(Africa trip) Amazing Tanzania

From the moment we stepped off the plane at Kilimenjaro international airport in Tanzania, it was clear that a whole new adventure started. For one thing, this airport is very chilled out and laid back - no chaos there. The plane basically pulled up to the main building, we exited and leisurely strolled to the hanger, taking pictures along the way, and then seamlessly picked up our visas (100 bucks YIKES) and went through customs. From the air, we had a pretty decent view of Kilimenjaro, which ironically, might turn out to be our only view since the weather forecast was for clouds and even though the sun is out as I type this, it is still really cloudy and we still can't see the mountain. Oh well - there were so many other amazing things to see that it's hard to be disappointed.

Our drive to the Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge was quite scenic. It took us through farm country, of which the main crop appeared to be sunflower seeds, judging by the large number of sunflower fields. Then we turned off on a track in the woods and the lodge was at the end of the track. To get to the lodge, we had to get out of the vehicle and walk over a home-made wooden footbridge, then go through some woods, and then we were there. Our rooms are amazing - we ended up with two of us sharing a room in the main lodge (which has a private deck with a mountain view, if the clouds ever clear up), and I am in my own room towards the rear of the property (it's a pretty amazing room, by the way). We spent the day walking the property and took many awesome wildlife and scenery pictures. Now we are on the deck with cameras ready in case the mountain shows itself, sipping adult beverages, and are generally enjoying a fantastic day. We also had an incredible lunch of grilled veggies and trout, which was comprised only of fish and garden items grown or caught on the property.

Tonight we are anticipating another incredible meal and if the clouds clear up, we might be able to do some stargazing (we're south of the equator so it's a different sky here). Tomorrow morning we leave on a charter flight for the Nomad Tented Camp in the Serengetti, so it might be a few days before I have internet access again.

The pics I have posted are of me on the wooden foot bridge and a couple of shots of the lodge and grounds.

(Africa trip) Commentary on international air travel

It is an absolute wonder to me that anyone manages to fly to and from a third-world international airport. I have rarely witnessed the sort of disorganized chaos that I saw at the Nairobi International Airport when trying to check in. It was noisy and smelly and chaotic in a way that I've never seen at a US airport, even when traveling on holidays. And since the airport trip was followed by a flight on an ancient, poorly maintained turbo-prop, we had quite the interesting morning of travel. It was so worth it, though.

I'll post some stuff about Tanzania soon. It's just truly amazing.

(Africa trip) Nairobi

Right now, it is early Thursday morning, 29 May 08, and by early, I mean really early. It's almost 0300 and I can't sleep anymore because of jetlag, so this seemed like a great time to update my journal. I don't have internet access right this moment, but as soon as I do (probably when I get to Arusha/Kilimenjaro, I will be able to get logged on and get this uploaded.

Anyway, after having a very enjoyable afternoon at the Heathrow airport, I think the place to start now is with my flight from London to Nairobi. If anything, this was an even better flying experience than my trip to London. I still had a welcome cocktail and my own little sleeping pod, and it turned out the plane wasn't even a quarter full so it was almost like there was a flight attendant for every 3 people. I think this is a reflection of the fact that the tourism industry in Kenya hasn't fully recovered yet from the unrest earlier in the year, and honestly, I don't see how Virgin Atlantic can keep affording to fly that route when there's not enough people on the plane to even cover the fuel. Once landing in Nairobi, going through customs and getting a visa was smooth, then I collected my bag and met the driver that had been sent for me. It was an interesting drive to the hotel - traffic in Nairobi is heavy and something of a free-for-all when it comes to jockeying for position. It was quite the exciting ride. The Nairobi Hilton is located right in the heart of the downtown urban area and while old, it is appointed much like any decent hotel in the US or Europe. Another sign of the times, though - access to the front of the hotel is gated, and our vehicle was searched for explosives before they'd let us in so that I could get checked in. I admit I was glad to see there were some security measures in place. After checking in, I met up with Sally (who had gotten here the night before and who's luggage was still missing, poor thing), and we had a nice lunch at a little outdoor cafe right at the hotel. After that, it was nap-time and then we linked up with Angie when she arrived later in the afternoon.

