“Jambo”, I kept hearing it over and over again and I thought somehow this was an African version of my name, but I couldn’t figure how they knew my name. In my tired jet lagged haze, it occurred to me – it means hello. Remember the Lionel Richie song “All night long?” We are going to have a party all not long…. …. Jambo Jambo
It wouldn’t be long until I had my second lesson in Swahili – Hakuna matata at least I knew what that means.
My father always wanted to go to Africa but somehow he never made it. Taking time off of work, kids at school, bills to pay. When he finally retired my mother didn’t like the idea of going overseas and then it was his turn to worry about upcoming medical tests along with pending treatments. He never made it to Africa.
Travelling and food were the two things that bonded me and my father. Along with travel came international politics and history. When he passed away last fall, I felt like it was one of the things we both left undone. When I got a “Living Social Deal” in the mail, I sent out feelers to my friends within seconds asking who could. I wasn’t going to talk about it anymore.
Tanzania is on the East side of Africa which is a long way a way from Los Angeles. I don’t have the exact mileage but I know I scored over 10,000. I flew from Los Angeles to DC, then on Ethiopian Airlines I went from DC to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia then to Mount Kilimanjaro a with quick stop in Mombasa Kenya.
The day went well but it was not with at least one issue. Upon arriving in Tanzania Jet and I were pulled out of line by two uniformed guards asking to see our “yellow” card indicating that we had been immunized for Yellow Fever. happened to have the documentation from their website that indicated you did not have to be immunized. Clearly this was a scam and I was left with the choice of paying the $75.00 or spending the next few hours fighting it. I paid it and got on with the trip.
By the time I arrived at the hotel, the only thing i could think of was taking a shower and getting some sleep. After showering I realized that if I went to sleep at 5PM, I would be up at 3 ready to go, I needed to stay up explore the grounds of the first hotel I am staying at. As I did I realized that there is nothing like the tropics with the warm air, the smell and the sounds of the jungle.
During our introduction, our guide warned us of carrying any food, if you do, the monkeys will be sure to follow and wrangle the food from you.
Yep, I am in the Jungle!
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