jpalbny

Chris visited in High School and told me about that. Then when we went to Berlin together in 2017 we read about it at one of the museums.

So after six months without a cat in the house, we caved a week ago. Our friends were fostering these two little ones for a while, so now they have a new home! Dora And Duma. Duma rhymes with puma which fits him well, even though it's Swahili for cheetah (which is why we chose it). And if (when) he does something stupid we can call him Dumb-a. It's a good multipurpose name. Side by side you can see that Dora is such a fluffball. Her tail is epic! If only she would help with the dusting. They are quite energetic, now that they have stopped hiding and are comfortable in their new home. I hope we can keep up with them!

It's really not that bad. Have done it numerous times with suitcases. The RER line from CDG is easy to negotiate, with a sensible amount of luggage. Even if you have to make a change somewhere. Yup. Did that too, last Christmas. On the older Piccadilly line, not the new Elizabeth line. I agree, Heathrow Express is much nicer and so fast! It just depends whether or not Paddington Station is a useful destination for you. Since our hotel was in Covent Garden it made more sense to just use the Tube. Finally did that in 2015, Paris to Lyon. And Paris-Geneva the year after. The view from the upper level, as two trains pass at full speed, is crazy. We use a lot of trains or other public transport to/from airports in Europe. Sometimes Chris gets exasperated following me with her small suitcase in tow. But with the money I save avoiding taxi rides, I can buy her extra wine. So she ends up happy!

In our case it was around sunset, before dinner. It was very pleasant out on the back deck, close to the water. With the quiet electric drive system you hardly hear anything but the ocean rushing by. And no diesel fumes to interfere with the taste of your wine! Chris brought a simple white linen dress that took minimal packing space. It was useful in other parts of the tropics as well.

Use it all. We'll buy more!

LOL. Good one! I don't think we even own that many suitcases. Using them all on a single trip would be a whole 'nother level!

Yes, I took a look and this was on a sea day.

Very convenient. Have done this a few times on different trips. We have flown to Frankfurt, then taken the train to Nürnberg or Würzburg. Have also flown to Paris and then taken the TGV to Genève.

We.had a white party on our Indonesia cruise in March. It was a pre-dinner event on the back deck and everyone did follow the suggested dressed code. We had brought white outfits so we blended in. We did not have one on our 7-day Corsica trip the year prior.

We have always enjoyed the food on Ponant. But then again I rarely meet a meal I don't like - unfortunately!

Pretty cool! Thanks for pointing us to it.

What a fantastic portmanteau! I need to file that away for future reference. I also avoided the urge to pet the lions. We had a very sad sighting in Linyanti. Lions kill cubs frequently and we came across the body of a year-old male cub who had been killed by the males of the pride. I think the guides were even more upset than we were, as they had just seen him alive and well the day prior. One thing that has changed in recent years is that male lions are banding together in a rapidly escalating "arms race". Whereas the usual MO had been one dominant male leading the pride, maybe two if they are brothers, now it's more common to see larger groups come together to take over and lead a pride. The pride in Linyanti was now led by SIX males in coalition. A very formidable force to be reckoned with. But this leads to more cub killing because no one male knows whether the cubs are really his. So they kill cubs more frequently, and mate with the females to try and produce their own cubs. And the cycle repeats itself. Another consequence of the larger lion pride is that they can attack larger prey. The large groups of males can easily take mature giraffes, and will go after hippos, and smaller elephants. And the more successful the lions are, the harder it is for smaller cats like cheetahs to eke out an existence. It's tough in the wild. We learned a lot and it's not all pretty.

Belated update - we got our new Yacht Club cards in the mail at some point while we were away earlier this month. They were in the pile of mail which was awaiting our return on Sunday night. Now, we just need to book another cruise! We looked at one for next October but didn't follow through.

Just had a look on the DL site and plugged in a few random days next July. I could easily find a mixed itinerary w DL. Outbound there are at least three nonstop ATL-LHR flights in Delta One (one is Upper Class w/ VA)/ Then return home KEF-ATL with a change in either MSP, DTW, or JFK. They do not offer Delta One on that return leg, true, as it's not a business class cabin. The highest category they offer on the return leg is premium select (KEF-USA) and the domestic leg is in comfort plus. But as everyone above says, it's a 5h flight so it's not as much of an issue.

The itineraries are different. Both are well worth doing. I'd do either again. We have done Antarctica x2, Svalbard x1, and are signed up for Greenland and Canadian Arctic 2025. Yes. We had a great cruise on board Silver Wind in June. Trip report in my signature. It may not be *your* preferred ship but we like Cloud and Wind very much. They are indeed old.

