Safari: Serengeti & Ngorongoro

Our next adventure after recovering from Kili was to book a safari.  We ended up booking a 4 day, 3 night safari to the Serengeti and to Ngorongoro.  Four days later we were back in Moshi and had spotted the Big Five: Lion, Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo and Leopard; along with many other animals.

Day 1 - We left Moshi around 9am in our safari pop-top jeep and headed for the Serengeti as it would take about 8 hours to get there.  We passed through Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and multiple Massai Mara tribal areas as well as other local villages along the way.  The Massai are definitely some of the more interesting to watch.  They all wear red (some blue and purple as well), the females wear loads of earrings and necklaces and the males start herding cattle, goat and donkeys at a very young age.  We saw some boys about 5 years old with herds of goats, or course their goats are usually the ones all over the place as the kids are fighting each other with their herding sticks (or napping).  We also saw one older boy pick up a rock, throw it and hit the exact goat he wanted as it was getting to close to the road, herding is truly their life and they do it every day. We got into the Serengeti around 5pm and went on our first evening game drive.  We learned real quick to go where other cars were and were able to see a leopard (which are one of the hardest to see) on our first drive.  We also saw some hippos (they smell horrible), grand gazelles and thompson gazelles, dik diks, warthogs, hyenas, zebras, giraffes and a few other animals that night. We got to camp by 7:30pm (already dark by that point), laughed as the guide tried to set the tent up, ate some dinner and got in bed. The camp site isn't enclosed and the animals tend to know this so the that night we heard a bunch of hyenas and other animals going through the trash and trying to scavenge for leftovers.  It made for a long night of not leaving the tent and hoping nothing joined us in our tent.

Day 2 - We woke up the next morning, ate some breakfast and hit the roads for what would be a full day of game driving.  Our first task of the morning was to find the wildebeest migration.  On the way there we had to take a pit stop for an oil change and to get the tires checked, which ended up taking about an hour to do it all.  During that time we sat around and watched some monkeys, giraffes and mongoose that live in the staff area as it's safe and there is always a food supply.  After a few hours of driving and seeing some of the same animals plus some crocodiles, we finally found some wildebeest migrating. We didn't get to see the full million plus that migrate each year but we did see two migrating groups of about 3,000 to 5,000 each.  It was amazing to see all those at one time.  After that we set off to eat some lunch and find some more animals.  The rest of the day we were able to find some lions looking like they attacking each other.  Turns out that they were in their week of mating, and we figured the male pissed the female off, although it was pretty neat to hear a lion roar in the wild.  We saw another leopard, this time in his tree eating his kill from earlier that day (a gazelle).  We also found a herd of elephants, around 20 with a few baby's who are super cute with their not so little selves and their trunks.  We spotted yet another leopard (maybe the same one from the first night) and of course we saw all the other 'common' animals that live in the Serengeti that we had already seen along with a bunch of different birds.  Once the day had ended we went back to camp, ate some dinner and got to bed.  This night they put the trash cans in the enclosed food area so it was a little quieter and a better sleep.

Day 3 - We decided to get an early start this morning when the animals are more active.  We left camp around 6:30am since it took about an hour or so to get out far enough away from camp to spot some animals (the roads were all dirt and rocks).  The sun came up around 7:30ish (beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the Serengeti) and we started our search for animals.  We found a lot of the same animals plus some more lions and two cheetahs who were both really far away from the road.  We also found  another leopard, red bucks, more buffalo, a nile lizard, elands, hartebeest and a lot of the same animals we had seen the previous two days.  One of the coolest things we saw today were some female lions stalking their prey, some gazelles (the males don't hunt as often). Since they take forever to  attack we left and went back to the same spot
about an hour later.  They were still there stalking the gazelles and there was also a third one stalking a warthog. After about 30-45 minutes the two stalking the gazelles finally attacked and ended up catching a baby gazelle, sad but neat to see the whole thing take place.  They left with their kill and the 3rd one was still there stalking hte warthog who had no idea what had taken place, the whole attack was actually very quiet and the larger group of gazelles just stood there watching the whole thing.    After a little while longer the 3rd lion went to attack the warthog but she didn't end up catching it so we left shortly after.  We did some more driving, saw some more animals and on the way back to camp say and watched a family of baboons in the tree by the hippo pool (the babies are too cute).  After getting to camp we had some lunch, packed up and hit the road for Ngorongoro Crater.  We got into the Ngorongoro crater rim around 6pm that night, set up our tent, had some dinner and went to bed.  Our only visitors that night were some dogs and an elephant who walked up to drink out of the water tank in the middle of all the cars. 

