Selous Impala

Elly - February 1st

Our holiday starts today in a special way. To avoid missing our connecting flight in Zürich, we have decided to have stop over, and spent the night at Elly's, Petra's sister who lives nearby. The connection only had 1:10 hour in between and there is only one flight a day to Dar Es Salaam.

It was a good choice and we had a very nice family evening!

To Tanzania - February 2nd

In the morning Elly brings us to Kloten, the International Airport of Zürich. The Dutch (!) ground stewardess checks and confirms our luggage is already on board the plane. As planned, and without any delay, we fly, with a short stop-over in Nairobi, from Zürich to Dar Es Salaam.

After purchasing the visa ($50 pp) we can pass immigration. The luggage arrives shortly after. Outside Samuel is already waiting for us to take us to the Slipway Hotel.

It's too late to have dinner (~11:00 at night), so we decide to go to sleep.

Selous Impala - February 3rd

At 5:45 the alarm wakes us up. A quick shower, grab all our stuff and off we are. It's 06:30, so breakfast isn't prepared yet. We grab some bits that are available and head for the domestic side of the airport. We arrive at 07:00. Why soo early? The plane is scheduled to leave at 08:30 only?!

Due to the late arrival of an international flight, carrying some passengers booked on our plane, we leave even later: 09:15.

On the landing strip in Selous Game Reserve our guide for the week - Gerard - is already waiting for us. A 1.5 hours Game Drive takes us to the Camp. Baboons, Impala, Antelope and Giraffe have been spotted before we arrive.

We are welcomed by Andrea, after which we are taken to our tent: #7, the 'family tent' (2 tents on one platform). Our neighboring tent is empty, hopefully it will stay empty. We have a splendid view on a bend in the river. Buffalo's on the riverbed. Black Faced Vervet Monkeys in the trees around us ... and on our veranda. Woodpeckers everywhere. Etc etc.

Hyena and Elephant - February 4th

The 1st full day of Game Driving has started. Fairly quickly we see the usual suspects. Curious Giraffe, grazing Impala and many Birds. We spend a lot of time looking for Lions, but aren't to be found yet. Gerard heard the laughing a while ago, and now we found them: 4 Spotted Hyena's in the scrubs next to the road in a cooling mud pool.

The Bush Breakfast was delicious, with a great view on the lake/river.

The Elephant tracks Gerard showed several times, but what about the animals making them? We follow the tracks, and the path gets more and more muddy. Too muddy actually. We try another route. Yes!! 17 Elephants. Including a 2-3 weeks old baby. Gerard pushes the Land Rover further and further in the mud so we can see them better.

They are across a small pool and are either being lazy (lying down!) or playing in the water (the baby). What a perfect picture.

Hmmm. I wonder how we will get out of this mud now? Very simply, just push the Land Rover forward, through the bush! Not easy, but it works.

On our way back Petra notice a Jeep standing still and an Hyena with something in its mouth. Yep. It's caught an Impala. A very nice morning. Time for lunch.

Hunting for Lions! Gerard races from spot to spot. Talks to all Jeeps we encounter ('all' ... we encounter 3 all that afternoon). They have heard Lions at the neighboring Camp last night, so they must be close.

Finally we find them. A mom and 3 brothers and a sister. They are part of a local pride that is not often seen. Just when we want to return to the Camp, they get up and start walking. We follow them slowly through the bush. What a day!

// Gerard explains many many things about the Lions, including the fact that the local pride at Impala has very small cubs .... and hence hides well. //

// "Gerard?" "What are those black faced monkeys called?" "That is exactly what they are called .. Black Faced [Vervet] Monkeys". //

Walking Safari - February 5th

Barbara explained it upfront, to avoid disappointment: "If you are lucky you may see something, but a Walking Safari is all about small stuff that you normally don't see when you are in a Jeep".

After some sculls, tracks and poo, we hear something creacking. Oh boy, 4 Giraffe in front of us. Surrounded by a bunch of Impala (small stuff .. right). A little further, bending over some Buffalo droppings Petra all of a sudden says: "Elephants!!".

