We're sad to see this adventure go but excited to be heading home; not ready yet for the real world but certainly happy to see family and friends and get back to comforts. And of course we can't wait to get Moe. This whole trip he's been a constant pull back home for both of us. We'll be happy to have a couple extra days off work to spend with Moe and get him used to the regular day to day as well.
As for the trip... its been an amazing adventure! Mike and I both find ourselves a little sad today as we pack and head out of England to Amsterdam where we fly tomorrow morning. We will be making the most of our last day by checking out Warwick Castle and making one last candy stop for good old English candy.
See you all soon. And don't worry, we're already talking about the next trip. Maybe not so long next time. We think we might actually vacation, like on a beach for numerous days at a time with a place that has warm showers and where we don't need to hike our packs around day after day. Hmmm...that would be an adventure in itself.
Lots of love to everyone at home.
Tracey & Mike
Friday 21 October 2011
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Quick mobile hello from England
We are just outside of London right now, staying in lovely little English town called Shipston. We are staying with some friends for a couple nights and then off to Amsterdam to fly home.
We were in London the last couple days and had a great time. I'm totally taken by England so far. No big surprise there... We haven't had the chance to see everything we wanted as London is just so HUGE. Not to worry, we'll be back!
Prior to London we were in Brussels for 4 days. We weren't too sure what to expect as you just don't hear that much from travellers about Brussels. Anyhow, we were absolutely taken by Brussels (at least I certainly was). It's a beautiful place with lots of fun things to do, good restaurants and bars and the city itself is really interesting. In the advise of a friend we headed out to Brugge which is an adorable little town about two hours train ride northwest of Brussels. If you ever find yourself in Brussels do the beer tour at www.thebeertour.com what a hoot that was!
Tomorrow we shall enjoy this beautiful small town we're staying in and venture out to check out Warwick Castle before we leave on Friday.
Not too sure if we will have a chance to post again before we leave so I'd not...its been fun. We've had an amazing adventure over the last many weeks and can't wait to show you pictures and tell you all about it. There are a lot more stories to tell.
Bye for now. See you in a few days...wow
Tracey & Mike
We were in London the last couple days and had a great time. I'm totally taken by England so far. No big surprise there... We haven't had the chance to see everything we wanted as London is just so HUGE. Not to worry, we'll be back!
Prior to London we were in Brussels for 4 days. We weren't too sure what to expect as you just don't hear that much from travellers about Brussels. Anyhow, we were absolutely taken by Brussels (at least I certainly was). It's a beautiful place with lots of fun things to do, good restaurants and bars and the city itself is really interesting. In the advise of a friend we headed out to Brugge which is an adorable little town about two hours train ride northwest of Brussels. If you ever find yourself in Brussels do the beer tour at www.thebeertour.com what a hoot that was!
Tomorrow we shall enjoy this beautiful small town we're staying in and venture out to check out Warwick Castle before we leave on Friday.
Not too sure if we will have a chance to post again before we leave so I'd not...its been fun. We've had an amazing adventure over the last many weeks and can't wait to show you pictures and tell you all about it. There are a lot more stories to tell.
Bye for now. See you in a few days...wow
Tracey & Mike
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Travel travel travel
We've just arrived back from Lake Kivu, where we were for the last few nights. It was a cute little place with a fantastic lake! The bus ride was about 3.5 hours and the country side is amazing! Although Africa, as Mike has said, has been a bit tough to travel it has been well worth it to see a part of the world that many people never get to see. Since we have been here we have been met with nothing but kindness and warmth. Anytime you come to somewhere so different than where you live the culture shock takes a few days to get over as does getting used to how difficult it is to do the simplest of tasks...here that's just life. As beautiful as places like Africa are it does remind me how truly lucky I am to live where I live and have everything I have.
On our bus ride home today from the lake there was plenty of time to think about our trip so far and the fact that it is quickly coming to an end. I found myself with a familiar feeling that I get near the end of a trip. I'm excited to be coming home soon and looking forward to the comforts of home and seeing all my loved family and friends. But I'm also feeling sad that this particular journey is almost over. It's amazing when you consider how much we've seen in a matter of 7ish weeks. It's pretty hard to go to so many places and not find a couple here and there that you don't fall in love with. That being said,when you really think about it traveling and seeing the world is not exactly about loving every single place you are in; it's about experiencing different places, foods, people and cultures and we've certainly been able to do that. I find at the end of any trip I find myself looking back on things (even not so pleasant things) with nothing but fond memories and a smile on my face that I was fortunate enough to have seen different parts of the world and been able to step outside of my everyday for a while and see how everyone else is living. It's an amazing experience and even in tougher times I find myself wanting to see more and more. Seeing the world isn't always easy and sometimes it damn near painful when you think about sleeping in tents, rolling into towns you don't know, talking to people you don't understand and who don't understand you, not being able to take money out, not being able to shower or use a "normal" toilet, not knowing what food you are ordering, etc. Its things like this that hold the stories and the memories and that is what makes it all worth it and makes you crave to do it again.
Anyhow, we've off to enjoy one more evening in Rwanda before we head to Brussels tomorrow evening. We are really looking forward to our upcoming adventure back home and will see you are shortly.
