Tanzania, First 24 hrs

Fantastic! Our skepticism over flying Turkish Airlines to Africa was total fiction. Hands down the best 12hr flight experience we have had. Firstly, there was the in-flight entertainment with countless options to keep everyone pleased. Then they dropped little baggies with eye masks, ear plugs, and footies in our laps. After we settled down we got an in-flight meal! Just like the olden days! Your choice of pasta or beef. "Beef Please!" Holy moly, that was really good. Had it been at a terrestrial restaurant in San Francisco, I would have been most pleased, but this was 35,000ft suspended in air. My compliments to the chef.

Entertainment for days...

Not gonna lie, the Beef was delicious.

Kilimanjaro customs at 2am

Autumn, standing at attention. Finger prints please.

One of the best things about Autumn's love of photography is that she sees things I don't. Check out these amazing shots from the plane. 

One of my favorites ever. Suburbs of Cairo down there.

We finally landed at 2am Tanzania time, and muddled our way thru the Visa and Customs process. As we finally emerged to the crisp night air, Zane says, "It smells like I thought it would - Like hay with a bit of desert." We then hopped in our "mobile home" for the next 10 days for another one hour drive thru near darkness and over speed bump and rumble strips every 100yds. We woke to a view of a giant mountain obscured by darkness - Mt Meru.

Fortunately we budgeted a day for us to get some rest and ease ourselves in to this new world. Our lodge is a gated compound of bungalows and a nice pool. Itching to get a taste of the "real" world, I sort of hijacked our afternoon of relaxation and had our guide take us on an impromptu stroll thru the Central Market. Eye opening for sure. As Zane said, it was "uncomfortable" and made him nervous. Admittedly, me too. The hardest part was resisting the onslaught of requests to sell us things we didn't need. As our guide said when we left, "Everyone is looking for money."

Our bungalow

A quick dip. Not gonna lie, a bit chilly.

Mt Meru. Looks much more impressive in person as it looms over town.

Produce section

One of many uses for a band saw. Fish filet.

Tomorrow we head out for our first of 10 days of adventures. We had our orientation today, and they surprised Autumn with a bit of birthday celebration (Autumn turns 13 in little over a week!). The entire safari sales staff sang their traditional birthday song (which includes the term Hakuna Matata!). We also found out that they don't stop singing until the birthday person slices the cake and eats a bite of it (which, when you think you're not supposed to take a bite until the song is over, made things a bit...awkward). It was really sweet of them to make it a special moment.