Now the question. To travel blog or not to travel blog? Facing reality, who cares? Realizing that most people are totally bored reading someone’s details on their travels, I always hesitate to even suggest someone read one of my travel blogs. But having written a few blogs in the past and receiving a wee bit of positive reinforcement as requests to do another, I decided to try one more for this African trip. The ability to post while I am in the Serengeti will be limited because of the absence of internet, but I expect to have the free time to prepare the photos and text to blast it out in rapid fire blog entries at the conclusion of my trip. So here are my usual warnings. You can probably use this blog as a sleep aid. If not that, you can easily identify the email and use your computer mouse to trash it with out the need to read. I actually write these blogs for myself, because at 72 my brain’s hard drive is losing capacity and I need written assistance just to remember what I actually did.
Starting in Louisville, I fly to Atlanta to catch the big bird that will fly me over the ocean to Amsterdam for an overnight stop before I fly on to Kilimanjaro airport outside of Arusha, Tanzania. In Tanzania I will join my small tour group, organized by a tour company in Portland, OR with 9 other souls in our group. Two of the couples are friends for many years that I worked with while in Portland and Mary and I traveled with on our trip to South Africa in 2010. This will be a great adventure with old friends and many exciting sights ahead.
My trip almost started normal. First I didn’t have Mary making arrangements to check and double check that I had prepared everything needed for the trip. Mary is afflicted with TOCD (“travel obsessive compulsive disorder”) and I usually gladly accept that affliction because I don’t have to worry about arrangements and other details. And while I have made more than a few international trips on business and all on my own without Mary, this time was different. Darn, I had to do this myself.
Packing was not a problem. It was that stabbing abdominal pain that showed up 4 days before I was to depart. I ignored it as a temporary anomaly for the first 3 days and then late Sunday afternoon while attending granddaughter Elise’s school play (her debut as an actress) I came to the decision that I had 24 hours to decide if this trip was a go or no go. My objective was to get at least a 80% probability that a Tanzanian doctor wouldn’t be cutting on my appendix or some other organ. So against all my instincts to use an emergency room only for emergencies I made a preemptive visit to the emergency room at Spring View Hospital in Lebanon, KY. I outlined the probability objective to the ER physician and they put me through a barrage of tests. Great service, and a thorough examination revealed absolutely nothing other than “undiagnosed acute abdominal pain”. The doctor gave me the 80% assurance and said, send pictures.
Daughter in law, Lynn and grandkids took Mary and I to the Louisville airport. Mary was flying to Ft Worth to babysit granddaughter Maya for the next 3 weeks. We said our goodbyes with our last minute wishes that we would be doing this trip together. While walking to the gate, someone calls my name and I have an unexpected reunion with an old business associate from California that I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. Great to have surprise encounters with old friends.
Everything went well.
Delta was on time to Atlanta and departing for Amsterdam. It’s just that long, long 8 hours of flight time sharing the exhaled air of 300+ strangers in a darkened packed airplane and listening to all types of sleeping noises. Not anyone’s idea of a good time.
We arrive in Amsterdam around 10:30 AM (4:30 AM Louisville time) and I head to the Sheraton, conveniently attached to the airport. By the way, the Amsterdam airport is fantastic. Modern, shopping galore, train station for transportation to the city and adjoining countries and security lines that are well staffed, friendly and modernized with equipment that quickly gets everyone through the lines. OK USA we need some infrastructure spending.
With a short visit to my hotel room, I take the train into Amsterdam. Without my tour planner as my partner I had no plans. I take a canal boat through the canals and loved the architecture and the many house boats in the canals. I walked the main thoroughfare in the old city and branched off to the lesser traveled streets to get an idea of what Amsterdam had to offer. I visited the central square with street performers and loads of tourists. The famed red light district is a proud part of Amsterdam’s tourist attraction but in my opinion rather seedy in daylight and I expect even seedier at night. Sex apparel shops and storefronts with empty chairs in the windows for displaying human merchandise abounded. There were two or three chairs occupied in the storefronts advertising their “ladies of the day” services. Different world but apparently accepted for many years in Amsterdam as a part of life. The pungent smell of cannabis on the streets was also the norm. Cannabis is legal in Amsterdam and various brands of the product are prominently displayed in storefront windows. Some would say that with all these vices taking place in the open, that Amsterdam wouldn’t be a safe place. I saw no homeless and couldn’t have felt safer.
After 3 hours of walking, I had no energy left. I had spotted the museums I wanted to return to when I spend another night in Amsterdam on my return trip. The Van Gogh museum is supposed to be the primo.
With a fantastic but overpriced dinner in the hotel I climb into bed, make a call to Mary, close my eyes and get awakened 45 minutes later with a call from the travel agent’s office indicating there was a change in my Tanzanian hotel arrangements. Eyes closed again and I get a really good sleep
Awakening early, the trip to the airport is a short walk down the airport corridor. Security was a breeze and the flight was only 1 hour late departing for Kilimanjaro airport. Easy 9 hour flight in daylight with a seat mate from New Jersey who was a Chase Bank attorney heading to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro. He’s got a real adventure ahead.
Landed at Kilimanjaro Airport. The airport is at 2,900 feet and is 31 miles southwest from the peak of Mt Kilimanjaro (19,300 feet - tallest in Africa). Unfortunately it is dark and we won’t be able to see the peak. The airport is really small. No gates, ramps or long walks to customs Just a walkway from the tarmac that serves as the one and only gate.
Luck was with me. Mateus, a guide from Unique Safari Tours was holding my name up. I was one of the few passengers to have filed and prepaid my Tanzania Visa so I zipped through without a line while most passengers waited in long lines to pay the $100 Tanzanian entrance fee. With luck still holding, my bag arrived and away we went for a 45 minute drive with George, the driver and Mateus to the Mt Meru lodge.
Security was tight entering the grounds of the lodge. A guard with a mirror inspects the Land Cruiser for bombs and all guests go through a metal detector to enter the hotel. Doesn’t give you that nice safe and secure feeling
The hotel has a little age. The grounds are beautiful. The staff is friendly and the room is clean and roomy. My friends Rich and Jean have left a note indicating we were leaving for Lake Manyara National Park at 8:00 am in the morning.
The prospect of not sleeping on an airplane for the next 17 days feels good.
The long flight is complete. Kentucky is 8,100 miles in the rear view mirror with a 8 hour time difference. It’s Africa time!!
2025-02-17