elephant - ilivetotravel's travel log

As I think of 2013, I recall the many neat experiences at home and away. Looking through my photos is a great way to bring back the memories. I’d thought I’d share with you some of my most memorable moments from 2013 via photos – some of which have been shared before in other posts and some have not – in no particular order. Hope you like them!

#1 When I first saw Mt. Kilimanjaro

Not necessarily a great photo from a technique standpoint but pretty “momentous”. I landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport around midnight. When I woke up the next day at my hotel, someone told me that if I went outside to the local road, I could see Kilimanjaro, which I was about to climb. Neat to see it but even neater to run into two little locals on their way to school! A moment I will always treasure.

#2 At Uhuru Peak in Mt. Kilimanjaro

I have shared a lot of pictures I love through my prior posts about hiking Kilimanjaro (start with the Day 1 summary if you want to see them all!). So to keep this post manageable, to go along with my first sighting of the mountain in #1, I’d thought I’d then include me by the new sign at Uhuru Peak (the highest point in Mt. Kilimanjaro). This photo is special as I brought my family along for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure!

#3 Ancient ruins

I shared this photo in an earlier post about my visit to Jerash, Jordan but it remains one of my favorite pictures for the year so it deserves inclusion here. Seeing Jerash – a complete unknown to me until that point – was a great discovery in 2013.

Columns, temple, artemis, jerash, jordan, history, roman ruins, travel, photo

Beautiful columns in the Temple of Artemis

#4 Monumental Petra

Everyone has seen the same picture of the Treasury in Petra and that is because there is not much space to back away from it. But there are plenty of other angles to photograph this incredible “carving”. This is one of my favorites. I had been to Petra before but seeing how well this photo turned out back at home made me happy!

#5 Twins?

While touring Jordan, after a long day at Petra, the group went out for dinner. Yes, we were all a little tired. One of our fellow travelers pointed out how our guide and I were not only dressed alike but were in the same pose – and snap! the picture was taken. We were laughing when we realized this was all true and the photo captured that moment so well!

#6 Kid in Mt. Nebo

Exploring Jordan was incredible: lots of history, incredible nature, etc. But the people is what really made the difference: warm and friendly and the smile on this kid’s face captures well how we were made to feel welcome by everyone.

#7 Food, food, food

I summarized my year in food and drinks in an earlier post but this plate deserves inclusion here. It is from a lunch I had in Mardaba, Jordan but I’ve enjoyed great food this year from Manila to Miami, from Jordan to Minneapolis, from Washington, D.C. to Mt. Kilimanjaro! Oh, and don’t forget Tampa and Atlanta!

#8 DragonCon’s parade in Atlanta

DragonCon is an interesting event held in Atlanta every year. I went with friends to see the parade and enjoyed seeing all the characters that walked along. This is one of my favorite pictures from that parade (others here).

#9, 10 and 11 Africa and the great outdoors!

In addition to hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro, my Tanzania experience included doing a safari the right way (4 days, not just a one drive in-and-out as I had done a few years before due to limited time while on a business trip). These images capture well my favorite moments from that experience!

#12 An amazing construction scene

Driving around the neighborhood next to mine in Atlanta, I ran into this scene! What an incredible sight. The house was being lifted so it can sit higher on the ground due to being in a flood plain.

#13 Stormy sky in Atlanta

My hometown provided another of the most memorable photos I took on 2013: stormy skies over Buckhead.

#14 and 15 Pictures of this traveler

During my trip to Jordan, a few pictures of me were taken by fellow travelers. I like these two (which clearly were taken on the same day…) in particular because they show how happy I was at the time. The second one has me with my faithful companion: no, not the donkey but my camera!

#16 Sunset over the Dead Sea with a couple of love birds

To close this post, I will re-share one of my favorite photos ever from 2013 taken by me as the sun set over the Dead Sea from our hotel in Jordan (the Movenpick resort – awesome). I was lucky these two birds were waiting for me on that palm tree to capture the moment!

sunset, Jordan, Dead Sea, birds, palm tree, golden, travel, photo, Olympus

Is this a sunset scene or what??!!

I hope 2014 brings you many memorable moments, whether you capture them on a photo or not!

The Serengeti is the epitome of the national park offering what we call a safari experience (“safari” actually means “journey” in Swahili). Its vast expanse and, of course, the natural beauty and wildlife offer a very unique experience to us who don’t love in remote areas of Africa. I had done a one day in-and-out visit to this incredible site a few years ago. Work activities only permitted that one day. I KNEW I had to go back someday….

That opportunity came on the trip I made to Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. After 7 days of working the mountain and a few days of working with a local orphanage with Trekking for Kids, 13 of us from the climbing group devoted 4 days to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, and the Serengeti. Oh, and a visit to a Masai village!

