You Only Live Once My adventures through East Africa. Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda. I hope I know what I'm getting myself into!

Jon & I spent the last day in Kampala doing some last minute shopping and bargaining with the craft vendors behind the National Theater before picking our packs up from the Ethiopian Airlines office where we had stashed them so we didn't have to schlep them with us all day (brilliant idea Jon!). From there we made our way to the craziest taxi park I saw in all of Kenya, Tanz. & Uganda to board a Matatu to Entebbe. Minivan taxis as far as the eye can see and people selling anything and everything under the sun in amidst the chaos of it all. I had artfully held on to 3,500 Ug. Shillings (just over $2) and the transport to Entebbe cost 2,000. From Entebbe town we had to then negotiate a ride to the airport for 1,000 each when the normal rate for the taxi is 5,000. But, as we have learned, everything in Africa is negotiable -- so before we knew it we had made our way all the way to the airport and I still had 500 shillings burning a whole in my pocket. After a little incident checking in - when they people at the counter told me that my ticket didn't have the right slip in it - and therefore they couldn't check me in, we made it through ticketing and customs from there to Addis Ababa and then from Addis (with about 40+ Ethiopian immigrants) onto our plane bound for Tel Aviv. When we arrived yesterday at Ben Gurion at around 7am - Cultershock - was the understatement of the year. I can't tell you what it's like to go into a bathroom with a real toilet & toilet paper!!! and then the Nesher taxi home from the airport which is usually a painful experience for me was the smoothest, most luxurious, spacious ride I felt I had ever. And then the icing on the cake -- a hot shower with pressure that really I didn't not remember. Wrapping up the trip was a bit sad, but in all honestly -- afer 7 weeks on the move -- I was ready to be done. Now, I'm uploading all the amazing pictures that I wasn't able to get on the blog while I was on the road. Be patient with me, there are well over 700 files to sort through. I hope you enjoy putting some images to the stories & scenes that I've been describing.