Christmas In the Serengeti

We spent the Christmas holidays on safari with Adrianne’s parents in Tanzania. It was great fun. At the beginning five days of the trip we hooked up with friends of ours (Rick, Andrea and family) from Vancouver. It was really fun. We saw the “big five” (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Cape Buffalo). Also, we saw the great migration of about 1.5 million Wildebeast in search for fresh pastures. One of the most amazing site was heards of Wildebeast scattered on the vast Serengeti plain as far as the eye could see! It was unbelievable.

We visited four national parks (Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Parks). We also saw a fishing village at Lake Victoria, and visited a Massai village as well. We had an amazing guide, Ephata. We will remember him fondly for years to come.
We were mostly staying in Lodges, but in the Serengeti we slept in tents (think of a big tent each with wooden floor, flush toilet, shower and sink). The weather was nice, although we managed to catch some remnants of the rainy season. The bugs were under control. There were some Tse-Tse flies and mosquitoes in the evening when you were outside. The warmth of the African hospitality was touching. The food was excellent, although the kids got sick (it later turned out to be salmonella) at the very end of the trip.
I have posted some of my pictures at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/bajtaya/AfricaSelect#

Ngorongoro Crater view from the comfort of our room:

The vast Serengeti plain with rainfilled sky:
Some wandering Wildebeast:
Serengeti Zebras with scattered wildebeast heards in the back:

Fall in Southern Bavaria

We had some spectacular fall weekends. So we enjoyed an early November trip to Neuschwanenstein and other sites in the area. Here are some shots of southern Bavaria.