When the iPad was introduced a few months ago, I grappled with the decision of whether to buy one. So I began to think how I would use it and, of course, taking it on the road was one of those considerations.
We are in Winnipeg, Manitoba for a four hour train stop on our journey from Toronto to Vancouver. This gives us the opportunity to get off the train and see the city.
We spent last weekend in Portland, Oregon, as Darren ran in the Portland Marathon on Sunday morning. We had never been there before and I didn’t have a lot of time to research what to see and do. I thought I would use this as an opportunity to rely heavily on my iPhone for assistance.
Stirling, our second stop in Scotland, is of great strategic and historic importance. We spent our time visiting the castle, old town and the William Wallace Monument.
We spent three days in Fort William enjoying several outdoor activities, including hiking and boat cruising on a lake. We also took a day trip by train and ferry to the Isle of Skye.
Feeling bad while on the road and being in a strange place is one of the worst situations one can experience, especially when so much time, money and effort have gone into planning a trip. While I have had my share of feeling “under the weather” during my travels, I have developed techniques for preparing and dealing with food and drink that have helped me.
The highlight of our journey to Uganda was viewing the endangered mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. We had two opportunities to see them and had different experiences both times.
There is no electrical grid in Buhoma – the name of the settlement that includes the buildings both inside and outside of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. It took 180km (111 miles) of poor dirt roads to get here and the nearest paved road is 85km (53 miles) away. Our purpose for coming to Buhoma was to see the mountain gorillas in the wild.
Our final stop and national park experience in Uganda was at Lake Mburo. Here we took a late afternoon walking safari to see the animals in a more intimate setting.
We are now flying over the Atlantic in the midst of a 30+ hour odyssey home, which is comprised of four flights: first to Nairobi, then Brussels and Chicago, before the final leg to LAX.
