The 2022 Africa Journals, Ch. 1: What Just Happened?

 

Chapter 1:

What Just Happened?

 

Life is a mess…

Let’s jump into it!

-Abnormal Vibes

 

 

So there I was in late September, less than enthusiastically muddling my way toward the long season of winter.   All the outdoor pre-winter chores were done.   Firewood split and stacked, lawns tended as best I can, a wee bit of remorse that fun stuff pulled me away from doing some semi-needed sanding and re-staining on parts of the house.

 

Sure, the windows outdoors needed washing again, but relentless rain since mid-July easily got me out of that onerous chore.

 

File this under "Things you See in Airports"

Inside, however, was a different matter.   I was actually dreading spending the next five or six months indoors without a major project to occupy my mind.  Plus, I was spending too much time browsing Facebook on my iPad, too much time noticing that my pal Marg Wood was once again posting stupendous photos from Africa.

 

It all hit me when she posted unbelievable photos of seldom-seen animals taken while in a night hide.    A caracal???   An African porcupine???  They make North American porcupines look like the pin cushion in your mom’s sewing basket.

 

FOMO!    I was hit with a massive case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).  I wasn’t jealous of her being there; I wanted to be there, too.

 

It was my fault.   A year ago, when I had my 80^th birthday within days of returning from Africa, I decided that it would be my last trip.   It was just getting too complicated.   COVID restriction meant frequent tests and extra days spent in hotels to meet the time restraints.   One test made out in the bush of the Okavango Delta in Botswana cost $450!   Why?  Because a tech was brought out in a helicopter to take it.

 

No, I thought.   I’m getting too old to manage all the airport nonsense.   Too old to be spending that kind of money to take photos.   It was all just too much.

 

I thought it a wise, mature, responsible decision.

A molded seat with footrests built into a rolling suitcase.   Brilliant!

 

There was one thing I hadn’t factored in:    How very much I would miss it.   My golly, how I missed the birds and animals of Africa.   How I missed traveling and laughing with my pals.

 

Marg and I bantered back and forth this late September and before I could quiet the mature, responsible voice of my better judgment, she made airline reservations for me!!!

 

Well, now.  One can’t say "no" now, can one?

 

I had less than a month to get ready so October went by in a frenzy.  

 

Sunday, Oct. 30, I drove into Anchorage and stayed overnight at the Dimond Center hotel.   Staying overnight in Anchorage the night before a trip has become my habit.   It guarantees that I won’t be held hostage to avalanches, rock slides, and traffic accidents that might close the highway.

 

The next morning, at a reasonable hour, I flew to Seattle on Alaska Airlines, arriving, also, at a reasonable hour.  

 And then I slept 12 hours.

First, a connecting flight to Nairobi, Kenya, through Chas. De Gaulle airport in France, 

 a day at Tamarind Tree Hotel in Nairobi, and then aback flight to Ambolseli National Park.  The park location is shown in red south of Nairobi, close to the border with Tanzania.