Sunday, March 3
6:30 breakfast this morning and packing for going home. Breakfast is almost like the staff wasn't expecting us this early. But we don't go hungry and they get omelets going.
We head for the border about 7:15. Traffic is kind of light. At the border, we check out of Tanzania, and back into Kenya. Everything goes smoothly. We say good-bye to George and have a new driver named Marcus. We are swarmed by ladies selling jewelry and beads and they don't take no for an answer. Finally Beth and Suzy buy some beaded necklaces and then we head for Nairobi.
We stop to pick up some bottled water. (There is a cooler in each vehicle but this one wasn't stocked.)
Overall, we feel like the GoAhead staff has been excellent. Sensitive to individual client needs and trying their best to ensure a good time. They were willing to answer just about any question, from African men's facial hair to local customs, strengths and weaknesses of their countries, marriage customs and more. Animals and people, we learned a lot about both.
When we near the airport we have to exit the vehicle and everyone goes through a body scan. Dogs sniff the vehicles. Then we are taken to Four Point hotel where we are given rooms to relax in until we get a shuttle to the terminal. We shower and relax a bit, then try to go to the airport super early, but we are told we can't get there more than 3 hours early. So we chill a bit longer and have dinner with some of the others in our group.
When we arrive at the airport we are again scanned along with luggage, We drop our bags and then have another scan of us with our carry-on luggage. When we get to our gate, there is yet another "document security scan"! Whew!
We are flying Air France to Paris, then a 4 hour layover there, and on to Houston. Glad we have a long layover because Charles DeGaul Airport is very big and confusing. Both flights are uneventful and on the Paris-Houston flight there are even some empty seats so we are able to spread out a bit. Neither of us are good at sleeping on planes, so we watch movies, tv, read and relax. Beth watches Killers of the Flower Moon ( that's 3 1/2 hours right there!).
We took several thousand photos on our cameras, but I have deleted about half of them. Still have 1,900 to go through! Greg took quite a few on his phone, too, to share with friends and family as we traveled.
What a trip!
I liked this quote I read about traveling....
Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body.— Anthony Bourdain
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