Day 4 - The next morning we were up at 6am again, had some breakfast and were on our way into the crater (it's only open from 6:30am-6:30pm).  To get there we had to drive through clouds and fog in the dark (scariest drive with the lights off on the side of a mountain!).  The crater itself is a big open plain with some small mountains and has most of the same animals as the Serengeti along with some rhinos, which we saw the butt of in the grass really far away.  We are convinced they have a plastic thing they stick out there and tell people it's a rhino haha.  Although it was really chilly and windy that day and supposedly they lay down when it's windy and cold.  We also saw a bunch of lions both males and females; young and old; relaxing and stalking all in the few hours we were in the crater.  It's a pretty awesome thing to see six lions (five females with one young male) stalking a group of zebras and wildebeest at the watering hole.  We didn't see any attacks but then again there were about 20 jeeps watching them.  After about 6 hours in the crater We headed back up to camp for some lunch and to pack our stuff up, then headed back to Moshi.  We got back into Moshi around 9pm that same night, went back to Twiga Home, had some dinner and hit the hay for the next two days that would be pure African travel (more to come on that later).  

In front of the Serengeti gate

In front of Ngorongoro gate

Leopard

Hyena

Lions

Baboon family

Giraffe

Baby Elephant

Wildebeest

Buffalo

Hippo

Zebra

Going Pole Pole – We made it to the Summit!!!

Terminology needed for this blog:

Pole Pole – Very Slowly (pronounced pole-lay, pole-lay)

MAMSL – Meters Above Mean Sea Level

So as you see, we both made it to the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, Uruhrru Peak, the tallest point in Africa.  We summited about 6:25am on Monday June, 13 after a 7ish hour hike up 1200 M (It sits at 5,895 MASL).  More about that later, first here is a day by day recap of our Kili Adventure.

Day 1: After meeting with a man named Philip around 10pm Wednesday night (we had just arrived in town), we had our 7 day Kili trek booked and were leaving the next morning at 10:30am on the Machame Route, aka the Whiskey Route.  Philip arrived that morning around 10am to drop off some stuff and take us into town.  We were both under the impression we would have 1 guide and about 3 porters, instead we had 8 porters so a total team of 11 including the two of us.  Porters are the ones that carry all the stuff; tents, bags, food, supplies, etc.  We loaded in the van with the team and supplies and hit the road for the Machame Gate, which is about 15 or so minutes out of town.  Upon getting there we checked in with the gate, ate a small boxed lunch, paid our park fees, used the last “real” toilet we would see for 5 days and hit the trails.  By the time we started hiking it was close to 12:30pm, we made it to our first destination, Machame Hut, at around 6:30pm.  That day we went from the gate which sits at about 1,800 MAMSL to about 3,100 MAMSL.  We got in to camp, ate some dinner (cucumber soup, potatoes and beef) and hit our sleeping bags.

Day 2: Today we got up around 7am, ate some breakfast, got ready and hit the trails around 8am.  Our task for today was to get from Machame Hut to Shira Hut which sits at 3,840 MAMSL.  The hike was short in distance but was also very steep in some parts.  We made it to camp around 1ish with no problems, got into camp, had a nap and then took a short hike to Shira Cave.  Dave started to cough up a little phlegm, but it was not much of an issue at this height. We could have walked longer to Shira Two but decided against it so went back to camp, rested some more, ate some dinner (carrot soup, chicken, rice and green beans) and hit our sleeping bags yet again.

Day 3: We got up again at 7am this morning, ate some breakfast and hit the trails around 8am.  The task for Day 3 was to go from Shira Hut to Lava Tower (4,600 MAMSL) and then down to Barranco Hut which sits at 3,950 MAMSL.  You go high this day to acclimatize better and then sleep at a lower altitude.  The first part of the day was not too bad, just going up in altitude from 3,840 MAMSL to 4,600 MAMSL.  This was the point that we started to get into cloud territory, which are actually pretty cold when you stand in them.  We got to Lava Tower, ate some lunch and then headed back down to Barranco Hut.  We got into Barranco Hut after about a two hour walk and went straight into our tent for dinner (leek soup and pasta with vegetable sauce) and sleep.  The next day would be the longest two hikes.

