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  • Day 5: Bastille

    Day 5: Bastille

    Today we had left open intentionally so that the folks new to Paris could repeat things or do things on their own or do nothing if they wanted.

    And without any planning really, we mostly just stuck to the neighborhood we were staying in: Bastille. We spent so much of the week with a planned agenda, we hadn’t spent any time seeing what was in our own backyard so to speak.

    I was the last one up at about 8am which is super unusual for me. Ash hadn’t taken Zeus out yet so he did that and Sherry and I got breakfast ready – scrambled eggs, bread, cheese.

    Sherry had to get something printed so we found a place to get that done close by then came back to the apartment.

    By that time it was raining pretty hard and we just sat around and visited until we went out for lunch around 1pm.

    Le Chat Bosso was just like 3-4 blocks down our street but it was still raining so we took the metro one stop to avoid it as much as we could.

    Waiting for our subway which never takes more than a few minutes.

    Jon had eaten here last week and said they had the best French onion soup he has had since he’s been here. We both order it any time we see it on a menu so I was happy to try it.

    Sherry took the photo which is why she isn’t in it.

    And yes, I agree with Jon’s assessment – the French onion soup was terrific.

    Duck confit for my main. Most everyone else had salads of some kind so I didn’t take photos there. This may have been better than the one I had the other night. Also something I will get when it’s available. This is the first place we have come across where it was on their regular menu. It’s takes a long time to make when done correctly so it’s often just a special.

    At the top of this photo is a pear tart with caramel which Mark and Sherry had for dessert. I had a “floating island” – big gobs of soft meringue drizzled with caramel swimming in a vanilla custard. It was so unique, simple and tasty it may end up my favorite dessert of the trip.

    After lunch, Ash, Sherry and I spent the afternoon walking and shopping in the Bastille and then over into the Marais.

    By that time the weather had turned gorgeous but it didn’t last; we made our way home about 5:30 as it started to rain.

    This bakery has been in operation since 1761 – the oldest one in Paris.

    We came across this cute square on our way to the subway which we had never come across before.

    It was raining a lot when we got back. I will give a personal update here which I haven’t touched on but our close friends know: Ash and I will get home on Saturday, close on a new home on Monday, and move later that week. Most of our stuff is packed and in storage so that our current house will show better while it’s on the market.

    All that to say: my raincoat is in storage and I didn’t feel like trying to dig it out when I was packing since I didn’t remember what box it is in. I have a weather proof jacket on this trip but it doesn’t have a hood. And it’s too windy to effectively use the umbrellas we brought.

    But Sherry had a poncho in her raincoat she had been carrying around since some trip to New Orleans.

    Which resulted in this hilarity. But it worked!

    The restaurant was JJ Beaumarchais. Ash and I were here in May of 2022 and loved it. It’s a place where there’s no menu – they ask you about things you don’t want and modify as needed. But otherwise you get what they’re serving.

    The first course was scallop based. Note: the person describing each dish had a thick French accent so although they were technically speaking English I couldn’t understand much of it. So the photos will have to do for now. And our stamp that we thought everything was incredible. We all enjoyed this meal a lot.

    Clams and butternut squash.

    Beef and ravioli.

    Chocolate gelato with pear sorbet.

    It was a fantastic way to end a fabulous trip. We had a great time together tonight and the whole week. Everyone talked about how well everyone got along and what a great time they had.

    Tomorrow we will leave around 11am for the airport so probably won’t do much in the morning. Jon is going home to Puerto Vallarta, but the rest of us are spending Friday night in Philadelphia. We will have an evening there so I will close out the blog after that.

  • Day 4: Versailles, Seine River Night Cruise

    Day 4: Versailles, Seine River Night Cruise

    Ash went to the bakery to get more goodies for breakfast. Everyone was up and ready to go for our 8am departure after food and coffee

    Our trip to Versailles was about an hour and 10 minutes via one short subway hop and the rest by train.

    Ash went with us as an outing for him and Zeus but didn’t join us for the palace because he has been a bunch of times. I almost didn’t go myself as I’d been here twice before but I wanted to be present for everyone’s reactions. And for that, it was worth it.

    Generally considered to be maybe the most opulent palace in the world, it started as a hunting lodge of King Louis XIII in 1623. He converted the lodge into a small palace. It was Louis XIV who started expansion in 1663 and made it into much of what it is today, with the 2 kings that followed adding their own parts as well. It has been a national museum since 1832.

    I didn’t take too many photos, just a couple to make the point until I got to my favorite parts.

    First favorite part: I remember reading about the construction of the Hall of Mirrors as a child and thinking “wow it would be so cool to see that but I can’t imagine I’ll ever get to.”

    Yet here I am for my 3rd time. Life beyond my wildest dreams? Absolutely.

    The way the exit flowed took us to a section of the garden I had never been to before. The group was suitably impressed but I kept thinking something was off.

    I finally used Google maps and realized we were way over to the left of where I wanted us to be so course corrected.

    This was more like it!

    And yes, the gardens are my 2nd favorite part. One time I’m going to come just for that. The back section is actually a national park and open to the public for free.

    We were there a good 2.5 hours and were ready for lunch when we left about Noon.

