Africa

Our safari experience in Tanzania was AMAZING! We started out at a tented camp where they had about 40 hippos "in residence".  They lived in the river running right outside our tent and there was one subordinate male who was ostracized from the group that took up residence right next to our tent, so we would see him walk past in the evening trying to sneak back into the river only to be ousted again. We saw everything -- giraffes, elephants, lions, cheetahs, leopards, buffalo, a wildebeest migration, ostrich, rhino (mommy and baby), zebra, Thompson gazelles, monkeys, baboons, vultures, eagles, hippos, crocs, hyenas, warthogs, and jackals. Here are only a few of our photos.

"Use your fingers " Diana demonstrates scooping up bites of deep saffron marinated chicken with a flat piece of bread chicken still sizzling in the bottom of her tagine.  "That's how we do it at home."

Outside, the stalls of the Marrakech Medina overflow with all things food.  The vivid colors of the spices are piled high like the nearby Atlas Mountain peaks in crimson, burnt orange, bright green, and deep yellow and accompany the aroma of cumin, ginger and cinnamon.

When planning my trip to Egypt, spending the night on a felucca was the excursion I most looked forward to, yet was most apprehensive about. Feluccas, sailing boats used on the Nile, haven't changed much since Cleopatra's day. Gold, silk and Lapis Lazuli have been replaced by steel, cotton and plastic flowers, but the basic form is the same--generally a cushioned seating area around the sides and a table in the middle.

On our trip to Egypt, we've found lovely, friendly people, but something keeps us on edge out in the streets: mostly the stories our guides tell us about what to watch for.

Having recouped from jet lag on the Left Bank of Paris and at the lovely Cairo home of Holly's honorary Egyptian daughter, Dina (how could I not like a woman who said on the phone in her refined British tones, "The ladies are having nappy time today," in explanation for our non-appearance and pajama attire), we moved into Cairo's Semiramis Intercontinental Hotel overlooking the Nile. 

Dr. Holly Hill and Rosalind de Rolon recently returned from a month-long trip to Egypt organized by Journeys of the Mind and the Biblical Archaeology Society. Here is Part 1 of a letter Rosalind sent a friend on her return:

I retired four months ago after twenty years working for the government. I loved my job, but it kept me from traveling as much as I really wanted to. My husband, Bob, and I discussed all the places we wanted to go when I was free to travel, and South Africa was our first choice.