Off to Africa

Safari Njema Laramie!

 

After an amazing send off party, late night, and crazy morning, I have finally made it to the Gates  of YVR airport with much appreciated help of new friends. Thank you everyone for your love and support. I have a long day ahead of me. Next stop: Amsterdam!

The KLM flight to Amsterdam was long (9.5 hours) and very uncomfortable. I had a hard time since I realized my pain meds were not in my carry-on! However, I had the pleasure of sitting next to an older couple going on a Mediterranean cruise out of Venice. Also, planes are more high-tech than I remember them to be. Everyone gets their own television with a great selection of movies and tv shows to watch. Instead of writing in my journal or learning Swahili, I watched 'The Croods', 'Hotel Transylvania', and part of 'Good Will Hunting'. The Dutch steward was also memorable :) He kept feeding me it seemed...I guess 3 meals on a 9+ hr flight makes sense. I barely slept, and I was wiped by the time I got to Schipol Airport. I had a quick connection to get on the KLM plane: destination Nairobi, Kenya.

The next flight was much like the 1st, except slightly shorter (7.5 hours). This time, I sat with a Dutch family flying to Kenya for vacation. They weren't as easy to interact with as the previous couple because they did not speak very much, and when they did speak English, there was always communication meltdown. I slept for the majority of this flight, and nearly slept through lunch! 

Before I knew it, I was in Nairobi. This was a slightly more cramped airport, with tiny Gate sections, and very confusing layout. I was confused as to where I had to go to get my boarding pass for this next leg of my flight. It was 35 minutes before my flight when I read that the Gate closes 30 minutes before take-off, and I still didn't have my boarding pass! Instead, I was stuck in the back of a slow line for the transfer desk. I panicked and ran to the customer service desk and tried to communicate my problem, and the Kenyan lady was not impressed with me. She brought me to the front of the transfer line and helped me get my boarding pass. Thankfully, I was not the only one late for the plane, as stragglers were still getting on the plane 5 minutes before take-off. It was a significantly smaller plane, so very cramped. Luckily it was only an hour flight. This time, I sat next to a very quiet African man...no attempt at conversation at all, but I sensed he was very tired and frustrated. Probably had a long day traveling, like myself. 

Before I knew it, we landed in Kilimanjaro, a tiny airport about the size of an elementary school gym. I went through customs perfectly, gave them my forms, vaccination certificates, fingerprints and everything was fine... until I had to collect my bags. They never came! So I spent a long time filling out lost baggage forms, and the driver that was supposed to pick me up to bring me to a hotel in Moshi left without me. Luckily, the Student Affairs Manager of the school, M'Lis, was already there waiting for me, but I wasn't expecting her because no one informed me I was going to be picked up. She took me to a budget YMCA in Moshi instead, and we arrived late at night (after hours), so the gate was locked. We had to honk and yell for someone to let us in. A tired, drunken attendant came and kindly opened the gate for us. We got settled in, and I went straight to bed. 

I made it to Africa safe and sound, although not without some complications...however, I was elated despite these little bumps, because if I can travel to Africa, I can travel anywhere! Besides, I was confident that M'Lis would take care of me.