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End of Tour

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Monday 17th June Today was a reserve day, in case there was a big group and some needed to do their Gorilla Experience today. We were not looking forward to another wasted day at the resort and fortunately Nomad had an optional tour to Rwanda. We were a little concerned as it did mean two border crossings, but it seemed like a good idea. Arriving at the border crossing into Rwanda we were told that Aussies didn't need a visa, saving $50USD, so that was awesome and a nice little win for us. Rwanda is quite different to Uganda in that the roads are super smooth, there is very good street lighting and the speed limit is 60 for almost all of the country - and there are many speed cameras. There are pushbikes absolutely everwhere, even on the country roads far from the city. Motorbike riders all wear helmets and there were never more than 2 to a bike. The traffic lights have timers on them, showing how long until they change. Another difference was that they drive on the opposite si
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Back on Track

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  Friday 14th June We woke at 2:50am for a 6:45 flight to Uganda.  It was pretty awful, but then we hadn't been sleeping well in Nairobi anyway.  The drive to the airport took about 20 minutes so we were quite early for the flight, in fact we arrived about 10 minutes before any check in staff were even there.  Prior to that though we had another instance of wonderful African security.  As the car arrived at the entrance to the carpark we had to get out and walk through a metal detector and any bags were XRayed.  Of course the car, with our bags, drove ahead and picked us up when we left security.  So it was lucky we left our guns and knives in the car.  Another XRay machine and metal detector to get into the building, at least this time we had our bags. The flight from Nairobi to Entebbe was just over an hour - and we heard later that it could be done in 45 minutes but they slow it down to allow for some food service. (A croissant and tea/coffee). After contacting our tour comp
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A Friggin Nightmare

  Tuesday 11th to Thursday 13th Our final morning at Tulia was spoilt somewhat and the next few days were a nightmare.  All because of a mistake I made several months ago and an assumption of how I would fix it. When applying for our Uganda visa I put Tracy's Passport Number on my application.  I didn't realise until I went to complete her application and it wouldn't accept her passport number because it had already been used. No matter I thought,  mine will get rejected and I can start again. Well my application was approved. I didn't want to put in an application for Tracy using my passport number as that didn't seem right. I did some research and decided to sort it out using a Visa on Arrival. I found out on the morning of our departure from Tulia that they no longer do Visa on Arrival and we would need a valid visa to be allowed on the plane. Our Guide at Tulia said it would all be fine and he contacted a woman Jacky from the Tulia head office in Nairobi to h
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Tulia Amboseli

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  Saturday 8th June We had a very early morning today as we had a hot air balloon flight booked.  Driving to the take off point it was pitch black, certainly no street lights around here,  There were 6 others on the flight, including our driver and a friend of his.  Sounds like he gets to go up fairly regularly, but it was her first time.  The flight was very serene but there was some cloud cover so it was cold as we went high up.  Twice we broke through the cloud layer and the second time we got spectacular views of Mt Kilimanjaro.  We first saw this from the ground yesterday and it is beautiful, rising majestically above the plains to a height of 5,895metres  (thanks JoP ;) ) As well as the mountain we saw elephants, zebra, wilderbeest and giraffe.  We weren't low enough to get decent photos, but I could get a pretty good look with my binoculars.  The landing was a bit rougher than ones we experienced last year in Turkey as there was a bit of a breeze.  We didn't tip over t
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Farewell Egypt, Hello Kenya

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  Wednesday 5th June Today we made a return trip to the pyramids as we felt there was quite a bit we didn't see when we went with the tour.  We booked an Uber for the 40 minute drive to Giza at a cost of around $8 - bargain.  Trace decided to leave her SLR camera at the hotel, because it seemed there would be a substantial extra cost for it.  She enjoyed the freedom of not carrying it and it's bag around too. We went in a different entrance to when we were on the tour, which threw us briefly, coming in near the Sphinx.  Fortunately the pyramids stand out a little and we soon worked out exactly where we were. As we walked around the precinct we were asked constantly if we wanted a camel or buggy ride.  We always said no, mostly because we prefer to walk but also because we don't like how they treat their animals.  We never once saw any water troughs for the horses for instance.  I did find it amusing how quickly the price dropped when you said no (or La in Arabic).  Usuall
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End of Tour

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  Sunday 2nd June A very early morning with a 3:30am wake-up call.  Today we were going to Abu Simbel and the drive was expected to take around 3 hours.  As it was forecast to be 45 degrees, the plan was to get there as early as we could.  We were given a 'breakfast box' to eat on the mini-bus and arrived about 8:00 (left at 4:30)  Abu Simbel was remarkable to me for 3 reasons, firstly due to the size of the complex, secondly because it was moved in the 60's to higher ground and thirdly due to the graffiti that was on some of the statues.  I always thought that Abu Simbel was just the statues you see in photos, but behind those statues were one huge room with 8 more statues and many smaller rooms off that.  Each room had hieroglyphics on the walls, though very few on the ceilings. The 4 statues out the front represent Ramses II at various stages of life and you can see that the one on the right is noticeably 'older' and fatter than the others. Abu Simbel had bee
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