Sept 23 - Oct 9, 2008
After a year and a half of planning, our trip to Africa finally became a reality!!!
We departed the U.S. on September 23 for 2 weeks in Africa, traveling to Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya.
This experience was one we'll never forget!
The beautiful, friendly people we met, the happy, smiling faces of the children, the scenery, the colors, the smells, the WILDLIFE...all a feast for the senses!
To see so many amazing animals SO CLOSE to you was breathtaking! Something you only think you'll see on television and then, there they are, right in front of your eyes! It is hard to believe and unforgettable!!

PART I - EAST AFRICA 2008 - TANZANIA
We spent 5 nights in Tanzania, landing at the Kilimanjaro airport at 8pm, spending one quick night near the airport, then, the next day, heading onto our first park, Tarangire.
We spent 2 days there and got our first taste of all the amazing creatures we would see in Africa...elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, gazelle, impala, and on and on!
Then we moved onto the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater, home to the black rhino, and lots more of the same animals except for giraffe (which do not live in the crater).
We spent one night there before heading back to the large, busy town of Arusha for one night ending our much too short time in Tanzania.
These 2 parks, Tarangire and Ngorongoro, were fascinating and a splendid introduction to all the marvels East Africa has to offer!

Then it was on to Rwanda to trek the gorillas!!!

PART II - EAST AFRICA 2008 - RWANDA
Our main purpose of our trip to Rwanda was to trek the magnificent mountain gorillas!
We flew from Kilimanjaro to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
While in the capital we made time to visit the Genocide Memorial, which remembers the 1 million victims of the horrors that occurred over 100 days in the spring of 1994. This was a gut wrenching experience, but one we felt was necessary in order to understand more fully the country we were visiting.

Later, we made the 2-3 hour drive from Kigali to the Volcanoes National Park in Ruhengeri in the northern part of Rwanda where we would trek the gorillas the next day!
Seeing the gorillas up close and in the wild was so amazing and breathtaking!! It is an experience we will never forget!
After just the one trek with the gorillas, our visit to Rwanda ended. Our time there was much too short!

Next it was on to Kenya!

PART III - EAST AFRICA 2008 - KENYA
During the last half of our trip to East Africa, we spent one week in Kenya after gorilla trekking in Rwanda.
We flew into Nairobi and spent one leisurely day in the city, where we visited the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Center, both of which were lots of fun as we were able to interact and touch these incredible animals!

Then we flew on a Cessna to Samburu National Reserve, north of Nairobi for 2 days of incredible game viewing.
Next we flew from Samburu to the Masai Mara Game Reserve in southern Kenya. The Masai Mara is actually an extension of the Serengeti (the much larger portion located in Tanzania).
We spent an incredible 4 days exploring this fascinating park and saw so many marvelous creatures!
The Masai Mara was our grand finale to our 2 weeks in Africa and what a way to end a dream vacation!

Thanks for visiting our website and hope you enjoyed our attempt at trying to relay through our photos the majesty of Africa!