Author Archives: drpopp

I am currently in the air on my first leg of the trip. I will arrive shortly in Charlotte.

Earlier today I flew in from Las Vegas. My daughter/ business partner and I had a dental photography class at a friend’s dental office. We stayed the night at Aria and went to see Shania Twain. She was fantastic, especially at 59 years old. Since I was with three 30 something year olds, we pretended that they were my triplets. It was funny. Too many drinks were had and 5:30 am came too soon. We flew back to San Diego

At home I finished packing and went to the airport. I arrived two and a half hours early and it was lucky that I did!

As I checked in, they asked me for my visa. I promptly said that I could get a visa upon arrival. She said no you can’t and read me a statement that said the same thing. I left the check in area and looked it up. Sure enough I needed a visa. Now you can be sure that I did my research, but what happened was that during December and January Ghana wanted to encourage visitors so they allowed visa upon entry. It ended January 15th!

I considered my options. I called the embassy, of course closed on the weekends. I called visa services that could expedite, but no they couldn’t in a couple hours. I texted Asante who is in Ghana to let him know my problem.

I went back to the counter and asked if they could just cancel the last leg. Nope. I had to call American Airlines and change it. I tried too get to Johannesburg and Addis Ababa, but it just couldn’t be done. Should I cancel the whole trip? I never buy insurance and they wouldn’t cover that anyway.

I looked up a flight to Togo, I had that visa but not until Feb 12, 2025. I love London and the theater. I could hang out there a bit, but I didn’t have warm clothes. Hmmm I could fly to Lesotho? I haven’t been there. Algiers? Back to Marrakech? What about Tunisia? Yes! I booked a flight from London on Sunday to Tunisia and then to Togo. I cancelled the hotel in Ghana, will cancel my driver in Ghana unless he can meet me in Togo.

So back to the ticket counter. They were happy for me. TSA lines were short. No problems with my name this time. My passport and driver’s license do not have my two middle names anymore but the airlines does. They wanted me to get a notarized name change. Nothing even has my legal name on it except my tax returns and trust. How I digress. All this in time to have a little Sparkling Wine in the lounge. First Class baby! With miles, of course!

People think that I am crazy! Maybe I am! Patient appreciation party at my office tonight. Tomorrow a very quick trip to Vegas for a little special education at a friend’s dental office. He is a fantastic dental photographer and my daughter and I hope to glean some insight from him and then spend a couple hours in Sin City and see Shania Twain. Less than 24 hours. Home at 8 am and my flight to Africa is at 1pm. Mostly ready. My daughter and her boyfriend will stay at my house except when my best friend from high school will be here with her two friends to thaw from the cold Midwest. So it’s been fun getting ready for their visit too. Maybe I am crazy!! But I am having fun and happy!

Packing as I write. It’s been quite an experience already getting most of the details booked for this upcoming adventure. I am not one to like to make travel commitments, but sometimes and some places, one needs to.

This trip will start in Ghana and end in Victoria Falls. Two weeks filled with adventure! The initial impetus was to help an inspiring Coronado local. This young man is a few years older than my children. His family is from Ghana Africa. He is American. As usual, I may not have my facts correct but basically, he is a Silver Medalist in the Olympics in Water Polo. He wanted to go back to his country and teach water polo, but what he found was that few people knew how to swim and that drowning was way too prevalent.

So I want to see how Rotary and I can help.

And have an adventure too!

Where is Ghana, you ask….West Coast, middle of Africa.

So much fun! Hard to explain. A few photos, more tomorrow…

Most of my blogging is solo adventure or with a close friend, so I haven’t written about this current trip! I am in Costa Rica with dear friends. There are seven of us now and soon we will have four more.

We are so fortunate to stay at the gorgeous house that is owned by Tom and Emily Hammett. Tom’s parents are on the trip. It’s been a week so far and we are having the time of our lives. More to come….

Flight and airports were fine. They basically are all the same all over the world. Here you can take water, keep your shoes on and keep liquids in your suitcase but all electronics need to be in a separate bin. And the ladies are patted down in a screened in area.

Hotel was gated and they checked under the taxi for bombs. No where else did in India. The check in girl was most concerned if I paid for breakfast. Nice room.

