Dragonfly Photography

Back Home

So here I am, sitting on my couch with a cup of coffee and a ‘stroopwafel’… Slept about 12 hours after my trip..which of course had some interesting moments so let me tell you about it.

First let me go back a couple of days. Everything for the trip back home was taken care of. A couple of my friends, Ellen, Riki and Thea were driving to Arusha on Tuesday to go climb Mount Meru, slightly lower than Kilimanjaro. So I could ride with them, and we would go shopping and eat and have a good time before I had to go to the airport. Unfortunately the car died. Completely. And being in the middle of nowhere, AAA or the Dutch equal ‘Wegenwacht’ do not really have a little post out there. Try to get a tow truck arranged… Poor Ellen. (that is the car owner and my Dutch friend who would cook for me and provide me with a hot shower every couple of days since I did not have a working shower the last week) So now other plans had to be made. The thought of having to sit in a Landcruiser for 7 hours with 20 or so other people was not too appealing for me but I had to be at the airport Tuesday evening, because I was really not going to miss that plane home!

So after everybody had given me advice on how to get to the airport, I ended up being able to get on a Flying Medical Services flight out of Haydom to Arusha Airport. Together with Ellen, Riki and Thea, who by now should have reached the top of Mount Meru. So after hanging out in the orphanage with my little skinny preemie that now had moved from the NICU to the orphanage, I was ready to fly on Tuesday afternoon. Until I saw the plane. Now I used to be a flight nurse… so should not have to think twice to go on a plane that looked about the same size as my my car. But I guess there is a reason I don’t do that anymore. About halfway through the flight I started to feel that unpleasant familiar feeling of AIRSICKNESS…. Yikes. Now what?? No windows to open like on the helicopter, no partner that was looking at my color changing from normal to grey-green and would ask the pilot for more air in the back. and 30 or more minutes to go before we would reach Arusha.. But I remembered to focus on the horizon, gave myself a mental lecture and stared at the mountains laying ahead of us. So I didn’t puke! Phew, what a relief since this was just the beginning of another 17 hours or so having to fly on a plane.

We landed at the foot of Mount Meru and did see the beautiful, snow covered Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance. I got a cab for the hour drive from airport to airport. Funny, that ride was about twice the cost of flying from Haydom to Arusha…

And let me tell you about traffic in Arusha. A two lane road is made into at least a 6-lane road. Dala-dalas, the public transportation buses are everywhere, frequently almost stopping to leave people jump off or to have people jump into the bus. And here also, the more the merrier. It is amazing to see how many people fit into these buses. The police trying to direct traffic on an intersection, but only to accomplish a larger traffic jam. Carbon footprints? What in the world is that? I think my lungs probably have changed colors inside from all the diesel fumes….. Bicyclist and pedestrians everywhere on an unlit road. Very, very interesting and the best thing to do is just sit back and try to enjoy the ride..

We left Kilimanjaro Airport around 10:30 PM for a short flight to Dar-es-Salaam to return to Amsterdam from there. And man, was I lucky with the person sitting next to me..a sighing, moaning and complaining older American woman. She was very upset she had to sit in the middle seat and made that perfectly clear in an unpleasant way to the flight crew, that actually has nothing to do with seat assignments, but she wouldn’t listen. Then, apparently, I coughed, so she asked for a face mask. I guess I look very sickly and the coughing sounded like I had the H1N1 flu written all over me. Or maybe even TB. Anyway, the next thing I know when I looked at her, she is sitting there with a eye mask (you know, those dark colored, thick eye masks) over her nose and mouth. Makes it hard to breathe I guess, because that didn’t last very long.

Now I am bi-langual. Dutch and English. And I was flying on a Dutch airline. So after unable to sleep since the sighing and moaning and groaning went on, with the reading light on that was sort of shining in my face, I finally went to the back of the plane to get a cup of coffee. And was able to chat in my native language to the flight attendants. I can not have but admiration for them since they were nothing but nice to this very obnoxious lady. And the coffee and cookies they gave me were great.

We made it to Amsterdam, the lady next to me found out I spoke English about an hour before we landed, I guess the book in English did not give her a hint the 8 hours prior to that. And here I was, in the homeland for two and a half hours. I went through immigration and then shopping! I had been told there were some grocery stores at the airport, so there I went. Secretly hoping my best friend would stand outside so we could have a cup of coffee…. But she wasn’t there, so I just did the shopping. Black, salty licorice, cheese and stroopwafels..

On my way back through immigration, the whole Amsterdam soccer team Ajax was ushered through first. Now I thought there would be 11 players, maybe a couple of reserves and a coach or two. But this was the never-ending line of people with Ajax-suits on. So here I stood, with everybody else gawking at them, but me just thinking, why can I not go first since it is just one of me. Anyway, I ended up inviting them to Charleston. Somehow I don’t think they will show up.

The second flight from Amsterdam to Atlanta went fine. I had nobody next to me, a little more legroom and slept on and off. The flight attendants on this flight would come by occasionally screaming if we wanted coffee, tea or water. So I would wake up startled, but luckily by this time I was so tired that I would doze off quickly.

The first thing I did after I arrived in Atlanta was to get a good dup of coffee. Man, that must have been the best cup I’ve had in a long time. Tanzania exports a great deal of coffee, but they must send out the best because the past four weeks I have been drinking the worst instant coffee ever. Even the coffee I drank through nursing school, this tar-looking mix diluted with hot water, tasted better in my memory.

I was picked up from the airport, taken to Five Guys Burgers and then home, a long, long shower, a cold beer and my own bed…. Slept for 12 hours straight only to be woken up once in a while by one of the cats that would put her paws on my face. Now I am doing laundry. Don’t know if I can get the red dust out of my clothes but we’ll see.

I’m going to catch up with my friends, and think about my trip in the comfort of my own home. Because I don’t know if I can do this again. But who knows, maybe I will. For now, I’m just glad to be back after this experience.

And the Yankees won the World series!