Tracey & Mike
On our bus ride home today from the lake there was plenty of time to think about our trip so far and the fact that it is quickly coming to an end. I found myself with a familiar feeling that I get near the end of a trip. I'm excited to be coming home soon and looking forward to the comforts of home and seeing all my loved family and friends. But I'm also feeling sad that this particular journey is almost over. It's amazing when you consider how much we've seen in a matter of 7ish weeks. It's pretty hard to go to so many places and not find a couple here and there that you don't fall in love with. That being said,when you really think about it traveling and seeing the world is not exactly about loving every single place you are in; it's about experiencing different places, foods, people and cultures and we've certainly been able to do that. I find at the end of any trip I find myself looking back on things (even not so pleasant things) with nothing but fond memories and a smile on my face that I was fortunate enough to have seen different parts of the world and been able to step outside of my everyday for a while and see how everyone else is living. It's an amazing experience and even in tougher times I find myself wanting to see more and more. Seeing the world isn't always easy and sometimes it damn near painful when you think about sleeping in tents, rolling into towns you don't know, talking to people you don't understand and who don't understand you, not being able to take money out, not being able to shower or use a "normal" toilet, not knowing what food you are ordering, etc. Its things like this that hold the stories and the memories and that is what makes it all worth it and makes you crave to do it again.
Anyhow, we've off to enjoy one more evening in Rwanda before we head to Brussels tomorrow evening. We are really looking forward to our upcoming adventure back home and will see you are shortly.
Tracey & Mike
Tuesday 11 October 2011
Gisenyi
We're up in Gisenyi now, a smaller town on Lake Kivu. It's a pretty nice little spot, and we're staying in a fairly nice resort in a little bungalow of our own near the beach. Food is pretty good, although there's a limited selection, and it's not particularly cheap. The place is about 8km out of town though, and costs $10 CAD each way in a taxi, so we're mostly just hanging out on the beach or at a table in the bar. Today we came into town, hence this posting from the internet cafe.
I think we're both pretty worn out right now, so we've decided to change up our plans a little bit. We booked a flight to Brussels for tomorrow, and we're going to spend our last week back in northern Europe. I think we'll spend a few days in Brussels, including my birthday, and then head to Paris for a few days. On the way, we're going to stop in Vimy to visit the Canadian WWI memorial. that's a place I've always wanted to see.
I've struggled a little with leaving Africa earlier than we had planned, but you have to roll with punches when you're traveling, and we are really low on energy right now. Everything around here takes so much work, and neither of us seems able to put in the necessary work any more. So, we saw a few things in Rwanda, including the genocide memorial sites that I was keen to see, and the lakefront town that Tracey was keen to visit. We were in Kigali for 3 full days, although really we only got out to *do* stuff on the 3rd. The first two we spent struggling to make travel plans.
Well, that's about it from us for now. We'll post again from Belgium I'm sure.
PS: Mom, you should be receiving and package at some point, Trace and I mailed a box full of stuff that we didn't need for Africa from Croatia. Not sure how long that will take to get there though.
cheers,
Mike and Tracey
I think we're both pretty worn out right now, so we've decided to change up our plans a little bit. We booked a flight to Brussels for tomorrow, and we're going to spend our last week back in northern Europe. I think we'll spend a few days in Brussels, including my birthday, and then head to Paris for a few days. On the way, we're going to stop in Vimy to visit the Canadian WWI memorial. that's a place I've always wanted to see.
I've struggled a little with leaving Africa earlier than we had planned, but you have to roll with punches when you're traveling, and we are really low on energy right now. Everything around here takes so much work, and neither of us seems able to put in the necessary work any more. So, we saw a few things in Rwanda, including the genocide memorial sites that I was keen to see, and the lakefront town that Tracey was keen to visit. We were in Kigali for 3 full days, although really we only got out to *do* stuff on the 3rd. The first two we spent struggling to make travel plans.
Well, that's about it from us for now. We'll post again from Belgium I'm sure.
PS: Mom, you should be receiving and package at some point, Trace and I mailed a box full of stuff that we didn't need for Africa from Croatia. Not sure how long that will take to get there though.
cheers,
Mike and Tracey
Thursday 6 October 2011
Kigali
Hi everyone,
Just a quick note from Kigali to say that we made it to Rwanda safe and, well, mostly sound. Had a bit of difficulty at the border because we were not clever enough to verify the visa requirements that were listed in our travel guide, which is now a couple years old. Suffice it to say that they've changed, and we found ourselves in that dreaded limbo known as "standing inside immigration not able to enter the country, and no way to get out". Things worked out in the end though, they just wanted to make us sweat for 15 minutes first.
Trying to figure out the rest of our itinerary, book a gorilla trek and a flight back to Europe. Talk to you again soon.
cheers,
Mike and Tracey
Just a quick note from Kigali to say that we made it to Rwanda safe and, well, mostly sound. Had a bit of difficulty at the border because we were not clever enough to verify the visa requirements that were listed in our travel guide, which is now a couple years old. Suffice it to say that they've changed, and we found ourselves in that dreaded limbo known as "standing inside immigration not able to enter the country, and no way to get out". Things worked out in the end though, they just wanted to make us sweat for 15 minutes first.
Trying to figure out the rest of our itinerary, book a gorilla trek and a flight back to Europe. Talk to you again soon.
cheers,
Mike and Tracey
Sunday 2 October 2011
safari pics!!!
Yes, we actually founda computer to load pics! And we're still actually on safari... but nearly out ofinternet time, so here you go!
Lion right at the truck in front of us! They walked right past ours too, but that part I got on video not pics. Giraffes fighting, a huge herd of wildebeast, and a cheetah that walked RIGHT past us!
Lion right at the truck in front of us! They walked right past ours too, but that part I got on video not pics. Giraffes fighting, a huge herd of wildebeast, and a cheetah that walked RIGHT past us!
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