'Quick trip' to Africa proves to be a resounding success

'Quick trip' to Africa proves to be a resounding success

Wildlife viewing, stunning geography and unique people make
jaunt to Kenya

Christopher Clark, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, July 28, 2007

To be honest, like most people, I would not have thought of a
quick trip to Africa when planning for a vacation. By quick I
mean eight days with my feet actually on African soil. Add three
days to get there and back and you have 11 days away.

My two other trips to Africa were both a month in duration. So,
I will admit that I viewed this as a bit of an experiment to see
if the long travel time between Vancouver and Africa would be
outweighed by my experiences. Most of the people I mentioned
this trip to determined that I was a bit crazy. No one is used
to hearing the words quick and Africa in the same sentence. It
was pointed out to me that a more proper use of the term would
be to say "I am off for a quick trip to Kelowna."

Well I just recently returned from my "quick trip" to Africa and
I am glad to say that it was a resounding success. One of the
keys to making this short long-distance holiday work was finding
an itinerary that covered many places that were not too far
apart. The other was selecting Kenya.

Article continues at:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...9-38c4d3832b52

[Had to laugh at, "Kenya is an amazing little country ..." Guess
the guy hasn't looked at a map. Besides, I don't agree with him.
I've tried different safari durations and invariably liked the
longer ones more. Nothing shorter than two weeks ... Hans-Georg]
--
No mail, please.

In message , Hans-Georg
Michna writes
'Quick trip' to Africa proves to be a resounding success

Wildlife viewing, stunning geography and unique people make
jaunt to Kenya

Christopher Clark, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, July 28, 2007

To be honest, like most people, I would not have thought of a
quick trip to Africa when planning for a vacation. By quick I
mean eight days with my feet actually on African soil. Add three
days to get there and back and you have 11 days away.

My two other trips to Africa were both a month in duration. So,
I will admit that I viewed this as a bit of an experiment to see
if the long travel time between Vancouver and Africa would be
outweighed by my experiences. Most of the people I mentioned
this trip to determined that I was a bit crazy. No one is used
to hearing the words quick and Africa in the same sentence. It
was pointed out to me that a more proper use of the term would
be to say "I am off for a quick trip to Kelowna."

Well I just recently returned from my "quick trip" to Africa and
I am glad to say that it was a resounding success. One of the
keys to making this short long-distance holiday work was finding
an itinerary that covered many places that were not too far
apart. The other was selecting Kenya.

Article continues at:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...id=0c75df8b-0c
24-43af-b039-38c4d3832b52

[Had to laugh at, "Kenya is an amazing little country ..." Guess
the guy hasn't looked at a map. Besides, I don't agree with him.
I've tried different safari durations and invariably liked the
longer ones more. Nothing shorter than two weeks ... Hans-Georg]
Hans Georg,
I couldn`t go to Kenya for less than two, or better still, three weeks
to Kenya! Over the years I have met people on aeroplanes who were
going out on business for a week, this is a different thing entirely.
On a different note, I read today in the Daily Telegraph Travel section
that crime in South Africa is so bad that people are going to Kenya,
Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia instead, the correspondent said that Kenya
relies on safaris whereas South Africa has much more. In fact Kenya has
so much diversity, such as lakes, mountain, coast, as well as safari
destinations.
Pat.
--
Pat Anderson

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:39:27 +0200, Hans-Georg Michna
wrote:

'Quick trip' to Africa proves to be a resounding success

Wildlife viewing, stunning geography and unique people make
jaunt to Kenya

Christopher Clark, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, July 28, 2007

To be honest, like most people, I would not have thought of a
quick trip to Africa when planning for a vacation. By quick I
mean eight days with my feet actually on African soil. Add three
days to get there and back and you have 11 days away.

My two other trips to Africa were both a month in duration. So,
I will admit that I viewed this as a bit of an experiment to see
if the long travel time between Vancouver and Africa would be
outweighed by my experiences. Most of the people I mentioned
this trip to determined that I was a bit crazy. No one is used
to hearing the words quick and Africa in the same sentence. It
was pointed out to me that a more proper use of the term would
be to say "I am off for a quick trip to Kelowna."

Well I just recently returned from my "quick trip" to Africa and
I am glad to say that it was a resounding success. One of the
keys to making this short long-distance holiday work was finding
an itinerary that covered many places that were not too far
apart. The other was selecting Kenya.

Article continues at:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...9-38c4d3832b52

[Had to laugh at, "Kenya is an amazing little country ..." Guess
the guy hasn't looked at a map. Besides, I don't agree with him.
I've tried different safari durations and invariably liked the
longer ones more. Nothing shorter than two weeks ... Hans-Georg]

Well, he is from Canada. Remeber Kenya is smaller than British
Columbia, the writer's home province. In fact most of Canada's
provinces and territories are larger than Kenya.

