DAY 4: FLYING TO TANZANIA: HEEDING THE SIREN'S SONG OF AFRICA

crcscout

Jul 31

Heavens above today was long! It started out before the crack of dawn. I'm surprised I was able to sleep at all last night but I did. We ate breakfast as soon as the restaurant opened at 6 AM. By 6:30 Doug and I were walking to the airport. The other four were still at the hotel. We knew they would catch up with us since I am anything but speedy these days.

However, we made it to the airport and all the way to the check-in area without them catching up. To get to Sky Priority we had to cut through a ginormous line of people trying to check in to economy. I was REALLY glad I didn't have to stand in that line. Instead, I stood at the Sky Priority area while Doug went over by the escalators that the other four should be coming up. We had arranged to meet up here at check-in.

We waited and waited but they never showed up. Finally I got a text from Lee saying they couldn't find us (I found out much later that Doug hadn't gotten that text. He didn't get it until over a week later for some reason). Anyway, it went on to ask where were we? Doug tried to tell him but it ended up being rather a circus. The other four decided to go drop their bags elsewhere. We walked on through to Sky Priority and zipped through dropping off our bags. We hit a minor bump at the Assistance area where I was suppose to get my wheelchair. It was standing room only as the place was packed with other mobility-challenged people. Who knows how long we would have had to wait. I elected to walk.

Next up was security and that was easy. They had to test my boot for bomb residue but I expected that. All of my carryon made it through just fine. Doug's got searched. Yea! Not mine for a change It was no big deal though and we made it through pretty fast. Last up was Passport Control. A kind young man saw my boot and took pity on me. He sent us through the Diplomat line so I wouldn't have to stand so long. Bless him! Nobody was in that line so we made it through in record time.

We knew what our gate number was and the lounge number so we took off to find them both. It seemed like we walked a long way. At one point Doug left me in a chair while he went and scouted out the gate. He was gone for a while but when he came back, he had a wheelchair for me. He had found an area where a whole bunch of them were left. He pushed me until we reached the lounge. We talked to a lady at the desk in the lounge and she arranged to have me picked up.

I was finally able to heave a sigh of relief. I knew we were going to make our flight. Of course it was still up in the air as to whether our luggage would or not. But that was a worry for ltomorrow. At this point I was just thrilled to relax and have a latte. Actually I had two mimosas first :-). We texted with Lee and found out they were standing in a long line at security. Later he let us know they were through everything and were at the gate. Actually, It didn't take them much longer than it had for us which was good.

I was caught by surprise about an hour and a half before our flight when I heard my name announced. The wheelchair lady was there to whisk me away. I wasn't ready. They had told us an hour before, not an hour and a half! But what can you do :-). She got us to the gate in record time. I was put with all of the mobility-challenged people. Doug went and talked with the others. Then he chatted with a man who was bringing his daughter to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro with him. He had already taken his two sons to climb the mountain. Impressive.

Soon they allowed we challenged people to pre-board which just meant that we moved to the next stage of the waiting area while everybody else stayed where they were. Finally they let us get on the plane. I was happy to finally be able to hit the toilet as well as make myself at home in my little nook.

The flight went by fairly quickly. I was reading a good book so I kept reading until I finished it. Then it was time to binge-watch some movies. I didn't get to finish the last one—"Dream Horse"—because we landed. I'll definitely need to watch the rest of it when we fly back. I have to find out how their horse did. I do love a good race horse story and this was based on real events. A group of people from a village in Great Britain all went in together and bred a race horse. It was really good, at least the part I got to watch. Now I need to find out how it al ended.

The actual flight went smoothly. We were fed nice meals a couple of times and the flight attendants were very attentive which is always nice. When we landed I walked down the stairs and was met by a young lady with a wheelchair. She was great! She muscled us through all of the lines and I ended up being the first person at Baggage Claim.

That would have been nice if we weren't waiting on four other people :-). While we waited for them, we kept an eye out for their luggage as well as our own. It took a while but eventually our two bags appeared. What a relief that was! Eventually Lee and Mabel made it through. They didn't know where Stuart and Nancy were. There was a huge crowd trying to make their way through the Passport Control and Visa lines. It had been a bit easier for us because we had been given the Custom's form onboard and we already had it filled out. I guess the people in Economy didn't get it because most people were standing around filling it out.

Lee and Mabel located their bags and headed out to meet our driver/guide. We had to stay and wait for Nancy and Stuart. After forever and a year Doug and my wheelchair lady went out into the crowd and found them. She moved the two up to the front of the line. I imagine she got tired of waiting. It was very nice that she did it regardless of her motivation.

Out in the parking lot we met our "Man in Tanzania"—Gerald. He about had a heart attack when he saw all of our luggage. Some how he managed to get it all to fit in the Toyota Land Cruiser. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. I didn't care. I was in Africa!

And right off the bat we got a lesson in having patience in Africa. We couldn't get out of the parking lot. Country leaders from all over Eastern Africa had been here for a summit meeting. Several of them were on the way to the airport to fly back home. We couldn't leave until they were gone. We were stuck waiting. The presidents were speedier than I gave them credit for. We only had to wait around 30 minutes. Then we saw a pick-up truck whirl into the parking followed by several other police vehicles. The presidents had arrived for their departure. Considering how many heads of state there were, security seemed to be fairly lax. It wasn't my problem though. I just wanted to get to the hotel. It had been a long day and I was exhausted.

In short order we were on the road. It was at least an hour drive from the airport to Arusha with many a sleeping policeman (speed bump) y. Eventually we saw the lights of Arusha and were pulling into the parking lot of the African Tulip Hotel.

It was night time so we really couldn't see much of our surroundings. It did look like a nice place thought. Inide they greeted us with chilled juice and a warm cloth. Boy, did that feel great! We checked in and got our rooms. Gerald told us when he would be by to pick us up tomorrow morning and then we all headed up to our rooms. I knew we had unpacking and repacking to take care of as well as showers. It was going to be a while before my head could touch a pillow.

Tomorrow we start our actual safari with a drive to Tarangire National Park. We had been there before and had really enjoyed it. I was happy to be going back. But first I had to finished packing and get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a great day, just a long one.

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