Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

Today I’m taking a trip down memory lane and posting several photos from my African trip.

We spent seven months in Africa,  starting our journey in Harare, Zimbabwe. From there we travelled down to Botswana before returning north again. We visited twenty-five countries including Tanzania, Zanzibar, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zaire, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco then on to Spain with a quick flit through Europe on the way back to London.

Our trip was an overland one with a company called Dragoman. We mainly camped with the odd hotel thrown into the mix. After suffering through many cold washes and more than a few cold showers, I grew an appreciation for hot water and specifically hot and cold running water.

I’d always wanted to visit Africa, the animals and the wilderness being the main attraction. I was certainly spoiled for choice when it came to seeing animals.

While in Nairobi, we visited a giraffe sanctuary. I love giraffes, but their tongues were a real surprise. They’re so long! We had lots of fun feeding them a few snacks from the feeding platform.

Part of the overseas experience is interacting with the locals. It’s always interesting visiting the local markets and shopping for meals. This photo was taken in Zimbabwe, and I have fond memories of the avocadoes. They were delicious!

Hot air ballooning in Kenya. As is traditional with hot air ballooning, we were up at the crack of dawn to get ready for our ride. Notice the pith helmet? We finished our flight with a champagne breakfast. So civilized!

The above photos were all taken in Kenya. Top left: water buffalo and an elephant “butt” shot. Top right: Thomson Gazelle. Bottom left: Lion enjoying the sun. Bottom right: Hyena and pup.

Given the choice, which African country would you most like to visit? Which animal would you like to see?

I managed to fool most of you with my lie last week. Without further ado, let the truth unfold…

1. A mountain gorilla almost sat on me in Rwanda.

TRUE! Visiting a family group of gorillas in Rwanda is my number one travel experience. We walked for miles through thick bush and hilly terrain before we found the gorillas. The silverback did a mock charge and came to a halt almost on top of me and this other guy from our group. It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. I managed to sit on top of some ants, and when I had a shower back at camp they’d bitten my backside. At the time I didn’t feel a thing. Here’s a link to a few photos and my memories of the day.

2. A tiger growled and scared me half to death in India.

FALSE! I’ve visited India twice and loved it. In fact India is my favorite travel destination. I’ve never seen a tiger in the wild, but I’d dearly love to. Maybe next visit.

3. A stingray played with me during a helmet dive in Bora Bora.

TRUE! Hubby and I did a helmet dive during our recent cruise and had a close encounter with a stingray. I’m glad I did the helmet dive but was a little nervous beforehand. (I intend to do a post on Sunday about our dive and the stingray.)

4. Our hot air balloon crash landed and my glasses broke in Australia.

TRUE! We did a balloon ride over the vineyards in the Barossa. The wind had picked up while we were aloft and getting down proved a problem. The basket hit the ground hard, bounced and toppled over on its side, dragging on the ground for a hundred meters. We, and the rest of the basket occupants fell in a heap. The lenses popped out of my glasses and rattled around the bottom of the basket. Amazingly, I retrieved them in one piece and was able to get them put back into the frames.

5. A baby camel tried to lick me in Egypt.

TRUE! He was a curious wee chap and got up close and personal with me. He was a cutie and it was the best camel ride we’ve ever done.

6. Elephants milled around my tent during the middle of the night in Kenya.

TRUE! Our guides had to chase the elephants away in the middle of the night. Hubby and I didn’t hear a thing, but the proof was indisputable–big footprints and poop all around our tent.

7. Some pygmies took me hunting for dik-dik in Zaire.

TRUE! We visited a pygmy village and went hunting with them. We didn’t catch anything during our hunt. They were very fit and thought it was funny when we couldn’t keep up with them. The ants also attacked (they have horrid big ants that bite) and they laughed themselves silly while they helped to pick the ants off us. We were the sideshow for the day!

And the contest winner is…. Gayle O!

Congratulations, Gayle. I’ll email you privately about your prize.

Mr. Munro took this photo at the Auckland zoo. When we visited Africa we saw quite a few hippos. We stayed at one camping ground by a waterhole where they came out at night and grazed by our tents. The hippo is considered one of the most dangerous animals in Africa, and the worst thing you can do is to get between a hippo and water or a hippo and its offspring.

To see more animal photos visit Camera Critters.

