JE 189

Lists, Stats & Photos

Okay, here we go with the trip summary. Feel free to scan through quickly as your eyes glaze over and your brain becomes numb!

Below are some of the Lists from the trip. All are chronological, except for the ranking of the places visited.

Favorite Experiences

Notre Dame
Hiking the Rock of Gibraltar
Death of a Salesman; a Harrow School Performance in the Vaughan Library
Lenny Kravitz Concert
Train Travel in Morocco
Evening Street Food Tour in Marrakech
North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial, Carthage
Lunchtime Performance at the Royal Opera House
Black is the Color of my Voice at Wilton’s Music Hall
Harrow School Tour
The Who at The Royal Albert Hall
Victoria Falls (Zambia and Zimbabwe)
Chobe River Cruise
Chobe National Park
Okavango Delta

Least Favorite Experiences

Taxi Drivers in the Rock of Gibraltar Nature Preserve
Scammers in the Medinas of Tangier, Marrakech, and Tunis
Crime Threat in Windhoek

Favorite Accommodation

Byron House, Harrow on the Hill
Riad Dar Zaouia, Marrakech
Dobson Apartment in Calpe
The Victoria Falls Waterfront, Livingstone
The Drift Inn, Victoria Falls
The Weinberg Windhoek

Least Favorite Accommodation

Okavango Delta Tent (but totally worth it in order to experience the Delta!)

Favorite Meals

Welcome Dinner hosted by Mary and Tony, following the Sir Gregory Doran talk
Birthday Dinner hosted by Mary and Tony
Hot Chocolate and Mont Blanc at Angelina’s, Paris
Nightly Special at Ali Baba’s in Tangier
Evening Street Food Tour in Marrakech
Breakfasts at Riad Dar Zaouia in Marrakech
Chapati MahDia Special in Tunis
Bream Fillet on the Zambezi Riverfront at Sunset in Livingstone
Easter Sunday Roast in London with Kathy & Ray
Departure Dinner with Mary & Tony

Ranking of Places Visited (excluding London)

Botswana (grouped as country, rather than by individual locations – multiple short stops)
- Chobe River Cruise
- Chobe National Park
- Okavango Delta
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
- Victoria Falls
- The Drift Inn
Paris
- Notre Dame
Tangier
- Medina
- Chefchaouen
- Dining
Marrakech
- Riad Stay
- Evening Street Food Tour
Tunis
- Carthage
- La Marsa
- Sid Bou Said
- Riding the Local Bus
- Nice Locals
Gibraltar
- Rock of Gibraltar Nature Preserve
- Funky Pedestrian/Vehicle Crossing across Airport Runway
Livingstone
- Victoria Falls
- Zambezi River Accommodation
Valencia
- Performing Arts Complex
- Riverbed Converted to Recreation Area
- Kind of Crowded in City Center
- A Little Expensive
Calpe
- Northern Rock
  - Would have liked to hike to the top, but weather and health prevented it (hopefully I’ll return to do this!)
- Perfect Accommodation
- Pleasant Old Town / Promenade
- Not the best weather while I was there
- My ill health resulted in a less pleasant experience
Windhoek
- Half-Day City Tour
- Nice Hotel
- Crime threat placed this city at the bottom of my list (still happy I visited though!)

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics _{(Mark Twain)}

Countries Visited

I traveled to 9 countries and 1 territory on this trip; 6 countries for the first time (all in Africa). I have now visited 94 countries. Below is a breakdown of visited countries by continent (and the % of countries I’ve been to on each continent):

Africa: 9 (17%) – reminder: HUGE continent!
Antarctica: 0 (0%) – hopefully this will be my 100th country (and 7th continent) in 2027
Asia: 21 (47%)
Europe: 35 (73%)
North America: 19 (83%)
Oceania: 2 (14%) – planning on increasing this count next winter!
South America: 8 (67%)

Trip Length

2025 London: 109 days
2024 London: 108 days
2023 Caribbean: 100 days
2019 South America: 77 days
2022 Hawaii: 66 days (cut short due to high costs!)
2020 Europe: 33 days
2020 South America: 30 days (cut short due to Covid)

Total Trip Cost

2023 Caribbean
2022 Hawaii
2025 London
2019 South America
2024 London
2020 Europe
2020 South America

Trip Cost per Day

2022 Hawaii (23% higher than second place S. America; what a surprise!)
2019 South America (skewed higher by Galapagos Islands and Easter Island)
2023 Caribbean
2025 London (used frequent flyer miles for transatlantic flights)
2020 South America
2020 Europe (skewed lower due to the use of frequent flyer miles for the transatlantic flights)
2024 London (lower due to a) the use of frequent flyer miles for the transatlantic flights, b) visiting Balkan countries in the winter)

Total Steps

2025 London: 1.79 million (818 miles!)
2024 London: 1.68 million
2023 Caribbean: 1.32 million
2019 South America: 1.09 million
2022 Hawaii: 1.07 million
2020 Europe: 550 thousand
2020 South America: 440 thousand

Steps per Day

2025 London: 16.4 thousand (new World Record!)
2022 Hawaii: 16.2 thousand
2020 Europe: 16.1 thousand
2024 London: 15.5 thousand
2020 South America: 14.5 thousand
2019 South America: 14.4 thousand
2023 Caribbean: 13.2 thousand (pathetic!)

Footnote: You might recall that I was walking a LOT in London following my return from the southern Africa trip. Well, as some of you surmised (I’m looking at you X!), I was doing that (partly. mainly?) to get my average back up to World Record pace (as a result of minimal walking taking place during the group tour in Botswana). Result!

Extremes – Steps per Day

Max: 35.4 thousand in Paris
Min: 6.0 thousand on transit day from London to Livingstone

Planes, Trains, Ferries & Buses

Planes: 13 flights totaling 25,359 miles (the circumference of Earth is 24,901 miles)
- Longest: Heathrow to Nairobi on 31 March (4,242 miles)
- Shortest: Newark / Dane County Regional (Madison) at the beginning and end of the trip (799 miles)
Trains: 5 trips; back and forth to Paris, and within Morocco (plus several rides in and around London!)
Ferries: 1 trip from Spain to Morocco
Buses: 1 trip from Calpe to Valencia (plus several rides on the SL9 to and from Heathrow!)

Number of Journal Entries