NORDNORGE

We had a whole day in Bergen before loading up our clickity clack wheelies and trudging to the Ferry. I don't know how the other people made it, but once again, we walked on those damn cobblestones for another 1 1/2 miles.  Picturesque, yes....but not suitcase friendly.  We spent the day eating dried Mackrel (Steve), watching bikes races and people, window shopping, and getting used to the prices in Norway....how easy we forget. We finally got to the Hurtigrudten Docks and saw "our" ferry...the NordNorge.

I say "our"  ferry, because there are 11 ferries ⛴ in this line that sail the whole coast of Norway every single week. They transport people, cars, merchandise, to ports large and small, on the way to Finmark and back. We had a interesting safety briefing, found our room # 534, and I ordered my first, but not last glass of "house/ship" wine. A very nice white from Portugal. 13-15 $$, for a glass....hmmmmm I have learned to enjoy each sip. The sun was out, we were in shirtsleeves, and we were 🍀 lucky at this time of year. 

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BERGEN

The reports from Bergen were correct. The roads in town were blocked, closed, but not empty. The Norwegians are loving the party. We took a newish light rail from the airport to as far as it would go in town....which was about 1 1/2 miles from our hotel. Then we hoofed it, dragging clickity clack wheeled suitcases behind us. We did have to ask directions often, and we had to weave in and out of barricades, and sidewalk cafes jammed with beer drinking bike race aficionados .  But we finally made it to our hotel. We weren't even hungry, but we were jet lagged. So after a nice hot shower and a cup of tea, we climbed into bed and proceeded to hear the revelry until about 3:00 am. The people of  Bergen were in party mood. There were many other countries represented in the bike race, so once were rested and repacked, we joined the crowd for a day of watching, walking, and waiting until our ferry left at 6:00 pm.

NORWAY III

I wasn' going to write a blog posts on Noway, because it is our third time visiting this Viking country.  But a few people asked me to, and I have the time on this ship...so will give it a go.
We heard about an 11 day cruise up the Norwegian Coast and back on the Hurtigruten Ferry system.

So, we signed up and away we go. Flew from Seattle to Bergen via London, and the only excitement there was a bunch of young men in the airport playing pranks. They happened to have a rather large fake rubber penis that they would throw on the floor as an unsuspecting female would walk by. It would stick to the floor and wobble bobble around and they were laughing so hard you could hear them from far away. Of course, I was one of those surprised females! I am sure they were so pleased at my reaction, too! Sorry...no pictures. A better reaction was Steve's , but it was understated.

Before we left home, we got emails from the ferry boat staff and the hotel we had booked for the night before. The days we were in Bergen were  the planned staging of one of Europe's biggest Bike races...the U C I. All the downtown/wharf roads would be closed and blocked to all traffic for the duration of the race. So sorry...they had no alternative solutions for us weary travelers... we were on our own!

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LAST DAY

We got up in am to another hot day! Luckily, it was a do your own thing day, but whatever one chose, it was  hot! After lunch, our guide called us together and we congregated in the lodge for a "goodbye" with the staff of the lodge and Mau, our main go to guide.  They said we were the best guests ever! I don't know about that, but we were a small group and non complainers! They gave us presents! The ladies got beautiful Tanzania cloth that could be made into the traditionl dress. The guys got beautiful Masai cloth (wool) to wrap on their very white bodies. It was afternoon and steamy heat, but we all put on our gifts and took pictures.

We went to pack and  save time  for one more ride down the Wami and another sundowner party. Because the tide was in and the river was deeper, we went all the way to the Indian Ocean! We saw so many Hippos, birds, and of course "Chairman Mau" the biggest croc the guides had ever seen! Wine and beer, laughter, and singing.....we were hot sweaty happy campers, but more was in store at dinner.

A lone tree in the mouth of the river and Indian Ocean!

We really tried to "dress" a bit for our last dinner on the river...but, everyone was having bad hair, and all our clothes were damp, and we itched...still we joined in the main lodge, and as soon as the main dinner was over...the whole staff came out in a conga line singing a really wild upbeat native chant. It was wild. They were carrying a special cake they made for us, and as they rounded the table, they pulled each one of us into the line. It is amazing how good we danced after all the cocktails. The MOVES! The MOVES!  I cannot describe, and this is a good thing. They gave us the cake and told us after we ate some we had to reciprocate and bring it back into the kitchen with one of our tratidional songs. First we practiced  Auld Lang Syne....but I thought it was bit dated and dull. So "Louie Louie"! Man we brought it down! I was the leader, and  so engrossed in my roll, that I didn't take any pictures.

