These are our personal thoughts written during the trip itself.

Mark's are journal entries to help him remember details from the trip.

Ann's are individual e-mails she sent to her friends back home to keep them updated with her progress.

December 22
December 23
December 24
December 25
December 26
December 27
December 28
December 29
December 30
December 31
January 1
January 2
January 3
January 4
January 5
January 6

Mark's Entry

December 26 - Leaving Entebbe, or at least trying to

Woke up sick again, not good. Had to pack and leave today so more stress. We met Robert at 9:30 and on his suggestion went to the Uganda museum. The problem with this museum is that it is not self-guided. I, still very sick, suffered through over an hour of Uganda history. We finally got out of there and drove towards the airport. Because we were still about 3 hours from our flight we stopped at a nice park on Lake Victoria. I slowly began to feel better.

We arrived at the airport 2 hours before our flight and passed through security. When we got to the check-in counter, the guy said I needed actual tickets, not the e-tickets I thought I had. He sent me upstairs to the Kenya Airways offices to get our tickets. But no one was in the offices. Other people nearby said they would be back soon. So I Waited. And waited. And waited. After 45 minutes the guy from downstairs came looking for me. He finally helped me track down the guy to give me the tickets. It is now 1hr 15 min till the flight.

This guy looked at the computer printout and said, “Oh, this is a long one.” and proceeded to hand-write our tickets. It took him 10 minutes for each ticket. When he thought he was done, I reminded him that there were three of us. Another 10 minutes per ticket for Jacob. It is now 15 minutes before scheduled takeoff, they have already made last call, and we haven’t even checked our baggage yet! I thought for sure we wouldn’t make it, but after passing security, again, checking luggage, getting boarding passes, filling out a departure card, passing through immigration, making a wrong turn trying to get to the gate, we somehow made it. It took me the whole flight (just over an hour) to calm down. It helped that the small lunch/snack that they served was the best meal I had had in three days. By this time my adrenalin had stopped whatever was making me sick.

Nairobi airport is nice and even though we weren’t there for long it was comfortable and relatively easy to navigate. We boarded our next flight without incident.

Arriving at Kilimanjaro airport, we again had to fill out a landing card and go through immigration, which was only slightly faster because we already had out visas. But we were stopped by customs and asked for a ‘friendship gift’. We declined his ‘friendship’ and met Dennis, our driver who took us to our hotel in Arusha.

This hotel was nicer than the one in Kampala. The room just seemed more modern and a bit more comfortable, at least I thought so. Ann didn’t like it. This hotel was still very formal. Dinner took 2 hours with several courses. Then we went to bed and discovered that the beds were even harder than the one in Kampala. This made sleeping difficult.

Ann's Entry

Let’s Go Downtown

Kamapala – 26 Dec 2007 – 09:00

Robert drives us around the central city. We get to see a more modern Kampala, although equally as busy as the villages (without the chickens.) We tour through Makrere University, see some official buildings such as Parliament and the National Bank of Uganda, and stop at NTV. NTV is the competition to the state-run television station. Mark knows someone who works there, so we went to say “Jambo!” (Swahili for “Hello.”)

We drive past several subway stations, only to discover that there is no subway. The only thing down there is a restaurant. Ultimately, we stop at a fast food joint (everything is called a “joint”) for lunch. It is a lot like the food court in the mall – choices include chicken (of course!), pizza, and ice cream.

On our way out of Kampala, we stop at Lake Victoria, the second largest lake in the world. It is a nice little park, with a beach for swimming and sailboats. And then, back to Entebbe Airport for our next flight.

“Kenya” Go Any Faster?

Entebbe Airport – 26 Dec 2007 – 13:00

We say good-bye to Robert and pass through the security checkpoint into the baggage check area. The attendant asks to see our tickets. Everything is prepaid; our travel agent gave us vouchers for us to use as proof of payment. Evidentally, Kenya Airlines requires an actual ticket. So, Mark has to go back upstairs to the ticketing agent to get the tickets. Jacob and I sit and wait in the baggage area.

An hour passes, and no sign of Mark. It is now 14:00 and our plane leaves at 15:10. The delay is the fact that there is no ticketing agent! When Mark does find him, at about 14:30, he writes out each of our tickets by hand. How painfully slow! Meanwhile, we are hearing announcements for boarding, final calls for boarding, etc. We are literally running through the airport when they make the “gate closing” announcement.

“Kenya Airlines flight to Nairobi now closing at Gate 4,” the announcement says. We can’t find Gate 4! That’s because you have to pass through Gate 2 security and go down a flight of steps in order to find Gate 4. Then, you have to pass through Gate 4 security in order to actually get out to the plane. In the mad dash, Jacob knocks over a cardboard giraffe!

The flight to Nairobi is a short one, and they give us a nice little lunch. I have no idea what I am eating, but it is tasty. We are able to find our connecting flight into Tanzania without difficulty. Again, the plane ride is short, but it is very warm, stuffy, and uncomfortable on that plane.

A “Gift of Friendship”

Kilimanjaro Airport – 26 Dec 2007 – 17:30

The welcoming party at Kilimanjaro, Tanzania is not nearly as friendly as Uganda. The immigration officer snarls and stamps our visas with quite a bit of force. Because of the mad rush at Entebbe, we are not certain at all if both of our bags made the connection, but they did. The customs officer is an older gentleman, or should I say, an “old-school” man. Our conversation goes something like this…

We meet our guide, Dennis, and we set off for our hotel in Arusha. Along the way, we ask him about our conversation with the customs officer. Dennis has a slight look of panic, and asks us if we gave the man anything. We didn’t.

In “old-school” days, in order to get past customs, you had to give the guard a bribe. When this practice fell out of favor, the phrase “gift of friendship” became a way of asking for a bribe to allow you through.

It’s tough getting into Tanzania.