Day 4: Today started early again around 7am and flowed into Day 5.  Tasks included going from Barranco Hut to Karangra Camp and then on to Barafu Camp.  Our first task was battling the Barranco Wall, the cliff opposite our camp.  It took about an hour to get up the cliff face and then it was somewhat smooth sailing from there to Karagra Camp.  We got into Karanga around 11am, ate some lunch (fried chicken and French fries) and then started our next part of the hike to Barafu Camp.  We got into Barafu around 3pm and hit our sleeping bags.  They gave us dinner (pasta with meat sauce) around 5pm and then we got as much sleep as we could since we would bewaking up to start our summit at midnight.

Day 5: Part 1 - Today's task: Make it to Uruhu Peak and back down.  Our guide woke us up around 11pm (on Day 4) to get us ready to go.  We got up, had some energy bars, opened some hand warmers,and bundled in warm clothes for the long 6-7 hour hike ahead of us in freezing temperatures.  We went from 4,600 MAMSL to 5,892 MAMSL in one very steep climb lasting the entire night.  After many stops for water, breaths and to regain energy we had made it to Stella Point which sits at 5,756 MAMSL.  We got into Stella Point around 5:30am, had a short break and started hiking the last hour to get to Uruhu Peak.  The hike to the peak isn’t nearly as steep, but at 5,800 MAMSL you have to go very Pole Pole.  At around 6:25am we had made it to the tallest point in all of Africa!  We were at Uruhu Peak.  It was such an amazing feeling to know we had made it.  Just at the right time too also as the sun was rising above the clouds.

Day 5: Part 2 – The next part of our day would be going back down the way we came (in the light this time) and then heading down to Mweka Camp where we would stay for the night.  It should have taken about 2 ½ hours to descend the same route it just took us 7 hours to climb, however it ended up taking us about 4 hours.  Dave was having horrible coughing spouts and was very short of breath as soon as we started descending.  We made it to Barafu Camp (where we had stayed the night before) after about 4 hours to rest in the tent before the next part of our day.  After a nap Dave was not getting any better and was still having horrible coughing spouts.  We decided to go ahead and descend further to get out of the higher altitude to see if that helped any (Mwaca camp sits at 3,100 MAMSL).  Since Dave was still sick it was still slow moving and we had about a 3 hour hike ahead of us walking a normal pace.  After about 1 ½ hours we were still many hours away from High Camp which is a stop before Mweka Camp.  At that point Dave realized that he wasn’t getting any better with the lower altitude and agreed to be rescued off the mountain.  However we still needed to get to High Camp first so our guide and assistant guide got on each side of him so we could pick up the pace and get there sooner.  About an hour later we made it to High Camp and got Dave registered for the “Kilimanjaro Taxi” aka a metal stretcher with a unicycle wheel on the bottom and five to six guys driving it.  After Dave got strapped in, Lisa and the guide ran ahead to make it to Mweka Camp before Dave got there so we could sign in.  The Kilimanjaro Taxi eventually made it to Mweka Camp and Dave was still not doing good so we continued down to the point where an emergency vehicle could meet us.  The guys took off with the stretcher and Lisa ran behind with the guide again.  It took about 2 hours to get to the point to meet the car and about an hour of that was in the dark after the sun went down.  We eventually made it to the car around 8pm.  It had been a long day as we had summited just 14 hours before.  We crammed the 13 of us into one emergency vehicle and we headed to the main gate.  We stopped and dropped off a few porters, Lisa signed us out of the park, we got our certificates and we were on our way once again.  After a few more stops to drop off some more porters and pick up the drivers girlfriend we finally made it to the Kilimanjaro Hospital and got checked in to see a doctor.  Turns out Dave had fluid on his trachea and somewhat of a lung infection (and Lisa got a huge blister from running, which Dave kindly popped for her the next day).  He got some antibiotics and a few other medications and we were on our way back to the hostel.  We tipped our porters and guide, caught a taxi to Twiga Home, got settled in, each had a nice long shower and went to bed.  Our adventure had ended. 

Overall it was an amazing experience but also something we both agree we will never do again.

Machame gate entrance

Just started walking

Our porters in the rain forest

First glimpse of the peak

We made it to Machame Hut - Day 1

At Shira Hut - Day 2

Another landscape we walked through

We made it!!

