Bear watching in Alaska

In July 2007 we visited the Alaska for one reason: bears. We wanted to go in 2006, but when we inquired in late February, they were already booked so we reserved a year and a half in advance. The six hour flight from Chicago to Anchorage did not provide a meal or snack, but the […]

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Hiking in Cinqueterre, Italy

In May 2007 we visited the Cinque Terre region of Italy. We flew into Genoa and took a local train about 2 hours down the coast. Cinque terre, which means “five lands”, is a bit off the usual tourist circuit. All trains don’t stop in all of the villages so you need to do a […]

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Masai Mara

We flew from Samburu to the Keekerok airstrip (via Nairobi, Kichwa Tembo, and Little Governors) where we were met by Timothy in a 7-seater Landcruiser. During the five minute drive to Keekerok, Timothy explained that the lodge is not fenced and it is very important to be on alert for animals and to not leave the grounds. […]

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Samburu

Getting There After a typical Serena breakfast (my favorite African meal of the day) we left Sweetwaters around 8:30. We passed through some villages – many shops selling hides & skins, butcheries prominently displaying their meat, mobile charging stations, and lots and lots of flower plantations. Mt Kenya loomed to our right the entire time, […]

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Sweetwaters

Getting There The drive from Nairobi took about 4 hours and was on decent divided highway. We stopped at the equator for the obligatory photo op and swirling water demonstration (pretty much the same as we’d encountered in Quito, though hotter and more talk about Barak Obama). Sweetwaters Tented Camp Sweetwaters is part of the Ol […]

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Zanzibar

Zanzibar wound up on our itinerary because we had 3 nights to fill at the end of our trip due to frequent flyer mile flight scheduling. With such a short amount of time, we opted to stay in Stonetown figuring we’d minimizing driving time, hang by the pool, and wander around the town if we […]

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Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda

For Christmas in 2006 we travelled to Rwanda to (hopefully) see mountain gorillas. We departed O’Hare amidst utter weather chaos. Our inbound flight was delayed several hours, but American found a new plane and we departed right on schedule. Miraculously, we (each) packed everything into completely legal carry-on bags. Saturday, December 23 When we landed […]

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Zihuatanejo, Mexico

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Amsterdam

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