We got to spend Tibbs Eve visiting with family in Amsterdam, Christmas Eve in Vienna and Christmas Day in Addis Ababa. Even Santa would be impressed by our ability to get around the world so quickly.
The rock churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia
Guest post by Cheryl Williams I got to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the night before Steph. Steph was coming from Kenya. When she arrived at the airport I was there with the hotel transport to pick her up.…
A Gow Girl in Glasgow
Marieke & Jon December 2019: We arrived in Glasgow the day prior to the start of Martha and Gavin’s wedding festivities. Our hostel was coincidentally in the same area of the city where my parents lived in the early 1970s.…
The start of our European / African Adventure
Jon & Marieke : Trip start date December 15 2019 It took until 2am to finish negotiating what we absolutely needed for our trip and what could be left behind. We had to pack for December cold in Toronto, February…
Finally, the end of rainy season- Kisumu, Kenya
After two matutu (minibus), one boda boda (motorbike), and another matutu ride, 7 hours after I left Mbale, I arrived in Kisumu. I walked to the de-facto hostel which was really a hotel that was reasonably priced, in a good…
Sipi Falls and Mbale
After a week in Jinja, I was rested and recovered and ready to move on. Of course, a 3 hour road journey ended up taking 7, but I arrived in Sipi Falls before dark, giving me time to set up…
Jinja- source of the Nile
Jinja is Uganda’s third largest city, but after Kampala, felt really small. Which was kind of nice, particularly for running errands. In Kampala, we had struggled to do errands (other than the great thrift shopping), but here we easily found…
In which my bed bugs turn into Bilharzia- Queen Elizabeth National Park and Kampala
From Lake Bunyoni, we caught a boat ride, taxi, bus and matatu (shared minivan) to arrive in Katunguru, a small town sitting at the entrance to Queen Elizabeth National Park. As soon as we got off the matatu we were…
Shivering on Lake Bunyoni- Uganda
As I drank my fifth cup of tea for the day, I realized it was only just after noon. I had slept in til nearly 8am, a result of the one hour later sunrise in Uganda, the pouring rain and…
The muddiest hike of my life- Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda
After a few days of hiking on the Congo Nile Trail, Kersten and I decided we were ready to tackle Besote Volcano, one of the peaks in Rwanda’s Volcano National Park. Our real goal was to hopefully see the gorillas…