After a nice Skype session with Madeleine, we meet the rest of the group in the bar for the last time, and head into our last dinner. Dinners follow the pattern of soup, then go to the buffet for American/English standard fare, plus many Indian specialties, and always some local African cuisine, plus fruit and quite a few pastries. We figured out the correct way to use the mosquito netting around the bed and manage to go through the night with no bites, unlike the previous night with was a feast, albeit temporary, for one persistent mosquito.
Sleeping in a bit, we pack our bags and depart the lodge for out breakfast at the Hippo Pool. This is a beautiful setting, right near where the hippos congregate. We are welcomed with a glass of champagne, and an outdoor buffet includes omelets made to order, fruits, bacon and pork sausage, various pastries, yogurts and more.
We are seated at lovely outdoor tables with a view of their river, and we hear the grunts of the hippos in the background. We are all aware that this will our last meal together, as some will begin to split off in Nairobi: Ari goes to Dubai and Dick and Beth to Ethiopia. I think that this would be a good place to sing, after being assured by Joel that music would not cause a stampede or bother the wildlife. I selected “Gute Nacht,” Cleopatra’s lullaby to the absent Marc Antony, as the only vaguely African-themed piece I know. I begin to sing, and notice that the hippos are staying above water a bit, I can fantasize that they are hearing me a little over the sound of moving water. I think that our new friends in the group enjoy it. Finally, Ari videotapes everyone talking about what the trip means to each of us.
Nairobi is jam-packed with traffic and people. As the cars and trucks crawl along, people walk in between the lines of cars, selling everything from car mats and towels to bananas and sunglasses. It seems a bit odd to be back among so many people and so much energy. We go to the Serena Nairobi, which has external security at the entrance, Joel tells us that this is where US Presidents and heads of state stay in Nairobi, so they are very security conscious. The hotel is quite luxurious, and we have a day room to relax and take showers before we depart. We do a little repacking, shower, have a bite to eat, and rally for the trip home. We load up the trucks one last time for the long drive to the airport. At the airport perimeter, we have to get out of the car and walk through security, while our driver goes through another security level … I gather this is in part in response to the attack at the Istanbul Airport. We go through more security in the building, then passport check, then check our bags through to SFO. We manage to get some tables at a small restaurant and get sandwiches and drinks, then wait at the gate – we are about three hours early. The flight from Nairobi to Paris is long and very crowded, but we manage to sleep a bit. Then a 2-hour layover in Paris, and a quick stop at duty free for some macarons and Otard and pâté, some additional security questioning, and we’re on to Chicago. This flight is only about 2/3 full so there is plenty of room to stretch out. In Chicago we go through customs, a dog sniffed our luggage and we had to go through a manual check, then cleared customs, rechecked our bags, and our inter-terminal train was stalled for 15 minutes. At the next security, they had to test the Otard and swab it, and then there was much discussion about the pâté and what was in the tin, one security agent asked what pâté is, and another agent explained it as being similar to Spam. I’ve brought this into the US before and it has never been a problem, and thankfully we are finally cleared and can go through. We’re hanging out at the gate with some of our group, was we prepare for the trip to San Francisco, the last of our 11 airplane flights on this trip.
This has been an extraordinary adventure, wondrous and full of surprises, with so much to learn. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity for make this trip, especially with an expert like Joel Parrott leading us. Truly a once in a lifetime experience.
