Day 9 – Last Day of Safari (Lake Manyara/Arusha/Kilimanjaro)

And so it is…last morning in Africa! Great night sleep and it’s so chilly in the tent, neither Rich or I wanted to get up. Breakfast and goodbyes at 7:30 and we’re in route to Arusha by 8:00am. It’s cool here this morning so the tops are still on the jeep. Driving out I’ve come to terms with leaving and looking forward to a little shopping along the way.

Stopped by a t-shirt shop and another souvenir shop – pretty much got all we were looking for with the exception of that special gift Rich was looking for for Linda. Rich and I both dressed for the long flight home, completely forgetting we had one last driveq through Lake Manyara National Park (a much smaller park) on the way. Ally took the tops back off so we could enjoy our last drive. Park here is much greener because it has under water springs. But that also means it is very wooded so a little more difficult to see the animals.

Lots of monkeys (which are so adorable) and the normal grazing animals. Ally said though there ARE lions here, he hasn’t seen them in 2 years…and I can see why. We stopped by a lunch area there in the park to eat before continuing our drive in to Arusha. What’s in our lunch boxes everyday is always a surprise…Edward sent us left over farewell cake for our last lunch!

MSafari, the security guard that works the gate at the Mt. Meru hotel was there when we drove through today. It was good to see him again and he remembered to ask for his photo I promised to send him. I’ll have it framed and sent through Dawn at ADS. Martius and Timan were waiting at the front of the hotel as we pulled in. I appreciate them both so much for what they did to get me a camera. Both went way beyond for me.

As we all sat and talked about the week it was time to settle up with Ally and say our goodbyes. I thought I was ok until I hugged him good-bye. I don’t know if he fully understands how much this trip has meant to me and how big of a part he played in it being so memorable. Rich and I will never forget you Ally! God bless you and your family.

We had a day room there at the hotel for a few hours; to freshen up and get some lunch before we leave for the airport. Did a little more shopping there in the gift shop and waited for Martius and Timan to pick us back up. Have to admit that on our drive, we actually saw Mt. Kilimanjaro for the first time. The mountain we took pictures of day 1 (which we thought was Kilimanjaro) was actually Mt. Meru. It’s difficult to see it because the peak is normally in the clouds, but we caught just the right angle so the highest peak was visible. Was able to get photos of the snow on the peaks, which was amazing.

They got us to the airport 2.5 hours early, but that’s ok. Allowed us to get through customs, etc. with time to spare. Rich was able to find that special gift for Linda and I picked up a few more things. Good thing we decided to check our luggage this time. Our souvenir bag is getting heavy! Funny story is that they made Rich fill out some declaration form to get through customs, but not me? Not sure why. Rich said it was because I batted my eyes…LOL! I think it was because the customs officer I had didn’t want to mess with it. Who knows. I was also pretty sure Rich was going to have to completely uncloth to get through security…LOL. Provided a great deal of entertainment for not only me, but a few others in the waiting area…LOL! Sorry Rich, it was funny.

1st flight went to Del Sar which is South of Arusha. That one stop added two hours to our already lengthy flight to Amsterdam. So 9.5 hours later we arrived in Amsterdam. Three hour layover there allowed us to see parts of the airport we didn’t get to see when we came through the first time. At that airport, each gate has their own security check point verse one area for the entire airport. Also allowed me to pick up some flower bulbs (Tulips are famous in Amsterdam). Thought if I plant them, every year when they bloom, I will be reminded of this adventure. Rich and I both slept off and on, watched a couple of movies (including Born Free…:)), taught Rich how to play Sudoku and counted down the hours until we would be home. Once we started the journey I couldn’t wait to get there.