I downloaded my DSLR pics today. Took a quick run through and they came out better than I had expected. I am too cheap to invest in a lens with a wide aperture so sometimes the exposure speed can be too slow and the pictures are blurry at full zoom. Here are a few of my favorites. The first lion cub we saw in the Kalahari. Solitary mom and cub. Mom was out in the open. He was shy. Probably smart as there are a lot of full-grown males who would not be very friendly to him. Black-backed jackal at the local water cooler. Lions are just big playful kitties. Until you realize the size of their paws! Serious weapons. Mama Cheetah. She was staring us down, making sure it was safe for her cubs to pass. A beautiful animal and a thrill to see her in the wild. I thought cats don't like water, but this lioness will ford the stream without hesitation, to hunt for food to nourish her cubs. This hunt did not succeed but the next one did! Woodland Kingfisher, hiding in a maze of branches. I learned a LOT of bird names this trip. And I thought that I wasn't a birder... I guess it happens to all of us sooner or later. The leopard from my previous post. Cleans up nicely for her portrait! I think that leopards are more majestic than lions. We had sundowners with a bloat of hippos. They were not amused! And they let us know this in no uncertain terms. I think this was a Red-billed Hornbill. Another sleeping lion cub. We are adopting two kittens tomorrow. Probably seeing so many cute lion cubs helped solidify that decision. About as graceful as a fish out of water. At the beginning of the rainy season the hippos can leave the overcrowded river and look for smaller water holes in which to hide. This is the African Fish Eagle. They were all over the place in the Linyanti. Magnificent bird but after a while you stop noticing. Baby elephant nursing while mom replenishes the tank. The elephant antics in the Linyanti were like nothing I remember on prior safaris. And there were so many little babies! La piece de resistance. A lilac-breasted roller with wings fully extended. Very lucky to get this shot. And I'll end this post with the rhino mom and calf somewhere in Zambia. They are under 24/7 protection. By rangers. With really big rifles. Sad that this is the reality but thankful to the rangers who risk their lives to protect these animals so that we can see them up close and personal. Still feeling the jetlag so off to bed soon.

I'm sorry, but we are not allowed to provide the names of travel agents on CC.

That aqueduct was a highlight. Scarier (to me) than Devil's Pool though! Congratulations on your retirement! I'm hopefully just a year behind you.

Yes, but awake now and getting ready for work. We got to our house just after 6PM. After grabbing some takeout we were in bed by 8PM. Slept on and off but mostly good until 4:30. At least all of our flights were on time, and our luggage arrived with us. Couldn't ask for much more. The least efficient airport transfer was ATL. That took about 40 minutes from gate to lounge but mostly because baggage delivery was slow. Still not a bad journey. Now time to get busy planning the next trip - to the Azores in March for my birthday!

Good morning from Paris. Halfway home. So far, so good. The very helpful Airlink rep in Zambia checked our bags all the way through to Albany without hesitation. I've been tracking them and they are with us in Paris. We did the "transit" route in Johannesburg which was pretty easy. Took about 20 minutes from gate to lounge. Interestingly there is still a passport check involved, but they give you a "transit" stamp and there was minimal waiting. Transit through CDG this morning was even faster. From gate to lounge in 10 minutes! By a stroke of good luck both our arrival and departure gates were in M so no trains or busses required. Boarding in 30 minutes. I do regret not trying this fast food place in Zambia. Maybe next time? Our last view of Zambia and Zimbabwe, as our flight departed.

Preparing for 35 hours of travel this weekend... We leave Zambia tomorrow at 13:25 and arrive in Albany on Sunday at 17:30. Four flights. Seven hours of time change. Who planned this insanity? I managed to get us checked in for all four flights so there is a slim chance that we can take advantage of the interline agreement between Airlink, Air France, and Delta. If this works we will check our bags once, in Livingstone, and collect them in Albany. We'll see how that goes... Zambia has been a treat. We're staying at a lodge about 20 minutes out of town. Gorgeous setting on the Zambezi River. A fabulous room with every amenity you could want. And delicious food. They feed you so much here! Yesterday we went to Livingstone Island and swam in Devil's Pool. It was an experience. We loved it. It's a long way down! Then we walked with rhinos. Today we visited Zimbabwe to see the falls from that side. Great views and we got plenty wet despite the low water levels. A helicopter ride over the falls afterwards. One last beautiful sunset tonight. Already dreaming of a return trip. It's been one of the best journes that we've ever taken.

I'm so sorry.

Wishing the best to both of you.

Hi from Botswana! We're having a great time with the big cats. This guy from the Kalahari is named Blondie. Seeing a cheetah in the wild was a definite highlight. Leopards galore in the Okavango Delta. A wild dog for good measure. Definitely a lucky sighting. We saw a pack of 25+. And more cute kitties. He's missing a tooth. Not so ferocious with only three! Nap time! Botswana is highly recommended based on our experience so far!

Hard to keep up here with the slow internet. But we are having a great time here in Botswana. Even though it's 101° today! Here are a few sunset pictures from Saturday evening's boat ride on a channel of the Okavango Delta. The sunsets here are so pretty. Sunday morning in Vumbura we followed a small lion pride. They were off scouting for a future hunt. Sunday afternoon we flew to Linyanti and saw elephants in the river right after we arrived. More cute lion cubs on the eveninggame drive. Of course! This guy looks fierce and all but he only has three canines. He's missing the top right one. He and his brother walked up very near to our jeep for a drink. I probably could have touched them. It's crazy how close they get. This cub is expressing my thoughts exactly. Just finished lunch and now ready for a siesta. Once it cools off a bit we'll do a boat ride on the Linyanti River. We can see Namibia from here!