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Published: November 26th 2007
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The next morning.......
Sarova Shaba Game Reserve in Kenya Greetings everyone! We arrived in Luxor, Egypt yesterday, late afternoon. Quite a difference from the Lodge in Kenya!!!!!!! (which was a new place this year, and unlike the place we stayed in last year)
Special birthday greetings go out to my precious little grandson, Kalen!!!!!! So sorry I missed the exact day, but you certainly were on my mind, little guy!!!!!! Love you LOTS!
So, we were up and at 'em early in Dubai, heading for the airport, all keen and ready to head into Africa. Everything went smoothly, hopped on the plane........got our FANTASTIC and WARM welcome by the crew, had our champagne and then.........we waited! We were delayed for well over an hour getting out of Dubai. Why, you ask? Why is exactly what we were asking!!!!!! Anyway, how can one complain when we are (once again) sitting in an air-conditioned, private plane .....sipping champagne, and dreaming about Africa????!!!!! Really! The worse part of all of that is getting into Nairobi later than planned.........
And that's exactly what happened. But, we got off the Icelandic Air flight, went through all the processes of being "processed" and then headed over to another terminal for departure on a
Dash 8 (2 of them) for our flight to Kenya. I led the first group, along with Fay and Carroll. Carl, Ben, and Brenda were with the second group. We moved right along, got on the plane, settled in.........most people napped........it was a flight of about 1 1/2 hours..........and then, just as we were about to land......the pilot said "for your information, the second plane never did take off. The rest of your group will be staying in Nairobi overnight!" Well, as everyone else on the plane gasped (!!!), you should have seen the looks in our eyes as reality sunk in for Carroll, Fay and I. Holy smokes, Batman! How can this be??????? We could just imagine the scene in Nairobi: 36 people caught off guard, no transportation arrangements, no hotel accommodations, hungry and tired people! Geez. This was rought.
As it was, we organized our group, got them together into the vans that awaited (6 per van) and off we went for the 1 1/2 hour ride (over very rough roads) in the dark to get to the Lodge before the Park closed. This was challenging for our group because we had been moving right along with
"the end in sight", but this was a very difficult ride as the roads were beyond imagination, it was dark, we hadn't eaten or had a "pit stop" and most people had never been here before and were very trusting of us and the drivers to get them to the Lodge safely. It wasn't pretty! But we did make it in one piece. Got our room keys, had a bit to eat (it was late and everyone was too tired to do much else) and then headed off to bed.
THE NAIROBI STORY:
As I remember it......... Carl, Brenda, and Ben were with the 36 people who were stuck in Nairobi for the night. They did an amazing job at getting together transportation, arranging accommodation (Stanley Hotel and The Holiday Inn), getting some food and water and settling in for the night. But this little adventure was not without its' own mishaps. Apparently one of the vans ran out of gas (I think that was the story), so everyone had to pile into the other van ........people sitting on other's laps, carry-on bags everywhere........it was hot, they were tired and hungry but everyone was cooperative. Good thing they
How cute are they?
Leaving Dubai....... had Doug Ripley with them. He decided to start his own "game drive" and began pointing out animals of a different nature.........cars........Jaguars, Impalas, etc. His humor helped to save the day! What a guy!!!! (and he's in the Green Group! Lucky me!). Once everyone got to the Stanley Hotel, got some food (I hear the Thai Restaurant food was incredible!), most people got settled into their rooms for the night. Some other people, unfortunately, were moved to The Holiday Inn due to lack of space at the Stanley. This all made for a very long travel day for everyone.
Wake up calls were at 5 a.m., I believe, and for those of us up and at 'em at the Lodge, we heard (from our van driver) that the people were on the plane and actually arriving at about 8 a.m. So it was definitely a short night for many! As you can see from the pictures, however, once everyone was gathered at the Lodge, and settled by the bar or the pool..........bodies and tempers began to cool down.
And that, my folks, is the adventure of travel. Some things are just not in your control all the time!
Happy anniversary, Maud and Ned!
It's their 4th anniversary! Such a nice couple! Kudos to Ben, Carl and Brenda!
So, this is Africa Travel Bog, Night one and Day one. The (incredible) animal pictures will follow, either later today, or just later.......period. But they are AMAZING (if I do say so myself)!
BACK TO EGYPT:
Ok, so now it's almost 8 a.m. on Monday morning and I must head out. Travel Blog was "down" for a bit this morning, so I am behind on the blogs. I have managed to upload some pictures, to get you re-connected to the group.........the rest will follow. We had a fabulous dinner last night and I got some great pictures, including a few of a wedding party just over from where we were dining. Some of our people are already up and out; they are in a hot air balloon ride over Luxor. Can't wait to hear about it.
Enjoy.
(Good morning, Mom! I love you! Can't wait to see you soon.......)
Happy Pat
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Diann Vail
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Out of Africa...
Hi Pat - can't believe that 'our' trip is almost over... it's been great following you around the world. I must admit these blogs make me think about taking the actual trip myself. What fun it would be to join you all. It's still warm here - 5 deg. today - but you win - you are in a warmer place. See you soon. Love ya - Diann