Day 21. Dodoma and Songwe (Tanzania)

We were at the Zanzibar Airport in good time, yet, as often happened, we all had to wait for things to get done in terms of fuel handling, paperwork etc so I sat comfortably in my cozy cockpit watching all the usual airport ramp activity going on around us and all the sounds of aircraft - commercial and otherwise -taxiing about;  I actually found myself dozing.  When not doing that, I put pen to paper and wrote my notes for our stay in Zanzibar.  I've decided paper and pen are wonderful inventions -- they come in so handy when wi-fi internet, iPads, and laptops either aren't accessible or they get an "attitude".

It was "start your engines!" time, and we then discovered our battery was dead.  With Colin's help, prop was hand-cranked and our engine started up nicely.  The problem now was that our radio and the intercom didn't work. Our iPads worked so we still had our nav aids.  Nick and I agreed on hand signals and his patting me on the shoulder for communication between us.  Nick would rely on the hand-held radio for communication with air traffic control services.

We took off and once again (and for the last time) with donned life vests, headed back out over the water to mainland Tanzania.  Over open water in an old airplane powered by a single radial engine is always cause for caution so on these occasions we always made sure to pick the shortest distance between land masses, stay close and within sight of our rally mates, and make sure our emergency locator beacon  -  the "Yellow Brick" - was on. That checklist complete, we just had a ball enjoying the scenery,  especially the advancing shoreline, and soaring, climbing, and diving.  Pedro was particularly enthralled with climbing and arcing over us and down the other side.  Sometimes we got close enough to each other to wave and take pictures of our friends.  The GoPro cameras mounted on our aircraft filmed everything we did and edited-down video of the fun flying can be seen on some of the VintageAirRally Facebook posts.

Our first stop was Dodoma for refueling.  The day was hot, and milling around on the ramp waiting for our turn to get fuel was a very hot way to spend time.  Some nice locals came out to see us and an airport official brought his adorable toddler whom I just had to  pick up and play with for a bit.  Across the street in what looked like a private residence was a "cafe".  There were very few items on "the menu" --a type of 'tortilla' made from a grain I was not familiar with - (looked something like Norwegian leftse), cooked beans, hard boiled eggs, and soda pop.  I opted for the flat bread/tortilla.  Rolled up with some butter, it was pretty good.  The cafe was very sparse and only  a few locals were there socializing. I remember thinking to myself that where I come from if an eating establishment is sparse and not well patronized, you probably don't want to eat there.  I took my chances and am glad to report it all set just fine.

Back at the ramp, we were once again the last to get fuel.  By now, other planes that usually  flew way ahead of us did not wait for us.  They took off and headed towards Songwe.  The other two Travel Airs and the Stampe, however, waited for us and we flew close inasmuch as our radio  situation was down to one hand=held.  If the iPads had problems, navigating to our next stop could be challenging so we always made sure to see and be seen by others in our loose formation.  With our rare group, we essentially had the sky to ourselves!

As we got closer to Songwe,  our iPads did develop problems maintaining connectivity to a separate GPS device that we had.  This meant we had to rely on Cedric to keep reporting to Nick the DME (distance to Songwe) and ground speed reports.  The visibility got a little hazy and ridges were ahead.  Thank you, Cedric, for being our extra eyes and keeping us on track!  The approach into Songwe was a little tricky as hills and mountains were all around but all went well and it was nice to be on the ground heading for our hotel and hot dinner.  It was December 2, my birthday, and I was feeling like milestones were happening all around me!

At dinner, the kitchen staff and Prepare2Go staff surprised me with a wonderful, large birthday cake which I gladly cut up and shared with every person in the dining room who wanted a piece.

Our briefing for morning covered our usual rising and wheels up times as well as flying into Zambia - the 6th African country on our trip so far.  We realized we were more than half way through this amazing trip. We were becoming old hands at this flying around in vintage planes but each day brought the promise of new sights and adventures.

 Our early morning departure from the hotel meant we got boxed breakfasts to eat in the bus to the airport.  Colin, dutiful son who when growing up always listened to his mother's tutelage on dental hygiene (!) is brushing his teeth while sleepy eyes are at half mast.  Like all of us, he would have preferred to be back in bed for another hour's sleep.  Well, there's nothing like the throaty conversation of a radial engine and lots of fresh air in the face to perk us all up!

 


 Enroute to Dodoma.  We saw many interesting land "eruptions" like this one.

