a pair of Paulleys

So we finally made it to Zanzibar after nearly missing our flight. I decided we would leave at 2pm from the hotel in order to catch our 6:30pm flight. When we got there we were told the flight had been changed to leave at 3pm (at this point it was 2:50) and they had just closed the cabin doors, and we should have received an email telling us of the change. Needless to say, we had received no email. They called the captain and held the plane, telling us if we didn't get there by running we would be locked out of the flight and that it was our fault. We ran, fueled by our animosity towards nairobi and the disasters it had dopped upon us. We made the flight wheezing and coughing and received some ... read more

We arrived at sweetwaters yesterday after a three hour drive from nairobi. Along the way we stopped twice at curio shops, and may have been taken for top dollar on a few items. Live and learn. The camp itself is nice, with spacious tents with en suite bathrooms and large verandas. Meals have been all buffet, with plenty of vegetarian dishes, and fairly tasty. Shockingly for the bush, there is free wifi, hence this posting. Our game drive yesterday showed many various antelope, lots of zebra, some giraffe, and took us to see the chimp sanctuary and the rhino sanctuary. The rhino is blind in both eyes and guests get to feed him! I never knew how soft a rhinos nose was until sticking my hand right in its mouth. That's right, you take a handful ... read more

We arrived in Nairobi to find one of our bags hadn't followed us from Istanbul and would be arriving the next day, not at a reasonable hour, but at 3:25am. We got a cab to the hotel booked through our camping safari, and found it to be rather uninviting. Driving through Nairobi at night was scary; everything is dark and there are people lurking in all the shadows. Everything here has guards and gatehouses; the guards at our hotel didn't look very impressive and let us in without any looks or questions... Not very secure. We checked in and were directed to use the elevator to the fifth floor. If ever there was an elevator to make a person shit their pants, this was it. It didn't even stop flush with the floor, the inside was ... read more

Made it to LAX and were met with unpromising news; a two hour delay for our next flight, whittling down our connecting time in Istanbul to just under an hour. The airline hostess says we will have plenty of time to make our next flight. We shall maintain good faith. Heading upstairs to the wifi lounge we passed a toddler with a toy plane. The kid managed to drop the stupid toy right as we passed; it shattered into a million pieces right in front of us. Though he's back to normal now, Tony was decidedly thin lipped as he asked me if I thought anybody survived the crash. :) Now we're off to grab our last bite of American food for a while; we're thinking of something Mexican. ;P... read more

Our first flight takes us all the way to... Los Angeles! we then fly to Istanbul, and finally to Nairobi. Bring on the 30 hours of transit time!... read more