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Wednesday, January 3, 2001It was pretty cloudy and foggy this a.m. but Kilimanjaro did peak out a bit and the sun is out now. We left the camp at 8:00 am and are on the way to Nairobi. We just went through the curio shop and finally got some small carvings for a more reasonable price. Rus and I split a group 10-10. I REALLY don’t like shopping anywhere anytime it seems!! Peter agreed to drive to the border to let them window bargain a few minutes. Andrew got me a giraffe and a set of necklaces for school. I’m done! I didn’t open my window! Rus ended up with a set of necklaces too. He and Andrew were both after them. At the last minute waiting for the gate to open one of the fellas came running back. He had started on a mask at $35 and went to $20. I’m now FLAT BROKE. We’ll have to find a place to cash the last travelers checks or we are in trouble!! We’re headed for the hotel and still have a couple hours drive. We’ll have time for a shower and packing and then dinner at The Carnivore, which is a hot nightspot in town, and especially for tourists I’m sure. From dinner we’ll head directly to the airport for a start on our two long days of travel. I’m catching myself reminiscing about the trip already. This trip in the wild started and ended with elephants. Our first herd was about 70 in Tarangire and then we ended in Amboseli Park, which is famous for it’s elephants. We’ve all been together for two weeks but amazingly we didn’t just have a lot of “conversation” time. We were always busy watching or in a big group or asleep!! We’ve talked about how tired standing in the car could make us. I think the wind and dust must have something to do with beating us up! We think “real” cars will give us claustrophobia when we get home! We got to the Norfolk Hotel about 2:30. We had till 6:00 to get dressed and packed. It got pretty hectic. It was storming some and the power went off several times. It made it hard to dry hair or for email on the run. It was an hour or an hour and a half before they found my suitcase in storage. We needed to pull things out of it to repack. Andrew got to check in at the hotel where he had stayed previously. Peter was kind enough to take him there and bring him back. I needed to get the last of my travelers checks cashed and figure out our tips for the guides. I almost thought I wasn’t going to get a bath!! We were to leave for dinner at 6:00. The Carnivore is a hot spot in Nairobi… especially for tourists. It was a HUGE and interesting place. The barbeque pit was in the middle of the restaurant. They served all kinds of meat – from zebra to crocodile with the ordinary in the middle (lamb, beef, pork, chicken, sausage)!! All of it was cooked on skewers. The waiters came by and slid off just what you wanted on your plate. The veggies and salads and sauces were on a lazy susan on the table. The little flag at the top of it indicated we continued to want refills until we took it down. By the time we ate dessert we were stuffed. We leisurely enjoyed the fun and fellowship of our last meal. We went straight to the airport from the restaurant. Peter had agreed to take Andrew back to the hotel so he was able to run to the airport with us. I sure hated to say goodbye to him. The flight was to leave at 10:30. Rusty and Sherry and I were able to make reservations on an earlier flight out of London so we don’t have a 24-hour layover there after all. That’s good news. The Hazels are obviously pros at sleeping on airplanes. We all seemed to have more trouble with it. I think we watched two movies and napped a tad on the way to London. London did feel like home when we got there. We camped in the same area and ate at Burger King again. The email center was visited as well!! The girls were the first to take off and I was snoozing so missed saying goodbye. The Hazels left next and then we were the last heading out. Our plane to Atlanta was huge again. The trip is long and hard. I couldn’t get a ticket out of Atlanta for Shreveport so got a motel there. Rus and Sherry rode in the shuttle with me and stayed to get a couple hours nap. The shuttle quit at 11:00 so they took off about 10:30 or so for the airport where they picked up their car. It would be a 12-hour drive for them. I slept till about 4 am and then cleaned up to take the first shuttle to the airport about 6 a.m. I think Rus and Sherry got home about noon… the same as I. The End Jane Wojecki |
Wednesday, January 3, 2001 We left the lodge at 8:00AM. Did a little game drive on the way out of the park. We drove to the border town and did a little more souvenir shopping. We traveled onto Nairobi. We stopped and had a picnic on the way. Arrived in Nairobi at 2:30PM. Checked into the Norfolk for a day room to repack and take showers before dinner.
Checked out and left the Norfolk at 6:00PM for dinner at the Carnivore restaurant. The restaurant was real nice and there were all sorts of meats and chickens grilling on a large pit as we walked in. The restaurant was packed. They just kept coming with meat on spits and you ate as much as you could. We had zebra and crocodile along with chicken and beef. It was all good. We left stuffed for the airport. We got checked in and after a little wait finally left for London. The Hazels
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