With the guide and porter that acted as assistant guide

Dave's ride down: The Kilimanjaro Taxi

Hakuna Matata – Cairo to Moshi in Transit

We left Cairo on Tuesday afternoon to get to Dar Es Salaam and then on to Moshi.  Our flight left in the afternoon so we spent the morning packing, had one last meal at Kazaz and then walked to catch the public bus to the airport.  We got to the bus stop and the guy at the desk asked us if we read Arabic numbers (as all the buses were in arabic), we of course said no so he wrote out the numbers and said “Now’s a good time to learn Arabic”.  About 20 minutes later the bus was there and about an hour later we were at the airport.  Along the way we passed a small riot at some Mosque steps, saw a Hardee’s Burgers and  Cici’s Pizza as well.  Once at the airport we had some issues with checking in as we didn’t have visas into Tanzania yet (as you get them upon entry).  After talking to the head of Oman Air (who turned out to be an awesome guy) we were checked in and were on our way to Dar Es Salaam via Oman.  During our layover in Oman we walked around the airport looking for internet, finally found it but came to find that the Sultan of Oman does not allow Skype to be accessed, which was the reason we were looking for internet in the first place.  Our flight from Oman to Dar Es Salaam was great, it was nice and empty so we both got 3 seats each and were able to lay down and have somewhat of a proper sleep (it was an overnight flight). 

We arrived in Dar Es Salaam around 5:30am Wednesday, paid our money for the visas and got a taxi to the bus station.  The ride from the airport to the bus station took about an hour because of the traffic; although the driving is much better than in Cairo and horns are not used nearly as much.  We did however see an overturned bus on the side of the road, all the passengers standing outside it and another truck trying to flip it back over.  Although that could have been caused due to cramming about 30 people over what the bus can actually hold and people jumping on and off as they are driving, which is what the bus system is like.  Upon arriving at the bus station we were immediately pulled into an office and told that all busses were filled and we would have to take their company’s bus.  Luckily Dave had read online to go straight to the bus rather than stopping outside the terminal.  After more hassling we finally found the ‘full’ bus which clearly had seats left.  We got our stuff in the bottom and hopped on for the next 8 hours.  The bus was supposed to leave around 7am, we got on at 8am and it ended up leaving at 8:30am.  Time is something that doesn’t matter in this area (they also do their times weird so approximately 6am is “midnight” or 0:00Swahili time).

We were finally on our way to Moshi.  Driving through the countryside was unreal, there were random villages all around, some had houses made of sticks, others mud, some both.  The poverty over here is unimaginable until you see it.  The bus had many stops along the way for either check in points or to buy things.  One of the ways the villages make a living is to tout the busses when they pull up, they sell water, food, soda, fruits, necklaces, bracelets, anything you can think of.  In some instances they even jump on the bus and ride it 30 minutes up the road until the bus driver stops to drop them off (we assume they catch another bus back down).  There is also a bathroom break, which consists of pulling over on the side of the road, everyone getting off the bus and going into the bushes, it was quite an experience and completely normal for them (we were the only non-African’s on the bus).  We continued to drive and then stopped at a little highway restaurant (mostly for the busses) to grab some food.  We decided to split some rice, pasta and chicken and it was surprisingly very good.  That stop also had buildings for toilets, although the toilets were still just holes in the ground (there were stalls though).  After a 20 minute break we hopped back on the bus and were on our way once again.  At another stop we picked up a guy selling bracelets and necklaces so Dave bought two bracelets from him.  He also was helping the bus driver and assistant turn paperwork in and buying things out the window for people who wanted things.  At one stop a family bought a bag of tomatoes and a bag of onions for about 3,000 TSH which is about $2 USD; things are fairly cheap over here as well.

Eventually we came to a point where we could see Mount Kilimanjaro so we knew we were close; a little while longer and we were entering Moshi.  We made it to the bus station around 5pm, jumped off, grabbed our bags and started on our 30 minute walk to the hostel through town.  The walk was fairly enjoyable and we only had two people talk to us; one guy tried to sell us a Kili trek, the other one just wanted to practice his English.  (We later found out that their schooling here is in English so it is a requirement that they learn English, if they talk in Swahili in school they get a punishment at the end of the day.)  We made it to the hostel around 5:30pm, got checked in and unpacked, booked our Kili trek, took a visit to the ATM and then went to bed.  The next morning we got up and got ready to start our Kilimanjaro adventure (next blog). 

Some Swahili words:

Hakuna Matata – “No worries”, yes it’s a real saying and they use it!