I tried to go shopping but was told that the market was too crowded meaning not for me. I explained that I had been traveling solo for two weeks. They would drive me to the mall at a very inflated price. I was done! Almost lost it. Just went and had lunch and then stayed in my room. I watched Everest on Indian Netflix. Not on my bucket list.

It was a great trip. I have relaxed, reflected and I am ready to get back home to see family, friends and Paisley.

Long flight Delhi to Newark. Sixteen hours in First Class! Wish it was longer! Lol. I have an eleven hour layover then home Sun Am at 10 am.

So after the fort the driver took me to the crematorium for the rulers. There were pictures of pretty much each ruler since the 1300”s.

Next was the clock tower and to see some textiles, five minutes only. Forty five min later and a rug, a couple scarves and other things we left. Bought some spices along the way back to the hotel. Quick lunch and finished a couple of books and hung out on the aqueduct to watch the sun set, the monkeys play and the bats to wake up.

Dinner by jeep, they won’t let me walk alone. Makes me wonder why? Just had fish. It was very good. A little wine and back to the room. There were many more people at the restaurant tonight. People come just to eat here.

On the way to the airport soon to fly the Delhi. Overnight at Crown Plaza Hotel and a flight at 11:15 tomorrow.

Last dummy day. This was the perfect place to stay. It’s so relaxing and a big piece of property out of town.

Last night dinner was served out side in candle light. You could just barely see. There were fire pits if you need one for earth. I ordered an Indian Whisky and Seven up. Came as a shot in a glass with a stir stick and a can of Sprite. They brought a variety of chip like things including one that looked like my childhood favorite bugles but tasted like nothing it was served with mint garlic chutney.and sliced red onions India’s version of Chips and Salsa. They suggested the assortment of kebabs.

It was pretty good. The ambiance was romantic. I had a Baileys after and as I walked to the parking lot my chariot/jeep was there to drive me back up to the palace. Kind of a sleepless night, so many jungle sounds and strange dreams. I think I am the only one in the Palace but a guard is close by. One dream had a horse in my room. That was strange.

I slept in after having every intention of waking up early. I walked to reception and asked for a short tour of the city.

The Mehrangarh Fort was the first site to see. They actually put an elevator in so people could quickly get to the top and walk down. It was high. The view from the top was incredible. You really could see the blue city. Lots of stories why it’s blue, Brahmins get the blue paint, keeps termites out, and others. It’s pretty.

I made the mistake of mentioning that I was interested in the Kundan type of jewelry so off to the jewelry shops we went. They always have some kind of demonstration then a big sales pitch. I knew exactly what I wanted yet they brought out so much other stuff. We did this twice and then I had to sit through a painting demo and perfume.

Prior to that we went to the kings burial grounds

Next was the Amber Palace where Royalty was before the City Palace. It was pretty incredible.

The woman watched the goings on from behind this marble

This water was for everything! Drinking, bathing etc

Hotel bar was empty food not great

I had been to the rooftop pool. Dirty and cold and didn’t want to share it with the pigeons.

Someone from the front desk came up to get me. He needed his money for the day trip. I packed my stuff up and went to the atm at the shopping area next door. I had run out of cash. ATM not working. I offered them USD but they wanted twice as much as my phone app said. One of the bell hops walked to a bank near by with me. They didn’t want me to go alone. It seems like an ok neighborhood and it was still light. ATM not working. I offered USD. At my rate and they took it. All those games used to work but now with exchange rate apps, they can’t argue. I made arrangements for a taxi the next day. They called me on the room phone to remind me that I needed to pay cash for the taxi or it would be an additional charge on my bill. By that time I went back to the first ATM and finally was able to get money! I was rich again with $250 worth of rupees!

In the morning taxi and flight to Jodhpur. Decided to upgrade! Two nights at a beautiful palace.

The palace was built in 1899. It has 12 rooms. The other rooms to stay at here are former horse stables. It is a beautiful property with a lake. The aqueduct was built in 1089 AD. I was a little terrified by all the monkeys surrounding the reception area. No pictures of them yet but there are a lot of them. One showed me his teeth already!!

So just sitting by the pool. Photos later and a worker comes up with a putter and a wedge and a range ball. He wants me to golf! There is a “golf course”. lol. Just a hole chiseled out for a hole. He hits the putter backwards to show me what to do. So I used the wedge and he tried catching the ball with his hands. It was so funny.