Jambo from Zanzibar

Well, after a long 2 days of travel, I made it.  I wasn't sure how it was going to end up when I started out by getting the pat down at MCI.  Then I got it again in Zurich.  Turns out you shouldn't wear pants that zip off or shirts with lots of metal buttons.  But we all made it through and so did all of our luggage.

When we got in to Dar es Salaam, there was a taxi driver with my name on a sign.  (I've always wanted to be picked up by one of the people holding signs with people's names on them, and I finally did!)    He took us to a hotel for the night.  The hotel was quite nice for only being $40 a room. And I had to take a picture of the bathroom (I'll have to put it up later though).  The Johnson's would appreciate it ... The bathroom was the shower!  with a drain in the floor and an edge at the door to keep the water in.  (maybe could have done that with the new bathroom at the farm)  The only downfall was the wet toilet seat for the second person. 

In the morning, the taxi driver took us to the ferry and showed us where to get tickets (very nice because there are many people selling illigitamate tickets ).  We had all grabbed the closest luggage to get on the ferry, so none of the porters could try to carry it for us (for a tip of course).  So I didn't carry my big backpack on, but I did have some problems getting off.  I have bad balance to begin with and even worse with a pack on my back (ask anyone I've ever hiked with), but put me on a swaying boat with 2 other bags and I can't stand up at all.  So Travis and Sarita (my travel buddies) had to help stabilize me.

No we've gotten into our housing, been to the hospital, walked all over town.  And we finally got some Zanzibari food for lunch!  I'll have to post again when I can upload pictures, but I hope everyone is doing well back at home.

Too excited/nervous to sleep!

Yay!  I'm leaving for Africa in 13.5hrs!  I'm now all packed, unpacked, repacked, and barely under the weight limit on all my luggage (thanks to all the help from my mom and my second mom, Vicki), but I don't think I forgot anything!  (At least I hope nothing important)

Tomorrow I head to DC, then to Zurich, Switzerland, then on to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania where we'll stay the night and take the ferry over the next morning to the island of Zanzibar.  I will also be turning off my phone tomorrow for the next 6wks, so don't be offended if I don't return your calls or texts (email is a better bet)

So next time you'll hear from me, I'll be in Zanzibar, 9hrs in the future (for all the KS people, 10hrs for the CO and WY folks)

Pregame

I leave in 9 days!  Now I'm just running around trying to get last minute supplies and making sure I have everything I need for the next 6wks.