Arriving in Africa

After nearly 41 hours of travelling, I arrived safely at the Kilimanjaro Bush Camp yesterday afternoon. There are thirty-four students and we made pretty good headway getting to know each other while sitting on planes, in airports, in cars, and in subways around London. We had a red-eye flight from New York to London and another from London to Kenya. During the twelve hours we had between flights, a group of twelve of us went into London. We stored our carry-on luggage for ease of movement and managed to see the London Eye, parliament, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and St. James Park. We also ate lunch at the Sherlock Holmes Tavern near the Thames. The reason there are no British restaurants is because there are very few redeeming qualities in their food. The tavern environment, however, was warm, dry, and friendly.

One person managed to stay awake on the tube on the way back to the airport to make sure that we all got off at the right stop. We all reluctantly got back onto a plane and made the nine hour flight to Nairobi. I had a moment of panic when they seemed to run out of vegetarian food on the plane (that's what happens when you fly thirty-four environmentalists at a time), but was finally served Indian food just after midnight. The last forkful of food barely made it into my mouth before I fell asleep.

I woke up just in time for a breakfast of two biscuits and the Kenyan sunrise. We landed soon after and spent four hours sitting on the floor of the Nairobi airport while we exchanged our money, got our visas, and claimed our baggage. We were all looking forward to getting to KBC, so there were a lot of long faces when our student affairs manager (Sara) announced we had a six-hour drive ahead of us. What she didn't mention is that the ancient Toyota Landcruisers we drive around in lost their shocks decades ago. There are many, many, many, bumps in Kenyan roads and we felt every bone-jarring one of them. We were also covered in a fine layer of blood red dust by the second bump and a thick layer of it by the last bump. All of that was part of the adventure as we drove past zebra, giraffe, ostriches, baboons, birds, antelope, and gazelle. I surprised myself by how exciting I find the birds. It is a rare moment when a bird catches the sun and doesn't flash brilliant blue, yellow, green, or red. We also got to stop at a trading post and try our hand at negotiating for our wares. A negotiator picks you out as you walk through the door and it is his job to explain the items and haggle over the price. My negotiator was named David and I'm pretty sure he ripped me off. I definitely didn't pay any more than I would have in the U.S. for two tapestries and a wooden bowl, but I probably could have talked him down another couple thousand shillings (about twenty dollars). I'm already strategizing about my next purchase.

It was an immense relief to finally make it to camp and it seems luxurious--horizontal beds, available showers, abundant wildlife, fresh food, mountain views, and not an airplane seat to be found. We spent most of yesterday and today meeting each other and the staff and learning about our surroundings. Everything is poisonous, thorny, or large, so there was a four hour lecture on what to avoid. Checking our beds for black mambas seems to be everyone's least favorite warning and avoiding having your sandwich stolen by a monkey everyone's favorite.

Everyone I've met so far has been wonderful. It is the biggest group of animal nerds I have ever had the privilege of being a part of. References to the Lion King, Animal Planet, random wildlife trivia, and environmental policies in the U.S. are as common as the clicking of our camera shutters. We're all in our element.