Africa

Note: this is the third post in a series about my trip to India and Africa. The others are available at Amsterdam and India. The full set of pictures is also available on Flickr.

We flew from Mumbai to Tanzania on Kenya Airways. We had a long 11 hour layover in Nairobi, but we were warned not to leave the airport or else we would likely be mugged or robbed. We stayed inside.

The first event was a big one: climb Mount Kilimanjaro. We had a great group of people to climb with - 3 Americans and two Germans.

The climb started off in the rainforest jungle. It rained nearly every day, so we had to learn how to deal with the downpour. Ziplock bags to the rescue!

The entire climb took 7 days: 5 up and 2 down. We climbed slowly in order to acclimatize to the 19,000 foot altitude. Some campsites had magnificent views. Some did not.

A team of 26 porters, guides and chefs carried all the gear for us, including delicious meals, dining gear, and a "toilet tent."

On the final day, a freak snowstorm covered the peak of the mountain in snow and clouds, freezing everyone to the bone. My glasses froze over.

Despite the cold we successfully made it to the top! Unfortunately we couldn't see anything at all. Supposedly it's one of the most magnificent views of the African plains that can be seen. 😐

After seven days on the mountain living in tents without showers, we were excited to get back to the hotel.

After the climb, we went on a safari in the Serengeti National Park. The scenery was unbelievably amazing - we saw hundreds of thousands of animals.

Lions sat by the side of the road and weren't even bothered by all the tourists snapping pictures of them.

Due to excessive rainfall, we got a free upgrade from tents to these "luxury lodges".

The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Stunning.

One day we saw a pride of lions eating a giraffe. The next day the giraffe carcass was almost completely gone. Here a hyena and a jackal are scavenging it.

We were lucky enough to spot a cheetah and 3 of her cubs eating a gazelle.

Apparently leopards are even rarer, but we saw one of those too.

There were so many giraffes that we had to shoo them out of the road.

Warthogs are actually fairly ugly. The Lion King was a lie.

Herds of wildebeest were all over the place.

Rhinos are very endangered - there were only 21 of them left in this area.

Elephants

When we forded this river I was sure we would get stuck.

Yawning hippo.

Monkeys were everywhere.

There are a lot more pictures, but I don't have room to include them all here. Head over to the Flickr set for more!