Travel Plans

Rachel, as you may know by now, is much more of a planner than I am. She insisted that we sit and think a little more about our upcoming plans--Christmas Break!! Since we have almost a full month off of school, we're actually going to divide our time into two vacations!
Part One: Jordan!
We're meeting Rachel's parents and grandma in Jordan to continue on with the Biblical tour. We'll be headed deeper into land of Christianity & Judaism, with plans included to see:

• Mt. Nebo--the mountain Moses stood out on before crossing the Red Sea
• Bethany Beyond the Jordan--where Jesus was baptised by John
  
• Herod's Castle (where John the Baptist was beheaded)
  
• Remnants of the infamous Sodom
  
• Lot's Cave (you know, the one whose daughter turned into a pile of salt)

Besides all of the religious hotspots, I hope we're able to sleep out in the desert with the Bedouin and scuba dive the Red Sea (renowned for its spectacular diving). It's a pretty small country, we'll constantly be on the borders of: Syria, Israel, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Palestine & Egypt. Maybe we'll even get to travel to some of them!

Part Two: Uganda
In an effort to see some more of green Africa, our second stop will be in Uganda. We'll spend both Christmas and New Year's here. We've been wooed by stories of amazing people, culture and wildlife. If we're lucky (and we save our pennies) we'll be able to track gorillas!!!

This is supposed to be one of the most amazing experiences...but it costs $500! There are strict regulations to maintain the gorillas and their habitats. Only 8 people to be allowed permits into the "Impenetrable Forest" a day, which isn't a bad thing but it's quite a pretty penny. So...if anyone was trying to think of a nice X-mas/birthday present, sponsoring gorilla tracking might be just perfect!