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This morning we started very early. Our pick up was at 6:30 AM. Our guide Richard wanted to get us to the central Serengeti area which was the best place to find cheetahs and leopards. The area we have been in is grassland mixed with trees and hills. The central Serengeti is all flat with tall grasses with few trees and areas of big rocks and boulders.

The drive took us back past the landing strip where we came in just 3 short, but filled to the brim, days ago. After driving a short while we came upon a group of at least 20 lions. They were stalking a pack of zebras. We followed them for a while but they eventually stopped and just rested, so we moved on.

Then we saw the cheetah. She was perched on a rock and had 3 cubs. We watched the babies play and then she took off and hide the babies in the tall grass.

We next found a group of elephants. There were several babies as well as about 12 adults. They were using trees to scratch itches. Two of them even had a staring contest with loud bellows.

We continued to look for the elusive leopard and also were on our way to a picnic area. Richard was very disappointed that he could not locate the leopard. We were on the BNN (bush news network) and the guides were all talking to each other but no one was finding leopards and not many were seeing the cheetahs.

After lunch we started back towards our hotel and then we came to a bunch of safari cars and hidden in a tree was a leopard. He was very hard to see even with binoculars. I was able to get a picture but you will have to look hard to see the leopard.

This night we had dinner in the Boma, which is an open air restaurant. They had some Masai singing and dancing. They got the kids in the audience up, dancing with them. The Masai are known for jumping very high. It was interesting to see.

Our second day in the Serengeti started at 8:30. Richard was waiting for a game drive. When we were out for about 20 minutes we were surrounded by what looked like several thousand zebra. Richard said that they were also migrating. At one point they were going around both ends of our car.

We were still on the hunt for leopards and male lions. Pretty soon we found the male lions again.

We also saw the remains of a hunt. Richard thought that the wildebeest had been taken down by a hyena, who we saw in the area. By the time we saw the kill, it was being scavenged by vultures. Gory to see, but part of the life here in the wild.

We followed an elephant for a while and then came upon a group of 9 female lions resting under a tree. They were all asleep and moved into humorous positions. We saw one very interesting tree, called the candlestick tree.

We returned to the hotel around noon for lunch, exercise and resting. While having lunch a herd of elephants, around 20, came to the water hole just outside the pool area. There were several babies in the group. They came to drink and toss water onto their backs. They were fun to watch up close.

At 4, Richard picked us up and promised a big surprise. Bob had asked him to find a herd of elephants in the wild. He said he would try and not 20 minutes from the hotel there they were. There were at least 25 elephants, to include a baby that Richard thought was about 2 weeks old. We watched them for some time and saw that as the herd got closer there were 2 other elephants that joined the mom and baby. The 3 large elephants formed a triangle with the baby inside. They did this to cross the road in front of our parked vehicle. We were all astounded by this behavior.

We then continued on to our surprise. We saw some beautiful giraffes along the way.

And then we got to our surprise. It was a huge pond filled with hippos. They were grunting and splashing. We really enjoyed seeing them and watching their behaviors. There were also crocodiles in this pond. In addition, Richard had set up a “sundowner” for us – drinks and snacks. All in all an amazing day.

We have an early night tonight, our safari tomorrow starts at 6:30 AM and we are going to the central Serengeti area to hopefully find leopards and cheetahs. Stay tuned!

We started our journey on June 22, flying from Boston to Amsterdam and then on to Kilimanjaro. We arrived there on June 23 at 10 PM, had our temperature taken and then passed through their immigration. With fingers crossed we waited for our luggage and all 6 duffels arrived. Abdul and Abdul, our driver and logistics people were waiting and off we went to the Arusha Coffee Lodge. We checked in and were greeted with fragrant cool towels and delicious cold coffee. Then we had dinner and by 12:30 we were off to bed. Fortunately our transfer time was at 9 AM so we were able to get a somewhat normal nights sleep.

We went to the airport in Arusha, a different one from the one we flew into, and boarded a plane for Seronera Airstrip. We were assisted by the 2 Abduls for this. The flight was on a 20 passenger plane and took about 45 minutes. At the other end we were met by Richard, our guide and driver for the next 10 days.

