Africa - A Dream of Mine

So, I'll finish putting up pictures from our Disney trip eventually, but I felt like writing tonight. My plan was for this to be a travel blog once I was done my Trip Report (although we won't be doing much travelling in the near future, what with Rin being in school, and me going back once she's done), so this is my inaugural 'Travel Blog' post. Since we won't be doing much travelling, I'll be writing about places we've been, or places we want to go. And number one on my list (Rin has her own list, maybe she'll deign to write about it someday) is Africa, so I figure it's a good place to start.

Seriously, who doesn't want to wake up to this?

Now, for those of you who don't know Rin and me (Yes, "me," not "I." Look it up. I'm tired of bad grammar online.), we don't travel cheaply. I blame this on Rin, she's high maintenance. I mean, sure, I like the high life as well, but I'd be happy sleeping in a tent if it meant we could go to Africa (or Disney, or Las Vegas, etc, etc). So, you can image, a trip to Africa means mega bucks. But, honestly, I think I prefer it this way.

Why? Well, because Africa is ridiculously beautiful, and has some ridiculously beautiful accommodations. I originally realised this 3 or 4 years ago when I stumbled across a website entitled Africa in Style (now journeysinstyle.com). The website has expanded and changed since I originally found it, , unfortunately, it no longer features the property that I originally fell in love with: Shompole.

Shompole is, for lack of a better word, breathtaking. Sadly, as I write this, I've just discovered that Shompole is currently closed Probably why Journeys in Style no longer features it.). But, in hopes that it will open again soon, and to pique your interest, I give you some pictures that drew me to the property.

I had planned to write more, but I'll save that for another day. Trust me, there will be more Africa to come, someday, hopefully, culminating in a Trip Report and some pictures of my own. And, if you want to help me get there, feel free to click the ads Google is so gracious to supply me with - every little bit helps!

Trip Report Photo Dump Part 1

I'm a bit late with this (aren't I always), but I finally found time to do a photo dump from our Disney Trip. By no means is this all of our pictures (we took over 3000), but they're most of the ones I like. I should mention that I'm still (as in even today) learning to use my new camera, so some of the pictures are kind of grainy.

Waiting to get into Tusker House for breakfast. No one told me how bad that beard looked, but it had a purpose.

If you've ever read any 'Overheard at Disney' posts on message boards, one of the most common is "You mean they paid to make it look like this?!" Personally,  I love that attention to detail.

Apparently the CM taking the picture knows how to use my camera even worse than I do. Still, Donald!

And Mickey!

Daisy.

Goofy, my favourite. I think he's the tallest character in Disney. Except maybe Beast...

Birthday cupcake for Rin. Nothing special, but a nice perk that Disney does for their birthday guests.

OH MY GOD!!! BABY ELEPHANT! I have like 30 pictures of these two hanging out. Our driver on the safari broke character for a moment and said they're her favorite part of the attraction.

Some of you may remember that I mentioned a snake at Conservation Station that Rin was terrified of, but wanted to touch. This is that snake. Not Rin's hand though.

Just more of the attention to detail I love.

I have several shots of these flags. They're the ones near the tigers on one of the walking trails. This is probably my favourite of the pictures, just the way the sun peaks through them.

Bald Eagle. Absolutely massive Bald Eagle. At the Flights of Wonder show.

For those of you who haven't been, this is the lobby of Animal Kingdom Lodge, Jambo House.

Haloween decorations at MK.

Obligatory picture in front of the Castle.

Obligatory picture of the Castle. I always forget how magnificent it is.

Ah, yes. This was Oct 1st. The 40th Anniversary of Magic Kingdom. So we watched the festivities. Maybe it's just the military in me, but I think WDW needs some Pipes and Drums.

A shot of the crowds also watching the presentation.

Another shot of the crowds. This was the busiest I'd ever seen MK.

Daytime fireworks. WDW sure knows how to throw a party. Apparently the fireworks that night were amazingf, but we didn't get a chanve to see them.

Apparently I smile with a lot of teeth...

So I was playing with settings on my camera, and this happened. I liked it, so I kept it.

Trying to get the sword. It didn't come out.

Didn't work for Rin either.

Maybe we should have asked our Fairy Godmother to help us with the sword. Didn't occur to me at the time.

I just really like this shot, Rin and her Fairy Godmother having a chat. She really liked the pink in Rin's hair.

Cinderella wearing her crown.

The Dapper Dans performing. I honestly took two shots as we were walking past. Sometimes youy just get lucky and your subject looks at you.

Roy and Minnie in their secondary location.

Just another nice shot. From the train station.

Another crowd shot. This was later in the day, still on Oct 1st.

The Monorail!

Epcot. This was still Oct 1st, everyone was at MK. Epcot was almost empty.

I got sucked into the show in Italy. Rin took a *lot* of pictures. You only get one.

See the Hidden Mickey?