunburned. Trying to avoid the sun now. 2 days travel to Nkhata Bay in Malawi should remedy that.

Dar El Salaam and Stone Town Zanzibar

After a 10 hour bus ride from Moshi to Dar El Salaam I can't watch another Tanzanian directed movie or music video. I'd rather watch Jackie Chan's Tuxedo (my former worst movie) or even Gigli!...actually I take that last part back.

Arrived late in Dar without any accommodation. Luckily I found a room in the city center for only $10/night. Only caveats were it was in the alley of an alley, I was the only non-Tanzanian client in the past month (I actually scanned through the months registry history), and I shared my room with all the insects Tanzania has to offer. Other than that it was a very comfortable room, slept soundly. Maybe I'm getting too used to the backpacker lifestyle.

The ride from the city center to the Zanzibar ferry was interesting. There were 70 people on a bus meant for 30, plus me and my hiking bag. Literally felt like I was in a clown bus. Definitely the only non-local brave enough to withstand the body heat and lack of personal space. But not only did I get some local flavor, I saved myself 10,000 shillings by not taking a taxi (bus cost only 250 shillings). Wish I had taken a picture...but not enough room to get my camera out.

Stone Town on Zanzibar was so relaxing and chill, much needed. Street food was so tasty: fresh seafood skewers, a variety of "pizzas", and sugarcane juice.

A tour of the East Coast of Zanzibar led to swimming with dolphins, both Bottlenose and Humpback, in the Indian Ocean. Amazing creatures but such teases. They'd wait for you to catch up and just as you'd reach out to touch them they'd dart off.

Moshi and the "Whiskey Route" up Kili

The flight to Kilimanjaro was a little sketch, but we made it safely.

Day 1
From Machame Gate through the Kili rain forest and alpine desert, pole pole (slowly slowly) was the theme of the trek. The light mist and rain reminded me of a early winter day in Seattle.

Day 2
A clear morning, spectacular views through the clouds and an afternoon downpour (so glad I rented rain gear) led to Shira Camp.

Day 3
Rolling valleys, temporary acclimation at 4,630 m via the Lava Tower, the first site of snow, and eventually Barranco Camp to end the night.

Day 4
Bouldering up the Barranco Wall, jumping off a cliff for a picture that never developed (and almost halted my ascent), and an afternoon hail led to Barafu, the final camp before the summit.

Day 4/5
After a short and restless nap we began the final ascent at midnight. 4 layers on bottom (LJ's, sweats, trousers, and rain pants) plus 4 layers up top (shirt, sweatshirt, windbreaker, and down jacket), not to mention the several layers of socks and gloves kept me at a bearable temperature. A physical and mental challenge could describe the 7 hour ascent to 5895 m and Uhuru Peak. Music on the IPhone was key to my success. Capped the day off with 6 hours of descent down to 2,800 m. Exhausting day.

Day 6
Best 11 hour sleep of my life, helped to alleviate the effects of the mild altitude sickness. Then a lazy victory hike down to Mweka Village to end the unforgettable journey of the unpredictable Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Diving in Dahab

Dahab is the perfect diving town: relatively inexpensive, great visability, slow currents, and a massive amount of sea life and coral within the Red Sea. Snorkeling in the Blue Hole was fantastic. So much variety, clown fish, lion fish, and even puffers. At one point I thought I saw sea horses, but I later found out they were pipe fish. Slightly down about that but not out.

Diving by the lighthouse was an experience in itself. Felt so surreal being underneath the water for such an extended period of time. My highlight was seeing Nemo in the sea anemones. Need to get an underwater camera for future travels.

A 12 hour bus ride back to Cairo and the chance to see the Cairo Museum before I left Egypt helped me realize why I didn't find the Valley of the Kings as spectacular as I expected...everything is in the museum!

I left downtown Cairo with 3 hours before check-in and I still almost missed my flight. Traffic is so hectic. Now I'm off to Tanzania to climb Kili! Wish me luck!

Tour through Aswan and Luxor

Overnight train to Aswan was very enjoyable. Good company helped the time pass quickly, didn't feel like a 13 hour ride.

In Aswan a felucca tour led to 3 hours of relaxing on the Nile. No better way to relax: blazing sun, cool breeze, and the Egyptian melodies from Captain Mustafa's lips. Followed that by a peace smoke with the Nubians near the ruins. Then a late night tour of the Nubian Museum and a stroll down the Nile ended a chill day.

The Abu Simbul tour began at 3 AM. Ridiculous time to start but it was worth it. The structures and shear size was amazing, and the detail... The Filae Temple as well. How did they transport all that stone onto the island? Can't even image how long that would've taken.

In Luxor a tour of the Valley of the Kings as well as the Queens showed how advanced and knowledgeable the Ancient Egyptians were. The color and detail of the hieroglyphics was simply beautiful. Wish pictures were allowed.

Took a 50 cent Egyptian Pound (equivalent to less than 10 cents) local van taxi to Karnak Temple. The temple was the most impressive I'll seen. The number of columns, height and precision...blows my minds.

Conned in Cairo

Best sales line I've ever received was while I was walking the Souks in Egypt, "give me chance...I'll make you happy forever."

It was nice to see familiar faces in Cairo; a personalized guided tour and best of all a Korean home cooked meal. So delicious. Thanks Mrs. Kim!

Such complicated street food (btw that's a sweet potato)

Got conned while visiting the pyramids in Giza. Overpaid. But looking back on it now I don't regret it. Definitely a learning experience. Can't always believe in the kindness of strangers. Sounds cynical but it's semantically true. I won't be as naive now, but I also won't let one negative experience ruin my image of a people or my trip. On the bright side I got a journey and a memory I'll never forget: a camel ride to the Giza pyramids, a 7 hour round trip horse ride past the Saqqara pyramids, seeing the sunset on horseback, and learning how to better protect myself: never ever pay large amounts by cash, only use credit cards.

They say NY cabbies are the best, but I don't think they have anything on the Egyptians.

Marrakech, here's looking at you kid

Marrakech is half locals and half residents.  The difference between the two is like night and day, so easy to spot foreigners.

Spent my first day in Marrakech trying to get my camera fixed.  Need something to document my travels visually and my IPhone wasn't going to cut it.  This may be the trip of electronic failures: my laptop twice and now my camera.  Ehhh, I'm just looking at it from the perspective as if I upgraded... now I have the panoramic function on my brand spanking new camera.

The street food in Africa is much better than Europe which has too many variations of kebabs and chips.  Skewers and Tagine in the Medina, so good.

The souks are amazing. Massive amounts of shops in narrow alleys selling all sorts of goodies.  And it's so hectic with the carts and motorbikes zooming in between all the pedestrians. 

Had a several hour layover in Casablanca so I hired a taxi for 20 euro to show me around for 1 hour plus commentary in half French and half English.

Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

Rick's Cafe from one of my favorite movies