Quick stop through Detroit and a short 1-hour flight home. We were in the last seat on the plane so the last people off. Dave picked us up and we were at moms by 5:00. Had to stop by to see my boy and take him his goodies. His favorite gift was the two small pieces of lava rock I picked up at the park before we left (sorry Ally, I know I wasn’t supposed to do that). He said “cool MiMi…thanks”. He had his Tanzania bracelet (like mine) around his ankle. Not sure what he ended up taking to school today for show and tell but I’m sure he took something. Plenty of hot water and water pressure here at home. I actually lost 4lbs during the week, which is unbelievable since all I felt like we did was eat, but I’ll take it. Once last funny story is about my step counter on my phone. Mid way through the 2nd day of our Safari, my achievement sound went off letting me know I had reached my goal of 10,000 steps. Walked 5.23 miles…lol! I guess the jarring of the jeep counted as steps for me. Plus climbing up and down looking out the top must have counted for something.

Crawled into bed, missing my hot water bottle…LOL! Sure could have used it last night. I’m not sure how I slept. Dave said I woke up a couple times, looked around like I wasn’t sure where I was and laid back down. Up at 6:30 which would be 3:30pm in Africa. Not sure how long it will take me to get back on track. Atleast I’m home.

DSC_2195

DSC_2192

DSC_1731

DSC_2119

DSC_2113

DSC_2110

DSC_2153

Posted on

22,007 thoughts on “Day 9 – Last Day of Safari (Lake Manyara/Arusha/Kilimanjaro)”

  1. I have to thank you for the efforts you have put in writing this site. I’m hoping to check out the same high-grade content by you in the future as well. In truth, your creative writing abilities has motivated me to get my own, personal site now 😉

  2. Hey there! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no back up. Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?

  3. Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured
    I’d ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest writing a blog
    post or vice-versa? My site goes over a lot of the same subjects as yours and
    I believe we could greatly benefit from each other.
    If you might be interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
    I look forward to hearing from you! Great blog by the
    way!

  6. I’m not sure exactly why but this web site is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.

  13. Having read this I thought it was rather informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this content together. I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worth it!

  15. Unquestionably consider that that you said. Your favourite reason seemed to be on the web the easiest
    thing to take into account of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed even as other folks think about worries that they just don’t know about.
    You managed to hit the nail upon the highest and defined out the whole
    thing without having side-effects , other folks can take a signal.
    Will likely be again to get more. Thank you

  16. My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on several websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard excellent things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be really appreciated!

  17. You really make it seem really easy together with your presentation however I in finding this topic to be really something which I feel I would never understand. It sort of feels too complex and extremely extensive for me. I’m having a look ahead for your subsequent post, I will try to get the hang of it!

  19. It’s really a great and useful piece of information. I am glad that you just shared this useful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

  27. First off I would like to say awesome blog! I had a quick question which
    I’d like to ask if you don’t mind. I was interested to find out
    how you center yourself and clear your mind prior to
    writing. I’ve had a difficult time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out.

    I truly do take pleasure in writing however it just seems
    like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost just trying to figure out how
    to begin. Any recommendations or tips? Appreciate it!

  29. Save 30% on authentic NFL jerseys, NCAA football jerseys, and hockey jerseys
    at Kyle’s Football Cards on eBay. Shop rare sports collectibles,
    Nike Vapor Limited jerseys, and stitched team gear with fast, secure shipping.

    Use code KYLEFAN30 for limited-time savings on premium sports memorabilia and fan apparel.

  32. 최신 아고다 할인코드로 호텔 예약 시 최대 할인을 받아보세요.
    아고다 프로모션 코드 및 할인쿠폰 정보, 사용 방법, 그리고
    자주 묻는 질문까지 한곳에서 확인하세요!

  45. My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP.
    I have always disliked the idea because of
    the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on various websites for about a year and am
    concerned about switching to another platform. I have heard
    very good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content
    into it? Any help would be really appreciated!

  47. I’ve been browsing online more than 4 hours today,
    yet I never found any interesting article like yours.
    It is pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion,
    if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you
    did, the net will be a lot more useful than ever before.

Leave a Reply to jiliko Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *