divewop's trip report by phone
 

Sandy called this morning to make me jealous. She said all the flights were hell (not jealous). Then she told me about getting to play with a 5 month old leopard that was rescued. She said it was so cute and it played like a kitten, biting her shoes and shoelaces and biting her ankles. (Okay, jealous now.) Then she was able to pet a hyena thru a fence (they don't trust him). Rubbed and petted on him just like a dog. (Mediocre jealous.) Then the big black maned lion that was there. She also got to pet him thru the fence and he was beautiful. (Jealous, for sure.) Is that all? No, she also went to the Sheldrick Orphanage to see the baby ellies. She said they were all so cute and wonderful and she got to see the baby she adopted, Chyulu. She's the smallest one right now. (Totally jealous!!)

But not to worry, she said. She has arranged for us to do all of this again on our last day in Nairobi. So we'll both be able to make everyone else jealous.

Leaving tomorrow - cross your fingers for me so I can have an aisle seat! (Sandy was stuck in a middle seat on a packed plane.)

((#))Cindy

Jealous of both of you. Have a great one.
regards - tom

Where did she get to pet a leopard, hyena and lion?

Have a great trip Cindy!

Have a great time Cindy and travel safe!

Oops, forgot one - she also got to pet a cheetah. Has photos and everything.

Patty, I'm sorry, I'm not sure where she hit this bonanza. I was a little distracted when I was talking to her. (San Antonio is basically shut down because of ice and I was trying to figure out which roads are closed and how to get to work.) Luckily I'm not leaving today because most of the flights in/out of here are cancelled so our airport has to be a nightmare.

Thanks, Tom, Patty and Dennis. Other good news from Sandy, it has stopped raining in the Mara.

Bon Voyage my friend - have a great trip and travel safely! Looking forward to your report on your return!

Have fun, sundowner. And you too, divewop!

Cindy have a wonderful time. I am still 5 months away from our trip and can't wait.

Cindy, I'm with the jealous camp except I'm SUPER jealous. Have a fantastic time and we want ALL the details when you both get back :)

Imelda

Hi Cindy,
I sent you an email earlier today to wish you Bon Voyage! I was jelous before reading this post but now...well, you know! Will be on the edge of my seat waiting to hear all about it and know that you will have awesome photos to share! Have a sundowner for me.
Carla

Thanks, Kavey, Leely, spiegelcjs, Imelda and Carla (I answered your email, Carla). I guess I should start packing now. And finding all the camera paraphernalia. I know some of my safari clothes are still folded in the ziplock bags from the last trip (only the clean ones!).

I, too, am sooo envious, but in a GOOD way... Have a fabulous mini Fodorite trip - best of luck with the gorillas and everything else you want to see, and REALLY looking forward to a smashing set of photos. Wish I was tagging along! :-)

((@))

Quite a phone call. Have a good trip when you join in the fun.

Cindy,

Thanks for the update and Bon Voyage!!! Enjoy!!!

Hari

Well, my trip is getting off with a rocky start. I checked in and printed my boarding passes last night. I was getting ready to jump in the shower (the last one I'll get to have for days!) and decided to check and make sure the flights were on time.

FLIGHT CANCELLED is what I found. It seems it's very windy in AMS so me flight was cancelled and they rebooked my on a flight tomorrow. However, they didn't rebook any of the other flights. So they had me landing in AMS at 11:15am on the 20th and departing AMS at 8:45pm on the 19th.

I called NWA to find out what was going on. While I was on hold for 20 minutes, I was searching to see if there were other flights. All flights leaving today were $$$$. The agent finally comes to the line and sees what has happened. The earliest she can get me out is 2 days later. I let her rearrange all the flights and started scouring the internet for other flights.

I ended up booking another flight on orbitz for tomorrow. It will arrive 1 day later than my original flight but hopefully I'll still be able to do the first gorilla trek on the 22nd. Without that extra day for rest I know I'll be exhausted but at least I'll be there on the 21st instead of the 22nd. Here's the flight - San Antonio to Houston to London to Dubai to Nairobi to Kigali. Anyone jealous now? :-<

Cindy, that sounds downright painful! We had a similar series of flights to catch on the way home from our recent trip (Kigali-Nairobi-Addis-Washington DC-Atlanta), but on the tail end it is much easier to deal with than at the beginning. Good luck, and be sure to take Ambien and sleep on the plane!

what a drag Cindy, but at least you're still able to make it! (yup, still jealous!)

Sorry to hear that. There are a lot of weather delays/cancellations at AMS. Good luck on your flights tomorrow!

sorry to hear about the delays, Cindy. Hang in there......once you get to Africa you will forget the airline issues.

So, you going thru Dubai? On Emirates? If it's any consolation they are a great airline, i just got back to India from NYC flying them.

Hari