Bill's Travel Adventures (Chapters 1-21)
Chapter 1. TANZANIA (Kilimanjaro and Safari) (March 7th - March 21st, 2006) Why Tanzania for my "first ever" trip outside the United States ??? One of my favorite questions to ask fellow travelers is for them to guess which country was first in the 125+ countries that I have visited. No one has ever guessed Tanzania. When I decided to travel I enlisted GOOGLE to help with my decision regarding where to visit. I searched "Where to travel at 50 years old" and it was almost unanimous that climbing Kilimanjaro in Tanazania was the #1 place to go. I assume climbing Kilimanjaro must be related to a midlife crisis for 50+ year old mature travelers. Further research revealed that most of the advertised 6 day Kilimanjaro treks were $3500 and up. Definitely not in my budget. My continued persistence paid off as I finally found a local tour company in Tanzania that charged only $1200. I would find out later that the majority of companies advertising Kilimanjaro would subcont