GK

"Pat Anderson" wrote in message
...
In message , Hans-Georg Michna
writes
'Quick trip' to Africa proves to be a resounding success

Wildlife viewing, stunning geography and unique people make
jaunt to Kenya

Christopher Clark, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, July 28, 2007

To be honest, like most people, I would not have thought of a
quick trip to Africa when planning for a vacation. By quick I
mean eight days with my feet actually on African soil. Add three
days to get there and back and you have 11 days away.

My two other trips to Africa were both a month in duration. So,
I will admit that I viewed this as a bit of an experiment to see
if the long travel time between Vancouver and Africa would be
outweighed by my experiences. Most of the people I mentioned
this trip to determined that I was a bit crazy. No one is used
to hearing the words quick and Africa in the same sentence. It
was pointed out to me that a more proper use of the term would
be to say "I am off for a quick trip to Kelowna."

Well I just recently returned from my "quick trip" to Africa and
I am glad to say that it was a resounding success. One of the
keys to making this short long-distance holiday work was finding
an itinerary that covered many places that were not too far
apart. The other was selecting Kenya.

Article continues at:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...id=0c75df8b-0c
24-43af-b039-38c4d3832b52

[Had to laugh at, "Kenya is an amazing little country ..." Guess
the guy hasn't looked at a map. Besides, I don't agree with him.
I've tried different safari durations and invariably liked the
longer ones more. Nothing shorter than two weeks ... Hans-Georg]
Hans Georg,
I couldn`t go to Kenya for less than two, or better still, three weeks to
Kenya! Over the years I have met people on aeroplanes who were going out
on business for a week, this is a different thing entirely.
On a different note, I read today in the Daily Telegraph Travel section
that crime in South Africa is so bad that people are going to Kenya,
Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia instead, the correspondent said that Kenya
relies on safaris whereas South Africa has much more. In fact Kenya has so
much diversity, such as lakes, mountain, coast, as well as safari
destinations.
Pat.
--
Pat Anderson

hi Pat...all my elderly relatives who were ex-pts in kenya in the 1960's but
now living back in the Uk are very concerned for me to visit Kenya on
account of how dangerous it is for tourists ( more specifically, Nairobi).
Im pretty savvy about being street smart ( ie dont walk around with
expensive gear,cameras,jewellery,watches, follow the crowds,use cabs etc),
so im not overly afraid, but I have heard that Nairobi is almost absloutley
a no-go area after dark.

how true is this?

Thanks :-)



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

In message
Hans-Georg Michna
wrote:

'Quick trip' to Africa proves to be a resounding success

Well I just recently returned from my "quick trip" to Africa and
I am glad to say that it was a resounding success. One of the
keys to making this short long-distance holiday work was finding
an itinerary that covered many places that were not too far
apart. The other was selecting Kenya.

Besides, I don't agree with him.
I've tried different safari durations and invariably liked the
longer ones more. Nothing shorter than two weeks ... Hans-Georg]

While, obviously, the longer you can spend on safari the better, there
are companies who do 'long weekends' in Kenya, i.e. going out after
work on Thursday and returning late on Monday, though that's from the
UK: nightmare to have the much longer flights from Vancouver. (Don't
ask *which* companies: it wasn't info I felt useful to store in my
tiny brain.)
I haven't seen this year's Kuoni brochure, but their safaris start at
four days, though you would normally be spending up to 9 days at the
coast afterwards. This is for people who either don't know if they'd
like safari, or can't afford a longer one (beach is cheaper).
Just back myself from Uganda, where I heard that it's not unheard of
for people to fly out, drive to Bwindi in a day (nightmare) do a
gorilla trek, drive back to Entebbe the next day (or sometimes they
stay one more day at Bwindi) then home again. "What will we do next
weekend?"
(Interesting the author came from Vancouver. As well as safaris, I do
a city break each October with my sister, who isn't interested in
wildlife. Vancouver was top favourite with me for this year, but the
combination of the high likelihood of wet weather and the long flights
(just from UK) were putting me off, so when she found an excellent
'deal' to Boston ...)

Slainte

Liz


--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos

In message , Liz Leyden
writes
In message
Hans-Georg Michna
wrote:

'Quick trip' to Africa proves to be a resounding success

Well I just recently returned from my "quick trip" to Africa and
I am glad to say that it was a resounding success. One of the
keys to making this short long-distance holiday work was finding
an itinerary that covered many places that were not too far
apart. The other was selecting Kenya.

Besides, I don't agree with him.
I've tried different safari durations and invariably liked the
longer ones more. Nothing shorter than two weeks ... Hans-Georg]

While, obviously, the longer you can spend on safari the better, there
are companies who do 'long weekends' in Kenya, i.e. going out after
work on Thursday and returning late on Monday, though that's from the
UK: nightmare to have the much longer flights from Vancouver. (Don't
ask *which* companies: it wasn't info I felt useful to store in my
tiny brain.)
I haven't seen this year's Kuoni brochure, but their safaris start at
four days, though you would normally be spending up to 9 days at the
coast afterwards. This is for people who either don't know if they'd
like safari, or can't afford a longer one (beach is cheaper).
Just back myself from Uganda, where I heard that it's not unheard of
for people to fly out, drive to Bwindi in a day (nightmare) do a
gorilla trek, drive back to Entebbe the next day (or sometimes they
stay one more day at Bwindi) then home again. "What will we do next
weekend?"
(Interesting the author came from Vancouver. As well as safaris, I do
a city break each October with my sister, who isn't interested in
wildlife. Vancouver was top favourite with me for this year, but the
combination of the high likelihood of wet weather and the long flights
(just from UK) were putting me off, so when she found an excellent
'deal' to Boston ...)