Asante Sana – “Thank you”, you can also just say Asante for “thanks”

Mambo – “Hello”

Lala Salama – “Sleep well”

Pole Pole – “Very slowly” (pronounced pole-lay, pole-lay)

Twenda – “Let’s go”

Ako Tayari – “Are you ready?”

Simba – “Lion”

Rafiki – “Friend” 

Last meal in Egypt

Gathering on the way to the airport

First billboard in Dar Es Salaam

Overturned bus

House made of mud and sticks

House made of make shift bricks

Village on the way to Moshi

Cairo - Part Two

Today was spent doing a lot of walking (to prepare for Kili) and sight-seeing.  First we visited the Egyptian Museum, which is huge and has a lot in it but not many explanations of anything.  The best thing about it was definitely the King Tut exhibit which was a fairly complete collection.  It was also in the only air conditioned room in the entire museum, and it was a very large museum.  The animal mummy room was also pretty neat, crocodiles, dogs, fish, bulls, horses, etc. all found mummified and now on exhibit.  After spending about 3 hours in the museum we decided to do some walking and go to Islamic/Medieval/Old Cairo.  One thing we learned really quick here is how to ‘Walk like an Egyptian’ which according to the man standing next to us means ‘Just close your eyes and pray to Allah’ as you cross through 6 lanes of traffic with people honking and buses coming at you. 

After walking through the streets to get there we finally made it to Islamic Cairo.  Islamic Cairo is the part of Cairo surrounded by a wall, well what’s left of the wall which used to be the entire city.  We entered through Bab al-Futuh (Gate of Conquests) and came across a Mosque right inside the city walls.  As we were sitting outside the Mosque resting, one of the men inside came out and invited us in.  We took our shoes off, Lisa got a head wrap, exchanged some money and got to spend some time in there.  It’s amazing how quiet and peaceful it is in the Mosque in the middle of the crazy of the city.  After spending some time in there we left the Mosque and continued to walk down the cobble stone streets to find the al-Salih Tala'i' Mosque.  On our way there we stopped by Bab an-Nasr (Gate of Victory) to take some photos and then reentered and continued on our journey. To get to the Mosque we walked through Wikala al-Bazara which is basically a road of little shops all along the side selling odds and ends of all sorts.  Locals are not nearly as bad as Giza but we had one tell Lisa she had beautiful eyes (Dave thinks the boy was talking to him) and another tell us ‘What kind of tourists are you?’ and ‘Why visit here if you won’t talk to us’ because we wouldn’t talk to him and waste our money on something he wanted to sell us.  After making it through there without spending any money (except for buying a Coca Cola) we made it to the al-Salih Tala'i' Mosque.  It was prayer time when we got there so we didn’t worry about going in, we just took some photos from the outside and headed home.  

Overall it was a good last full day in Cairo.  Tomorrow we are off to Dar Es Salam and will continue our trip from there.  

Our boots after a day in Cairo

Egyptian Museum

Outside the museum

Bab al-Futuh (Gate of Conquests)

Inside the Mosque

Inside the Mosque

Bab an-Nasr (Gate of Victory)

Islamic Cairo

al-Salih Tala'i' Mosque

Cairo - Part One

After flying for over 24 hours we finally made it to Cairo, Egypt.  It’s hot, smoggy, sandy and the town is in somewhat of ruins since the revolution but of course it’s still rich in culture and history. 

We’ll start with their driving … road rules, signs, speed limits, lanes and driving ages are not important anywhere.  Horns rule the road and you can hear them 24/7.  People tend to drive wherever they want and park wherever they want, there seems to be no system in place.  We’ll now move on to crosswalks, or lack thereof.  People walk whenever they want and play Frogger across the busy roads.  Even the kids can be seen running across a street through traffic, something they are clearly taught from a young age as a survival trait.  

Our first day we just hung around the hostel, walked around the town and visited Midan Tahrir (Tahrir Square) which is where the Egyptian Revolution took place.  You can still see the buildings that were burned and other ones covered in rubble from the riots.  Of course ask any local and they will tell you they were out there and Egypt is a much better place now.  The streets are lined with litter, military or tourism police, feral cats and tons of local street vendors selling anything and everything from underwear to tissues.  Things are also incredibly cheap here (which is great for us), a 1.5 liter water will cost about $.30 US and a 1.25 liter Coca Cola will cost about $.80 US.  Food also falls under the cheap category, a beef shawarma will cost about $1.50 US and a bag of freshly cooked potato chips will cost about $.25 US.  Even a cabbie ride to 3 pyramid sites only cost around $32 US for the entire day.  