We did an almost 2 hour game drive as we made our way to our hotel, Four Seasons Serengeti Lodge. We had an amazing experience during this time. We saw baboons with nursing babies and then came across 2 female lions. We admired them for a while and drove on only to find 5 more lions, 2 being juveniles. We saw Thompson gazelles, elephants, zebras, giraffes, Cape buffalo, wildebeest, hippos, ostrich and Topi. This was on the way to the hotel. We arrived, checked in, had lunch and freshened up. Then we were ready for game drive 2.

Our second game drive was scheduled for 3:30. We witnessed an elephant taking down a tree to get to the best young leaves. We saw warthogs, silverback jackals, spotted hyenas, eland, Cokes hartebeast, buffalo, male lions and cervil cat. The most amazing thing we saw was the huge number of wildebeest, which covered the land from the roads we were on to the horizon. Pictures can not show the enormity of the numbers we saw. I don’t think it is an over estimate to say there were 30,000 of them.

We then had to start back because it was getting late and technically we had to be off the park roads by 6:30. However, we found some lions sleeping by the road and when we circled them found 2 resting males. We then continued on but got the best surprise with another 2 large male lions just sitting on the road. It was amazing and a great end to the day. We got back to the hotel a little after 7, cleaned up, had dinner and called it a day.

When these photos were taken on Saturday, June 10 there was no doubt that we were on our way to Tanzania. Bob was spraying our clothes to keep the mosquitoes (and therefore malaria) away from us.

But then on Sunday he started to feel badly, started cold meds and some cough syrup. By Monday he was feeling pretty bad and then a call from our bridge club telling us they were closing for a week due to lots of “sick” people made us go “oh damn”. Yes, that nasty virus had struck the Batson house.

After several My Chart exchanges with his primary doctor and one tele-med visit he was on meds to try to get him better. We are happy to report that he is better and we leave on Tuesday to go to Boston to meet up with Jennifer and her family.

Tanzania 🇹🇿 here we come!

Today was a do-it-yourself day. We had decided that we would need a down day after so many port days in a row. We slept in a little later and headed into town.

Our plan was to go to the top of the rock where the Oceanographic Museum, Royal Palace and Cathedral were located. It took a long walk, followed by several escalators to get to the top. We walked around and then headed to the Palace. We bought tickets for a self guided tour. The rooms we were able to see were beautifully restored. We were told that the palace has been under restoration for several years and the areas we were seeing had just been opened recently. Actually in some of the rooms restoration of the wall paintings were still in progress. There was a short video which showed how the restoration was done, using lasers and fine scalpels.

The rooms were lavish and the explanations were very interesting. When we finished our tour we were able to see the changing of the guard in front of the palace.

We stopped by the Cathedral to see the burying places of Grace Kelly, the wife of the Prince and Prince Rainier. We then walked back down the hill and through the area being set up for the Grand Prix race that will be held in a few weeks. Walking back we got to see some of the huge yachts that are berthed in the area near our cruise ship.

We enjoyed our d-i-y day, especially since we were not on a bus!

Although our port today was Marseille, we had a tour to see St. Remy de Provence. Marseilles is the capital of the region known as Provence Côte d’Azur. It is one of the oldest cities in Europe, founded in 600 BC by the Greeks. Around 100 BC the Romans came to this area.

Marseilles served as the gateway to the orient in the 500s. It has always been connected to sea travel and trade. The area has many harbors and is surrounded on 3 sides by limestone mountains. The area has 70 kilometers of coastline.

St. Remy is the patron saint of Provence. The area produces olive oil, perfumes and lavender. They also do colorful pottery in the region as well as colorful cotton clothing. There are about 300 sunny days, but 200 have strong mistral winds. These winds blow down from the Rhône valley and cleans the air. Because of this it has been a favorite destination for painters because of the good light. Van Gogh came to St. Remy in 1889 to paint. Other famous artists have also come to this area in Provence to paint.

The famous mathematician and astrologer, Michel de Nostredame, Latinized to Nostradamus, was born in St. Remy in 1503.

Provence is considered the garden of France. The town of St. Remy de Provence was very charming. The streets were cobbled, there were many shops selling lavender and olive oil products. There were many small boutiques and lots of cafes. We had a short tour and then got to walk around and do some shopping.

Today we were supposed to be in Port Vendres, France. However, due to the weather there we came to Cannes, France. Because of the very last minute change there were no tours for the ship.

We rode the tender into the city and after getting a map we were on our way. We walked first to the Palais de Festivals et des Congrès. This is where the Cannes Film Festival is held. They were actually starting to put up bleachers and walkways for the next festival which starts in early May. There are hand prints of famous stars and I am by Meg Ryan and Bob has his hands on Angelina Jole.

