The journey home began last night at 5 PM Tanzania time; it's now 11:25 AM Amsterdam time and we are sitting aboard our final leg, KLM to Boston. Our last safari jeep trip started at the Serena Lodge in Arusha, Tanzania after enjoying a "day room" at the Serena Lodge. There were 7 of us traveling to Kiliminjaro Airport along with our last 2 drivers/guides and Esto, our leader from Asilia Safari Group. We again drove through the outskirts of Arusha and even stopped once to photograph the fields of sunflowers.
After a very emotional farewell to Esto, we entered the airport at 5:30. THREE HOURS LATER, we had our boarding passes! It was an excruciating wait!!! Three agents checking in first class passengers and ONE doing the rest. Even that lone agent was often assisting other first class agents. AND, the printer was "down" so they had to manually write the luggage claim tickets. Not an auspicious start to our journey!! After our third time through security, I couldn't find my backpack!!! I yelled to Peter to ask if he had it when I found it!! On my back!!!! A little distracted?? Finally on the plane, our ride to Amsterdam was pretty easy and uneventful.
We landed on time in Amsterdam at 7:15 AM Amsterdam time, had coffee with Bea and Tom and met up with Gail and Carol from our safari group. Fortunately we had wi-fi at the airport and were able to find out from both Pete M. and Karen that Suzanne's surgery was over, deemed successful and she was resting comfortably in her room at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. Thank you, God. We then headed for our gate and the final leg of our journey home. Wheels up at 10:50 Amsterdam time (5 AM. EST). We are due in Boston at 12:20 PM and we'll go straight to the hospital.
In reviewing my blogs, I discovered one glaring omission! After our balloon safari on Wednesday and before arriving for our elegant outdoor safari breakfast, we experienced a singular event. In our jeep, our driver noticed one cheetah running through the grass. He proceeded to follow the cheetah off road for a bit so we could observe him. This was our only cheetah sighting during the whole safari. They are very rare and endangered because the local village people kill them since cheetahs prey on their goats.
Finished for now!! Kiliminjaro Airport to Boston Logan Airport: 22 hours! If I discover any other omissions, I will report them. What an awesome experience this has been, to observe these wild animals in their own habitat. We were extremely fortunate to have Esto as our naturalist expert for the whole trip. His knowledge, sense of humor and caring spirit were the BEST. Also, our drivers/guides were exceptional as were the camp hosts: Jackie and Justin, Angel and Future and Abel and his crew. "Asante sana" to all for an unforgettable experience. Also to Bea and Tom, our dear friends, who "hooked us up" with the Living Desert safari; Alan, Deirdre and Ashley who represented The Living Desert; and the rest of our group, Falon and Bob, Carol, Gail and Jo-Ann. "ASANTE SANA to everyone."
1 comment:
What a trip - welcome home! So happy to hear surgeon gave a positive outlook re lymph nodes.
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