The Ranger (who accompanied us) arms his riffle and moves in front of us. Gerard directs us backwards, away into the bush - out of the wind. Who expected this. 5 Big Elephants!

We continue the walking safari and see more Giraffe and Antelope. Even a few Warthogs. Wow. "You are soo lucky" Gerard says. And he is very right about that! It's like walking through a Fairy Tale.

Another brilliant Bush Breakfast is waiting for us.

We continue the morning with a Boat Safari. We see 4 Buffalo's (bachelors), Elephants crossing the river and of course Crocodiles and a few King Fishers. When we arrive at Bird Island we see several kinds of Herons. Open Beak Storks. And Darts (kind of Cormorant). On the way back again a crossing group of Elephants. Man, doesn't it stop!

It is getting very hot in the boat (it's the hottest time of the year), hope not to get a sunburn. Back at the Camp: Shower and Lunch. It's noon.

Hunting for Leopard! Jack (the "he" form the English couple that joined us on the Jeep) goes fishing, so it is just the 3 of us. Everybody heads out to look for elusive Leopard. "Exiting news" Gerard says, "The dogs have been spotted!" .. "It's quite far". No problem. Step on it!

En route we see the same Lions again (man, what is mom skinny). And we see Zebra?! We thought they weren't around this time of the year in this part of the park. Yesterday we were at this same place and didn't see any?! Another day is another day it seems. Finally. The African Painted Dogs! "Everybody" is here. Even the Camp Manager Barbara. As well as Lake Manze (as far away as our Camp in opposite direction). 4 - 5 Jeeps in total.

What a pleasant surprise. And are they gorgeous! We are soo lucky to see them again :-)

On our way back Gerard sees a male Hippo out of the water (they graze outside of the water during the night). He spots us and opens his big mouth, showing his big tooth/tasks! And charges! Man ... very exiting (screaming girls on the Jeep).

No Leopard .. but what a fantastic day!

Lake Manze - February 6th

Gerard planned to head in the direction of Lake Manze today to show us a different landscape. Looking left and right off the road we drive Manze direction. All of a sudden an Elephant crosses in front of us, loud trumpeting. "Gerard's favorite animal" so we we try to get a little closer to the herd. Gerard keeps the Jeep out of the wind so we can get close. They are in dens bushes. Incredible how such a huge animal can disappear and appear in and out of it!

Once at Lake Manze we find 3 Lions. Big lads. Three brothers with obviously a full belly.

We have our bush breakfast not to far away from the Lions, where Gerard shows us a little Green Snake.

On our way back we see quite a lot of Vultures. From where they are we think they have been finishing the kill of Wild Dogs we saw yesterday. A little further we notice a few (3) Jeeps. We coming close we see they are watching some Lions. Four brothers and a Lady this time. So pretty to look at :-)

Before we move on we "push start" another Jeep with ours. Not the best spot to have you car break down, at an arms lenght of 5 Lions!

After snapping a few pics of the many Giraffe we see, we are back in the Camp for lunch.

Hunting for Leopard, part II! We are going to give it another try to spot the "Elusive one". Gerard gives it his best, but no Leopard. We do however see a group of beautiful Black and White Colobus Monkeys. They are very beautiful and quite rare. So we are lucky to see them.

Back at the Camp the path to our tent is blocked by the "local Hippo" Andrea. Two Masai and a few pebbles take care of that 'problem'. 

Elephants - February 7th

Today we start slowly. Jack and Zoe left yesterday, so nobody is waiting for us. .... Huh? The front row of the Land Rover is already taken? It's the elderly English couple that just arrived from Ruaha NP (Kwihala Lodge, 2 days of rain and long grass hiding the animals in Ruaha).

Gerard takes a strange turn. Where is he going? And than, we are in the middle of a herd of 30 Elephants! Despite having babies they are very relaxed and stroll just past our Jeep. Man!

After our last delicious bush breakfast at the lake side we hear "Leopard" on the radio. Let see what that's all about.

