Friday, 28 December 2007

Today we took two small planes to get ourselves back to Nairobi. The first was really small, a twelve passenger plane. The pilot asked if the kids could sit in back to help distribute the weight. The plane was full so one of the passengers sat next to the pilot in the cockpit. Clay was close enough to watch the gauges, and informed me that when we did a dip that made our stomachs drop, we were sometimes dropping as much as forty feet! These little planes are fun to ride in, they fly low so we can see the landscape below. Old volcanoes and Masai villages dotted the way.

Our next plane seemed huge in comparison, though earlier in the trip we would have quaked a little at the “sit where you want” and “climb the ladder to get in one person at a time” experience. After collecting our bags, including all the extra weight we acquired from the numerous, generous, appreciated but we don’t want to carry them, gifts, we found the bus that would take us to the hotel. We were thrilled to find out there was a DHL just five minutes away, and were able to make it there by 3:40. They closed at 4, but stayed open to help us pack and mail over 30 pounds of gifts/souvenirs back home. I felt like a giant weight had been literally lifted off of me as we left, it is a wonderful feeling to return to our original weight. If only it was that easy for our bodies . . .

We spent the rest of the day, what was left of it, re-packing, doing a little school, and appreciating the water pressure in the shower. We said goodbye to Rachel, Heather and Joel over dinner. I am forever indebted to Heather for the book she gave me, the bottle of Woolite, and the specific instructions on just exactly how to use a squatty potty. The kids will miss having a playmate, and we’ll all miss having traveling companions, with different stories and jokes. Ours are getting a little stale!

Tomorrow we leave for Rwanda, something we’ve been looking forward to for so long. I wonder how big the plane will be. I wonder if there will be rioting in the streets tomorrow as Kenyans await the results of their presidential election (it appears a new president is coming on the scene)? I wonder how hard it will be to wake up at 5am. Time for bed.