Not All Who Wander Are Lost
In and around World
Welcome to the Svrcek travel blog!
Here you will find a collection of stories and images from the 8-month round-the-world journey that we embarked upon from September 2007 to May 2008. In addition to the many other benefits of travel, this trip has given us both a chance to rediscover our interests in photography and writing/story-telling. We hope you enjoy the stories, and there are lots of photos to browse through (as you read the travel blog entries, click on the "View more photos" links to see the photo galleries for each destination).
We had a blast, although we would be lying if we told you that we enjoyed every minute, and at times we experienced first-hand the idea that sometimes Humour=Tragedy+Time. For a prime example of this, check out the India entry entitled "You Are Definitely NOT Having Malaria!", which seems to be a favourite with our readers. We are glad to know that we brightened your long winter days with some humour at our expense! (We're not sure how many people we've turned off of travel to India by now -- regardless of how negative some of our experiences may seem, it really is worth the character-building experience!)
Greetings to all the friends we met along the way, and many, many thanks to the friends and family who accommodated and entertained us as we travelled through your part of the world! In fact, a world of thanks -- your hospitality and friendship are sincerely appreciated. If ever you travel to Canada, please know that our doors are always open to you.
Remember, not all who wander are lost ... but sometimes, it's just more fun to get off the beaten track.
Safe Journeys,
Clark and Katherine Svrcek
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler C&K
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1
Leaving Home
We spent the Labour Day long weekend at my parent's home in Wetaskiwin. After the monumental task of preparing our place in Edmonton for rent... Continue reading »
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2
About This Blog
Things felt like a bit of a hurricane before we left Edmonton on September 4, 2007, what with attempting to tie off loose ends at work, packing our... Continue reading »
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3
Sunny CA
We had a blast in California. San Francisco was our entry/exit point to the state, and much of our travels here revolved around visiting frie... Continue reading »
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4
Welcome to New Zealand
Our entry point to New Zealand was Auckland. Auckland is like the Toronto of NZ -- no one in Canada outside of Toronto seems to lik... Continue reading »
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5
Visit with the Williams Family
We were able to hook up with Katie Williams, her husband Sam and their little girl Poppy while passing through Hamilton. I met Katie in Grade 12... Continue reading » -
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Rotorua and That Smell
We spent a couple of days in the Rotorua area exploring the geysers and mud pools. Residents of the region apparently refer to the area as "Fartopolis... Continue reading » -
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Tongariro National Park
We looked into hiking the Tongariro Crossing, but it is still covered in snow and weather can be pretty unpredictable at this time of year (... Continue reading » -
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Wellington
We spent a couple of days in the Wellington area, where one has to catch the ferry to the South Island. Since we had the car, we didn't stay... Continue reading »
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9
Sea Kayaking at Abel Tasman
After crossing over to the South Island we drove the very scenic Queen Charlotte Highway to Nelson, a jumping-off point for Abel Tasman National Pa... Continue reading »
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10
Christchurch
Christchurch is a beautiful English-style city, lots of old stone buildings and cobblestone streets with a cathedral to top it off (although wherev... Continue reading »
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11
Banks Peninsula and Onuku Farm Hostel
From Christchurch, we made our way out to the Banks Peninsula and found the Onuku Farm Hostel (Continue reading »
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12
Skipping Stone Heaven
This beach is where skipping stones go when they sink. I stole a trunk-full of these for the rest of our trip around NZ, and even though I skipp... Continue reading » -
13
Magpie Hill
On our way south from the Banks Peninsula to Dunedin we noticed a hill that stuck out starkly against the coastal plains, and on top of this hill w... Continue reading »
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14
Dunedin
We spent only a couple of days in Dunedin. Lots of really nice architecture, and the city lays claim to the steepest street in the world, Bal... Continue reading »
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15
The Catlins
We spent a few days exploring the Catlins, the southern region of the South Island. We stopped at Nugget Point to see some gold nugget-shaped... Continue reading »
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16
Milford Sound
We spent a day sea kayaking in the famous Milford Sound. It's a beautiful hour- and-a-half drive out to the Sound through prairie, "the... Continue reading »
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17
Possum Hatred in New Zealand
We drove up the West Coast of the South Island, making a few stops along the way. We overnighted at Franz Josef Glacier, but didn't really st... Continue reading »
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18
Learning to Sail (or How Not to Crash a Boat)
We hightailed it up to the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland, for a five day learn-to-sail course at Great Escape Yacht Charters, run by Terry Dunn... Continue reading »
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19
New Zealand Landscapes
A selection of several of our favourite NZ landscapes. Locations are indicated in the photo captions.
