We narrowed it down to a continent, but we were immediately overwhelmed by the possibilities therein, and the wide range of costs. We knew the trip wasn’t going to be cheap, but some of the options were mind blowing. Many times, we came close to throwing in the towel on the African trip, but we couldn’t quite let go. Probably, it was I who couldn’t quite let go. Meagan did accuse me of attempting “honeymoon one-upsmanship”, in trying to pick some place “cooler” than others we know had chosen. Maybe.

In the early days of our research, we went to World Wide Books in Wallingford (an awesome travel bookstore in Seattle), and picked up Lonely Planet East Africa. Kenya and Tanzania were on the short list. After perusing the book, and doing more internet research, the idea of a safari adventure followed by bumming on the beach seemed like the perfect recipe – and Tanzania, with a wide variety of National Parks (including the Serengeti) and the island of Zanzibar, gained ground as the leading contender.

But we were still finding it difficult to keep costs down. With gas prices at record highs, decent airfares to the dark continent weren’t easy to come by, and while some safari prices seemed reasonable, given the range of price for what seemed to be similar offerings, it was hard to tell if we were getting our money’s worth.

We were making progress, though, and I was starting to get a better feel for where your money goes on a safari. Lodging is a large part of the cost (especially for some of the camps in the middle of nowhere!), but you’re also paying for vehicle transportation, a safari guide, meals, and national park fees.

Several of the tour companies we contacted gave me good information, but one stood out. Africa Travel Resource, which was listed in Lonely Planet and is based out of England. I had a lot of back and forth conversations with Rob. What really struck me was that they really tried to understand your travel goals and budget and build out an customized itinerary based on what you want, instead of just giving you a few standard packages. The itinerary was also super-itemized, which allowed you to dial aspects of your trip up or down, depending on your preference and budget. In our case, for example, we chose to spend more money to get our own 4×4, but chose some less extravagant lodging choices, especially on Zanzibar.

The trip was still daunting. The thing that probably put us over the edge was knowing that we’d have a local connection to rural Africa. My good buddy Tim (who you can see dancing at our wedding with his wife here) has a good friend from college, Greg, who had lived in Tanzania for some time, working with local projects via a Canadian NGO, CACHA (Canadian Africa Community Health Alliance). I had only met him once (at Tim’s wedding), but it just so happened that a few years back I agreed to host his website, dedicated to his work: mzungudays.com. Greg was super helpful in giving us travel advice and went out of his way to offer to show us around, since he was going to be back in Tanzania while there.

The offer proved too difficult to pass up, and in May, a little more than two months before the target departure date, we pulled the trigger and reserved the safari and airfare. And in retrospect, we couldn’t have been happier. Over the next few posts, I’ll try to recount the adventure.

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• Part 1
• Part 2

I’ve only done minimal filtering, so there are a lot to go through. I have lots of stories to tell, so in the upcoming weeks, I hope to sort through the pictures, highlight the special ones, and narrate our trip.

In the interim, here are some ones I quickly pulled out. I have many more wildlife pictures to show – this series mostly focuses on some non-native mammals.

The trip has and honeymoon has been fantastic, but I must admit to being a bit homesick for friends, modern conveniences, good food, and my own bed, so it’s good to be back in some ways.

Safari was fantastic, too much to tell right now – I have lots of pictures and words when I get back.

The last five nights we’ve been in Matemwe Beach, on the northeast part of the island. After days of being in a dusty vehicle hunting for leopards (figuratively, of course), we’ve done little here besides lounge by the poolside, drink passionfruit cocktails, swim a bit, and read a lot. I’ve tried teaching Meagan some water polo skills.

Today, we head to Stone Town for some urban adventure and then two more nights at a beach on the south part of the island.

Tomorrow we’re off on safari, so incommunicado for about a week.

Tomorrow we’re off to visit a vocational school and help install some soccer nets and netball court, and then Saturday we’re off on Safari for a few days. I’ll write more about everything when we get home.