    Directly across from the train station was a row of shops and eateries. We stopped at a place next to a McDonald’s which had an appropriately French name – Madeleine – for sandwiches and did not disappoint.

    Sherry got a ham and cheese and the 3 of us all got a spicy chicken, all on baguette of course.

    Sherry and Jon split an eclair for dessert. Mark and I shared a madeleine (it’s in the name, right?) and a raspberry and caramel macaron. A variety of great coffee all around and we were ready to go after a restroom stop at McDonald’s.

    We got back to the apartment about 2:30 and most of us went down for a nap.

    ———-

    Ash and I made our way out for a “date night” dinner by ourselves about 6pm.

    We went to Bistrot 65 on the left bank, with a view of Notre Dame across the river had we sat outside.

    The waitress was super friendly and had met Ash on a previous visit, asking where Zeus was. We left him behind since we were doing a boat ride after this.

    We couldn’t decide on starters so got 3 of them. An egg mayo dish that I’ve seen on just about every menu since we’ve been here and don’t remember from prior trips. This was served on toast with beets and bacon and was surprisingly good. Snails with green beans that were excellent. And a cream scallop soup that was amazing.

    Ash had chicken tikka masala which of course was not authentic but he still enjoyed it. I had slow cooked pork – which did not require a knife – with mushrooms, carrots, and fried crispy polenta. It was terrific.

    Dessert was crème brûlée with tonka bean which gave it an edge Ash liked but I didn’t care for as much.

    We met the rest of the gang on Pont Neuf for our cruise. They were coming from the other side of the bridge and we met in the middle where the boat was docked. Pont = bridge.

    The guide was fantastic, and did the whole thing in French, English and Spanish.

    Notre Dame
    Was a prison back in the day, where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before being beheaded at Concorde.
    How fun is this?

    This is the Louvre – specifically the balconied window that the thieves pulled a truck mounted ladder up to, broke the glass, and made off with $102m in jewels. All in under 8 minutes. This past Sunday in case you missed it. First break in since 1911 when the Mona Lisa was stolen.

    Pont Alexander III – “the prettiest bridge in Paris”

    And of course the star of the show was the Eiffel Tower.

    With sparkles and everything!

    It was a great day.

    We have nothing scheduled for tomorrow except for dinner. Will see what we come up with.

  • Day 3: d’Orsay Museum, Montmartre

    Day 3: d’Orsay Museum, Montmartre

    Everyone got decent sleep and was up and ready to go early. Ash, Mark, Sherry and I went out about 7am to walk Zeus and go to Ash’s favorite bakery.

    We took Henri IV across the Seine then picked up Saint Germain and stayed there. I think now we have walked the entirety of Saint Germain on this trip since we had picked it up where it ends (or starts) yesterday.

    d’Isabella won First Prize for its croissants in 2018 – a big deal considering there must be hundreds of bakeries in this city. (1360 in 2025 according to Perplexity.)

    On Tuesdays and Saturdays they have a farmers market so we were in luck there. All of us bought something.

    We were back in the apartment by 8:30 or so, and made breakfast out of some of our purchases.

    We all agreed this was the star of the show. Kouign Amann pronounced kwing uh-man 
    French baguette with salted butter and avocado, and strawberries 

    We left about 10 AM and walked along the river for a little bit, popping up long enough for everyone to see Notre Dame during the day.

    We made it to our destination, the d’Orsay, a little after 11am for an 11:30 entry. And good thing we were early. The line for that time was already forming and got really long behind us. We didn’t think that 11am line was ever going to stop, but they finally opened up our line around 11:45.

    We made a beeline to the 5th floor for a stop at their cafe.

    The window from the clock provides great sun.

    Mark took the above photo of me trying to take the photo below. But I used his shot of Sacre Coure because he has the better zoom.

    They were able to seat us right away at a great table in the corner by the window. We had a light lunch of soups and salads.

    d’Orsay is known for having the or at least one of the best Impressionist collections in the world. The 5th floor is nothing but Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Pissaro, Sisley, and others – many quite recognizable. This is their home.

    This is my 3rd time to the d’Orsay and probably Ash’s 6th or something like that. For everyone else it was their first and we enjoyed their reactions to seeing such amazing works up close as opposed to, as Sherry so eloquently put it, on a party napkin.

    So I didn’t take a bunch of photos as I didn’t feel like making this a museum post. If you’re friends with Mark on Facebook you can see lots of that there 😬❤️

    But I did capture a couple of select things. Monet is still my favorite, and I don’t remember seeing this before.

    This is another I didn’t remember seeing. It’s a Renoir. And who is sitting for it? Claude Monet. They were living in Montmartre at the same time along with Van Gogh, Pissaro, Degas, Manet, Sisley, Cezanne, and even Picasso was there at the end.

    Once we had our fill of the 5th floor we worked our way quickly through 4 and 3, to the sculptures on 2 which are worth spending some time with. We got through one side of it, and suddenly everyone was sort of exhausted at the same time. It was a little after 1pm and we made our way home. Most of us napped.