Enjoy!
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20
Melbourne
We flew in to Melbourne, Australia on October 23. Melbourne is a great city, with a good arts and culture centre, fabulous aquarium, and ho... Continue reading » -
21
Cox Plate and the Spring Carnival
Melbourne is host to the world's richest horse race, the Melbourne Cup, at the beginning of each November. While we could have tried to atten... Continue reading »
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22
Diving on the Great Barrier Reef
We gave ourselves about three weeks in Australia. We knew this wasn't going to be a lot of time to see a lot of the country, so we had to be... Continue reading »
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23
Queensland Rainforest
We spent a day escaping the touristy commercialism of Cairns for the uber-touristy commercialism of Kuranda. A ride on an antique railroad takes... Continue reading » -
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Sydney
We spent a few days in Sydney, checking out the local haunts and seeing the sights in another big Aussie city. This was probably the worst we... Continue reading »
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25
Creatures from the Land of Oz
An assortment of photos from some of the wildlife sanctuaries and aquariums we visited at various locations during our Oz travels. Continue reading » -
26
Sleeping in the Airport
We overnighted in the Singapore airport. We had planned on spending a few days in Singapore, but due to some prior flight juggling our option... Continue reading »
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27
Welcome to In-Dee-Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!
by C&K (with a nod to our friend Ted for the title of this entry)
We are a long way from home.Stepping off the plane onto In... Continue reading »
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28
India at a Glance -- Part 1: Initial Impressions
by C&K
Our initial impressions of India are somewhat clouded by our initial impressions of India.
The easiest way to put it is that... Continue reading »
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29
Train Travel
by C&K
We threw ourselves wholeheartedly into India. After all, we wanted to experience the culture! We were determined to travel India,... Continue reading »
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30
It's Only Been a Week?!?!
by C&K
We've been here a week, but it seems like an eternity. After adjusting to India – as best we could – for a few days in Mumba... Continue reading »
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31
Cows!
by Clark
Cows deserve their own entry. They need to be described to you, faithful reader, for cows here are...well...different than the ones... Continue reading »
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32
Hindu Wedding
by Katherine
In India, the months of November and December are the wedding season, and it is commonplace for several wedding&n... Continue reading »
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33
Agra and the Taj Mahal
by Clark
The Taj Mahal is indeed a wonder to behold. It would be a marvel of architecture were it built today, which makes it even more impre... Continue reading »
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34
India at a Glance -- Part 2: Communication
by C&K
A smile is part of the universal language between cultures. Even if you don’t share the same words, a smile can bridge the gap bet... Continue reading »
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35
Cost of Living
by Clark
A quick note on the cost of living in India. For the Western traveller, life here is cheap. At the time we were traveling in India,... Continue reading »
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36
The Original Bobble-Head
by C&K
…and then there’s the everpresent, always irritating, never-quite-clear Indian head bobble. The head bobble is not a nod, nor is i... Continue reading »
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37
Indian Tourism Offices
by Clark
In many countries, tourism offices can have very helpful information. Not in India. Here, tourism offices have information that alte... Continue reading »
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38
Wildlife Artist Extroadinaire
by Katherine
At our guesthouse in the laid-back town of Bharatpur, we met a brilliant wildlife artist from England. Kevin Hayler spends six m... Continue reading »
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39
India at a Glance -- Part 3: You Lookin' At Me?
