Serengeti February 14 - Days 1 & 2 - February 7, 8 2014

After months of planning and hundreds of emails the day has come. Excited, our binoculars and passports in hand (when you get right down to it the only two items really required for a safari), we head to Logan Airport in Boston for an overnight flight to Amsterdam. I never relax until the bags are checked, we have our boarding passes, and the bar is open. 

Bev and I are fortunate in that we can sleep on the plane - highly recommended to everyone. Delta Airlines to Amsterdam, KLM to Arusha. Pre-order the Asian Vegetarian in-flight meals.

  

After an overnight flight, Bev & Mike, Mary & Howard and Liz rendezvous with Jeanne & Cam, and Sharon in the coffee shop outside the Casino at Amsterdam’s Schiphol International Airport. Cappuccino & baked goods.

We like the right side of the plane going down to Kilimanjaro International Airport.   

(Left side, BOS to AMS, for the sunrise; right side, JRO to AMS, again for the sunrise; and right side, AMS to BOS, for views of Newfoundland and the St Lawrence Seaway. In the way back, where the wing doesn't obstruct the view)

So, leaving Amsterdam, first it’s the Swiss Alps.

Then an astounding three hours when we see nothing but desert - the Sahara - except when we cross the Nile - a little water, a little green.

Finally a sunset as we approach Mount Kilimanjaro and cross the border from Kenya to Tanzania. 

Our guides pick us up for the 45 minute trip to Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge, on the slopes of Mount Meru, just outside Arusha. (We’ll show you Ngare Sero photos when we write about our last day). We settle in for a delightful, hard-earned light supper (cheese, soup, salad) and a few beers at about 11PM, then, exhausted, right to bed. Tomorrow’s another long day, but everyone is very excited and thrilled with our first oasis to rest up for tomorrow’s adventure.