 This photo shows Cedric and Alexandra in the Stampe flying in formation with us.  You get an idea of the vastness of the wilderness we were flying over.  This shows my point of view from the forward cockpit.  

 Village life along the way.

At Dodoma for a refueling stop and some fun Kiddo time.  Colin and Nick are conferring over battery problem.

When conditions were good, we enjoyed flying low.  Here we're about 150'.  The remoteness of the area was compounded by the horizon to horizon vista where we saw no obvious signs of human activity.

  Our Sky Demon navigation aid on my iPad shows our routing to Songwe Airport.  The pinkish tones show the higher land elevations. The airport is clearly surrounded by hills and ridges.   It was annoying when at times we'd suddenly  lose our GPS connection and the screen would go blank.  Often, mine would work when Nick's didn't and visa versa.  We heard others on the radio sometimes having the same problem.

Weather systems like this one would appear on the horizon and I enjoyed watching their movement until they disappeared again over the horizon.  We naturally avoided getting too close to them.

 
    A couple of good views of the colors, patterns, and shapes in this beautiful country.

We stayed close to Team Barnstormers and Team Frog and Kiwi.  Flying like this, we all kept our eyes peeled for wildlife and ...other aircraft, of course! 

The Antonov to our right.  It's entry door is open as camera crew onboard were sitting at the opening, harnessed for safety, taking photos and videos of us. 

 


Before arriving in Songwe, we caught sight of this herd of elephants. You can see a few of them near the right edge of the photo.  They blend in a bit with their surroundings. 

 

Days 19 and 20. Zanzibar.

Those of us who drove to Ngorongoro had the pleasure of being herded very capably by Tiger Moth pilot Brett who knew too well how easy it is to slip into lollygagging when the hour seems hostile to rushing.  He was serious about us all piling into the Land Rovers by a certain time so we wouldn't hold up the show back at the "Kili" airport.  We were given breakfast boxes with fruit, juice, hard boiled eggs, and meat sandwiches.

The drive DOWN the crater rivaled Mr. Toad's wild ride.  Our driver leaned on the gas most of the way but knew exactly when to hit the brakes just before a big rut or pothole.  The lurching and bumping about was ...well, "memorable".  We saw many baboons along the road perched on rocks watching us with skeptical, judgmental eyes.

Once on the highway, we breezed along at a good clip.  We stopped for coffee at an espresso bar next door to a gallery of art, jewelry, and textile works by disabled artists.  Nick bought me a lovely necklace.  The director of the gallery made a point of telling us that an identical necklace caught actor George Clooney's eye when he visited a year ago.  He bought it for his wife so next time we run into the Clooney's while out shopping maybe Amal and I will be wearing our special necklaces.

At the airport we were faced with huge fueling delays. As we were the last to get fuel, we had to deal with the frustration of the fuel truck running out of fuel before our two tanks were topped off for the 3 1/2 hour flight to Zanzibar.  A Cessna 206 that joined our rally in Nairobi had taken off with full tanks.  As his airccraft flew much faster than ours and his fuel range was better, he was called back to the "Kili" airport to 'off load' some of his fuel for us. After all this was taken care of, it was 1:42 pm by  the time we took off.

 It was a nice flight and we donned our life vests again for our 25+ mile water crossing to the island.  Cedric and Alexandra, Pedro, Keith and Colin, and Nick and I were the last formation to land.  The airport there is big and very accommodating.  Our hotel, the MaruMaru is located in Old Stone Town in the center of old narrow streets and alley ways, small shops, and --sadly, again -- a great deal of litter and trash.  I will never understand how filthy streets and sidewalks don't seem to bother the residents. Nick encouraged me to "look beyond the trash" and I gave it my best shot.  The people were very friendly and our hotel was very nice in a 1930s/40s sort of way. Our room had these window shutters that opened to reveal patios above and below us. Big palms were planted in a small, central courtyard where people could sit in a garden atmosphere for coffee.  It had the feel of a place where if Humphrey Bogart walked in with Sidney Greenstreet I would not have been surprised.  If they were dressed up in pilot uniforms worn by the Boeing Clipper amphibian crews I would have been thrilled. A spacious and relaxing dining area and cocktail lounge up on the roof gave us a great view of the city and the Indian Ocean a few blocks away.  An Islamic mosque's minaret  highlighted the cityscape and I enjoyed the melodious call to prayer in the late afternoon.