The Leopard has been seen for 2 sec and has moved on .. . Or has hided well. Another 50 meters further we bump into the next herd of Elephants. It is so nice to see them, again and again. Time to head back to the Camp. The Leopard can wait for this afternoon .... or a next time.

One more try! Gerard has been informed that a Leopard has been spotted close to Manze. It's an hour to get there and we only have from 16:00 to 19:00 this last afternoon. But, of course, we giver it a go. Gerard seems even more enthusiast than us and drives, as fast as he is allowed with guests on board, to the spot. The radio tells us Camp Manager Barbara is going there as well ... little later she overtakes us (man, they are going fast on the dirt road!).

 It doesn't take too much time to find the Leopard's kill, a male Impala. We wait for more than an hour and constantly hear the alarm calls of the birds around us. Gerard is sure the Leopard is here ... but we can't see her/him. We chase another Jeep away, pretending we are watching birds, in the hope the shy animal will show. We stretch it another 15 minutes .. but no, the Leopard doesn't appear. Gerard is even more disappointed than us .. it's been a while they spotted the Leopard. We had a fantastic Safari and will for sure return!

Let's hope Gerard can start his week off tomorrow so he can see his daughter Yvonne, 10 months old only.

Sad Day - February 8th

The day starts wonderfull, despite it is a sad day as we are leaving this wonderfull Selous Game Reserve today. Packing, the last breakfast and the bill (no shock at all!). The tip for the staff dropped in the Tip Box and off we go to the air strip.

The trip there is per boat, a nice twist. When we arrive I notice I still have the envelope with the tip of our waiter (Peter) in my pocket. I hand it over to Moshi, who accompanied us, and ask him to give it to Peter.

The Chessna arrives and off we go ... to Butiama Beach on Mafia Island.

Port Ghalib - Longimanus

Cross Mount - November 27th

The first thing to do when going on holiday is, as always, bringing our cats - Maja & Loeki - to their holiday address. As there regular stay is closed the month of November they now go to Cat Hotel "Cross Mount". The hotel looks quite and peaceful and our cats are at easy immediately.

All set to go to the "Schiphol" Hotel (Mercure) we booked to stay tonight, due to the early departure of the flight.

The room is good, so we can have a good night sleep. The next morning we have to catch the first shuttle at 6 o'clock.

Arke Fly - November 28th

It takes the shuttle only 5 min's to get us to the Terminal building, another 5 min's and it is our turn to check in - which is very smooth. To our surprise the diving luggage is free of charge.

The pre-ordered breakfasts taste okay. After a quick flight of 5 hrs we land at Marsa Alam International Airport, Egypt. The first holiday "stress" is as every year the Visa payments. A couple bought the Visa themselves, and not through the travel agent. They save themselves 9 Euro's, but create a lot af stress at the local staff, and obvisouly doesn't give them a stress free start of the holiday!

The hotel - The InterContinental The Palace Port Ghalib - is just few minutes drive from the Airport. We at first want to change rooms (due to a different bathroom), but quickly decide to stay in the initial offered room. The unpacking can begin. Petra seems to have forgotten to pack some items. Not nice, but little we can do about that now.

Dinner was very good, and to our surprise out side. As we didn't expected to still be able to dine outside so late in the year, we didn't pack anything warmer to wear.

Tomorrow we will have our first dive.

1st Dive - November 29th

After a long sleep and a brilliant breakfast we headed for the dive shop. "We are in your agenda" "Jos & Petra, yes you are". Checking in is quick and smooth. The 1st dive is going to be House Reef: InterContinental Jetty > CrownePlaza Jetty. A very nice and relaxed dive, as expected (and hoped) just with the two of us! No mask and buddy breathing hassle.

Lunch was jummy: Fish & Chips for me, Penne & Shrimp for Petra. This is how all holidays should be ... . This place is really good :-)

Jos: 61 [min] / 22.3 [m] | Petra: 61 [min / 20.6 [m]

No Dennis, no Snoet - November 30th

Petra wakes up not feeling well. Unfortunately she will have to skip this dive. She took 2 paracetamol and back to bed. So I am off to Marsa Abu Dabab by myself.

We are just a small group  Belgian couple, a German and a Dutch guy. I join the the last two with the guide. After 55 min's of staring at sand and sea grass we call it a day. As expected we saw the big Green Turtles and a Guitar Ray, but no Dugong. Also the Belgian couple wasn't lucky ... seems no Dugong today.

In de bus back to the hotel I sit next to the Belgian couple. They have been to Egypt now 22 times (!) and El Gouna is there favorite. Dolphins  dolphins  dolphins and with some luck a Leopard shark. They also had seen a Tiger Shark in Sharm a few years ago. Always nice to learn about other peoples adventures.

Jos: 55 [min] / 6.5 [m] | Petra: No Dive

PS: Dennis is the nickname of the local Dugong, Snoet is Petra's nickname.

House Reef - December 1st

Today a slow starting day with long breakfast before going to the dive shop. The plan is to do the House Reef. What part we haven't decided yet. At the dive shop we have a little chat with Kimo, one of guides we dived with last year. He advises us to do Crowne Plaza > Crowne Plaza. And so we do. They are out of Nitrox today (strange, maybe we should have announced our dive yesterday?), so take tank with regular air.

The House Reef is brilliant. We may not encounter any "special fish", but this house reef is soo beautiful, you can stay here for hours and hours and still enjoy it! I am sure we'll do another one.

Diving on regular air needs some attention. It has been a long time that we got so close to our none deco-time on regular dive .... being the 1st dive!

Jos: 63 [min] / 27.5 [m] | Petra: 62 [min] / 25.9 [m]

Lunch was again very good, but doesn't fall well for me. I have a strange tummy feeling all afternoon. Even at dinner it is still there. Hopefully I will be okay tomorrow as we booked to go to Elphinestone.

Weeronline is predicting a 10, and no wind. Hopefully the forecast is correct.

Longimanus - December 2nd

Yesterdays tummy ache didin't disappear, but light enough to give it a go. To our big surprise the boat is quite empty, only 9 divers (incl. us). Is there still a bus full coming from El Quseir? ..... No, we are leaving to Elphinestone! 

About 2 hrs later we are at the famous reef. We are hardly in the water when we see our first Longimanus (Oceanic White Tip Shark)! Having 360 logged dives each, and being at Elphinestone the 5th time, we now finally have the privilege to see it!! As current turns on us half way the dive, we drift back to the boat. Another 2 are cruising the area, giving us the opportunity to have a second, and better, look.

Back on the boat Petra learns these are actually very dangerous sharks (4th, after Great White, Tiger and Bull Shark). Oeps. maybe next time she will swim a little less fast towards them ..... (I doubt that).

Jos: 54 [min] / 29.0 [m] | Petra: 54 [min] / 25.3 [m]

The 2nd dive is much more relaxed as the, quite chaotic, 1st dive. We are dropped by the dingy and nice drift around the most beautiful reef of Egypt.

The dingy picks us up again and brings us back to the boat. Time for lunch. Strange ... only us two and one other diver ordered lunch?? As always, these boat lunches, after having done 2 dives, taste great.

Jos: 59 [min] / 27.1 [m] | Petra: 59 [min] / 23.8 [m]

The end of the fun part! The wind picks up and we have to return against the wind. Petra immediately gets seasick. The crew takes care of her very well - thanks guys!

Despite of the good care Petra concludes "never again on a boat!"*

The rest of the trip back is long and cold, and cold and long. Finally, back in Port Ghalib. Unfortunately my tummy picks up where it left this morning, and I have no appetite.

A brilliant day of diving ends a little in minor.

* Hardly 3 weeks home we booked to go back. Petra is confident we will go back to Elphinestone ... a few pictures and a move do miracles :-)

Seahorse - December 3rd

I hardly have any breakfast. Still no appetite. The tummy feels okay though. Today we go for Marsa Egla, the dive we last year - after Kimo's recommendation - skipped. To our surprise Marsa Egla seems to be the alternative "seacow" dive.

After an hours drive we stop, just pasted Brayka Bay Resort, at a busy bay. Seems more know about the seacow here. Next to the 3 Austrian/Swiss (?) divers that joined on the boat yesterday, we are also accompanied by a few novice divers and an older German diver. He is looking for a buddy (as he is alone) and we decide to go with the six of us.

But than, just when we enter the water, the Austrian/Swiss girl excuses her self: "we already dove with him" "he doesn't listen" "only does his own thing" "it is our last dive" "sorry ... bye". And of they went. Hmmm ... nice. Than old German guy mumbles something. He had torn his finstrap and had to return to other divers. Okay ... the two of us only than.

May may, what a lot of sand. And what a - for Egyptian understanding - bad viz. We find nothing, totally nothing! So after half an hour we head to the reef. What an excuse for reef. So we go back for another go to find a dugong .. or anything interesting. We come across the Austrian/Swiss team. The girl signals they have seen a Seahorse ... somewhere over there.

Not to long after, despite of its size and good camouflage, we find the Seahorse. Hé hé ... we finally saw something! Not long after we even find a 2nd Seahorse! Time is up, back to the shore.

Jos: 65 [min] / 15.2 [m] | Petra: 64 [min] / 14.9 [m]

At the beach we hear the - Dutch - group next to us talking excited about something big: a Dugong. We - as the rest of our group - seem to have just missed it. Pity, but we know .. it's an ocean, not a Zoo.

Scooter - December 4th

We have booked at 10:00 o'clock, so plenty of time for a long sleep and a good breakfast. When we arrive at the dive shop Mahmoud is already waiting for us. "Do you still know how it works?" Hmmm .... yes and no. The details of operating the underwater scooter are being explained. And, as last year, we do a little practice round in the shallow waters, just of the local beach.

And than, first slowly, but than faster and faster, we cruise by the InterContinental Jetty, the Crowne Plaza Jetty and beyond. What is the reef gorgeous! A hour and a bit later the last dive of this holiday, and with that the last dive of 2012, had ended. Definitely a fun dive to celebrate a good year of diving.

Jos: 67 [min] / 23.8 [m] | Petra: 67 [min] / 22.0 [m]

The afternoon passes like breeze. Time for Petra to go to the Six Sense Spa. An hour and half later she returns smiling and shining. It was soo good :-)

Temperature drop - December 5th

The last day of a very very nice holiday has started. We pack before breakfast,  so we can spend another few hours at the lovely beach. Lovely, Egyptian winter sun! The wheaterforecast predicted a drop from 29°C to 24°C, but luckily it doesn't seem to be correct.

Noon, time to step in the bus and start our trip back home. The further we go North the more cloudy it gets. During our short layover in Sharm El Sheikh it even rains!!! Five and a half hours later we touch ground in Amsterdam. The temperature is 30°C less than in Egypt .... and it is snowing!

Positano - 2012

To Positano

In the early morning packing the final items, hugging our cats (Maja&Loeki), giving them a lot of food and off to Bruxelles. At the airport all goes quite smooth, parking checking in, etc. Only eating is an issue, not much of our liking (we end up at Pizza Hut ... ).

Short, quick flight, which can't be said for the bagage handeling. It took forever. As the shuttle was late this actually didn't matter in the end (we quickly check with the B&B where we are staying - Villa Mary: "the will arrive at 16:30". Aha, they still had our initial flight details). On time it arrived. We were joined by a couple that headed for Sorento.

"To the left Vesuvio". "To the right Capri". Man, what a view!

After about one and a half hours we arrive in Positano, at B&B Villa Mary. A warm welcome and a beautiful room where waiting for us. We walk on the balcony to take in the view. Despite of it being late May it is cold in the South of Italy, and windy: did we bring the right clothes? Tiziana, the owner, arrives to give us a detailed explanation on Positano. Too much info, but all helpfull.

We are hungry, so we take the Positano "Highway" down to the center. The footpath brings us there in about 5 minutes. What a cute little town this is! After a nice salad and a pizza we return to our B&B.

At the local (in town stops only) busstops we see that it will take another 15 minutes before the bus arrives. We decide to walk (the ~300 steps up) back. Not bad, not bad at all, a good 10 minutes and we are back at B&B Villa Mary.
The 1st day has come to an end .... time to sleep.

 

Rain

The weather forecasts are bad, still the start of the day is quite fair. During our delicious breakfast the sun even tries to show her face. We decide to have a lazy first day, just strolling the streats of Positano.

After having browsed a few shops it starts to drip. During lunch, again at Caprice, we cuddle up under a nice and warm gas heater. Later, on our way back to the B&B the 'on the spot' purchased umbrella comes at handy. The jacuzzi in the room is a nice and warm welcome! Let's hope the rain will leave soon (wheather forecast say it will).

Just after six in the afternoon the rain stops and the sky clears up. We slowly stroll back to to the town center, explore another bit to left and right. Dinner we have again at Caprice (we know it sounds boring, and we normally also like to sample, but the food is good, the view is good, the atmosphere is good, the price is good ... and they have terras heaters!).

Tomorrow we will go to Amalfi or Capri - final decission at breakfast. Maja & Loeki both show up on our webcam, we can sleep w/o worry.

 

Capri

We decide to go to Capri. So we better hurry, as the boat is leaving in an hour. The weather is great, hopefully it stays like this! Despite of my running back to the room to get the sunlotion, we, just, catch the boat in time. The boat ride to Capri is nice, smooth with a beautiful view.

On arrival we ..... yes, what to do now? Hmmm ... La Grotta Azzurra is advertised as the main attracktion, so let's give it a go. To bad the harbour has just been floaded by Chinese (?) tourist .. all heading for the same Grotto. Anyway ... we go. On our boat we are joined by Japanese tourist we learn: and they are soo quiet. After having spent 26 euro to get to the Grotto, and another 25 to get in - on a little row boat - we feel a 'bit' ripped off when after 3 minutes we already depard the Grotto. It is blue, beautiful blue ..... but that (25.50 euro's a person) beautiful? Not really!

But the sun shines, the sky is blue, we're in Italy .. so who cares :-)

We take the funicolare to Capri and find it to be lovely and relaxed, with cute alleys, nice shops and breath taking views.

For lunch we decide to go to small restauran called "Aurora", an affordable good choice according our tour guide. When Petra returns from the toilet, and having seen the foto's of all the rich and famous that visited this restaurant on the walls, she asks: "Are you sure we can afford this?". We could, but just. So it was far from cheap. But okay, this is Capri, so what would you expect.

We stroll the nice little streets for an other few hours and take in many more breathtaking views before we return to Positano. Dinner at Caprice is the end of another lovely day!

 

Relax

About today there is not so much to tell as actually didn't do anything. Just relaxing at Positano beach and enjoying the nice weather. We didn't enter the sea as it was full of jellyfish. Another simple and good dinner at Caprice.

"We declined the suggestion from our B&B to try free pick-up to a restaurant up the hill. It is much too nice to be in Positano down town at the harbour and sit out side, rather than inside somewhere far away".

 

Ravello

What a nice thing to do: cruise the Amalfi Coast in a Smart. Conclusion: Positano is the loveliest town, but also Ravello is a 'must do' town, with nice parcs, gardens and - again - breathtaking views. It is unbelievable, but there isn't corner in the road nor a town along the coast that disappoints with respect to scenery. This corner of the world is truely a very beautiful corner!

"Half way stop at the Grotto Emeraldo. 2 x 5 euro, and again a small colourfull cave on a boat. At least this time the boatsmen made a show of it! The same boats man surprised us big time! "Where are you from?" "Maastricht, aha ... MVV" Where did he know such a small soccer club from? "I bed on them all the time, but always loose" Well, so do they"

 

Positano - Little beach

Today we plan to discover the other side of Positano. Just again a relaxed day strolling the streets and ending up at a beach bar on the other - small - beach of Positano. The prosciutto e melone is very good!

Petra finally made up her mind and bought a beautiful pair of earrings. We end the day with a lovely simple dinner .... by now you knowe where.

 

Back home

The last delicious breakfast. A quick stroll trough town. And off we go .... but we'll be back, some day.