    Ash, Mark, and Jon had planned to go to a meeting. Sherry and I were happy to have a night to ourselves. Sherry had suggested earlier that we return to Montmartre and, given our experience at the museum earlier, that seemed beyond fitting. I had spent 4 nights there in 2018 so mapped us to that point using the subway just to get us in the neighborhood.

    We had walked by these stairs from the bottom and, well, let’s just say Sherry was surprised at how high they went. But that’s how it is here. So I walked her around the long way, seeing the outer edge and more commercial parts of the neighborhood, which sneakily got us to the top of the stairs over a gradual but continuous upward climb.

    Then we turned towards the center of the neighborhood which gets more quaint and interesting with every step.

    Notice the tops of Sacre Coure in the background.
    A park like landing on the way down a hill.

    We came across this adorable chocolate store and couldn’t resist. The woman standing in the doorway facing us was so nice and helpful. Gave us free treats in addition to 3 samples in the store. We enjoyed all of it and made our way to find a place for dinner.

    I’ve been looking for duck confit since I got here and this was the first time we saw it on a menu so we decided this was it. Cafe Bruant.

    Sherry is not a snail girl but this was another item on my list. They were cooked perfectly and simply in a garlic butter.

    Sherry got the chicken burger without the bread. The duck confit came with potatoes that were crazy good, likely cooked in duck fat.

    We finished with cappuccinos and a chocolate mousse that was so rich we couldn’t finish it.

    After dinner we made our way back to the apartment at exactly the same time as the guys.

    Moulin Rouge

    This was across the street from where we got on the subway.

    Everyone pretty much went straight to bed as it was approaching 10pm and we need to be out of here by 8am for our trip to Versailles tomorrow.

    This is for Ash:

    The stop on the M2 where we got on to return to the apartment. IYKYK
  • Day 2: A failed Louvre attempt; Grande Arche & Champs Elysees

    Day 2: A failed Louvre attempt; Grande Arche & Champs Elysees

    This entry is for Monday, October 20, 2025.

    The gang had mixed sleep results Sunday night, with jet lag hitting some worse than others. But we made it out of the apartment by 8:45 as planned.

    We got metro passes for the week for me, Sherry, and Mark, and made our way to the Louvre.

    You may have heard that it was robbed yesterday and closed because of it.

    We had 9:30 tickets but saw people with 9am tickets still in line and nothing was moving. See above with Ash, Sherry, and Mark in line. It is still one of my favorite spots on the planet. It was fun to see Sherry and Mark’s amazement at what they were seeing – with Mark literally in tears he was so overwhelmed by the immensity and beauty of it. Some people say the d’Orsay is a better museum but I’m not one of them. They both have their place. But alas, they wouldn’t find out today. About 10am they announced that it wouldn’t be opening.

    So we decided to explore my favorite straight line on the planet: from the Louvre through the Arc de Triomphe to the Grand Arche in La Defense.

    Sherry and Mark in the Tuileries, with Concorde and the Arc very small behind them.

    At Concorde we picked up the metro and made our way to La Defense- end of the M1 line.

    Sherry, Mark and Ash on the steps of the Grand Arche.
    Looking back there is a tiny Arc in the center.
    Westfield mall at La Defense. We stopped at a Nespresso store to get more coffee for the apartment.

    We got back on the subway and got off at the Arc.

    They couldn’t believe how massive it is. See the tiny people around the base?

    We started walking up what we thought was the Champs Elysees. Nothing looked right and it took us longer than it should have to figure out we were on the “other” side of the Arc which is actually Grand Armee. So we hopped in the metro 2 stops and were back where we wanted.

    This is the address for Louis Vuitton below.

    We decided lunch was in order so were on the lookout for a place to stop.

    Le Deauville
    Sherry got a noisette, I got a latte. The milk part what that melted whipped cream. It was amazing.

    I got French onion soup. Sherry had a croque monsieur, Ash and Mark had chicken sandwiches. I forgot to take photos of theirs, sorry!

    But they were all there, I swear.

    Mark decided to go back and rest more after lunch. We found an On Running store and got Ash some much needed shoes and me a hoody sort of shirt.

    Laduree is known for macarons so we made a stop for snacks for later.

    Sherry had an errand to run in the Latin Quarter so we made our way there over Pont Alexandre III, considered the prettiest bridge in Paris.

    After it was raining and we made our way home to rest up before dinner.

    ————

    We left for dinner around 6:20.

    Bofinger is literally around the corner from the apartment, maybe 2 blocks away. It’s been here since 1864.

    It’s a beautiful place with a classic feel to the ambiance. Including white table cloths and napkins and staff in tuxedos.

    Jon and I had the French onion soup. I thought this afternoon’s was better but it was good. Sherry had endive and clementine salad. Ash had snails.

    I had a steak and fries.
    Jon and Ash had scallops.

    Profiteroles for me for dessert.

    Jon had a coffee gelato.
    Ash & Sherry shared the gourmand – 4 small desserts including a perfect crème brulee.

    Mark stayed back to rest. Ash went to bed when we got back to our room. Jon, Sherry and I took Zeus for a walk since he had been stuck inside most of the day. We made our step goal of over 20k.

    And now it’s bedtime. Not much planned tomorrow except the d’Orsay.

