Category: trip report
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Hotel Crashing: Lemala Kuria Hills, Tanzania
Sorry for the lack of posts this week. I was a bit bummed out by the election results. For a variety of reasons, I’m not going to get too far into this topic, but this post from my favorite blogger, The Everywhereist, pretty much sums up EXACTLY how I feel. Go. Read it. It’s really…
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Ten Other Animals We Saw at Leopard Hills (Including…Leopards, Natch.)
So many photos. Heads up: I’m no photographer, as you will see from many of these images, but especially, the very last ones. So, with that endorsing caveat, enjoy! I believe this was taken on the evening drive on our first night at Leopard Hills. If so, this is Dayone, a 9-year-old male who…
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Hotel Crashing: Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve, South Africa
In case you are wondering, yes, you will definitely see leopards at Leopard Hills Private Game Reserve in South Africa’s Sabi Sands. And a whole lot of other animals, including (if you’re very lucky like we were) the very rare African wild dog. We actually saw three generations of the adorable calico-spotted dogs a…
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The Basics on Planning an African Safari, aka: Should You Use a Travel Agent?
Let me start by saying: there’s nothing basic about planning a safari trip to Africa. I mean, come on! It’s beyond exciting! It’s the trip of a lifetime! We’re talking bucket list stuff! You gallop headlong into it with visions of the “Lion King” and “Out of Africa” dancing off in the distance. You start…
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The Wildest Ride: A Wildebeest River Crossing in the Serengeti
“This is not at all like the shows on NatGeo,” my restless mind was thinking. “This is actually sort of….boring.” We’re sitting in a beige, pop-top Toyota Land Cruiser in the midday African heat with four other people. All six pairs of eyes are trained on the nervously shuffling, brownish-gray mass of wildebeest on the…
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Flying Fancy: Review of Emirates First Class
And we’re back! Actually, we’ve been back from Africa over a week, but I’ve been in post-vacation mourning. That coupled with the fact that as a self-employed person, I made $0.00 during my little three-week break, and yet, my bills still came in during that very same three-week period and—quite rudely—those not-so-nice credit corporations and…
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What I Learned About Africa the First Time Around (and Why We’re Going Back)
I uttered what I think might go down in history as the most bougie phrase ever known to mankind last week. “Weeeeell, last time we were in Africa, we stayed at…..” I said it not once, but TWICE while catching up with friends, both of whom probably immediately regretted asking me what big exciting trip…
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Definitely Not the Happiest Place on Earth: Cambodia’s S-21 and the Killing Fields
I suppose it is entirely possible to go to Cambodia, and Phnom Penh in particular, without going to see the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum or Choeung Ek. There are in fact, other things to see in Phnom Penh. The city once known as “the Paris of the East” is on the Mekong and Tonlé Sap rivers, so…
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Cambodian Tuk Tuks
We had a ritual when we were in Siem Reap. Well, it’s sort of a ritual we have whenever we travel, really. It goes like this: Run around like crazy people most of the day, soaking in all the history and culture and sights we can lay our eyes on, make comments on all the assorted smells…
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Flying Fancy: Review of Singapore Airlines Suites
I think I’m generally pretty spoiled. And I’ve had some pretty spectacular flying experiences. But our trip in the Singapore Airlines Suites was so over-the-top, it almost made this girl (formerly from the trailer parks of West Texas) downright uncomfortable. First of all…let me just stop you right there. I’m sure you know, or suspect,…