Travel-Ready Packing: Pack Light, Dress Right—Anytime, Anywhere
by Julie Ann Martin
Publisher: Argo & Cole Publishers
ISBN: 978-0-9791186-1-6
Publication Date: 1 Jan, 2010
Website: www.travelreadypacking.com
Amazon link: Travel-Ready Packing: Pack Light, Dress Right – Anytime, Anywhere

Any of my friends or family or people who visit my website knows how much I enjoy traveling and exploring different parts of the world. Since my marriage, my husband and I have spent months in Africa, America, Europe, Central America, India, Asia and Australia. Sometimes we traveled with our backpacks, and at other times, we went more up market. You’d think with all my experience in traveling that packing would be a breeze. Not so. It’s one thing that remains a bit of a trial for me, so when I saw that Ms. Martin’s publisher was offering Travel-Ready Packing for review, I grabbed the chance to learn from an expert.

Travel-Ready Packing has an intro which discusses things such as culture in different countries, fabric types and types of climate. The next part of the book is split into sections for each country or region of the world. Each of these sections gives the temperatures for different months of the year, a list of recommended clothing for both males and females, the risk of danger at the destination, recommended colors to wear and how casual or formal the dress-code is in the country being visited. There are also sections for business travelers and those who travel to adventure destinations, multi-climate packing and also a list for expatriate packing. At the rear of the book there’s a world map, which makes it a simple matter to find the country you’re visiting and look up the corresponding page reference. In fact the book covers everything I could think of from clothes to bags to accessories.

When I decided to “test” the book and relive my trip to Africa, the packing list was spot-on—exactly what I should have taken for my trip. It was also very accurate for my recent trips to Samoa and Phuket, Thailand. The only gap I could see was for a cruising holiday, but I think the lists for the South Pacific, which is where my cruise holiday is taking place, will do the trick nicely. I found the book easy to use, very readable, and as I mentioned very accurate with the suggested packing lists. No more back-breaking suitcases for me!

I recommend this book for anyone who intends to travel for work or pleasure. And romance writers, if you’re heading to a conference and you’re not sure what to pack, this is the book for you.

Shelley Munro

You can see from above that I’m all sorted with my packing now since I have this book to refer to. How do you approach packing for a trip or a holiday? Are you a good packer or do you forget half the things you need?

I’m doing a guest spot at The Rainbow Studio (part of the Romance Studio) and talking about reality shows and Fallen Idol. Here’s the link to my post at The Rainbow Studio.

This week’s critter is a hyena and pup. This photo was taken in Kenya, and we stopped to watch the mother and three pups. Her burrow was right near the road. They’re not the prettiest creatures, but they are interesting to watch.

Hyenas aren’t exactly common in romantic fiction. As it happens I’ve recently read Ilona Andrews’ novella Magic Mourns (part of the Must Love Hellhounds anthology) and the hero and heroine in her story are hyena shifters.

I’ve also used hyenas as part of the plot of Romantic Interlude, the third story in my Talking Dogs series. If you’d like an armchair journey to both New Zealand and Africa then this is the story for you.

This is the link to visit other Camera Critters.

These are both older photos taken during our overland trip through Africa. They’re scanned, hence the black around the edge of the photos.

Zebra and Wildebeest in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Zebra, Zimbabwe.

To visit other Camera Critters go here.

This is the first book I’ve read in my themed reading challenge. It’s taken me a while to get started because I judged two published author contests. I’m all done now and ready to face my challenges.

Rare Breed is about Wynne Sperling who is a park ranger in Zambia, Africa. There’s a poaching operation in her park and Wynne is determined to catch the poachers and toss them in jail. She’s not sure of the poaching leader’s identity, but suspects it’s Englishman Noah Hellstrom who owns a safari tour operation. Then there’s Texan Jack MacKay who is loaded with charm but raises Wynne’s suspicions. There are also rumors of a feline, said to be an ancient breed, and if the stories are true, Noah Hellstrom is determined to profit from them.

I chose this book from my to-read pile because it’s been there a long time and it fit my theme of heroes and heroines who wear uniforms. It was part of the now defunct Harlequin Bombshell line, which will give you an idea of how long it’s been sitting in my pile.

What I liked:

1. The unusual setting of Zambia and a game park. (I’ve visited Zambia and it was lovely revisiting the country)
2. The heroine’s occupation –a woman park ranger in Africa.
3. Wynne’s weapon of choice is a slingshot, and she’s very proficient with it.
4. The distinct African flavor of the story. I could see the setting so clearly, feel the heat and the sounds of the animals.
5. Snow, the leopard raised by Wynne, and the fact Wynne allowed Snow to return to the wild.

What I didn’t like:

1. This wasn’t really a romance.
2. Although we were left hanging about the identity of the poachers, it was pretty easy to guess the identity of the poacher and the good guy undercover.

Would I read another book by Connie Hall? Yes, definitely. I had no problem with the writing style.