After a whole night of Northern Lights hunting, we only had 4.5 hours of sleep and needed to head to the airport for our flight to Bodo to Bergen to Alesund. The morning was beautiful and clear sky! We had one last view of the picturesque Hamnøy, the icon of Lofotens! Getting to Leknes only… Read More Norway – Lofoten to Alesund
After staying 3 nights in the southern part of Lofoten, I planned to stay in the northern part at Svolvaer for the next 2 nights. However, I was checking the aurora forecast at NOAA and it was expecting a solar storm in 2 days with KP index of 7+! I told Jason about the news… Read More Norway – Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands
The weather finally cooperated, at least for the morning, so I switched the itinerary to do the Reinebringen hike. The view from the deck of Eliassen Rorbuer was unbelievably photogenic. I realized a red cabin was right underneath the mountain across from the lake! The mountain ranges on the back were snowcapped overnight. Snowcapped mountains… Read More Norway – Lofoten Islands 2000 Steps Up Reinebringen!
The next morning in Svolvaer, the weather looked much better….at least not raining. At times, we could see the blue sky! On our way back to the southern part of Lofoten, we stopped at Leknes for lunch at Makalaus. We got there when they first opened. I ordered the seafood pasta, it was good and… Read More Norway – Last Minute Change to Chase The Northern Lights
It took us 4 flights and almost 24 hours to get to Leknes, Lofoten Islands. We left Boston at 6:05 PM and arrived the next day at 8:45 PM; that was how remote the Lofoten Islands are (in terms of getting from Boston). Leknes airport was small and efficient, we picked up our car from… Read More Norway – Lofoten Islands from Reine to A
After the 9 days of safari in Kenya and Tanzania, there were many things I found out by surprise that I wished the tour company had told us or read on the internet so I want to share with you: Safari animal-seeing-wise, I think Maasai Mara is better than Serengeti for the following reasons: Must… Read More Kenya versus Tanzania Safari, Must Pack, and Tips
Another long day of driving to get from Ngorongoro Crater to Amboseli National Park in Kenya and another border crossing! We started our journey just before sunrise… Jason and I asked Emmanuel if he could stop by a post office along the way so we could get Tanzania stamps as you all already know Jason… Read More Safari Day 8-9 – Kenya: Amboseli National Park
From Serengeti to Ngorongoro, it was a three-hour drive (once again, on bumpy roads). We arrived at our next lodge, Embalakai Ngorongoro, at around 10:30 AM and waited for 10 minutes for someone to come and greet us. The staff wasn’t responsive, giving me a bad first impression of the lodge. Our rooms weren’t ready… Read More Safari Day 7 – Tanzania: Ngorongoro Crater
Our 2nd full day in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, we opted for a long morning safari to get further into Serengeti so Emmanuel got packed breakfast from the lodge on the go. We searched for a lone tree as the backdrop and hoped for some animals, that would be the perfect picture lol we wished… Read More Safari Day 6 – Tanzania: Lakeside Breakfast in Serengeti and Ants Invasion In Our Room
The air was so cold at 4 AM that we had to wake up super early to get ready for our hot air balloon safari! We booked via the tour company just weeks before our safari, Brian decided to splurge on it based on rave reviews he read. We were quoted at $480 USD per… Read More Safari Day 5: Tanzania Serengeti Hot Air Balloon Safari
