Here I am, just about a month after my previous post, and I'm finally trying to wrap it all up. I've spent the day today mostly just organizing the hundreds of photos and videos I took, setting up a Shutterfly site to publish them (jaysafricatrip.shutterfly.com), deciding which ones to post and which to delete. Doing all this takes a lot of time and effort and may just have been the most difficult aspect of the entire trip. Heck, it's very easy to take all those shots, not quite so easy to decide which get published and which do not.
But the reward has been, as I go through all these photo memories, that I have been able to re-live my trip today, remembering the fabulous beauty of the savannah and that breath-taking ride into the crater, the excitement of seeing that first lion, that one and only leopard, or watching in awe as two giraffes duke it out to see which will lead the herd. I have been remembering the friends I made, the Jambo song we sang together, the many laughs we had, and the sadness of leaving when it seemed like it had just started. That's part of what creates this ongoing afterglow from the journey.The trip home was just a bear, departing Amboseli early in the morning with a four-hour drive to Nairobi (what a busy place!) Airport, so we could wait 4 hours to catch a 6:30 pm flight to Addis Ababa, so that we could wait two more hours to board the overnight flight to Rome for refueling and then on to Washington to wait two more hours to catch the two hour flight back to Chicago. Elapsed time, door to door? Just about thirty six hours. Ugh!
Ethiopian Airlines did a great job of transporting us, but gave us more than a few extra gray hairs when the paperwork at both O'Hare and Nairobi airports didn't match up with their computers. All was worked out, though, and deep breaths of relief were finally taken. The service, food, and entertainment on those EA 787 Dreamliners is hard to beat. I would not hesitate to fly them again.
How has the trip changed our lives, changed my life? I'd like to think that I can keep that hakuna matata thing going, to not get so revved up about things that aren't really worth worrying about. I have a sticker with that famous phrase affixed to the inside of my car to remind me about that when I'm driving, as that may be the time I have been at my worst. I have decided to push forward with my volunteer activities at the zoo, to put the effort into studying to becoming a docent, so I can be qualified to talk with guests about our animals and about how important it is for us to preserve them for future generations. I have been in touch with Robert about what his needs are for the web page for his orphanage, and my willingness to help with that project. And after visiting my friends who were staying in Moshi and teaching at the Mailisita School and Orphanage, and reading their daily reports, I think there's a very good chance that if they return for another tour of duty, that I may go with them.
Mostly, though, I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to go on this journey, to witness the life style of people who live so differently than we do, to be exposed to the beauty of their culture, to feel their sincere pleasure when we uttered the few words that we had learned in Swahili, or sang the Jambo song for them as a group.
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| At Amboseli, my last day on safari |
It's not only been a great adventure for me, but I have truly enjoyed sharing my experiences and impressions with those of you who have followed along via this blog. Thanks for your willingness to read all this volume of words, and for your emails of encouragement and support.
Kwa Heri for now,
Jay
jaylyons@aol.com
My Other Travel Blogs
2022 Paris and Rhone River Tour
2023 Egypt, Land of the Pharaohs2024 Safari in Southern Africa
2025 Mediterranean Discovery Cruise
2025 The Italian Riviera and The Dolomiti (coming soon)
Argentina, Patagonia, Chile (Coming in 2026)
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