  • Day 1: Walking Paris

    Day 1: Walking Paris

    This is for Sunday, October 19, 2025.

    Ash and I left around 7:20am to take the van back to the airport rental center. No problems dropping it off and we took the train and subway back for a round trip of about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

    Ash, Sherry, and Vasco got breakfast ready. Shaye joined and we made our way out about 11am.

    Today was our walking day. Nothing actually scheduled. The point was to get a general sense of Paris by seeing some famous landmarks while experiencing a few different neighborhoods – with coffee and snacks along the way. We made our way to Saint Germain, which runs south of the Seine through the Latin Quarter.

    Jon didn’t join us until later. It was fun listening to this group’s reactions to everything. Just being here is exciting because it’s such a beautiful city, and seeing it through a newcomer’s eyes is one of the things we have been looking forward to the most.

    About 12:15 we made our first stop at Les Deux Magots. The reference is to figurines of wise men, in case you were thinking bugs.

    Sherry and I both got these pots of hot chocolate. It was thick when you poured it out.

    Add the whipped cream and it was heavenly. It was essentially a melted chocolate bar. I declared it the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.

    Another hour into our continued walk, Shaye made her way into a café to use the restroom. 

    Vasco and Mark made their way across the street to take a photo of this fountain, pictured below.

    Sherry and Ash waiting for everyone with Zeus.

    We took a left over to Rue de Grenelle for a different look and took that all the way to our first big destination.

    We spent a fair amount of time here and Zeus had a good time in the grass. Sherry was in line for a restroom for most of it, which is why she’s not in these but we made sure she got her photos as well.

    Afterwards, we took an Uber to the next big stop. 

    Sacre Coure or the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, is a church on a hill in a very different part of the city. It was a 25 minute Uber ride. But it’s a special place in a great neighborhood with amazing views and we wanted everyone to experience this.

    There is a carousel on the main plaza at the bottom of it. 
    This is where we got engaged in May 2022 so we attempted to re-create that photo. The rings look similar but they are different. The first set we bought here in Paris. The ones we are wearing now is actually our fourth set, and we purchased them in Puerto Vallarta. We get a new set every day when we recommit.
    The village behind the church heading into Montmartre.

    Dinner wasn’t until 6:30 PM, so about 5:15 we stopped for another coffee and restroom break.

    There is no shortage of places to do this and sit outside in the city. 

    Dinner was at Les Rupins on Rue Magenta. This is ranked 262 out of over 19,000 restaurants on TripAdvisor. This is Ash’s third time here on this trip.

    Lindsay joined us for dinner. It was so great having everyone together and to see how everyone got along so beautifully and enjoyed getting to know each other. What a terrific group. 
    Between the eight of us, these dishes were ordered two or more times: cauliflower soup, salmon tartare, crispy ravioli in a cream sauce. 
    I had duck with au gratin potatoes, Ash had grilled salmon, Vasco had veal with french fries which several others got as well. 
    Zeus was crashed under the table most of the time after walking over 10 miles. 
    Sherry got a pistachio crème brûlée for dessert. Mine was this chocolate cake with warm chocolate sauce inside and vanilla Chantilly lace. 

    It was a terrific meal and everyone enjoyed tasting everybody else’s food.

    Ash and Jon took the subway back since Uber drivers don’t care to pick up Zeus and they have their passes. We will get ours today. We took Uber. We said goodbye to Shaye and Vasco who go back to Madrid and Amsterdam today.

    We had a little debrief about the day and planning for the next but everyone pretty much went straight to bed otherwise.

    Today is the Louvre – assuming it’s open after getting robbed yesterday! – and the Arc de Triomphe.

  • 2025 Paris: Departure, Monet’s Gardens

    2025 Paris: Departure, Monet’s Gardens

    We tend to plan travel a year in advance, and by this time in 2024 we already had the Africa trip planned, which we did in the summer, and the Amazon trip which is coming in December.

    But sometime in November Ash decided he wanted to return to Paris and spend a month again, which he had done in 2022 and 2023. And somehow that conversation turned into me joining him for his last week, and bringing our friends Sherry and Mark with me, who have never been.

    So here we go! They came over to my house Thursday night and spent it there so we could all catch a Lyft to the airport at 4:45am on Friday.

    We had a 7:15 flight to Dallas and about a 5 hour layover there. We couldn’t have had better luck in gate locations: our landing gate, departure gate, American’s Flagship Admiral’s Club, and a massage place were all between D21 and D24.

    We stopped in the lounge for what would be lunch for us, then walked through D, A, and B terminals to get some steps in. Stopped at Be Relax on our way back. Mark and I got 15 minute chair massage which comes with our Priority Pass membership. Then back to the lounge.

    We found this section in the very back of it and couldn’t believe this section was empty. We relaxed here for almost 2 hours before we had to board our flight to Paris.

    Our flight was delayed just as we were getting to take off. We sat on the tarmac for 90 minutes and finally left about 7pm. The flight was thankfully uneventful and we landed in Paris about 11:30am Paris time on Saturday.

    Ash met us at the airport along with Vasco, Jon, and Lindsay. Vasco is now at university in Amsterdam and joined us for the weekend. Jon you’ve met from Puerto Vallarta and he got here a week ago. Lindsay got here from San Francisco on October 8. Ash rented a 9 passenger van and we were on our way to our first stop, Giverny.