After having a pre-dinner cocktail at the lounge, the three of us ventured into the city to a seafood restaurant that had been recommended for us by the tour operator. We went there and back by cab - it is highly recommended that foreign tourists do not walk about the area at night and being that we sometimes have a little sense, we took that excellent advice. Again, the cab rides were pretty crazy and exciting - I've never seen anything like Nairobi traffic and how it flows. I didn't get any pictures of the traffic because we'd also been warned not to flaunt camera equipment because it would likely be taken, even if we were together and in a cab, and Nairobi is a dirty, crowded city with a high crime rate, but at the same time, it's very vibrant and it was interesting to venture out for the short time we were here. Our dinner was expensive but amazing - I had a grilled shrimp dinner that consisted of shrimp the size of my closed fist, along with potatoes and veggies, and Angie and Sally had similar dinners. The atmosphere and presentation was great and we were lucky to be early and practically have the place to ourselves. We weren't dressed right - it was a fancy place and we were wearing safari clothes (plus Sally was wearing the clothes she'd been in for the past three days) but they didn't treat us any different than the other customers.

Anyway, I'm going to try to get a nap before our 0400 wakeup call to get ready for the trip to Arusha/Kilimenjaro.

The pics I have uploaded are of the three of us at dinner, the view of Nairobi from the hotel window, and my dinner (pretty impressively sized shrimp).

(Africa trip) may be signing off for a bit

This might be my last post for a bit of time - I'm sure I'll have internet access at some point while in Africa but I'm not sure when or where, so no worrying if I don't update this for a few days. Anyway, I'm off for a light dinner and then I'll be headed to my flight! I will post updated adventures as soon as I can.

(Africa trip) Orlando to London

Before I lay out my adventures of the past 24 hours or so, I feel like describing my current circumstances. Right now, I am in Virgin Atlantic's premier Upper Class lounge at Heathrow airport. I just finished a wonderful lunch of mushroom and spinach lingini, I'm sipping on a complementary Cosmopolitan served up at a bar easily the equal of any nice bar I've ever been too, and I'm waiting for my complementary spa/salon appointment in about an hour. Definately not a bad way to spend the afternoon!

Anyway, the fun started as soon as I boarded the Virgin Atlantic plane in Orlando. I have never seen anything like this Upper Class cabin (Upper Class is what Virgin Atlantic calls 1st Class, by the way). The compartment was located at the very front of the bottom level and my seat was the very front seat at the nosecone. Everything was all decorated in purple, and the seats were enormous and could be adjusted electronically (later, the seats were converted to beds for our napping needs). At the rear of the cabin, there was a little cocktail bar from where the flight attendent served us our boarding beverage of champagne in real glasswear. Each pod seat had it's own TV with numerous viewing options and movies to chose from. The service was fantastic and I had the best meal I have ever had on an airplane. And get this - when I was ready to sleep, the flight attendant turned down my bed and provided me with pajamas to change into! Obviously this was quite different than the sort of trips I'm used to.

Once we landed in London after a 7.5 hour flight, I sailed through customs and then reality had to intrude upon my happy existance for a bit. The flight from Orlando landed at London-Gatwick but my flight to Nairobi is out of London-Heathrow, so that left me with the need to get from Gatwick to Heathrow. The only way to do it was by bus, and although the bus ride wasn't bad, just lining up in a crush of people to get on the bus was a strong reminder of how I usually travel and made me appreciate my luxury treats that much more.

On a side note, I had forgotten how crowded European international airports are. Moving through Gatwick and Heathrow is best described as semi-controlled chaos, and I found myself unbelievably grateful that I had a civilized place to go. In comparison, the terminal I was in at the Orlando airport (I believe it was terminal B) is positively tranquil.

Anyway, once I got to the lounge, civilization reasserted itself and I am back to truly enjoying my vacation in every way. The first thing I did was take a nap, then lunch, and now I'm hanging out waiting for my appointment. After that, I'll probably have another cocktail and a snack, and then it will be time to head for the plane!

The pictures I have uploaded are of the Upper Class cabin seat, the cabin bar, and a couple of shots of the lounge and spa at the Heathrow lounge.

(Africa trip) true first class travel

Now that I am at the Orlando airport, the pampering has really started. As an "upper class" passenger on Virgin Atlantic, I got to check in through a special line that let me basically cut in front of around 100 other people who had been waiting for who-knows-how-long. Then I was given an invitation to enjoy Delta's first class lounge (the Delta Crown Room) because Virgin doesn't have a lounge at this airport and I have truly entered a world that is something special. I am very glad that I decided that just once, I would travel in luxury. The photos I have uploaded are from inside the first class lounge.

Anyway, my next post should come from London!