Zanzibar has a rich history over the centuries past for being the crossroad of commerce from Asia into Africa.  Traders and spice merchants came from afar and weavers and fishermen moved their products through the teeming city to market places throughout.  This is still going on.  In the big market where we browsed the next day, the smells of exotic flowering plants, fish fresh out of the ocean, cardamon and cinnamon spices, and the sounds of bartering absolutely filled the senses.  The weather was so nice for us which made it pleasant for walking all afternoon to see as much as we could fit in. We bought a lot of gifts here to take home with us. 

In the evening we had a wonderful dinner and received our wake-up,/ wheels up instructions for the morning.  And another early morning.  "Cicadian rhythms be damned. 4:45am it is."

Cedric and Alexandra along side us enroute to Zanzibar.

We approach Zanzibar Airport after water crossing from mainland Tanzania.

 A lovely cocktail reception awaited us at the Zanzibar Serena Hotel at the beach.  Some of these functions were arranged by our Puma Energy sponsors who excitedly managed to greet us at most of our stops.  After being in a noisy, open cockpit plane for many hours, these kind of gatherings helped us unwind and breathe in the ambience of a refreshing social gathering.

 
From the veranda of the Serena Hotel and our reception, we had a nice view of the beach and harbor opening out to the Indian Ocean.  At this time of the late afternoon, only men were seen on the beach.  Apparently, women and children "get" the beach in the early afternoon.

 From the roof of our hotel, the MaruMaru, we had a great view of the Indian Ocean and a passing tanker.

 In the lounge area next to the dining room up on the roof of our hotel, we had this nice panaromic view of the cityscape.  The spires of a Christian church and the minaret of a mosque appear content to be neighbors.

 Pilots Mark, Norman, and Nick comparing "notes" up on the roof before dinner.

 Throughout the rally, I could not resist adorable children.  They are EVERYWHERE.  This little girl was with her mother up on the roof for dinner and she caught everyone's eye with her sparkle and enthusiasm for exploring.  She was not afraid of anyone.  I always say children are the hope of  the world and for that reason there are no other VIPs as important as they.

At the spice market on a hot, sunny afternoon.  The smells were wonderful.

These beautiful doors were for sale at the market as well.  I really liked the one on the right.  "Honey, if we strapped it to the wing, couldn't we...?" 

Days 17 and 18. To Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro Crater.

Our flight to Tanzania was so much fun.  We were a bit late leaving Nairobi, but we had pretty good weather and toyed with the afternoon thermals moving us upon and down over the sprawling expanse of wilderness and wildlife.  Pixie up ahead broadcast a contest to see who spotted the first wildlife.  I don't recall who earned that distinction but we enjoyed all that we were able to see.

After about 70 minutes into our flight we caught sight in the distance of the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  It's crown was obscured by a pretty dark storm cell which unfurled wispy arms of virga down the sides of the mountain.  As we neared, it became a more awesome sight than I imagined.  Weather and terrain have the most fascinating relationship and sometimes I think the pair have fun playing with our senses.  In any case, we stayed way to the right of the mountain and followed a narrow clearing that lead us to Kilimanjaro International Airport.

We landed there close to 4 PM and what with clearing customs and arranging fuel, it became apparent that it was too late in the day to fly on to  Ngorongoro Crater the same day.  The decision was made to park all the aircraft and make the short drive to Arusha where our hotel accommodations were. The next morning, those who wanted to fly to the air strip near the crater could do so, and those who were not inclined to attempt the landing and takeoff at a 5000' dirt strip at an elevation of 7,760' could leave their aircraft at "Kili" and drive from Arusha to the Crater where we would stay the night at a beautiful lodge perched on the crater rim.  We opted to leave Smuggler at "Kili".

Before leaving the airport for Arusha, the weather around the mountain cleared enough that we finally caught sight of the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  It was impressive but muted somewhat by the fact that the great photos of the mountain that we all remember from decades past showing a snow-covered mountain are no longer representative of a mountain that has lost its snow.  Mt. Kilimanjaro is now a brownish gray mountain with just a few streaks of snow -- looking a bit naked, I suppose.