    If you’ve been following me for a while, this might sound familiar since this was my 3rd time there. Giverny was the home of Claude Monet for the last 20 years of his life, and where his famous lily pond gardens are. I was first there by myself in 2018, retuning with Ash in 2021. He has been back since with others. It is less than 90 minutes from Paris and we planned it first because it logistically made sense to approach it from the airport instead of from the city.

    We had 2:30pm timed entry tickets and got there just in time.

    Vasco, Sherry, Mark

    The last two times I was here were both in August. The fall colors are already out and it felt like a completely different experience. The photo above is a greet example of that.

    Ash snapped this selfie of us with the lily pond in the background.

    As you can see, it’s a gorgeous place. And always surreal to be here.

    A few photos from inside his house. I always appreciate the view from his bedroom.

    We made our way back to Paris and got to our apartment about 5:45. Ash rented a 3 bedroom and has been here for a month already with lots of other friends coming and going during that time.

    Jon, Ash, Mark

    I just took this photo since I realized I’d forgotten to take any of the apartment. The first floor is a lovely open plan for the living, dining and kitchen. The bedrooms and all beneath us.

    We got settled in then left for dinner around 7. We are just around the corner from the Bastille.

    Dinner was at Bianca, an Italian place about 2 miles away. It was nice to walk a bit after 10 hours on a plane and another 3 in the van.

    Jon, Ash, Shaye, me, Sherry, Vasco

    We met our friend, Shaye, who I know from Sacramento but who lives in Madrid much of the time. She decided it would be fun to join us for the weekend and we are thrilled to spend some time with her. She will join us for today as well. The food was good and we had a lovely time together. It was a great start to the trip. (Mark stayed back to get some rest.)

    After, Ash, Sherry, Vasco and I took an Uber to Notre Dame just to include something classically Parisian on their first day.

    Today we have a walking tour planned – just based on our previous travels. The weekly metro passes run Monday-Sunday so we will wait and get one for us new arrivals tomorrow. So walking for the day gives the new visitors a fun way to adjust to the time change and get a sense of the layout of the city. Come back tomorrow to see here all we went!

  • 2025 Africa: The Way Home; Final Thoughts

    2025 Africa: The Way Home; Final Thoughts

    We skipped the safari activity this morning because it would have been too hectic to do a shortened version of that, then finish packing and be ready at 10:30 when they wanted to take us to the airstrip. We chose for a relaxing morning instead.

    We still went out for coffee at 6am since we were up anyway. Ash and I hung out at our favorite spot at the lodge and drank coffee, talked about the trip, worked through our August calendar, and started to think about returning to real life. But that didn’t keep us from snapping multiple shots of the sunrise.

    This was our plane out of the Delta. It was a 20 minute flight to Maun.

    It is a very small plane. Ash sat in the copilot seat. I sat in the next row. And our bags were behind me. That was the whole plane.

    Above and below: a nice shot showing the water, and another showing no water as we got closer to Maun. Make a mental note on the dramatic difference. I will speak more to this when I get to my final thoughts.

    Although Michelle and family had left before us, they actually landed after we did. The opposite dynamic of the last time we left this airport. But we had a final meal together at The Dusty Donkey. Ash and I were here in 2023 and loved it. It was just as good as we remembered.

    We encountered this billboard on our walk back to the airport and it made us laugh. It’s an ad for an insurance broker with an image of a Painted Dog – the endangered animal we got to watch go on a kill last time. Although that’s the official name, locally they are just referred to as wild dogs. The ad reads: Business can be wild. Make sure you’re covered.

    We had a 2.5 hour flight to Cape Town. The rest of the family is going on to Chobe, another place we went in 2023.

    And we are now sitting in a lounge in Cape Town, in the exact same seats we sat in when we were here in 2023. We board in a little over an hour for an almost 16 hour flight to Washington DC. We have over a 12 hour layover there where we will spend time with our friend, Erick. Then a direct flight to Sacramento, landing about 9:30pm Saturday night.

    So this trip is officially done.

    Where to start on my final thoughts?

