Amsterdam to Kili.

Nearly 16 hours after leaving home, I am now on board my final leg of the trip (another 8 hour flight) to Kilimanjaro and Tanzania. Seda had a seat about 8 rows behind me, so I had two new people in my seat section for this flight. They were Scott and Jennifer from Ann Arbor, Michigan. They were a young couple engaged to be married in the next year or so. They were on their way to meet some friends in Dar Es Salam and to do some touring as well. It turns out they are flying back to Amsterdam on the same flight as me in 18 days. So we would be able to share our stories together before boarding for home.

This is the time when I really felt like the new adventure was beginning. I had flown to Europe just three years ago with my family. We flew out of Shiphol on our way home, so there was some familiarity with the airport. But from here on it was all new. Most of Europe was cloud covered as we flew over. I had a window seat on the left side of the plane. The clouds finally broke up about the time we must have flown over the French or Italian Alps. Soon I could tell we were flying straight down the western coast of Italy. There was water below us and at times I could see clear across the country to the Adriatic Sea. Italy really is not very wide from about 35,000 feet. It was not hard to spot Rome. It seemed though that there was one continuous town all the way down the coast. It must be a great place to live. I guess I will just have to take a closer look some time. When we got to the southern end of Italy I could actually see the shape of the boot and heel. The toe was somewhere under us.

It took over an hour to cross the Mediterranean. When we finally reached the African coast we were just west of the town of Banghazi Libya. You could see a very large city on the coast and then nothing but what looked like sand and beach. My first view of Africa was the northern coast of Libya and the great Sahara Desert. After about 25 to 30 minutes there was virtually no sign of life, cities, roads or anything but just light brown sand. It was amazing how featureless the terrain was from our altitude. This was all there was to see for over two hours. Our path took us over Sudan and I believe part of Uganda and Kenya before entering Tanzania.

After about two hours of featureless landscape, a few "clumps" and an occasional road would be seen. There also were a few more clouds in the sky as well. Then rather quickly it all began to change. Within a matter of 15 minutes a totally different landscape was shaping up. Hills, forest or heavier vegetation, cities and roads on the ground and we were flying around large storm clouds. We had clearly entered into the rain forest belt of Africa. There was a large river below at times and I could only guess that it might have been the White Nile. We were quickly losing day light as we got into what had to be Kenya. I was hoping to get to see the great Kilimanjaro before we landed, but it got dark too quickly. We were to land at KIA just after 8:00 p.m. but the sun sets at the equator around 6:30 to 7:00. So I would have to wait until tomorrow at least.

The flight to Amsterdam

Finally, the day of departure has arrived. My wife and daughter took me to the airport to send me off on my grand adventure. All of the details of the trip and travel have been meticulously been taken care of. No stone was left unturned, there could be no hitches of any kind, right? As I was checking in at the gate, the airline person informed me that my visa for Tanzania had already expired. That hit me like a brick wall. I had done everything by the book and the visa was good for 6 months, March to September. After about 15 minutes and pulling in several other airline supervisors to check this out, it was finally discovered that the dates on the visa are done in British or European fashion. So, the expiration date of 2-9-07 did not represent February 2 but the second day of September, 2007. That was a huge relief. You would have thought that the airline people would have known the difference. Well anyway, the check in was completed and I was off. After saying goodbye to my wife and daughter, my plane managed to leave right on time.

I had to make a connecting flight from Minneapolis Minnesota. Everything went well there again. Another on time departure. The plane was not full. There was lady sitting in the seat section with me as we took off. She had very grey hair and was well tanned. She looked like an outdoors type and was even dressed in safari typed clothes. Her name was Seda and she was originally from Turkey. As we began to talk, it turns out that she is an adventure tour guide on her way to Kilimanjaro to meet a group of people for a tour of Tanzania, Zanzibar and to climb Kilimanjaro. She and her husband run a river rafting operation out of Boise Idaho in the summers. She takes groups all over the world to places like South America, Nepal and Tibet. I have put her web site as a link on the blog. We talked a lot about traveling to different parts of the world and some of the things she has seen. It also made the nearly 4 hour layover at Shiphol airport in Amsterdam a little more enjoyable having someone to talk to and walk around with. I came away with the idea that a guided trip with Seda would be a well organized and managed trip. I have included her web site for anyone looking for a good international adventure tour guide. I have no doubts, her trips are anything short of fantastic.

