FEBRUARY 19, 2012
We are in Africa!!

Another long flight and and a connection from Amsterdam to Nairobi and then on to Arusha... we are finally here! We have only seen a little bit but it is already as good or better than I expected.

The drive from the airport to the Arusha Coffee Lodge took about an hour. First we drove through a region that was bone dry... nothing but the occasional dried up blade of grass. We saw several wind witches churning up into the sky. Kilimanjaro with its snow covered peak was only visible for a short time before it was covered in cloud.

We saw many children herding flocks of goats or cattle... some children were leading donkeys loaded with containers of water. Its a stark contrast coming from Amsterdam where there was water around every corner... to Africa where water is obviously very precious.

As we drove further the landscape became much greener... there are trees in bloom everywhere. Its Sunday here so the roads are filled with people dressed in their Sunday morning finest. We passed by thousands of people! I was surprised to see how many people you can jam into a VW type van here... their public transit is just these little vans but there are probably 15 or 20 people in each... one even had two calves in it. I'll try to get a picture of this tomorrow.

The Arusha Coffee Lodge is absolutely beautiful! Sandi and Tom have the adjoining cabin to mine. I have a seating area with a crystal chandelier and a fireplace. The 4 poster bed is up one level and draped with mosquito netting. The screened windows are open to let a gentle breeze cool the room and to let in the sounds of the many birds in the trees. Outside I have a verandah overlooking coffee plants.

There is a short trail to the main buildings.. we're going to go there at 7pm to have dinner and then hopefully get some much needed sleep!

Tomorrow we meet with our driver Harry to go to our next stop and start our first game drive!! I can't wait!!