    1. The obvious place is the presence of water in the Okavango. We came back for the sole purpose of experiencing that. The 2nd photo above represents what the entire area looked like the last time. There wasn’t a drop of water anywhere. We knew it would be different but we had no idea how much. I could go on and on about this. But it’s simply this: while the schedule and accommodations were very familiar, it felt like we had never been here before. It was that different. We are talking about returning in 2028 but going to a lodge a little further north.
    2. There are So Many ways to describe groups of animals:
      • Clan or cackle of hyenas
      • Pod of hippos
      • Herd of buffalo or elephant
      • Dazzle of zebras
      • Tower of giraffes while standing; a journey while walking
      • Coalition of cheetahs
      • And of course a pride of lions
    3. Our cellular connections in Mozambique and Eswatini were very unreliable. We lost count of the number of times we would clear apps and turn our phones on/off then it would be better for a while. WiFi connections at both hotels were great, although in Eswatini only in common places like the restaurant. We couldn’t get much connection in our room. The big surprise was having WiFi in our room at Moremi. That was incredible. And a great balance. We were only in the room maybe an hour first thing in the morning, an hour late in the evening, and 2 to 3 hours in the middle of the day. The rest of the time we were off the grid. It allowed us to keep up with things while also being present when we needed to be. It was a great solution for us.
    4. Starting with the lack of connection in the room in Eswatini, I opted to write the blog from my phone. At first, I didn’t care for it. But boy did I get used to how much faster it is. Compared to using the laptop, I got an additional 1-2 hours back every day. And probably more on some days. I am still learning about the different formatting options available, but it was fun to play with it. I have a feeling it will be this way from here on out so if, as the reader, you noticed a difference one way or the other, I would love to hear about it.
    5. I do love the toothpick culture here. Little containers of them on every table we sat at without exception. As someone who tends to need one after every meal, I deeply appreciated this.
    6. Everything in Botswana was absolutely wonderful. The people there are lovely, everyone was incredibly nice to us, you don’t have the craziness that we saw in the other countries. It’s a very peaceful place. It’s probably related to it not being very populated and also being a fairly rich country by African standards. Diamonds and tourism are the biggest industries.
    7. Mozambique and Eswatini are different stories. We were treated very well in the hotels, the restaurants, and any shops like the nail salon or the barbershop. Everything else felt like a hustle. To say nothing of the police experience we had. Pretty much the entire time we were there, I had an uneasy feeling that I just couldn’t shake. It’s hard to explain. I was very happy to get to Botswana.
    8. Whenever we are done with a big trip like this, I always feel a little bit changed somehow and it’s interesting to reflect on how that is. After the first trip to Africa, I remember telling Ash that I had this odd impression that the world got smaller. He understood that and guessed that that’s what I was going to say. This time, I experienced some ugliness that I’ve never had before and it will sit with me for a little while. It is sad on some level because I know so much of it is driven by harsh conditions in those places and I get that. So it certainly makes me grateful on the one hand. But it is definitely not something I want to return to. It almost made me feel like I grew up in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Not quite jaded or even tarnished but something in that neighborhood. It will come to me.

    In the end, I wouldn’t change a thing. All travel enriches me regardless of how positive or negative the experience and I do appreciate that. So there will definitely be more to come. Still on the list for this year:

    • Paris in October
    • NYC for Thanksgiving
    • An Amazon River cruise for Christmas
    • Rio de Janeiro for New Year’s Eve

    We hope to have you join us.

  • Day 10: Okavango Delta, Part 3

    Day 10: Okavango Delta, Part 3

    This entry is for Thursday, July 31, 2025.

    It is a bit after Noon as I sit here with this view to write about the morning.

    Elmo called for us at 5:55am. We were ready. This was the view from our deck as we went out to meet him.

    We had a simple breakfast to get our day started.

    The sunrises are so beautiful every time. That human silhouette left of center is Ash.

    I used the restroom just before we left and couldn’t resist another sunrise shot.

    Our drive started at 6:35am. It was the same 46° that it was the day before, but somehow did not feel as cold. 

    I haven’t talked much about tracking, but it’s interesting to observe. It’s not just paw prints as we saw yesterday. This morning it started with the “complaining” of a francolin, a common bird here. This particular cry can signal others of danger nearby.

    This led Elmo, our guide, down a particular path. Which led to seeing hyenas across the water. As scavengers, they often follow predators hoping for leftovers after a kill. So away we went in the direction of the hyenas.

    Along the way, we came across this giraffe just sitting pretty near the airstrip.

    After a while, it stood up and started moving away from us.

    We moved on past the air strip, drove around a bit more and then found ourselves on the other side of it.

    The giraffe was still there, and had been joined by a child.

    Shortly after this, we found perhaps the source of the francolin’s and hyena’s interest: leopard tracks from earlier this morning.

    We spent more than half of the morning in search of this leopard to no avail. It reminded me of an analogy we heard from a fellow traveler in 2023 who had been on many safaris: it’s like baseball. There are long periods of nothing much and then you get a home run. You could argue that yesterday we had two home runs in the morning with the lions and the cheetah.

    But it was beautiful weather and even more amazing terrain and we enjoyed the journey this morning. 

    We saw a lot of wart hogs. The two zoomed in photos are actually of the same one, just in different stances.

    We saw a couple of hippos in the water channel that flows in front of our lodge. Often, all you see is their ears and eyes above the water like this.

    We see Impala all the time, but this was probably the biggest herd we have encountered. And it was just one male amongst 10 or more females.

    The terrain itself was in some ways the star of the morning. Maybe we were paying more attention to it as we were keeping our eyes out for a leopard. It is so different to our 2023 trip. We never saw a speck of green then and now it’s everywhere. There is also a red grass that I love here and there, as seen in the top photo above, that I don’t remember from before. And of course the water itself and the beautiful reflections it provides make it seem like a completely different place.

    This is the same channel of water in front of our lodge that we saw before. Our lodge is on the far left in the top photo, enlarged in the first photo. The two hippos are on the right. They may or may not be the same ones we saw earlier. They both have birds on their head who feed off of insects that gather on them. They do the same with buffalo and elephants.

