The Itinerary

In early 2007, Laura and I decided to sell our home in Colorado and move to New England. Since the move was going to be so big, we saw it as an opportunity to travel somewhere we had never been before. After many discussions, East Africa... South Africa... New Zealand... the Patagonia... the Galapagos... Beijing... Vietnam... the list goes on and on, we decided on the Serengheti in Tanzania, Africa.

We've spent the last 3 to 4 months researching East Africa (Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda) and we've decided on the following itinerary (reference map below).

June 7, 2007 - Arrive in Nairobi, Kenya (see 1 on map below)... the largest city in East Africa and the cheapest to fly to.

June 8, 2007 - Hop on a 10-hour bus ride to Kampala, Uganda (see 2 on map below). This is one of our stops along the way to Kigali, Rwanda. We'll be staying the night at the Red Chilli Hideaway and visiting Kampala for the following day.

June 10, 2007 - Hop on another 10-hour bus ride to Kigali, Rwanda (see 3 on map below). Here, we'll be picking up our June 12th mountain gorilla permits and making arrangements to get to Volcano National Park.

June 11, 2007 - Stay the night at the Kinigi Guest House awaiting our visit with the mountain gorillas.

June 12, 2007 - We visit one of 4 mountain gorilla families living in Volcano National Park. Based on all of our research, this is one of the most amazing experiences in all of East Africa. See Rwanda tourism's website here.

June 13, 2007 - We'll spend another day in Kigali, Rwanda to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

June 14, 2007 - It's back to the Red Chilli Hideaway in Kampala, Uganda... by bus AGAIN!

June 15, 2007 - From the Red Chilli Hideaway, we're taking the hideaway's trip to Murchison Falls (see 4 on map below). Murchison Falls is along the Nile River and the trip contains a river ride with an abundance of african wildlife.

June 18, 2007 - Once the trip to Murchison Falls is complete, we're back on a bus and traveling to Arusha, Tanzania. Arusha is the hub for people visiting Serengheti National Park. For us, it will our home from June 20 to July 13.

June 20, 2007 - We arrive in Arusha, Tanzania to start our volunteer program located at the base of Mount Meru (see 5 on map below, 4,565 m), the sister mountain to Kilimanjaro . Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) is the highest mountain in Africa. We are volunteering with a company called Experential Learning International (ELI). Jeremy will be doing a re-forestation project and Laura will be working in a school or orphanage. See ELI's description here.

July 13, 2007 - Our volunteer work ends and during it, we plan to make arrangements to go on a safari in the Serengheti. From June 13 to June 24, we will go on a safari and visit areas of Tanzania. We've heard good things about Roy Safaris.

July 24, 2007 - We fly to Barcelona, Spain where we will be with Laura's family for a few days.

July 28, 2007 - We fly to Venice, Italy. From there, we'll travel by train to visit Jeremy's mother and her family in Bassano del Grappa, Italy.

August 4, 2007 - We fly back to Barcelona, Spain to spend more time with Laura's family.

August 14, 2007 - Back to Orleans, VT USA and start job searching.... UGGHHH!