(Africa trip) Adventures in Orlando

Like I said in my previous post, my sister and I spent a night in Orlando. We decided to experience some night-life Disney style, so we concentrated our fun on downtown Disney and Pleasure Island. It's hard to imagine, but Disney actually has a theme park area dedicated to adult drunken nightlife, and I admit I always wondered what Disney nightlife might be like. Anyway, Leigh and I had a great dinner at a downtown Disney spot called Portebello's and after doing some shopping, we set out to enjoy some nightlife. We went to every club, including the comedy club, the hip-hop club, the top-40 club, and the techno dance club, but the one we liked best was called 8-trax and it played music from the 70s and the 80s. Leigh and I danced until after 0100 in the morning and had a really fantastic time. After that, we took the shuttle back to the hotel and settled in for the night. After checking out of the hotel the next morning, we did some more exploring of downtown Disney and then Leigh dropped me off at the airport. It was truly a great time and I'm glad I got a chance to pass through Orlando. After all, I'm heading to countries that are far removed from the lifestyle we enjoy as Americans, and yet I started my trip with a visit to a location that's as American as things get.

The pictures I've uploaded are of me and Leigh enjoying ourselves on the dance floor at 8-trax. It's not easy taking a picture of yourself while on a dance floor!

(Africa trip) started the trip

Well, the trip has finally started and it started in style. I decided for this one trip, I wasn't going to do things on the cheap - this time, I was going to fly first class. So, besides booking a first class ticket on Virgin Atlantic to Nairobi by way of London, I also booked a first class ticket on Continental to get me from Texas to Orlando because my flight overseas was from Orlando. I have to say, flying is way more civilized from the front of the plane. While domestic first class isn't all that fancy and doesn't come with the perks that international first class does, it's still pretty nice. After getting early priority boarding (which I missed, by the way, because I was in the restroom), you get presented with a pre-flight cocktail to enjoy as the rest of the flight gets settled. Then, you spend the rest of the flight enjoying a comfy seat and even get a light meal on real plates with real silverwear. My first class experience started with the trip from Houston to Orlando because there is no first class service out of Killeen (the planes are too small) and I admit I was actually a little disappointed at the amount of legroom available in first class on the plane I was on, but the service was great and the flight was totally enjoyable, although at two hours, pretty brief. Once I got to Orlando, my sister Leigh met me and we drove to our hotel, the Buena Vista Palace, and we were given a very nice room which I unfortunately didn't take a picture of. I will be taking pictures of every place I stay for the rest of the trip, though.

The images I've loaded are of me in the Killeen airport prior to starting my big adventure and the other is of my boarding pass indicating "elite access" which is a bit amusing because I missed my chance to enjoy "elite access" because I was in the bathroom taking a picture of my boarding pass because I was too embarrassed to get caught taking it out in the open. Ironic, isn't it? :-)

(Africa trip) baggage issues

Believe it or not, for a 2.5 week trip to Africa, my traveling companions and myself were each restricted to only 33 pound of luggage TOTAL, including carryon baggage and camera equipment. This was because of weight limits on some of the charger flights we will be taking. Anyway, they let us up our allowance to 42 pounds when one traveler in our group backed out of the trip and when I weighed my luggage yesterday, I squeeked by with 40 pounds. So, even though I made the weight, I'm going to try to thin my stuff out a little. One way to do that would be to ditch my laptop, but I don't want to do that unless I have to. For one thing, I'd love to be able to keep up with this blog :-)

(Africa trip) putting final touches on the big trip

I started this blog because I thought it would be neat to have a place where I could document my impending trip to Africa which I booked to celebrate my safe return from service with the Army in Iraq and my retirement from the Army after 23 years of service. I booked the trip almost 8 months ago and finally leave this weekend. Before the trip is done, I would have spent two nights in Orlando, a night in London, two nights in Nairobi, one night at the foot of Kilimenjaro, and 9 nights out in the bush on the Serengeti plain. For the first and only time in my life, I am traveling first class the entire way. I have always wanted to fly international first class and I couldn't think of a better time to do that than on this trip. I'll be flying on Continental to Florida and on Virgin Atlantic from Florida to London to Nairobi and back. I plan on taking lots of pictures and I hope to be able to get on the internet during the trip so I can update this blog and post the photos. I've done everything I can thing of - bags are packed, passport is current, and camera batteries are charged. I think I'm ready!

On a side note, the hardest thing to get used to was the fact that each traveler in my group is restricted to around 33 pounds of total luggage, to include camera equipment! Since I won't leave my camera or laptop behind, I had to cut a significant amount of clothing that I planned to take. I'll be doing a lot of sink laundry LOL.

By the way, this photo has nothing to do with this blog - I was just testing to make sure I could upload photos! This one was taken this month in Florida.