How to Travel and Clean out Cupboards at the same time!

Carrying home the firewood

 It took about 40 hours to get home! We left Pangani, Tanzania in a small bush plane from a dirt runway. Spent many hours at Dar Es Salaam airport, which might just be one of the worst airports in the world. No place to sit, no place to eat… Hot, muggy, ánd a leaking ceiling. 
The one good part was the airline agent who checked us in. We decided to splurge on a seat upgrade but - typical - the credit card machine wasn’t working. The agent came to find us later because he felt bad. And gave us the upgrade for free.

Once we got on board, we flew to Amsterdam where we had a hour and a half to board the next plane to the next continent: Seattle, USA.

There we had a hour and a half to make the flight to Victoria, Canada.

We did a lot of security and immigration checks in two days… Take your laptop out, take off your shoes, belt, jacket… Liquids in a ziploc bag… I always wonder who watches those full body scans… 

Thanks to religious extremists in the Middle East, I can no longer take my hand lotion on a plane. But then they give you a plastic knife and a steaming piece of rubber meat to cut in a little plastic plate that slides across the plastic tray. Not sure which one is more dangerous… For two days we had unidentifiable veggies, brown things covered in sauce and a square of something. Airline food is a contradiction in terms.

I traveled to Africa with a large suitcase full of children’s books and clothing. I gave the books to Ethiopia Reads, an organization to provides books for children in small local schools. In Ethiopia I gave a bag of clothes to a street woman and the suitcase itself to the cleaning lady in my hotel. Both were thankful beyond words. 

In Kenya I took clothes, books, stickers, pencils and some other little things to an orphanage. I also left clothes in my hotel room when I left.

The last clothes and shoes I had with me, I left upon leaving the last hotel: a scarf, a beach towel, a cap, a rain poncho. All of the things I took to Africa were things I was ready to part with. Instead of getting rid of them at home, ad instead of taking my best clothes, I took things I could discard along the way. I took shoes that were still fine to use but I’d had them for years. I took good clothes for my work in schools, but shirts I was ready to part with. 

Not only did this make a lot of people very happy along the way. It also meant I had no laundry when I came home. On the return trip I used an expendable nylon bag to carry home my souvenirs! Cabin luggage only and no waiting for checked bags anywhere.

So, now we are back home sharing photos of zebras and lions with Nico and Aidan. And reflecting on our amazing trip of a life time. We are glad we asked Mambulu Safaris to do our bookings for us. Not only did they do a fantastic job finding us the most suitable places to stay, they arranged all of the little details. When you arrive at an airport in Africa, how do you get to your lodge? Do you have to agree on a taxi price before getting in? Do you tip?

We didn’t have to worry about any of that. We were greeted, upon each arrival, by someone with our name on a sign. They took us to the car, helped with luggage and even with getting visas, etc.

Not only that, but upon our first arrival in Tanzania they gave us emergency cards with phone numbers and arrangements to contact Flying Doctors IF we ever needed it. Thanks goodness we never needed it, but it was great to know everything was thought of. 

Asanti sana, Mambulu, for a fantastic experience!

http://www.mambulu.com