by Clark
You’d think with the attention we garner here that we’re celebrities. We expected the attention—the staring—to a certain point; we r... Continue reading »
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40
Jodhpur - The Blue City
by C&K
Jodhpur is an interesting city, situated beneath an imposing fort that appears to grow out of the hilltop. It's referre... Continue reading »
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41
Rules of the Road
by C&K
Impatience is endemic in India. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than on India’s roads. Our initial experiences with the roads... Continue reading »
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42
Jaisalmer - Desert Fortress
Jaisalmer is another fortress city in the middle of the Rajasthan Desert. There is currently much controversy over whether or not tourists should be a... Continue reading » -
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Camel Farm
We visited a camel breeding farm near Bikaner, which proved to be a real laugh! This is the camel research hub of India. That's right. Ca... Continue reading »
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44
Rat Temple
by C&K
Yep. That's right. There is a temple near Bikaner that is filled with holy rats. Apparently cows are not the only holy animal in I... Continue reading »
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45
Pushkar
Every November, Pushkar holds a camel fair which these days draws hordes of tourists. We missed the fair by a week, but Pushkar still felt like one of... Continue reading » -
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You are Definitely NOT Having Malaria!
by Clark
Everyone becomes intimately acquainted with their innards in India. If you’re here for any decent amount of time it’s not a question... Continue reading »
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47
Udaipur
by Katherine
Udaipur is touted as India's most romantic city, and it certainly lives up to its reputation. If only I hadn't been stressi... Continue reading »
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48
The Luxury Coach
by Clark
By the time it came to arranging our return transport to Mumbai, all of the trains were full, and we could only find connecting flig... Continue reading »
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49
India at a Glance -- Part 4: India, the Place Where a Souvenir Means Something
by C&K
It is easy to criticize India. The culture shock is so intense that it pervades your thoughts and clouds your judgment. But after... Continue reading »
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50
The Time Traveller
The passage of time has altered for us. At least, it certainly feels that way.
Time has slowed. New Zealand feels like it was a y... Continue reading »
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51
Welcome to the Rainbow Nation!
Johannesburg, South Africa was the first place in our travels where we were picked up from the airport...and man, was it ever appreciated. In... Continue reading »
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52
A Wet Safari
We joined the Bundu Safari Company for a four-day safari in Kruger National Park. We came fully prepared, bearing newly-purchased Christmas g... Continue reading »
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53
Lesotho Day Trip
From one of our backpacker hostels in the Drakensberg Mountains we took a day trip into the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. It is a beautiful, hidd... Continue reading » -
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Hiking in the 'Berg
We spent three splendid days hiking in the Drakensberg Mountains, lovingly referred to by the locals as the 'Berg. Although different from our R... Continue reading » -
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A Green Christmas
We stayed at an absolutely fantastic backpacker's lodge called Inkosana Lodge, near Monk's Cowl. The owner, Ed, started the place as a trek... Continue reading » -
56
Amapondo
We stayed for a few days at Amapondo Backpackers, near Port St. Johns in the Eastern Cape. Went on a canoe trip, a rainforest walk complete w... Continue reading »
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57
New Years on the Beach
We spent New Years on the beach at Cintsa, a little community near East London. We stayed at Buccaneer's Backpackers, which hosted a New Years p... Continue reading » -
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Camping on the Beach at Buffalo Bay
by Clark
Our gracious hosts at Buffalo Bay were Alwena and Theo Fourie...and it's quite the story as to their connection with... Continue reading »
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59
Frogging in Swellendam
Spent a few days in the sleepy little rural community of Swellendam, which quickly cast its spell on us. We hiked through the hills here, a... Continue reading » -
60
Wine Country
Spent a couple of days in South African wine country, sampling from the multitude of labels and vintages on pour. Apparently you're supposed to... Continue reading » -
61
Cape Town
We had a great five days in Cape Town, a west coast city that reminds us a lot of a certain West Coast Canadian city (except that Cape Town has som... Continue reading »
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62
Robben Island
On a windy, choppy day we took the ferry across to Robben Island, infamous for its political prisoners, most notable of whom was Nelson Mandela. Continue reading » -
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Cape Town Aquarium
Spent an afternoon at the Cape Town Aquarium, and thought we'd include a few photos.
