I
have been back from Kenya for a week. I already posted three days’ worth of
safari stories, because it was so amazing. It’s not like the rest of the trip
wasn’t just as amazing, it’s just that life and death on the Serengeti is what
people want to hear about.
I
read the posts I had written the weeks before I left on this trip and feel that
I owe it to you to update you on my physical complaints.
The
two eight-hour plane rides to get to Nairobi were brutal, as you can imagine.
The first flight from Chicago to London was through the night and the flight
wasn’t full, so I moved back a row so that Denise and I could each have two
seats. The added space did not help me at all. The bursitis in my right hip screamed
the entire night and no matter what I did I could not get comfortable.
We
got into London in the morning and had only a two hour layover. Walking briskly
through Heathrow airport loosened up my hip, but I really only wanted to stretch
out on a couple benches and sleep for just five minutes.
By
the time we were halfway from London to Nairobi, I was beginning to shut down
mentally as well as physically. The lack of sleep was giving me a headache and
making me sick to my stomach. The steward kept asking if he could get me
anything but all I wanted was to get off the plane. Not happening at 30,000
feet.
Arriving
in Kenya, I was on autopilot, following the crowd through the airport, customs
and baggage claim. Denise, my partner in crime on this trip, kept me upright. I
don’t think she realized how stressed I was and that I would have had a total
meltdown if she hadn’t been along. Actually, honestly, I would have cancelled
the whole trip at the last minute if it hadn’t been for her. So glad that didn’t
happen.
Our
ride, Tony, was waiting for us just outside and as late as it was, we were
greeted with smiles at the volunteer house. I loaded up on ibuprofen, Benadryl and
Zanax and crawled into what had to be the most comfortable bed in all of Kenya.
Eight hours later, I was awake and feeling good.
No
more headache or stomach ache. An ache continued in my hip during the entire
stay, but it wasn’t enough to slow me down. I could move better than I had in
the past two weeks.
Kenya
was apparently all I needed.
4 comments:
It was having to go through all the security that was brutal. I wasn't about to let you give in, I knew Kenya would be good for both of us.
And you kept up my good humor by all the noise you made listening to movies on the plane.
Thank you for sharing these adventures . . . even this brutal flight. I remember the return flight for us from Tanzania . . . we counted some 48 hours from door to door (all without sleep). But you write beautifully of the trip, taking us right with you. So good to have you home.
Thanks, Beth, it's always good to hear from someone who has been in the air travel trenches. It makes us appreciate a bed, any bed.
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