I'm stuck in the Kilimanjaro Airport, ask me anything

[spinbaby]

For the next three hours, I have nothing better to do but sit in this uncomfortable airport seat and answer questions about east Africa.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

1. could be worse; could be raining

[Rhiannon12866]

2. The biggest question is why are you there?

[spinbaby]

4. Safari

I went on safari—Kenya and Tanzania—with a group of friends. We planned it in 2019 and considered it safe enough now that we’re vaccinated. Also, we were mostly away from people on safari, so were not too concerned about catching covid here.

[Rhiannon12866]

7. Oh! Very cool! What sort of animals did you see?

[spinbaby]

11. Everything!

We’ll, I didn’t personally see a leopard, but others in the party did. We saw herds of more than 20 elephants, saw a lioness with her kill, saw wildebeest by the million—the sheer variety and density of animal life is stunning. Both countries are very protective of their wildlife preserves.

[Rhiannon12866]

12. Oh, I love the elephants! See any babies? They are so adorable.

How about giraffes? It must be amazing to see all the animals in the wild...

[spinbaby]

18. Yes, we did

Sometimes the elephants were right next to the Safari vehicles. I found it astounding how the animals just ignored safari vehicles.

[Rhiannon12866]

20. That's pretty amazing. They must have gotten used to seeing vehicles.

Any scary wild animals? Or were all the animals fine with seeing vehicles?

[spinbaby]

24. It was almost as if they didn't see them

There were literally lions sleeping by the roadside ignoring the vehicles full of people gawking at them. By road, I mean dirt track.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Is it snowing? NT

[spinbaby]

5. Snow on Kilimanjaro

You can just barely see it.

[Ziggysmom]

6. The CDC recommends avoiding travel to Tanzania due to Covid variants. Have you seen

anything that worries you? Are the people there masking and are there restrictions?

Hope you stay safe and healthy 🙂

[spinbaby]

14. No one masked except in the airport

They seem generally skeptical of covid here. But we were pretty isolated in tented camps with no contact with the population in general beyond seeing them from a jeep. The young man administering my covid test was of the opinion that vaccines didn’t work because he saw it on tv.

Kenya, on the other hand, had near universal masking in Nairobi, a curfew, and advertising promoting vaccines and health measures.

[spinbaby]

23. Expanding on this subject

There’s an informational sign here at the airport that describes covid as, “a new virus that has the potential to cause severe illness and pneumonia in some people.” It goes on to claim that current risk to the general public is low and that no vaccine is available.

[Thunderbeast]

27. A friend died last weekend in Arusha (near Kilamanjaro)

Elizabeth arranged for our safari trip in 2018. She became a friend and frequent FB correspondent.

Covid vaccines are not available.

She died within a week of showing Covid symptoms.

[Neema]

29. I'm so sorry. I have a dear friend there too and I

worry about him and his family. His son was sick with what sounded like Covid but he recovered and luckily nobody else got sick. Still, they are a long way from being vaccines. He was telling me the other day he sure wishes he could have the vaccines that stupid (my words) Americans don't want.

[taxi]

8. Okay.

Have you seen the photos that come up with a search for the 1952 movie, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and can those landscapes still be seen?

[spinbaby]

15. I have not seen the photos

But I can confirm that Kilimanjaro is still snow covered.

[Crazyleftie]

9. la neige de kilimanjaro

[eShirl]

10. Does Kilimanjaro rise like Olympus above the Serengeti?

I have heard that in fact it does not.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. I bless the rains down in Africa. But they come in late our late fall

[spinbaby]

17. Kilimanjaro is nowhere near the Serengeti

We went to Ngorogoro and Lake Manyara between the two.

[Neema]

30. We were there too!! We started in Tarangire, then Lake Manyara,

Ngorongoro, central Serengeti, then northern Serengeti. Stood on the border with Kenya and the Masai Mara, so I spent five minutes in Kenya. Was the most life-changing and amazing trip of my entire life and I deeply want to return. I hope you had as incredible a trip as I did.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Wish I was there. Wish I'd never returned from Africa in Dec. 2019.

My trip changed my life. Came home and immediately decided to sell my house and belongings in preparation of moving abroad. Then Covid-19 hit and I'm stuck in an apartment in Illinois

[spinbaby]

19. I'm sorry

I can see the attraction—it’s just beautiful here. It’s also disturbing to see the degree of poverty here. Some people here live in actual mud huts and haul their household water in plastic jugs. I saw women washing clothes in a river and cows picking through garbage.