Our second day, which is just coming to an end, was spent at the three pyramid sites.  First the Giza Pyramids, then Saqqara, then Dahshur and the Red Pyramid.  

The Giza Pyramids are of course the most famous, the grandfather, father and son along with the Sphinx and 3 sons of the grandfather and 3 sons of the son.  Once you get past the first lot of locals trying to sell you souvenirs and camel or horse rides, you continue to get harassed by locals trying to sell you souvenirs and camel or horse rides!  Of course once you learn to tune them out you have the pure magnitude of the pyramids.  It is amazing to think they are still standing today.  We choose to walk the grounds and ended up coming across some tourist police and their official tourist police camels taking a nap atop one of the sand mountains far from the pyramids.  It ended up being an awesome ten minutes with them.  We took some photos of them, they took some of us and they even let us get on their camels for a quick photo shoot.  They offered us some Egyptian ‘Tea’ but we kindly passed and went on to the next viewing platform.  We took some more photos and walked back down, we are now very sunburnt but it was well worth the two hours we spent there.

Next, Saqqara, is the ‘Stair Step’ pyramid that was the first one to have the architect design and build a pyramid with his name to it, Imhotep.  The pyramid itself was made for King Zoser and while it’s not nearly as large as Giza Pyramids it’s still full of history and was worth the visit.  It’s also much less of a tourist trap when it comes to locals selling stuff. 

Our last stop was Dahshur and the Red Pyramid.  The ride there was through farm land where the roads are shared by cars, horses, camels, people and anything else you can think of.  Even the kiddos are put to work at an early moving crops with horses and buggy’s.  The Red Pyramid is one of the pyramids that you can go inside to look around, it’s a small place but amazing.  Dahshur is the pyramid that has two angles to it.  After starting to build they realized it would be too tall so they changed the angle of it halfway through.  We didn’t go right up next to it, our cabbie was being lazy and we were both tired.  These two were even less of a tourist trap so it was a good way to end the day. 

Our last two days we’ll spend at the Egyptian Museum and Islamic Cairo before heading on to Dar Es Salam on Tuesday. 

The Sphinx of Giza

Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops - AKA The Grandfather

Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops - AKA The Grandfather

Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops - AKA The Grandfather

Pyramid of Khafre - AKA The Father

Pyramid of Menkaure - AKA The Son (and his 3 sons pyramids in front)

The Giza Pyramids

Official Tourism Police Camel

Official Tourism Police Camel

The Giza Pyramids

Saqqara - AKA The Stair Stepped Pyramid

The Red Pyramid

Inside The Red Pyramid

Inside The Red Pyramid

Dahshur - Pyramid of Snofru

Hello from Singapore!

We are now in transit to Cairo!  Our time in Australia was spent catching up with friends and family and relaxing.  We took a day trip to Cronulla to see some of Dave's old army mates and then another day trip to Annandale to see Dave's Great Auntie Barb.  It was a fantastic time and can't wait to see everyone again.  Hopefully we've convinced some of the family to come to the states for a white Christmas!

So now it's Africa here we come!  We left Sydney at 11am and arrived into Singapore around 5:30pm, about a 7 1/2 hour flight, which is only the first part of our trip.  We leave Singapore around 1:30am for an overnight flight to Dubai and have a short layover there.  We then head on to Cairo and will get in around 7am Saturday morning.  Hopefully we will be well rested and will be able to start our day exploring Cairo after Dave takes the last of his Calculus tests!

Oh and a bragging moment - flying Business class is such an amazing upgrade from Economy.  It also means we get use of all the lounges which have endless food, beer, drinks and free internet during our layovers.  They also feed you top star restaurant food on the flights.  Sydney to Singapore consisted of an antipasta dish, the main course, a dessert and also a small snack before landing (rice and chicken or veil tortellini).  Of course free drinks and peanuts the whole trip as well.  The seats also turn into flat beds which is awesome!

Thanks for reading and hopefully our posts will get more interesting from here on out!

Goodbye Sydney!

Emu prosciutto, artichoke, prawn and rucola for antipasti

Dave's main dish - Chicken coconut curry and rice

Enjoying our Business class seats

Butterfly garden at the Singapore Airport