Hello World,
Today’s entry is all about the journey back to the States. The two days of travel have begun. As I write this, I am sitting on a Turkish Airlines flight across the Atlantic Ocean. This flight is the final leg of the return trip, but it’s a 13 hour long haul.
The travel day(s) started at 5:30am on Friday (6/28) to pack up my gear and eat breakfast. The group of 14 was surprisingly on time getting out of Olduvai Gorge. Our final destination (for the night) was Nairobi, Kenya, but in order to get their we had to take the Land Cruisers to Arusha, Tanzania in order to move into a bus that would take us to the Namanga border crossing and into Kenya. Despite our efforts in the morning, the car broke down an hour into the trip. One thing I have learned in Africa is to expect the unexpected (especially car problems). Every few miles the driver had to manually pump diesel into the engine because the fuel pump was broken. As we neared the Ngorongoro Crater walls, the fear was that the car would not make it up the steep incline. The drive up the walls was literally a reenactment of the Little Engine That Could LOL. I don’t think the car made it out of first gear for 2 hours of the drive.
The part was never able to be fixed, so we lived on hopes and dreams that we would make it to Arusha. By the grace of God, we made it to the bus (2 hours behind schedule). From there on out it was a 6 hour packed bus ride to Nairobi.
The border crossing was much faster at 6pm that at 12pm during the beginning of the trip. After battling the Maasai that were selling jewelry at the border, we had 4 additional hours onto the hotel in Nairobi. We ended up arriving at the hotel around 9:30pm. This 8 hour drive ended up taking us 14 hours, so to say I was pooped was an understatement.
After gathering 2 hours of sleep, we left for the Airport to make a flight that would take us 7 hours onto Istanbul, Turkey. We had a full day layover in Istanbul which ended up being a blessing. We landed in the afternoon and got to spend the evening exploring the old town. We spent time at the Grand Bazaar, Blue Mosque and the Hague de Sophia. Even just walking along some of the cobble streets blew my mind. Most of the infrastructure we were seeing was much older that the United States itself. I took a particular liking to the Turkish coffee and Ottoman ice cream. I can see why Europeans walk so much! Gotta work off all the good food. The little taste of Istanbul I received is already making me want more!
Thank you for tuning in!
