I woke up early so we can be at the gate of the actual Masai Mara Nature Reserve as the sun was rising. However, not as early as the folks doing the sunrise balloon ride - they had to leave at 4:45am. Yikes. April is the most early in the year that I've visited the … Continue reading Kenya – Part 2

Time for a four-night field trip. The Silver Dawn docked in Seychelles, we drove to the airport and flew to Nairobi, Kenya. Side note on Seychelles: this island-chain nation 800 miles (1500 km) east of Africa has the highest GDP per capita and human development index of all African nations. Huh. Maybe I should visit … Continue reading Kenya – Part 1

After visiting New Delhi and Agra we returned to the ship in Kochi. The ship stayed overnight, so I had my standard "Kochi at a Glance" tour the next morning. Kochi has a lot of European history, being an early trading port for the Portuguese, Dutch, then British during the age of exploration. We started … Continue reading Kochi

Finally, the Taj Mahal. First, some background. Shah Jahan was the fifth Mughal emperor. He was a great builder, directing the construction of numerous mosques, forts and gardens. His favorite wife was Arjumand Banu Begum, known as "Mumtaz Mahal" which means "Exalted One of the Palace." When the Shah became emperor, she gained the title … Continue reading Taj Mahal

"Namaste" is a Hindu greeting, so it's a good title for my visit to India. I had a three-night "field trip" to New Delhi and Agra, focused around essentially a drive-by visit of the Taj Mahal. Lots of travel, lots of pictures. I generally prefer to minimize my travel time as a percentage to my … Continue reading Namaste