Final Post

Wednesday evening Dad and I finally arrived home. Unfortunately our flight from Dar es Salaam to London arrived late so we missed our connecting flight to Vancouver on Tuesday. However, as a result we were able to spend the morning in London before flying out. Due to the stress of leaving home, my trip through London in September did not go so well. I very much enjoyed seeing the city with my Dad and London has been redeemed.

first Starbucks in 3 1/2 months...soooo good

countdown to the Olympics

changing of the guard at Buckingham palace

It was so wonderful to walk off the plane and be greeted by my friends and family. So far the transition back into life at home has gone very smoothly. I am enjoying spending time with my family and celebrating the Christmas season. I look forward to re-connecting with everyone at home, finding out whats been happening over the last three months and sharing more stories from Africa.

So this is my final blog post. I have very much enjoyed writing about my experiences and thoughts. I hope they have impacted and inspired you in some way. Thank-you for reading them! As I continue to process my time in Africa, i'm sure I will come away with more concrete reflections. Feel free to contact me (khedlin@hotmail.com) or ask in person if you are interested in finding out more about my experiences, traveling in East Africa or the PAOS projects in Uganda. Finally, I really appreciate your love, support and prayers. You are all the driving force that allowed me to go on this trip and I wouldn't have made it

without you. 

Thank-you and Merry Christmas!

R & R in Zanzibar

After spending 8 hours every day in a vehicle for a week, we really enjoyed spending some time relaxing in Zanzibar. Our first three nights were spent at a resort on the east side of the island. It was a smaller place, nice and quiet with absolutely amazing food. The view was incredible and words cannot describe the beauty of Zanzibar. We spent most of our time lying around the pool, walking up and down the beach and swimming in the Indian Ocean which was like taking a bath, the water was so warm. I got to go snorkeling for the first time at Mnemba island just off the coast. It was an amazing experience and one I look forward to doing again someday. Our last two nights were spent in Stone Town where we stayed at a really neat hotel with open courtyards. We spent our time wandering through the narrow ally ways checking out all the shops. There was also a main food market that was quite interesting to walk through and had lots of spices. At night we walked over to a nearby park where vendors set up tables selling all sorts of food, mostly fresh seafood. Unfortunately we went over before it got dark and noticed too many sanitary violations to make us interested in trying any of the food. We did try out some great restaurants in particular one Indian restaurant our last night. Overall it was a great vacation, time to process the previous three months in Africa and to experience more of Tanzania.

coffee was delivered every morning to our room

one of the many intricate doors in Stone Town

spices in the market

typical Stone Town road

view from the top of the town's museum

nighttime in the park

view from our room

last night at the Indian restaurant

fish in the market

Sneak Peek

Yesterday we arrived back in Arusha after six full days of safari adventure. We have enough video footage to put together a full length documentary for the Discovery Channel and enough pictures to fill an entire photo album. It really has been a once in a lifetime experience and there is no way I could share all of the things we have seen and done so here is the top ten.

#1) Seeing a cheetah up close after it had jumped on top of another safari vehicle.

 #2) Driving into the Serengeti and quite literally finding ourselves on the set of the Lion King. We are convinced this 'kopje' must have been the inspiration for the movie. It also helped that there was a female lion with two cubs sitting on top.

#3) We saw lions every day on our trip. This particular group of lions we found lying in some grass. They got up and walked right in front of our vehicle so we followed them down the road to this tree where they proceeded to climb up one by one.

#4) This wildebeest was right on the side of the road. It was fascinating to watch the vultures fight over the carcass.

 5) Tis the season for African animal babies. Here are a few we got to see.

#6) We were fortunate enough to catch the end of the wildebeest migration from Masai Mara game park in Kenya to the southern Serengeti plains. We have video of the migration but here is a still picture of the plains.

 #7) This is a picture of the tree climbing lions from before that we followed down the road. In Ngorongoro Crater we encountered another group of lions who crossed over directly in front and behind our vehicle. I was actually afraid they might jump up and in through the roof. We followed the same pride and got a chance to see them sneak up and then attack some buffalo. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful.

#8) We saw some amazing views on our trip including the Rift Valley and Serengeti plains but watching the sunrise in Ngorongoro Crater was definitely the best view.

#9) My favorite animal is the hippo. In the crater we were able to witness two male hippos fighting. That one is also a video but here is a picture of some other hippos we saw.

#10) I loved just being able to watch the animals in their natural habitat. Zoos have been forever ruined for me! It is so amazing to see how these animals interact with one another and go about their daily lives. Below is one elephant we saw with a short trunk. It was interesting to see how he had adapted to this deformity. It was also really neat to see giraffes as we hadn't seen any in Uganda.

We are now in Zanzibar enjoying some rest and relaxation on the beach. 

Good-Byes

This week has been full of good-byes.

On Tuesday afternoon, Alisha and her dad left for a vacation in Zanzibar before flying home. It is so weird to be living in this house without her!
On Wednesday evening we all baked some desert and brought it up to the girls at the school for their last evening. It was fun to spend some time with them before they left for home on Thursday morning. Their school year is now over and they have a two month break before returning in February for their S6 year.