    We stopped at 9:30am for a coffee and pee break. We relaxed here for about 30 minutes then went back to camp, arriving about 10:30.

    Lunch would be served after 11 AM so we had some time to kill. It was now 71° so I found a place in the sun at the lodge and enjoyed the warmth and the view before they announced lunch was ready.

    It is now just 12:35pm so we have almost 3 hours to rest, shower, recharge our phones, and enjoy the great weather and view from our deck.

    A couple of Ash’s photos from the evening drive yesterday.

    —-

    By the time we went over to the lodge for tea it was 79 degrees so I dressed for that. And it was the perfect choice for the next activity.

    Our afternoon activity was a water safari. There were a lot of video clips so I made a little movie of it. The star of the afternoon was a pod of hippos. We spent about 35 minutes watching them. The video is just 1:17 of the 2.5 hours we were out so just the highlights.

    This is the cabin Ash and I stayed in.
    Michelle, Rich, Indira, & Anaka were in the family cabin next door.

    We had dinner at 7:30 and to our rooms at 8:30.

    We leave here tomorrow morning and start the trek back home. I will do a final post on a layover or when I get home on Sunday.

  • Day 9: Okavango Delta, Part 2

    Day 9: Okavango Delta, Part 2

    This is for Wednesday, July 30, 2025. It’s 12:20pm as I start on the first half of the day.

    This is my view at the moment, sitting on our deck. Ash is resting.

    As it goes around here, Elmo woke us up at 5:25am through a yell, then collected us for a light breakfast around 5:55. You always have to be escorted at night with a lantern as a safety precaution against the animals since there are no fences. We are on their land.

    Gorgeous sunrise, 6:34am

    The lodge is pretty full. Five Land Cruisers went out about 6:45 for the morning game drive.

    As Elmo took us to our room last night, he handed us “bush babies.” These are hot water bottles covered in a fur sleeve to help keep your bed warm at night. When he collected us at breakfast, he asked us to bring them with us, which at first we thought was odd. But they were refilled with hot water and on our seats when we started the drive. You held them in your lap and put a blanket on top of that. It was a comforting way to help stay warm.

    It was 46° when we started out this morning. I wore sweats, a long sleeve T-shirt, a fleece jacket, a windbreaker, and then put their fleece lined poncho on top of all of that, primarily because I wanted the hood. I was counting on that poncho being available from my experience the last time.

    Before we even left the property, we saw kudu. This is a type of deer that’s common in these parts.

    Soon after we left the property, the guides discovered lion tracks. They spent pretty much the rest of the morning tracking two lions. All five vehicles went out in different directions in search of.

    More lion tracks. At one point they actually got out of the vehicle and started checking things out, as seen in the top right photo. When they thought they were onto something, the guy that usually sits out on the hood came inside the vehicle instead. 

    At this point, they determined that the lions came here to drink water and then reversed their path along the same road. This explained why there were two sets of tracks going in two different directions which had confused them at first.

    We continued to see different animals along the way. Here are some water buffaloes.

    Wildebeest.

    Giraffes.

    We crossed much more water today than we did last night. Every time we did it, I was a little sick to my stomach.

    We even came across a cheetah, which, at least I had never seen before. I couldn’t get a good photo of it, but Ash managed to capture a nice little clip.

    Soon after, we came across the first lion. He was sort of hiding from us, keeping his head down. This was as good as it got.

    But soon after we spotted the other one, behind us and to our right, majestically sitting on a mound.

    This clip shows you how close we really were. It is unbelievable that you can get this close and they just don’t seem to care.
    Another perspective to show how close we are. The lion is blurry on the left there because Ash had this in portrait mode. 
    Elmo circled around so we could get him from a different angle.

    We had crossed three pretty long stretches of water to get to the lions. Now we had to cross back. Each stretch was longer than any of the ones that we did last night. Together, it might’ve been as much as a mile. It was certainly more than half a mile. I kept my eyes closed for much of it because it helped manage whatever was going on in my stomach. I did manage to get the above photo and the video below. 

    This may help explain the seasickness I was feeling. 

    Once we crossed back over all the water, we stopped for a coffee and pee break. At this point, we had been in the vehicles for well over three hours. I took this photo at 10:07 AM.

    Ash is happy with the new Safari hat he got from the gift shop yesterday, along with our new jackets, and a tablecloth and napkins for home. 

    We had lunch around 11:30.

    Coleslaw, pumpkin, beets, and beef lasagna. 

    A couple of random photos from yesterday that I stole from Ash‘s phone. Above: Me bombing his selfie. Below: a snap on the drive in the evening.

    It’s about 1:15 PM. We reconvene with the group at 3:30 for teatime and then the next drive at 4 PM. We have two new people joining us at that time. In the meantime, I’m going to shower at some point and maybe rest a little bit mostly just continue enjoying this view and this really amazing breeze.

    ——-

    It is now 8:35pm and we are locked into our cabin for the night. Literally. Because baboons know how to work doors so you want to make sure you always lock it 😬

    Tea time snacks were veggie pizza and apple cake.

    We went back to the lodge at 3:30 for tea time and our next drive at 4pm.

