“It's all part of the experience!” That pretty well sums up my travel to Tanzania. First the plane in Canada was delayed three hours, then when I arrived in Amsterdam I only had 15 minutes to catch my connecting flight to Africa and now my luggage has not arrived and because of the realities here, it won't for another two days.
The flight on KLM was actually pretty good. I mean, I will never completely fit comfortabily in economy class, but overall, I was impressed. I felt like they just kept feeding me! And the food was quite good too. But how I wished I could have stayed longer in Amsterdam! Really there is a deep part of me that wants to explore Europe with my best friend Paul. There's just something about walking around history that gets my blood pumping and I know Paul feels the same. So I believe a European trip is in order – and soon!
I slept a bit on the plane but doing anything comfortable on the plane is a challenge when your knees are under constant barrage from the seat in front. Do people really not realize the havoc they wreak when they recline their seats at breakneck speeds? Suffice to say, the combination of a substantial time change (seven hours I believe) and being crammed on a plane for an unholy number of hours equals a tried and weary traveler.
On the bright side, Andrew (one half of my host team) was able to pick me up immediately from the airport and I didn't have to pay the $100 USD airport tax in full like some other passengers. I got away with paying $50. Once the airport drama was over, Andrew was quick to whisk me away to a Guest House which is where I'm writing from now under a rather fanciful blue mosquito net. More good news, the adapter Chris lent me works perfectly allowing me to charge my laptop and iPod. Both of which have assumed new levels of importance since the loss of my other baggage. And in relation to the iPod (graciously donated by Ryan Szabo) I started watching Long Way Round and am finding the parallels to my own adventure to be quite profound. I'll keep watching and hopefully keep getting encouraged.
So now it's time to sleep. Tomorrow is my first morning in Africa. I can't really believe I'm here. It hasn't sunk in yet; even with the rat that crawled across the kitchen counter where my water's stored.
Soon though. I think it'll set in soon.
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