Enjoy!
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Cape Peninsula
We took a tour of the Cape Peninsula, including Chapman's Peak Drive, the penguins at Boulder's Beach, a bicycle ride through Cape Point Nature Reserv... Continue reading » -
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Bloemfontein
We met up with Alwena and family again at their home in Bloemfontein, where she runs the beautiful Bloemstantia Gastehuis, highly recommended if... Continue reading » -
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Party in Pretoria
Pretoria was our last port of call before heading back to Johannesburg for our onward flight. We caught a ride with Alwena and Theo to Pretoria for a... Continue reading » -
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Moving On
It's needless to say that South Africa is a complicated place. It is a beautiful country, with many agricultural landscapes that are reminisc... Continue reading »
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68
Welcome to Rwanda!
by Katherine
We were first introduced to the power of positive thinking and collective cooperation in Rwanda upon arrival at the Kigali airpo... Continue reading »
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69
Just Passing Through
We were originally going to do an East African loop starting in Nairobi, but it was early in our South African travels that we heard about the unfo... Continue reading »
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70
Kigali Hospitality
We must admit, we have been rather spoiled during our stay here in Rwanda. The wonderfully warm hospitality of Jill and Neil Fenton (Clark's mom's... Continue reading »
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71
Greenhills Academy
Jill and Neil, both retired school teachers and principals, administrate a school in Kigali called Greenhills Academy (Continue reading »
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72
When Man Turns to Beast ...
by Katherine
The first thing that comes to mind when one mentions Rwanda are the horrific events that unfolded here during the early 1990’s,... Continue reading »
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73
Hope
by Katherine
Rwandese---the moniker that the Rwandan population has adopted in place of the publicly separate tribal identities of Hutu and T... Continue reading »
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74
Memories
by Katherine
Having had a few days to recover from the emotional battering of the Kigali Memorial Centre, we decided to visit a rural ge... Continue reading »
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75
Gorillas!
Tracking the mountain gorillas in the Parc National des Volcans was one of the highlights of our travels. We got up at the crack of dawn to hike up... Continue reading »
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76
Gisenyi
After an energetic day of gorilla tracking, we carried on to Gisenyi on the shores of Lake Kivu and bordering the neighboring Democratic... Continue reading »
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77
SORWATHE
Through their involvement in the Rotary Club in Kigali, Jill and Neil have many connections amongst the business-people of Rwanda. One of these is... Continue reading »
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78
UTEXRWA
Through another Rotary Club contact, Jill and Neil arranged for us a tour of the UTEXRWA textile factory in Kigali.
The forwa... Continue reading »
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79
Monkeys!
Rwanda has many wildlife viewing opportunities, including the "classic" African animals in Akagera National Park. We decided we would&nbs... Continue reading »
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80
Chimpanzees?
We were up earlier than the crack of dawn to track chimpanzees in the Nyungwe forest. Hitching a ride from our guesthouse with some other chi... Continue reading »
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81
Recommended Destination!
If anyone is considering a trip to East Africa in the near future, we can highly recommend Rwanda! We loved this little country full of f... Continue reading »
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82
At the Foot of Kilimanjaro
The most direct route from Rwanda to northern Tanzania was to fly with Rwandair from Kigali to Kilimanjaro airport. We carried strai... Continue reading »
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83
Walking with Giraffes
On our first day of safari we went for a 2-1/2 hour walk with an armed park ranger through Arusha National Park, where we came within meters of a herd... Continue reading » -
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Elephants Galore!