We next strolled along the Boulevard de la Croisette. This is the street that runs along the beach area and has all the big name shops. It also has the big hotels and resorts. Lots of window shopping, no buying.

We then went to Rue d’Antibes, a pedestrian street with more shops, not so high end and lovely old buildings. We next climbed Suquet Hill to see Notre Dame d’Esperance, Our Lady of Hope Church. The church is Gothic and had some nice interior features. We got a nice view of the city because we were up on a hill.

We then returned to the ship for a cocktail in honor of my birthday. Dinner was in the Japanese restaurant on the ship, but the birthday cake they served was pure chocolate. When we got back to our room, the bedroom was decorated with about 20 balloons. A lovely surprise from our butler and housekeeping staff.

Today was the day that Bob was looking forward to the most. Unfortunately the hike he was to go on was cancelled due to low participation. We figured he was the only one signed up for it. So instead he went on the excursion I had signed up for – visiting Valldemossa. It unexpectedly turned out to be one of the best tours we have had so far.

We first went to Castell de Bellver. It was a view point above the city of Palma. The building was started in 123 BC by the Romans. It was taken over by the Moors in 902 and held for more than 300 years. In 1229, James I, a conquistador, invaded and the castle was captured. The name means castle of the nice view. It sits 100 meters high on a hill and is currently a museum of the history of Palma.

Palma is the capital of the Balearic island group (4 islands). Palma’s population is around 400,000 while all the islands are about 1 million. There are 3 official languages – Spanish, Catalan and a local Mallorcan dialect. Tourism is the main industry with the season going from April to October. It is a short flight from most of Europe and is popular with Germans and British for a vacation spot. It was a cool, windy day but in the summer the temperatures can go up to 107 degrees. They have a small agricultural industry growing almonds, olives and carob. They have 70 vineyards and citrus is grown in the mountains. Most things need to be imported because they can’t grow enough to support the population.

The drive to Valldemossa was through the mountains. They are protected since 2011 as a world heritage site. Saint Catherine, the only saint from Mallorca, was born here in 1531. Frederic Chopin and George Sands lived in Valldemossa in 1838. They came to the island to help him get better from tuberculosis and stayed for 3 months. Unfortunately it did not help him, but during that time because of the isolation he composed many of his works. We toured the old and new charter houses. The old one was from the 1300s and the new one was from the 1800s. These building were originally part of a monetary. The outsides were very plain, but the insides had gardens. The rooms were small. During a financial crises in 1835, the government took the buildings from the monks and sold them in pieces to wealthy individuals to raise money. Those areas had been converted to homes and that is where Chopin stayed. Those areas were furnished very lavishly. We had a surprise at the end of this part of our tour, a piano concert.

We then went to a store to learn about Mallorcan pearls, which is one of the famous industries on the island. We then returned to the port, passing the huge main cathedral.

The port is composed of 3 sections. The small boat area – the kind you would see in a marina in Florida. The large boat area – think huge mega yachts and the working port for cruise ships and ferries and cargo ships. Docked across from our ship was Jeff Besos new yacht called the Black Pearl. It cost 200 million dollars and is 145 meters long. It was beautiful and amazing to see.

Although, this was not the tour Bob had planned to do, we were both happy to have done it.

Today we were totally on our own. We left the ship around 9, catching a bus from our terminal to the World Trade Center at the beginning of the port area. We then walked to the metro and took a subway to Sagrada Familia, the famous Gaudi church. We have been here several times. The church has been under construction for over 100 years and it is always interesting to see the progress. The first time we were here there was only concrete floors and scaffolding around the massive pillars. Now the floor is marble and the pillars beautifully decorated.

We had bought our tickets on line and only had to wait 15 minutes to go in. We had downloaded the audio tour and walked around and then sat while someone played the organ. It was very crowded.

After, we walked back towards the ship. We stopped on La Rambla for lunch. We had 2 tapas – tomatoes on bread with olive oil and roasted potatoes with olive oil and mayonnaise topping. Both were delicious. Then we had vegetable paella, I was nervous about ordering seafood in a small sidewalk cafe. It too was tasty and topped it all off with sangria.

We finished our walk and returned to the ship. With all the walking my Fitbit says I had almost 16,000 steps today.