On Friday afternoon we had a staff party to celebrate the end of the year. All the staff here at the Timothy Center attended from the teachers to the landscapers. It was a delicious catered lunch followed by desert, once again made by the Canadian staff. With all the girls, the teachers and the cooking staff all gone, it is very quiet on our little compound.
Saturday morning we said good-bye to Max and Joey. The two guard dogs here at the Timothy Center are moving to new homes. It was sad to see them go and especially hard for their 'mom and dad', Karl and Arleen.
Rowan, the Drisners' nephew has been here for the last two weeks visiting his family. He left Saturday evening  for London. He will be traveling in Europe for two and half weeks before heading home to Edmonton the same day Dad and I fly to Vancouver. We're planning to meet for a much needed Starbucks at Heathrow airport!
Last to leave the Timothy Center are Karl and Arleen who fly home for Christmas on Tuesday.
Finally, Dad and I will be departing for a two week adventure in Tanzania before flying home to Vancouver.
For those of you who are interested in travel itineraries or what we will be doing for the next two weeks, here is the schedule:

Day 1 - Fly from Entebbe to Kilimanjaro Airport, stay overnight in Arusha
Day 2 - Drive to Tarangire National Park for game drive, stay overnight in park
Day 3 - Game drive exiting the park and drive to Lake Manyara National Park for afternoon/evening game drives, stay the night
Day 4 - Drive to Serengeti with game drives en-route, stay overnight
Day 5 - Full day game drive in Serengeti National Park, stay overnight
Day 6 - Game drive exiting the park and drive to Ngorongoro, stay overnight
Day 7 - Descend into Ngornogoro crater for tour and game drive, drive back to Arusha for overnight
Day 8 - Fly from Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar and drive to beach resort
Day 9 - Beach day, overnight at resort
Day 10 - Beach day, overnight at resort
Day 11 - Drive to Stone Town for afternoon tour, stay overnight
Day 12- Full day in Stone Town, stay overnight
Day 13 - Flight from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam, stay overnight
Day 14 - Fly from Dar es Salaam to London to Vancouver

I'm not sure what the internet situation will be while we are in Tanzania. If I am not able to get access, I will do a follow up post when I get home. See you all soon!

I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas

This past weekend we went on an adventure to Queen Elizabeth Park. The park is a four hour drive south-west of Masaka. We packed a tons of activities into a short weekend. It was exhausting but totally worth it. We had to leave super early on Saturday morning to make it for our Chimp Trek which was scheduled for 1:30pm. We made great time and got to spend a few hours getting settled at the lodge, soaking up the amazing view. Driving to the park we passed through hills covered in tea plants. Unlike Rwanda where they grow tea in the valleys, the tea plantations in Uganda cover the hills. It was quite spectacular. The lodge was etched into a hill overlooking the park. Looking out from the reception area all you could see was savannah stretching into the horizon. It was a breathtaking view and one that we ended up having from our room. The rooms were quite unique as well, completely made out of stone. Even the beds were mattresses set into the rock. After grabbing some lunch we headed out for the chimp trek. The Kyambura Gorge is a 16km scar in the park's landscape. The flat savannah drops off into a jungle filled gorge where we went trekking for chimpanzees. The first part of our trek was quite tame as we walked along paths in a Jurassic-park like forest. The huge buttressed trees were covered with vine-like branches. The first animals we saw were baboons who quickly hopped down from the trees and ran off into the jungle. Then we spotted some colobus monkeys. After half and hour or so of walking we finally heard the chimps off in the distance. Our guide changed directions and took us straight to them. There on the path in front of us was a huge male chimp. He posed for a couple minutes and then walked off into the jungle. Behind us was another chimp in the bush. Our guide told us they were heading for the river we had crossed earlier and we needed to cross back over to follow them. We spent the next two hours tracking these chimps through the forest. Overall we saw about six different chimps both on the ground and in the trees. It was totally surreal seeing these animals in their wild habitat. A once in a lifetime experience. After our trek, we decided to do a quick game drive. One of the guys we were with said they had seen lions earlier that day so we drove over to that spot. We drove for quite awhile and luckily the lions had their heads up otherwise I never would have spotted them. Lying there in the grass right next to the road was a male lion and a lioness. So cool! To top it all off, as we drove back to the lodge in the dusk a leopard crossed over the street in front of the vehicle and then stood in the grass beside the road. We positioned the vehicle so the headlights lit up the leopard in the grass. Unfortunately none of the pictures turned out because it was too dark.

Queen Elizabeth Park

the gorge

male chimp

one of the many trees in the gorge

climbing a tree

game driving at dusk

spotted!

lazing around before the night hunt

Sunday morning we woke up early to go on a game drive. Our goal was to find elephants. We drove around for quite awhile not finding anything and finally Alisha and I spotted a group on the side of the road in the bushes. We watched them for a long time as they munched away. We could even get out of the vehicle and stand on the back to get a better view. It was amazing watching these massive creatures so close up. By the time they moved on it was mid-morning so we headed back to the lodge for lunch and a lazy afternoon by the pool. At 5pm we had scheduled a boat ride on the Kazinga channel. We spent the entire ride up on the roof getting an awesome view of the crocodiles, buffalo and a zillion hippos. We even got to see lion cubs up on the hillside and more giant elephants. The most amazing thing was seeing a fishing village located among these animals. There on the shore were two giant hippos grazing along with some buffalo. A few meters away some men were gathered near their boats. Not far away the elephants were grazing and just down the channel we had seen the lions. Quite a risky place to live. The guide mentioned that an 11-year old boy had just recently been killed by wild animals. Hippos kill more humans than any other animal, mostly because they will attack fishing boats. Despite their reputation, they are my favorite animal and I loved being able to see so many in and out of the water.

my room

on the boat

can you spot the lion cub?

hippos in the village

elephant in the village

Since we had seen so many animals, we didn't think it was necessary to do another game drive on Monday morning so we had a lazy breakfast and then headed back to the Timothy Center. Going to a game park, you are not guaranteed to see all the animals. The fact that we were able to see chimps, lions, a leopard and so many elephants was really amazing.