We spent our second day of safari in the beautiful Lake Manyara National Park, where we enjoyed several close-up encounters with herds of elephants. E... Continue reading » -
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Ancient Footprints
On our way to the Serengeti, we stopped at Oldupai Gorge in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to marvel at the famous archaeological finds of Louis... Continue reading »
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86
Stunning Serengeti
After the amazing scenery and abundance of wildlife in Arusha and Lake Manyara National Parks, we didn't believe it was possible for our safari to get... Continue reading » -
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Big Cats
Our second full day in the Serengeti proved to be a fruitful one --- we saw a serval cat, a leopard, and a total of 14 lions in various stages of s... Continue reading »
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88
Serengeti Skies
Sunup and sundown were magnificent times of the day on the Serengeti. We convinced our driver to take us on two early-morning drives so that we cou... Continue reading »
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89
Ngorongoro Crater
We ended our safari in the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest unflooded volcanic caldera. We camped on the crater rim and awoke at the crack of da... Continue reading » -
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Usambara Chameleons!
After six days of incredible wildlife viewing, it was time to leave the northern Tanzania safari circuit. We travelled south to the small town of... Continue reading »
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91
Quick Stop in Dar
From Lushoto, we caught the bus to Tanzania's capital, Dar Es Salaam. Having decided we wouldn't linger long in the city, we immediately caught the... Continue reading »
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92
The Spice Islands
Our first stop on Zanzibar was Stone Town, where we stayed for a few days while we made tough decisions such as which of the beautiful white sandy... Continue reading »
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93
Bwejuu and Matemwe Beaches
After a few days of exploring the sights of Stone Town, we headed to the beautiful white sand beaches at Bwejuu and Matemwe on the east coast of the... Continue reading » -
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Life on Zanzibar
These photos portray village life on Zanzibar. The locals are very friendly and helpful, and seem to enjoy what life has to offer them in this little... Continue reading » -
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Images of Zanzibar
Here are some of our favourite images of Zanzibar.
Traditional Arab sailing vessels known as dhows regularly ply the waters off the islands,... Continue reading »
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96
Addis Ababa Airport
We seriously considered visiting Ethiopia for a week or so, but we decided against that in favour of maximizing our time in Egypt. However, since w... Continue reading »
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97
Touchdown in the Sudan
The Sudan is one part of Africa that we did not seriouly consider visiting. However, Khartoum is a regular stop on the flight path for... Continue reading » -
98
A Taste of Pigeon in Cairo
After our experiences with touts and hassling in India, we were dreading the idea of throwing ourselves back into that kind of atmosphere. We had p... Continue reading »
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99
The Pyramids of Giza, Saqqara and Dahshur
The Pyramids of Giza are perhaps the most recognizable symbols of Egyptian history. We also visited the ancient burial sites of Saqqara and Dahshur, w... Continue reading » -
100
Aswan and the Unfinished Obelisk
We had thought the pyramids were crowded with tour groups, but it wasn't until our venture into the Nile valley that we truly experienced the mass... Continue reading »
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101
The Ego of Ramses II
To visit the famous Sun Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, we were up at 3 AM for a 4 AM bus ride (3 hours one way) in a police-escorted convoy. On... Continue reading »
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102
Luxor
We travelled back up the Nile Valley by train to the tourist mecca of Luxor, which boasts some impressive city sites in the form of Karnak Temple and... Continue reading » -
103
Desert Safari
After leaving behind the tourist hordes in the Nile Valley and returning to our base guesthouse in Cairo for a night, we set out on a desert advent... Continue reading »
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104
The Oasis
After our overnight stay on the desert floor (read: cold sand) we stayed in a
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Alexandria
We spent a weekend in Alexandria, a coastal city known for its rich Mediterranean history. The climate was also a little cooler, moderated somew... Continue reading »
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