Trip preparation

In the months before my trip there was much to do to get ready. I had to get my series of shots and immunizations, get my visa, gather more things such as clothes and other items. I also wanted to learn as much as I could about where I was going before I got there. If you are planning to go to the Kilimanjaro region you might like to try www.kilicam.com. When it is working, you will see a view of Kilimanjaro from the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA). You get a glimpse of the weather in the area also. However, like many things in Africa involving technology, it seems to be either down or not providing information quite often. But it is fun to look at when it works. By the way, Kili is in the clouds most of the time during the day but you will get teasingly good views of the great mountain.

I also found the local newspaper on the internet. The Arusha Times comes out weekly on Friday and gives a great sampling of what is going on in the Arusha/Moshi/Kilimanjaro region. It is unlike any newspaper you can read in the U.S. I found it to be fascinating reading and only raised my level of excitement for what I was about to experience firsthand, the good and the bad of the area. I continue to check out the Arusha Times occasionally even 6 months after returning home. I found out that there was a major earthquake in the northern part of the region just about two weeks after I got back home. Had I still been there in the Ngorongoro Region I would have felt it.

It is an article I read in the December 15 issue of the Arusha Times that finally got me to sit down and start my Africa blog. The lead story was about how as many as 210 giraffes had been slaughtered this year in the West Kilimanjaro game Corridor. This is where I spent the first 2-3 days of my safari. I photographed many of the giraffes in the area. (I will have may of the photos posted soon) In fact, they became one of my favorite animals and one of the most photographed by me. Not only were giraffes being killed but so were zebras, elephants and many others animals as well. The West Kili area is very remote with few roads and access is difficult. There are not nearly the umber of visitors here as in other more popular or well known game parks. This makes it feel much more natural than the ones with many vehicles and visitors but also much easier for poachers to do their thing. It is very large and basically untouched by modern civilization. This makes it an easy place for poachers to work. I have contacted the Arusha Times and Hoopoe Safaris, who co-own and manage the area to see how I and any one reading this can help to stop the animal slaughter in this area. I did my safari with Hoopoe and will tell much more about them in the future. I encourage you to read the article for yourself.

As this blog develops, I will not only share my experiences of the trip, but will also share with you the many multitudes of ways that we in our privileged world can help to improve the lives of those in Tanzania and preserve the wonderful wildlife and environment of the region.

Getting started

One year ago I got the biggest , greatest Christmas surprise gift of a lifetime. My wife and daughter gave me a dream trip to Tanzania with a 12 day safari. Going to Africa to see what the people were like and to see the wildlife has been a lifelong fantasy that I only dreamed about. This past year it came true. I have always loved being outdoors in the middle of nature. I spent hundreds of nights camping in the Boy Scouts growing up and have always had an appreciation for nature, wildlife and science in general.
So, this web blog is about those 18 days in Africa and what I saw and experienced. The wild wildlife, the people and their way of living. I kept a daily journal of my activities and thoughts. Much of that and more will appear on this page. This is my first attempt at anything like this so it will be a continually growing and changing event, much like my days in Africa. Every time I had the thought, "how do you top this?", something would come up and set a new standard for awe and amazement. Hopefully this site will do the same. By the time I actually get this started, I have been back home for 6 months, but in some ways I have never left Africa, or Africa has never left me. I have found many ways to stay connected with Africa and will share those as well. The people were as amazing to me as the wildlife and natural beauty of the land. I hope that all who read this can get a small sample of what I got to experience. But short of going there yourself, this can only serve as a small tease. So, enjoy.