Africa, part two

We have arrived back in Arusha, Tanzania, which means that the safari part of our trip has come to an end. And that is very sad, because it really was a fabulous few days. We saw amazing scenery, an astounding variety of wildlife (including, for starters, lions, cheetahs, leopards, hippos, elephants, rhinos, ostriches, zebras, giraffes, gazelles, impalas) . . . almost all of them from a few feet away. Our driver, Samy, was a fount of knowledge about the area and the animals, and we enjoyed him greatly. I can see why people say that Africa gets under your skin. I'd love to come back, and I haven't even left yet. We're taking hundreds of photos, so those who wish can see as many as you wish. But I'm writing this from an internet cafe, so I can't attach any photos now.

Tomorrow we fly to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, via Nairobi, to start the Ethiopian part of our trip. That will be more focused on people, but with some sightseeing mixed in, for sure.

As always, if people REALLY need to reach us, the best way is by my cell phone. (We saw Maasai tribesmen, a quite primitive culture, with cell phones!) More when I can.

Bob

Africa, part one

A quick note to say that we're in Africa! This is a view of the Ngorongoro Crater from our hotel. The last couple of days were in the Serengeti, with totally amazing wildlife viewing. Tomorrow we go down into the crater, and the next day on to Tarangire. Today we had lunch at Olduvai Gorge, where the Leakeys made their finds regarding early humans. So . . . having a fabulous time!




Via iPhone

Birds

One last vacation update: we are all home now except for Micah, who has now been cleared by a doctor in Berlin to fly home tomorrow. So we will have one whole day with the entire family together, before Jane helps Noah drive his stuff out to New York City to begin his grad studies at Columbia.

Moving away from the vacation, on a recent plane flight I got to wondering how high birds can fly. In investigating, I came across this fascinating article on the Audubon site. Bar-headed geese fly directly over Mt. Everest! I had no idea birds could fly that high. A scientist points out that these geese can fly at over 50 mph under their own power; "add the thrust of tailwinds of perhaps 100 miles an hour if they are lucky, and these birds really move." And in the following article, it says that the highest flying bird recorded was a kind of vulture called a Ruppell's griffon which was unfortunate enough to be sucked into the engine of a jet flying at 37,900 feet. If you're interested in the wonders of nature, I recommend this article.

Home and almost

So, I got home on Wednesday, fairly uneventfully, except that the
airport from hell (JFK) got me again. They had only one runway open
and their usual backlog, so my 6:15 flight left at 10 pm. Noah got in
last night, having to wait a long time for me to get him since I
foolishly thought he'd be coming in at the main terminal rather than
the charter terminal. (Ah, Iceland Air!) Micah and Jane are somewhere
in Europe, having missed their connection to Berlin, so waiting for
tonight's night train. We'll get together again yet!

Today's photo is of one of the main things that kept us sane in
Tbilisi, a darling kitten at our guest house. She almost got smuggled
home with us.

Micah in his hospital room in Tbilisi. Note the luxurious accommodations. And ask him about the toilet paper sometime! However, to be fair, they had good X-ray and other test equipment, and he was well cared for. I just feel like donating some IV stands to their ER.

Mt. Kazbeg on a clear morning. This was the view from our guest house. Mt. Kazbeg is the sixth highest in Europe.

Half gone

I know, some people think I've been half gone for a long time, but I'm referring to the family. Half of us left Tbilisi a few hours ago. Micah had another X-ray done, and it was almost all clear, and he's feeling much better, so he and Jane are headed for Istanbul, followed by (in whatever order they come to them--my geography's a but hazy in the region) Macedonia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Germany. Noah and I are envious of their itinerary, if not of the several straight days of bus and train travel. But it will get Micah to Berlin safely, and he and Jane have the time. (Micah has also made that journey before, so it's familiar to him.) Meanwhile, Noah and I fly out of Tbilisi around 3:30 am (which, oddly, is when most flights leave Tbilisi!), going to Berlin via Riga. I'll fly home from there tomorrow (via New York), and Noah will follow on Friday (via Reykjavik). It felt odd to split up the family after so much time together, but we talked it all through extensively, and all agreed that this was the way that made the most sense for us.

I promise, still, to add some Georgian photos once I get out of Georgia (where it's very expensive to use my iPhone with its photos for these posts).

So, thanks for the prayers--the health ones seem to have been answered, and now it's just the diverse travels.