On Saturday, December 17th at 9 a.m., after two days of travel, we finally landed in Arusha, Tanzania at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Only one runway for outgoing and incoming flights so there was only one plane on the tarmac when we arrived, ours!
We stepped off the plane and instantly felt welcomed by the warm sun and smiles of ground crew as they unloaded our luggage from the belly of the plane. It was large, an Airbus. With our first-class upgrade, we were well-rested and ready to start our adventure! We were greeted by our guide, Bridget, who directed us to a private waiting lounge until our friend Nick arrived an hour later on a different flight. Customs was quick and worry-free while we waited. They took us aside in a separate room with our passports and our East African Visas, verified our travel details, personal information and took digital pictures of our fingerprints, all of which was standard. Once Nick arrived we were all relieved to be together again and Bridget led us to our van to meet our driver and headed to our first lodge. It was about an hour drive but there was so much to see that it felt like hours. It was all new, to all of us. Goats roaming everywhere. People of all ages walking everywhere. Carrying everything on their backs, on their heads. Sounds and sights could keep a person busy for a lifetime!
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I used to think I was a great writer and I realized that didn't matter. What's important is to be an effective storyteller. So here goes, the story of Jason and I and 25 days in Africa. We both love to travel and if you're reading this, it's likely not a surprise to any of you. We have so many places on our list that I won't even mention them all here. Our trip to Africa all started at a chilly Saturday night in November, 2021, at a fundraising gala with friends. I was sniffly with whatever bug was going around and a full dinner and a few glasses of wine later, my paddle went up during the live auction for a seven-day, six-night stay at Zulu Nyala Safari Lodge in South Africa. It seemed like a good deal and some of the money was going to a good cause so we did it! Due to the travel uncertainties going on with the global pandemic, the certificate said we had up to three years to use it. That sounded fine. We weren't going anywhere soon, that we knew of. We talked to a few friends about our live auction score and it stirred up conversation of other things we could do while we were halfway across the world: hike Mt. Kilimanjaro, trek mountain gorillas in Uganda and game tours of various national parks. It was settled, we decided to do it all! We started planning the details with our friend, and now travel agent, Michele (http://micheletravels.com/) and ironed out the details. We blocked off 25 days from December 15, 2022 - January 8, 2023 and got to working on our itinerary and budgeting for the trip. |
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