From DC to Rome to Addis Ababba to Nairobi to Kilimanjaro (15 February 2008)

What a trip!! I started out with a wake-up at 5 am to finish getting ready to leave. I had to finish my packing, shower, and do some last minute apartment clean-up...and all before I left at 6 am! Once all the last minute tasks were done, I caught a cab to Dulles. (The only thing I forgot to do was water my plant one last time. Hopefully it can go another three weeks!)

I hopped in the cab and off we went. I had three bags, a pocket full of US dollars and extreme excitement, oh, and exhaustion! I'd spent the past several days not sleeping as I prepared for the trip and spent some time last minute hanging out with some friends. I had an 8 hour flight to sleep on though! At the airport, I run into Jes and Sam. Both are ready to go and equally as exhausted. I spent the two hours at the airport sending some last minute emails and making some last minute phone calls to my family. (Sorry, Mel, that we didn't get to talk before I left...)

Finally, BOARDING TIME!! On the plane, it quickly became apparent that we were not going to have a full flight. Nothing made me happier at that moment. I was exhausted and desperately in need of some sleep. I didn't even make it you through take-off. It was airplane sleep so it still wasn't that great, but it was sleep!! I woke up about every two hours of the eight hour flight -- basically for the food. Ethiopian Airlines feeds you well. We got two meals -- some beef and gravy with au gratin potatoes and steamed zucchini, followed by tuna salad with a slice of roast beef and some celery apple salad that was really good. It was pitch black most of the ride, but I woke up over Paris and saw the lights below. I don't know if it's even possible to make out the Eiffel Tower from above, but I most certainly couldn't!

In Rome, we changed pilots. Not even planes. We pulled in, some Italian men came on to clean the cabin and off we were again...with an equally as empty plane. We got so lucky!! Breakfast was pretty good also - an omelet with steamed mushrooms and hash browns to start the new day. I slept for parts of this leg, but was awakened by sunlight starting to stream in my window. I peer out to see the sun rising over what appeared to be clouds for as far as I could see. When I fully came out of my slumber I realized that that wouldn't be possible -- a sun rise with complete cloud coverage -- so I investigated further. After looking closer, I realized that it was not clouds but SAND! Sand as far as I could see stretching below me. I was over the Sahara...and what's more, I witnessed this amazing sunset!! It was beautiful and a once in a lifetime occurance. I hardly slept after that as the excitement just continued to mount! (I definitely took pictures of the desert and the sunrise and I think I'll be able to post them at some point.) Five hours after we took off from Rome, we start our descent into Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. From the monitor in the airplane it looked as if Addis Ababa was in mountains, but when we landed it was clear that it wasn't. They were tall hills. We exited the plane by walking out on the tarmac. The weather was nice, probably around 60 degrees and sunny. The airport itself was small. We walked from our gate five gates down to the next gate. The storefronts in the airport reminded me of an open air market (it was all indoors though). I snapped a quick shot before we boarded our next flight which was already boarding when we landed.

This next flight was a short one, only two hours. It was packed! I sat next to Jes and we chatted a bit and wondered if we would get fed one more time. We did -- I got the vegetarian option which was a spinach quiche and a bowl of fruit. The cramped flight was a struggle after having whole rows on the previous! We finally start our descent. I peer out the window to see the landscape below. It looks a lot like when I fly into the midwest -- long stretches of rolling hills, green grass and dirt roads. I see below me a small body of water and notice two lanky structures next to it. I strain my eyes to get a better idea of what it was and see that it is, in fact, two GIRAFFES! They just looked like awkward twigs from how far up we were (a couple of thousand feet), but it was still incredible. Their bodies appeared to be on very thin, unstable legs and their necks stretching out above them. It was amazing!

Nairobi was a short stop. We didn't get out of the plane at all. And the plane CLEARED OUT. We went from being completely full to almost completely empty for the final one hour of our journey. There was no meal this time which I was thankful for because I was getting full from doing nothing but sitting, eating and sleeping for almost 24 hours! When we got close to Kilimanjaro, our captain informed us we would be flying over Mount Kilimanjaro. It looked just like a volcano should -- a huge crater in the top of a snow-capped peak...and it was beautiful! I was on the wrong side of the plane and the German whose window I was trying to see out of kept putting his hand in my face. I got a few pictures, but I don't know how well they will turn out!Finally, arrival in Kilimanjaro. The aiport was really small and again we deplaned off of a stairway onto the tarmac. It was pretty warm. I was wearing a sweatshirt which I had to remove almost promptly. We waited in line for our health inspection. I must've passed because they let me through! Customs was non-existent, even faster than it was in Dublin only a few weeks back! We got a quick stamp, picked up our bags which had quickly been unloaded since we were the only plane. Jes, Sam, and I had finally arrived. Richard, one of the CCS employees, picks us up and off we go towards home base. The drive to home base requires it's own entry and breakfast is about to start.

(Written at 6:30 am on 17 February 2008)