    John and Kathleen from Nevada joined us and took the first passenger row where Ash and I had been. We took the last row with Anaka; with Rich, Michelle, and Indira in the middle.

    We crossed through all the same water as we had in the morning. There were more elephants there now and we got some decent shots.

    We came across a tower of giraffe – 5 of them for sure, and a 6th one a little further away. I couldn’t get them all in one photo.

    We drove around a lot but only had one quick lioness sighting, but she moved away quickly when we were turning around to follow her and never found her again.

    We went back over all the water again before it got dark.

    We came across this elephant at the end of all the water.

    We stopped for sundowners with mokoros there on the water’s edge. Another party got to experience them. We do that tomorrow.

    I was playing with this tree and the sunset.

    Our full party enjoying the sundowner.

    Baby hares just as we were returning to camp. Elmo was shining a light on them. Their mothers had scurried away to the dark brush but were waiting for them.

    There’s always a nice fire when we return.

    Dinner was fried hake, a white fish; potato wedges, cooked red cabbage, peas and onions.

    A delicious lime cheesecake for dessert.

    With no light pollution here, star gazing is pretty cool. I can’t believe I took these with this phone.

    From our deck
    From the lodge
    Also from the lodge. Unbelievable.

    And that’s a wrap for today. More of the same tomorrow but the details are always a surprise!

  • Day 8: Okavango Delta, Part 1

    Day 8: Okavango Delta, Part 1

    This post is for Tuesday, July 29, 2025. We are at Moremi Crossing. They have added technology since we were here in June 2023. We can now charge our devices in our room, which we could only do a communal station at the main lodge before. And Wi-Fi is now available, but only from our room. So I should be able to keep up with the blog.

    But I’m ahead of myself. So excited to be here!

    We were up about 5am, had coffee in the room then down for breakfast at 6:30. Our shuttle left at 7:30 to drop us at the airport for a 9:30 flight. Our “airline” is Moremi Air which provides lodge transport and sightseeing.

    We left our bags in their tiny office upstairs and went for a walk.

    We can across this Kentucky Fried Chicken billboard and laughed out loud. We kept forgetting to mention it, but KFC in Mozambique and especially Eswatini was a Big Deal. They were everywhere and their advertising was crazy on certain parts of the freeway. We never saw a McDonald’s Subway, or Starbucks even. Just KFC.

    We only had about 20 minutes to wait here until they came and got us to board.

    Our ride was a 4-passenger plane. Another couple joined us. We had a 25 minute ride to drop them off at a camp a little further out than ours. Then backtracked about 10 minutes for our camp.

    That there is water was blowing our mind. It was so beautiful from the plane. Some people refer to the Okavango as The Garden of Eden. We didn’t really get that the last time, but we’ve started to.

    A herd of zebra in the water and a cool shadow of our plane.
    Elephants from the plane (zoomed a lot!).

    We landed about 10:30am. We met up with my niece, Michelle, and her family, and will be together for the next few days.

    Warthogs on the way to camp from the landing strip.
    The official entrance to Moremi Crossing.

    Our cabin is identical to the last time, just in a different place.

    Pretty swanky. This is far beyond glamping in my opinion.
    Complete with a toilet, double sinks, and an outdoor shower out that back door.

    Above and below: comparison of our 2023 visit without water to now.

    The above shots compare the view from our deck. We are on the opposite side of the camp from the last time but you get the idea. The water changes the look and feel quite a bit.

    We got our briefing, got settled into our cabins, had a nice lunch.

    In our favorite chairs after lunch.

    We had like Noon-3:30 free. We napped then watched “bush tv” from our deck.

    These buffalo watered to our left.

    A momma baboon and her baby were hanging out in front of us. Eventually the baby climbed up our deck onto the roof.

    3:30 was “tea time” for some light snacks and then our first safari drive at 4pm. This is the same schedule as before.

    First encounter was a momma hyena and her two cubs.

    This is a lion print. Elmo, our guide, said there were 2 males in the area who killed a buffalo this morning.

    Here’s all that’s left of that buffalo.

    We had to drive through water a bunch but this was one of the deepest. Elmo told us to put anything on the floor on the seat and raise our feet. Good call.

    A red impala that’s aquatic – you will only see them when there is water around.

    Good swimmers!

    It got colder as the sun went down. I put on a fleece jacket and used a blanket they provided – over pants and a long sleeve shirt.

    Different hyenas. They walked right in front of us then just plopped down and rested in the shade, completely unconcerned with us.

    We also saw more elephants and regular impala but the photos weren’t great.

    We stopped for our “sundowner” – snacks and drinks to watch the sunset.

    And they are glorious here.

    We got stuck in the water on the way back to camp. It was so deep the headlights went under. Luckily he could back up fine, so after he couldn’t get through on the 3rd try he backed up again and took another route.

    Dinner was ready when we got back.

    The buffet included salad, roast pork with apple sauce, squash green beans, brown rice. And several vegetarian and gluten free options.

    A sort of apple cake for dessert.

    And that was our day. Pretty exciting start, huh? It’s approaching 10pm. Ash is already asleep. We have a 5:30am wake up yell (no phones or TV, etc) for a 6:30 drive. Happy to get some rest and start all over.