I hope someone did. But, I can tell you, the staff at Saadani River Lodge will rememeber us!

LOUIE, LOUIE, WE GOTTA GO!

WINDING DOWN

Our last few nights in Tanzania, and we are staying at such a lovely spot on the Bagamoyo Coast. We went on a very long game drive the second day. This area is just starting to recover from years of hunting, so even though we saw animals...they are skitterish and do not like humans. Not like Ngorongoro or the Serengiti. These guys sayed far away and would even run when they saw our jeep. So it wasn't as big a thrill.  Although a lion and attacked and eaten a man on a bicycle over a year ago. 

The government is working hard to protect the area and increase the animal population.  All the people employed by lodge are local tribal people, being trained for work. I can't say enough about the kindness of the Tanzanians. They are so proud to be "one" . Tanzanians first, then tribe. They are such friendly people and genuinely wanted us to enjoy their county.  All speak Swahili and English, and also a lot of German and of course, their own tribal dialect. 

The day of this game drive we stopped in at a "sister lodge" on the Indian Ocean. Same wonderful vibe, but managed by a crazy Scottish guy and his wife who came for a vacation and never went home! They served us a most excelent captains plate of fresh seafood caught locally. The prawns were to die for! Squid and small crabs and fresh blue tuna. We pigged out!

We ventured back out on the game drivend did manage to see quite a bit. But, it was HOT!  We came back in the late afternoon in time for cold showers and cocktails befor another fabulous dinner of lamb shanks, or chicken, and fresh made rolls.

SUNDOWNERS ON THE WAMI

The evening sunsets are quick here on the Equator. And they are beautiful out on the river, and maybe a few degrees cooler. The First night we  took the skiff and our guides took us birding and animal watching on the Wami River. We are on the Bagamoyo Coast and the river runs into the Indian Ocean. We are very close to the mouth, so we actually get about a 5 ft tide change. It makes a difference in what one sees.  As we got close to sunset the "boys" dropped the anchor and spread a table cloth. So cute. Out came the booze and real crystal. Now, that is NICE out here in the far away places. Even little snacks. Since our refrigerators were stocked with booze, and we drank wine and beer for lunch and dinner, and were oftered small delicious liquors when we came back home from game drives, we were imbibing a lot.  Well, its a vacation! So we toasted our trip and enjoyed some fun talk. The guides were trying to teach us a traditional swahili welcome song, and we joined in with the words we could remember and pronouce...kind of a "kum ba ya" moment except in Africa in Swahili.

We were at Saadani for 3 nights and we did this sundowner fun for 2 of the nights.  We saw lots of birds and one of the biggest Crocodiles anyone had seen on the river. We "christened" the big guy..."Chairman Mau" after our head guide. On the last day, we had choices of things to do. Steve and I went fishing on the Wami with two of the guides. I caught 1 fish, but Steve caught 8! They were cat fish, and we didnt want them, but the boat driver was happy to take them.

SAADANI

We flew in another small plane this am,after breakfast. It was a short flight to Saadani National Park on the shores of the Indian Ocean, and Tanzania's only coastal wildlife reserve. We got into our safari vehicles and started the 2-3 hour drive to the Wami River where our lodge was located. This is a very primative and poor area and the roads were not so great. What else is new! Most of the locals are fishermen or work in salt drying fields.   The last rains had washed out the last few miles of roads, so we got in skiffs on the river and went upstream until we came to Saadani River Lodge.

We arrived before lunch and were met by the manager who explained how thngs work at this ALL inclusive eco lodge. We each were shown to our own stitled house nestled in such privacy, that being  naked became our savng grace! Man! It was hot. The rooms were open, airy and spacious with good fans that whirled 24/7, but it was still hot! We had a wonderful outdoor shower that we used numerous times a day, and never turned on the hot water...not once! We had a small frig, which they generously stocked with any beverage we wanted...so a nice south African white and local beers were brought, along with icey cold bottles of water . All laundry was included, except for "smalls" (Those are ladies undies, and since this is a primarily male staff, the culture of the staff was not permitted to wash them. But they has wonderful washing,bathing, and lotion products, and bug sprays, and other handy items including a small clothes line in each room.

We had a delicious  first meal,and realized right then that the cook was a phenomonem , and we werein store  for some fabulous food. EVERYTHING was made on premises, including the breads. 

Coffee was made fresh in a French Press for each guest, and the wine flowed like the river.  We were given a nice water bottle with our names on them, and we could fill them at will from the chilled water in the lobby. So nice to see the restriction of plastic water bottles!