[sinkingfeeling]

21. And you will find the tribes, like the Maasai, do not believe they

are living in poverty. They think we are the ones who are slaves to money. It was wonderful to be lectured by tribal elders on how they view our culture.

[spinbaby]

22. A Maasai boma is another matter

I’m not talking tribes so much as the Nairobi slums and the stretch between Nairobi and Nukuru. Tanzania seemed much better off than Kenya, which rather surprised me.

[Rhiannon12866]

25. My grandmother spent time in Kenya, she was particularly impressed by the Maasai

From what she brought back, I came to think of them as exceptionally tall and kind of regal looking. When I first learned of Obama's heritage, I wondered if he might be part Maasai since he has the height and the bearing.

My grandmother also saw some of the animals there, she spent one night in a house located up in a tree, I think, away from the animals, but they could still see them. I may not have that exactly right, but that's what I remember she said.

[spinbaby]

26. Obama's father was Lua

I think that’s how it’s spelled. Our safari guide was also Lua and was just so proud of Obama. He said they want to bring him home to be buried when he dies.

[Neema]

32. I met one of the most stunningly beautiful men I've ever seen in a Maasia village. He was the

chief's son, and said very similar things to me. I couldn't disagree, but I would have a little trouble bending into a pretzel to get into my house every day.

[Neema]

31. I'm so with you. Unfortunately I could never convince my

SO to do something like that. But if ever I find myself single, I will move far away. And will most definitely go back to Africa. I made wonderful friends there too.

[Neema]

28. I've sat in that airport for a few hours as well. Not a lot in terms of amenities but it

was after the best trip of my whole life so I couldn't complain. They did have those tasty spicy potato chips that we ate the whole trip. Yum.

[spinbaby]

33. Yes, tiny airport

And heaven help you if you can’t do stairs. Restrooms are downstairs and you board the plane on stairs. Last time I boarded a plane on stairs was about 20 years ago in Burbank.

Now chilling in Amsterdam before my next flight.

[Neema]

34. Yep. Took that same route.

Safe travels the rest of the way home

[kairos12]

35. I was there in 1983. All my gear was in Nairobi.

How's the weather?

[DFW]

36. I've heard it said that Africa changes you.

My younger daughter was in Law School in New York during the Cheneybush recession. During the summer pauses, law students are expected to get jobs clerking for judges, or working with law firms, but there was nothing to be had. So, she applied for a job with the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in Sierra Leone. I asked how many applicants there were for the position? She said about 200. And how many positions were open? Two. She thought her chances were fair.

Sure enough, she was one of the two accepted. It took her three days to get in touch with us (we were panicked out of our minds), once she got there. She found an Indian woman to share an apartment with, and the running water and electricity even came on for four hours a day (whoopee!). She took a week's vacation over in Senegal, got some deadly infection, was getting weaker with every phone call. She got "antibiotics" from a local doctor, but they are known for selling the real antibiotics on the black market and substituting sugar pills. I told, practically ordered her to get the UN doctor to treat her. She didn't want to bother them. I said I didn't want to be bothered with funeral arrangements, either, so GO SEE THE U.N. DOCTOR! She did, got real antibiotics, recovered and returned. She LOVED it there. She went to a soccer match in Freetown with one of the other European girls, where Sierra Leone was playing Nigeria. They were getting pats on the back as huge curiosities (look, two white girls in the Sierra Leone fans, imagine that!), having a grand old time. Hard to imagine these were the same people who, a few years earlier in the civil war, were committing atrocities so abominable, I'm not even going to describe them here--and that's only the 5% she was allowed to talk about later on (they have strict rules).

A couple of years later, she booked a trip with another German girl her age to explore Tanzania and Kenya. At the last minute, the other girl got sick and couldn't come. So she went by herself. Germany to Nairobi to Dar-es-Salaam. Then by bus up to Mombasa, then by boat down to Zanzibar, then back to Dar-es-Salaam and via Nairobi back home. So cool, she said. So, she loves Hawai'i (where she graduated from high school), she loves Africa, and she loves Cape Cod. I supposed if she had some reason to spend six months in the winter in rural Mongolia, she'd love that, too. Good!

[kairos12]

38. That sounds like a couple of great trips. Your daughter is an adventurer. Good for her.

I was there to climb Kibo. Gear got lost in Nairobi. Retrieved it. Came back to Kibo and climbed the Western Breach Route.

Memorable trip. It was the third of the 7 Continent's High Mts I climbed. Ended up with 4. Not Everest however.

All good memories. Stay safe.

[tenderfoot]

37. Have they fixed the plumbing?

There were issues when I was there in 2015