I can count the number of places we’ve been more than four times on one hand. Mala Mala is one of them. Our first visit was in 2009 (combined with the Okavango Delta), followed by 2011 (combined with Mashatu), and then 2017 (combined with Makgadikgadi Pans), and then 2018 (combined with Sossusvlei). This time we […]
There are few places in the world that we return to again and again. Mala Mala is one of them, and it just gets better and better. After a few days in Soussvlei , and another night at the JNB airport Intercon, we flew to Skukuza and were collected for the road transfer to the lodge. […]
We rarely go places more than once. Except when it comes to Mala Mala. Every time we visit, we know it won’t be the last. Living in Sydney, we’re a direct flight to Johannesburg (a 14 hour flight, but direct none the less). We’d planned the trip for June (beginning of their winter), and if […]
The last minute trip to Africa… In July, I found myself with a few extra weeks of leave, and with a few hundred thousand frequent flyer miles about to expire, we decided to visit one of our favourite places on the planet – Southern Africa. With the move to Australia, and our newfound obsession with […]
(Location: Rajasthan, India) Ranthambore isn’t easy to get to, but it is one of the more likely places to see wild tigers so it’s been on our list for several years. Despite numerous challenges, we finally made it there and had some great sightings. The first challenge that we encountered was visa-related. When I’d planned […]
(Location: Borneo, Indonesia) We saw a documentary on orangutans, and it was filmed at “Camp Leakey.” Some googling revealed that was located in the Indonesian part of Borneo. This is how we found ourselves on a klotok on the Sekonyer River looking for orangutans. It was another insane travel day to get from Cambodia to […]
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. […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]