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It was a birthday present in perpetuity and a bucket list item for my Mom. It was also a place I really wanted to see as well. It was Kenya. It started as an idea last year but unlike most of my big ideas, I actually saw it through. So after much research and deliberation, I surprised my mom on mothers day with the news that she was going to Africa with me! I especially want to thank Lloyd for helping me surprise my mom and let her go on this journey.

I used a local travel agent called The Safari Partners in Vancouver to plan the trip and they used a local tour company called African Horizons in Nairobi. Both were excellent and I would highly recommend either company. I booked a Kenyan 8 day tour with the Safari Partners starting and ending in Nairobi. I booked the flights on my own and the idea was to have a stopover in Zurich to break up the looooong flight over and to try and be somewhat fresh for the safari. The safari itself is what one calls a "comfort" safari. We are both past the stage of overland camping which I have done before. Accommodation would be in lodges and permanent tented camps. We would travel in a Toyota Landcruiser and the group would be small with a maximum size of 6. It could have been just the two of us though as we had no idea who are group would be. More on that later. But before we get to Africa we first had to get to Zurich.

Let the adventure begin...

Day 1:

We landed in Zurich and were staying at the transit hotel which is actually IN the airport. The idea was that it would be nice and convenient and wouldn't have to worry about trains or customs in the morning. Well just an FYI that I wouldn't really recommend staying overnight there. Because we landed in the morning, we had to pay the day rate and the overnight rate for the hotel. It ended up being about the same price as staying somewhere downtown. Plus the hotel was pretty bare bones. Two single beds and a sink. No view and only shared bathrooms down the hall. Felt more like a nice prison. Not exactly what I was expecting for over $300 CDN. At least it was clean, quiet and convenient.

After showering and cleaning up, we took the train into town. We bought City Passes which gave us train tickets plus discounts on attractions. We took advantage of a boat cruise and a walking tour. Boat cruise was meh but the walking tour was nice and we got to stretch our legs a little bit. By the end of the walking tour I was falling asleep and my mom was just as tired. We were also hungry. We didn't feel like wandering around for restaurants so picked one close by that was open. Plus it was still early and a lot of places were not open yet. It was a nice Italian place and the food was quite good and very welcome after a long day. Plus a beer and a glass of wine didn't hurt.

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DSCF1678 DSCF1703 DSCF1686 It was time to head back to the airport. So after taking a few more photos at the train station, we hopped on the train back to the airport. Once back at the hotel, I felt a bit of panic. My mom was mentioning something about malaria pills and I suddenly realized that I didn't have my travel vaccination book with me. Specifically my proof of yellow fever shot. Now my mind was racing on what to do. I had no idea if they would ask for it at the border. Technically you only need it travelling from yellow fever countries but who knows what they will ask coming into Africa. I knew exactly where the book was, it was sitting on my kitchen counter. For some reason, I had a brain fart and left it there. It's one of those things were you can stare right at something but it doesn't register what needs to be done. So after a few frantic phone calls and texts home, I was able to get a copy of my vaccination book emailed to me.  Thanks to everyone who helped out! I now had to hope that 1) they don't ask for it at the border and 2) if they do, they don't require the original document!

On to Africa!...