Slainte

Liz


Hi Liz,
you are just back from Uganda? Tell us where you went, what you did,
have you been before? I`m interested to hear your safari story!
Pat.
--
Pat Anderson

In message
Pat Anderson wrote:

In message , Liz Leyden
writes

Just back myself from Uganda, where I heard that it's not unheard of
for people to fly out, drive to Bwindi in a day (nightmare) do a
gorilla trek, drive back to Entebbe the next day (or sometimes they
stay one more day at Bwindi) then home again. "What will we do next
weekend?"

Hi Liz,
you are just back from Uganda? Tell us where you went, what you did,
have you been before? I`m interested to hear your safari story!
Pat.

All in good time!
First trip to Uganda.
First impressions are just what people here have said befo
Ugandans very friendly and not hassling, like often in Kenya.
Not so many animals in the parks (QENP has an ongoing problem with
displaced people (specifically, allegedly, Rwandan refugees) shooting
lions and hyaenas etc, even in the past week).
Much greener/lusher overall than Kenya/Tz in July: they say a walking
stick stuck in the ground would sprout roots overnight. A country made
poor by a dictator. :-(
I went specifically for the gorillas, chimps and my No 1 wish bird,
the Shoebill and saw all three. Gorilla trek nearly killed me, I'm so
unfit! Discovered that tea grown in Bwindi sells for 125USh, about 5p,
per kg, and the pickers have to be paid out of this. Renewed my
commitment to being a Fair Trader.
Not successful photographically, because apart from the first two and
last two days it varied from bland heavy grey overcast to bland light
grey overcast. In the forests, bright light would have led to heavy
shadows anyway, and the enormous difference between dark and light
caused me all sorts of problems with the gorillas. We saw and heard
chimps, but in a really dark piece of forest. Flash not allowed with
the gorillas or chimps.
It was officially a group bird trip, a bit too birdy for me, really,
in that it was often running up a list of species seen at the top of
the forest through telescopes. The one time we saw elephants in nice
light, drinking and bathing, *no one else was interested* (how weird
is that?), so we didn't go closer, and I didn't get pics! That's the
compromise when you have to go on group trips and are limited to July:
just have to take what's going. :-(
I'll put info on my website and will post here when it's done. Could
take some time (weeks, not days), as I shot mostly in RAW (don't know
why I bothered!) which will take ages to process. Am transferring
images s-l-o-w-l-y - via CF cards as I can't find the cable - between
my P-2000 and the pc as I type this!

Slainte

Liz


--
http://www.v-liz.com - Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Galapagos

*snip*

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/n...9-38c4d3832b52

[Had to laugh at, "Kenya is an amazing little country ..." Guess
the guy hasn't looked at a map. Besides, I don't agree with him.
I've tried different safari durations and invariably liked the
longer ones more. Nothing shorter than two weeks ... Hans-Georg]


Well, if you come from the US, Canada, Australia or China, then Kenya is a
little country

And in the US they don't have that many days to spent, unfortunaly.

Corné.

www.amukela.com

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 18:14:50 GMT, grant kinsley wrote:

On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 14:39:27 +0200, Hans-Georg Michna
wrote:

[Had to laugh at, "Kenya is an amazing little country ..." Guess
the guy hasn't looked at a map. [...] ... Hans-Georg]

Well, he is from Canada. Remeber Kenya is smaller than British
Columbia, the writer's home province. In fact most of Canada's
provinces and territories are larger than Kenya.

OK, that explains it. Canada has a lot of space.

Living in Germany, "little country" struck me as off the mark,
because then Germany would be a "tiny country". Kenya has some
580,000 km² against Germany's 357,000 km², even after
reunification. I'm envious of Canada's almost-a-million km².
(Data taken from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...tories_by_area
)

Hans-Georg
--
No mail, please.

Hans-Georg Michna schreef:
[Had to laugh at, "Kenya is an amazing little country ..." Guess
the guy hasn't looked at a map. [...] ... Hans-Georg]
Well, he is from Canada. Remeber Kenya is smaller than British
Columbia, the writer's home province. In fact most of Canada's
provinces and territories are larger than Kenya.
Living in Germany, "little country" struck me as off the mark,
because then Germany would be a "tiny country". Kenya has some
580,000 km² against Germany's 357,000 km², even after
reunification. I'm envious of Canada's almost-a-million km².

I just got back from BIG Africa to my own VERY TINY country (Holland) of
just over 40.000km²......

Regards,
Hans