Bobby’s Update:

Well we have been behind in our updates, but it seems we have been constantly on the go since we left Turkey back on October 7. Today we are leaving Rio to spend the next 4 days in Buenos Aires. The rest of our trip includes stops at Iguazu Falls, Machu Picchu, the Galapagos Islands, and Cuba.
Rio has been a a short visit, 4 days, but we spent fun times at Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, took a tour of the sites visiting the Cristo Redentor, Sugarloaf Mountain, and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Prior to Rio, we spent 2 days in Dubai – taking an all day Hop on Hop Off bus tour of the city. It is very modern with great skylines and immaculately clean. Cathi noted that she didn’t see one dirty car on the roads. Zanzibar* was our previous stop,after our 6 day camping safari in Tanzania with our good friend Jimmy Baron. Although this was our 2nd safari,(10 years ago we went to Botswana, Zambia, and South Africa) it was just as exciting and fun! We saw the Big 5, toured the Serengeti (where the wildebeest migration was happening before our eyes) and Tanagire (with its thriving elephant population) and Ngorongoro Crater ( home to the very rare Black a Rhino). I must say “camping”was not a hardship, and was most enjoyable. We met Jimmy in Egypt back on November 6, where we spent 5 days visiting the pyramids, Sphinx, Egyptian Museum and taking a few tours around the city. After Cairo we flew to Luxor for more ancient sites ( Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Luxor Temple) and museums before taking a 4 day cruise down the Nile.
It was very sad to see how the Middle East instabilities have had devastating effects on Egypt’s tourism. For instance, our cruise ship had approximately 60 cabins but besides the three of us, there was only one other family aboard! To say we were well taken care of is an understatement! We were told in peak times, around 400 cruise ships would pack the Nile, but now there are only 20 or so actually running.

*IMPORTANT TO NOTE: while Cathi and I were hanging on the beach in Zanzibar, Jimmy Baron spent the week climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. He made it to the top and we congratulate him for a truly great accomplishment!

Moving Backward:
Prior to Cairo, we crossed the border into Egypt ( November 3) from Israel to spend a couple of days in Taba, the Red Sea resort town in the Sinai Peninsula. We had spent close to 2 weeks in Israel visiting all the wonderful sights: Tel Aviv, Sea of Galilee, Caesarea, Haifa, Nazareth,and of course, Jerusalem.  The religiously significant historical sights are too numerous to describe at this writing, but The Church of the Holy Seplucher stands out as creating the most palpably emotional spiritual experience.
Back on October 6, our 36th wedding anniversary, we flew from Turkey to Amman, Jordan. Jordan is full of amazing places… The highlight being Petra! Archeologically astounding, Petra ranks as one of our favorites in the last 10 months!

I do want to share, that although Cathi and I have never had any actual problems on our entire trip, our stops in the Middle East definitely had us feeling a little uneasy at times. During our days in Israel, and specifically Jerusalem—Israelis were being attacked by Palestinians. When we arrived in the Sinai it was the day following the plane crash killing over 200 Russian tourists. While we were at the Sinai resort, it was announced the crash was a result of an Isis planted bomb. Disturbing on many levels… And very unsettling because  we had to fly out of the same airport to get to Cairo. The hotel helped us determine the safest way to the Sharm el Sheikh airport from Taba was by private car  with a hired driver and accompanying guard. The 2 hour drive was thankfully uneventful,
Except for the added protection of an Egyptian military escort vehicle following us for about 10k after one of the checkpoints.

Now we are on the last leg of Zanolli World Tour! Tomorrow we leave Buenos Aires Argentina for Iguazu Falls. We continue to be blessed with good health! All of the sights,people, experiences have exceeded our wildest dreams!