A tough, long day but we make it to Tanzania...finally.
It was mainly so tough as it feels like today started three weeks ago. Last night, we all met at Dubai Airport at 11.45 ready for a 2.15 flight; however, this being Kenya Airways (I know...we should have guessed), we ended up taking off a little after 5am.
Jamie and I managed to amuse ourselves with beers and chicken wings in the bar for most of that time, but I was fit to drop by the time we boarded. The moral: if you ever have to make the decision between, well, just about any airline on earth and Kenya Airways, go for the former. For the first couple of hours of the flight, the aircon didn't work – the temperature was hellish...too hot to sleep and I felt like I was going to throw up (basically, exactly how I'd been warned altitude sickness would feel...so maybe this was a form of training!).
Eventually, I managed to sleep for a little but I was far from refreshed when we landed in Nairobi. Some of the group grabbed a bite to eat, while a few of us just laughed at the car parked near our minibus that, in lieu of an actual bumper, had just welded a bit of scaffolding on...genius. We threw our bags on the roof and headed off.
The journey between Nairobi (Kenya) and Arusha (Tanzania) would usually take 5 hours, our guuide Emanuelle informed us, but due to roadworks we could expect it to take closer to 8. Now, when he said roadworks, what he actually meant was that, for the vast majority of the journey, there weren't any roads. And so we set off on a rickety journey, stopping only to cross the Kenya-Tanzania border, a journey that was my introduction to Africa. In spite of being tossed around like a stray penny in a washing machine, I loved every minute of it.
The stunning scenery, greener than I'd ever imagined. The rolling hills, disappearing into eternity. The abundance of bright, colourful, vibrant life in all its forms. The strange mix of agriculture and industry so closely linked. The amazing people, dressed in so many different ways...wow.
This is Masai country and we saw plenty from that ancient people. What hit me most was how at one and comfortable they appeared to be with their surroundings...and that I also really, really wanted a big stick to carry around with me.
We arrrived at the hotel just in time to watch Holland beat Brazil in the World Cup, take much-needed showers, grab dinner and pass out while, on the streets below, people loudly cheer on Ghana. Arusha is full of life and, in many ways, it reminds me of towns in Thailand; in other ways, its a million miles away and a thousand years ago. Tonight, I dream of Africa.
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