Africa 2002

Nice perspective of Amsterdam from under a canal bridge. Edie in front of the Van Gogh museum. We went to the Rijksmuseum the morning we were in Amsterdam. <br />Unfortunately it was undergoing major renovations.<br />The main entrance and about 80% of the interior was closed.<br />At least we did see The Night Watch which is always impressive. Our room at the Capricorn Hotel which is where we stayed in the Kilimanjaro area<br />when we weren't camping on the mountain. It was an OK room at the top of a big<br />rock and dirt hill. We got into Kilimanjaro airport around 8:00 PM and to the Capricorn around 11:00 PM.<br />This is us after a very late dinner. Larry and three others came in on the same flight from Amsterdam.<br />They were climbing in two days also but taking a different route. Edie is sitting on the steps of the building where our room was at the Capricorn Hotel.<br />Down the hill was the main building. Edie watches Kevin celebrates not falling down the hill. This is the hill down to the main hotel. A bridge across a stream we crossed while walking around the Chaga village area<br />near the Capricorn Hotel. The little Chaga children were all very friendly. Just a flower I saw that looked like it would make a good photo. Chaga girl looking out from her house. There are several entry points to the mountain depending the route being taken.<br />This one was about a mile from our hotel. Our gate was a couple of hours drive away. This was the staging area for the gate near our hotel.<br />Much nicer than the oe at our gate. Edie plays with a goat outside of a Chaga hut. Close-up of the Chaga goat. When we left the Chaga hut one of the kids followed us (I suppose for a handout). Many women sat on their porches sewing wraps and covers. During our afternoon aclimatization walk around the Capricorn Hotel<br />we passed a nice falls. Us at the base of the falls. Edie checking out some of the local merchandise at a market down the hill from<br />the Capricorn Hotel. We were travelling light so we did not buy anything. A warning sign at the base of Kilimanjaro. A picture of Edie shortly after we began our first day of climbing Kili. A picture of Chuck shortly after beging the 1st day's climb.<br />My pack is stuffed with camera equipment and rain suit. Shortly after lunch on the first day it began to rain.<br />Little did we know that was going to be the drill every day. Our campsite at the end of the first day.<br />The heavy coats we had the porters cary got wet, we were trying to dry them out. A closer picture o the two man tent we (kind of) lived in for 6 days. Kili from our first night's camp site. Kili Us in our home-away-from-home. Equipment Adjustment Getting Colder Still Smiling! Breakfast Edie and our guide. This was our camp site for the second night on Kili.<br />Our tent is the one on the left with a pair of trekking poles hanging in front.<br />Wet and miserable just like all the other camp sites on the way up. Another breakfast in paradise. Mt. Muru in the background. Sunset behind Mt. Muru. Sunset on the mountain. When we arrived at Barafu Camp (18,000') it was sleeting.<br />This is the outhouse above our tent. We knew the final climb<br />was going to be tough when just getting up to the outhouse<br />wiped us out. This was part of a typical lunch we were given each day on the mountain.<br />I had it leftover from the last day and took a picture of it when we unpacked<br />back at the Capricorn Hotel. This is a telephoto shot from the front of our tent of some elephants in the valley at<br />Tanagerie National park. This was the first stop on our safari in Tanzania after<br />the kilimanjaro climb. A warthog in the weeds. The second park we visited in Tanzania. An elephant in a meadow at Lake Manyara. Monkey in a tree as we entered the Lake Manyara National Park. Caught an elephant blowing dirt on himself. While relaxing on the patio at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge after a morning safari<br />drive in the crater, snapped this shot of a reptile of some sort climbing in the foiliage. You can tell a chetah by the teardrop lines. There are gazelles keeping their distance. There were a group of four cheetahs walking around the Ngorongoro Crater.<br />Here are two at the water hole. If you look close you can see the other two in<br />the background. We saw a number of jackals but they were almost always trotting away from us.<br />This is one of the few photos we got of one pointed in our direction. Three female lions lounging in the middle of the day. Other animas keeping their distance. The same three lioness stretching out in the midday sun. Pink and other colored flamingos. Crater wall in the background. We often saw hyenas plopped down in any available puddle. We were told it's<br />because their digestive process creates a lotof heat and they need to cool<br />their stomachs. Hyena after dragging himself out of the mud. Flamingos in the background. A couple of hippos keeping cool in the midday sun. A lioness lounging just beyond the hippo pool at Ngorongoro Crater. A water buffalo. A rare sighting (for us) of a Black Rhino.<br />This was the lasy of the Big Five we saw on the trip. A big ostrich walking around. A boy and girl Gazelle doing what gazelles do. You can get an idea of how many wildebest there were.<br />The lions won't go hungary any time soon. I think the Zebras know the lion is there. An elephant with crooked tusk eating a bush. A bunch of storks sitting in a tree. A zebra walking around in a stream. A hartebeest standing around watching us watch him. Momma lion thanking God for the<br />wildebeest she's about to eat. Here's momma lion witht the wildebeest she brought down for her cubs. This is a lion cub who just pulled his face out of a freshly killed wildebeest. Lion Cub After Meal Entrance to the Serengeti