These parks are very different from each other, even if some of the wildlife is the same. If you do this circuit, start with Lake Manyara. Leave Ngorongoro and the Serengeti for after it. We used Zara Tours who had also been the operator Trekking fro Kids had chosen for the Kili hike.

Here is an overview of our visit and some pictures. Clearly I have too many pictures and many are very good so to not overload you here, I will continue posting those over time in different posts be it photos of the week or photo essays. Keep checking in!

Where we stayed

Due to the route we were taking, we stated at two different places: the Highview Hotel Karatu on our first and fourth night, and the Ikoma Tented Camp the middle two nights. Two very different experiences and worthwhile in their own way. The best part: both offered good views of neighboring areas – and both sold wine and beer, something we were ready to partake in since we were eager to celebrate our climb of Kili.

The Highview Hotel, offered more standard hotel rooms which was nice from a normalcy standpoint. Of course, being in Africa, A/C is not a common amenity and this hotel was no exception but the building does sit high on a mountainside so there was a little more chance for a breeze. You could sit in the hallway which was one large, open porch and view the land around the hotel. Or you could go downhill to the hotel main building and sit there, sipping a glass of wine (likely South African) and watching the sky’s colors change. When our last day of safari ended, we loved getting back to the hotel to jump in the pool which, oddly, was very cold!

hotel, tanzania, highview, karatu, serengeti, ngorongoro, vista, view, safari, zara tours

Headed up to the rooms at Highview Hotel Karatu

The Ikoma Tented Camp was a great place to stay right outside the northern boundary of the Serengeti The advantage of staying here is the proximity to the park (less time driving). The camp’s tents are not small thing: our tent had two full-sized beds with plenty of room around us to spare. Each tent also had its own bathroom which though not luxurious were the size of a normal bathroom

hotel, tanzania, highview, karatu, serengeti, ngorongoro, vista, view, safari, zara tours, ikoma, camp, tents

Our tent. Zippered windows and doorway to help keep critters out

The restaurant was perched on top of a small hill, offering EXCELLENT sunrise and sunset views over the plains of the Serengeti. See for yourselves!

Ikoma, tent, camp, Serengeti, safari, sunrise, vista, view, Olympus, photo, tanzania

Sunrise view over the Serengeti from the restaurant

Ikoma, tented camp, Serengeti, sunset, safari, sunrise, photo, Canon EOS Rebel, Tanzania

Sunset view

You can stay in lodges inside the Serengeti too (if you want to dish out a lot more money) and that may be convenient but I have nothing but good things to say about where we stayed!

Wildlife watching

Of course, the reason you came here was, first and foremost, animals! So let me share a little on that… First, let’s debunk that you have to be up at the crack of dawn. Yes, less people out and about and yes, the animals don’t like the heat of the early afternoon. However, we managed to see lion kills and all the animals we wanted to see without an absurd wake-up time. Now, if you want to maximize how many hours of daylight you spend out there, then yes, wake up really early. While having a lot of vehicles can be a nuisance at peak times, it also helps your driver pinpoint where there may be something interesting as there are more driver-eyes looking out for things!

We saw everything… Here are some of my favorite shots.

Safari, Serengeti, Tanzania, wildlife, animls, zebra, outdoors, nature, photo, Canon EOS Rebel

Double the pleasure; butt shot

Safari, Serengeti, Tanzania, wildlife, animls, giraffe, outdoors, nature, photo,, Olympus, camera

So majestic whenever we saw them

Safari, Serengeti, Tanzania, wildlife, animls, wildebeest, gnu, outdoors, nature, photo, Canon EOS Rebel

A former wildebeest (aka gnu) left up in a tree by a cheetah

Safari, Serengeti, Tanzania, wildlife, animls, hippo, outdoors, nature, photo, Canon EOS Rebel

Hungry hippos nesting on each other. More on this scene in a future post as an “event” happened…

Safari, Serengeti, Tanzania, wildlife, animls,lions, acacia, outdoors, nature, photo, Canon EOS Rebel

Lions resting before or after a kill. One of my favorite pix

Safari, Serengeti, Tanzania, wildlife, animls, giraffe, outdoors, nature, photo, Olymmpus

There is other entertaining stuff going on besides the wildlife!

Safari, Serengeti, Tanzania, wildlife, animls, elephant, school, outdoors, nature, photo, Canon EOS Rebel, acacia

One of my favorite scenes: a school of elephants grabbing a shady spot!

But that’s not all…

OK, the lion kill I saw will go in another post as this one has become quite long. But I will leave you with two beautiful parting shots as we left the Serengeti one day… Breathtaking.