We stayed the night at the Arusha Serena Hotel.  5 star in a most charming, rustic but comfortable, beautifully appointed and landscaped way.  Internet was sketchy  in places.  It really only worked in the lobby but this kind of concession was easy to deal with given where we were and what we were experiencing.  In the morning, after a hearty breakfast buffet, those of us driving to the Crater set out in vans driven by park staff.  The "flyers" headed back to "Kili" to fuel up and fly to the Crater strip.  Our drive took us through the town of Arusha where we saw the activities of a typical Tanzanian township during a work day.  Venders were opening their shops, scores of school children in school uniforms were walking or riding on the backs of their parents' vespas to school.  The roads were neglected somewhat so ruts and puddles were the order of the day.  Goats and chickens all appeared to have an agenda too.  They trotted or pecked along their way in the flow of human traffic as if they couldn't be late either.  After 45 minutes or so, we began our ascent of the crater up winding and precipitous roads so narrow in places that it was hard to imagine two vehicles going in opposite directions being able to pass each other.  Well, we found out our driver was well schooled in the art of doing this.  He was unruffled by the mere inch that separated the opposing vehicle's side view mirror from our own.  He was completely focused on the single task at hand - keep moving forward no matter what.

At the rim, we stopped at a lookout and spreading out below us was this amazing caldera --part of the World Heritage Site of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.  It is the largest volcanic caldera in the world and its rim is perfectly  intact.  The caldera is unfilled so its basin is a vast wilderness of savanna and wildlife.  The eruption that formed this caldera happened roughly 2.5 million years ago.  Masai people inhabit the area and still herd livestock.

After checking into our accommodations at the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, we boarded our range rovers for a game drive down in the crater.  It was an unforgettable afternoon of getting up close and personal with hyenas, lions, zebras, hippos, water buffalo, elephants, interesting fowls, and even one very flashy, "exquisitely dressed" lizard that shimmered in greens and blues as it allowed us to drive very close to the rock it was sun bathing on.  Nick and I could hardly believe we were in this incredible setting.  Little did we consider that sights like this are but a small representation of all the wildlife preserves -- and many much bigger -- that stretch the width and breadth of this huge portion of the African continent.   One lioness we saw sat alone on her haunches in some tall grass.  All we saw were her head and shoulders.  She stared off into the distance and completely ignored us.  She seemed focused on something.  We assumed - and rightly it seems -- that she was eyeing a zebra herd way in the distance and plotting her strategy for later in the evening.  I love how nature has endowed these beasts with instincts that reward the disciplined, highly skilled nerve impulses that move quickly between brain and muscles for the sake of survival.  A lion who gets lazy or distracted doesn't get to eat.  In the wild, life is as simple as that.

That evening before dinner and after a nice cool shower we sat in our provided terry bath robes out on our private deck gazing over the crater floor we had just visited.  The sky was headed towards dusk and the quiet all around us was beautiful.  A little red wine could be from the most average winery and it didn't matter in this setting.  The wine was fabulous. We both wished we could have stayed here for a week.  In the dining room at dinner we were entertained by a Masai group that chanted and danced for us.  Jumping straight up into the air is their specialty and they revel in the contest to demonstrate their prowess over each other.

Saying good night and turning out the light on this amazing day was hard knowing that in the morning - the EARLY 5:30 AM morning -- we would have to head back down the crater to the lowlands and head back to "Kili".  But another adventure lay ahead and we would not be disappointed. Till then, we nodded off to sleep hearing the echoing sounds of struggle from the crater floor as that patient lioness got her sustenance to see her through another day.

Enroute to Kilimanjaro and circling over a small herd of elephants.  "Pixie! We spotted wildlife!" 

After our arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport and clearing customs.

 Smuggler and Team Barnstormers' Travel Air parked at "Kili".  Mt. Kilimanjaro is behind the aircraft under the big cloud.

The summit of the mountain now visible after clouds graciously parted.  Smuggler is tucked in for the night. 

Our lodgings at Arusha. Very comfortable and air conditioned.

 





 Next day, Oppegards at a rest stop enroute by Land Rover van to Ngorongoro Crater.  Nick had a weird dream about a tree during the night --he didn't seem to be able to "shake it".

Pixie enjoying a joke while at rest stop.  John Baxter and Colin liked the punch line.

Before beginning the drive up the steep sides of the crater, we stopped at this visitor's center where we learned a great deal about the history of the region. 

Masai school children on a field trip to the center. 

 Our first view of the crater's caldera from one of the viewing lots at the rim.  The size is unbelievably huge.  We can only imagine what this eruption 2-3 million years ago must have been like. 

 Keith, after landing his plane at the crater airfield.  Colin did not fly with him to lighten the load for a tricky  landing.  Keith did great!  Look closely and you'll see a group of young Masai men in the distance behind the aircraft.  They freely roam the area and move their goats from place to place.  They were very curious about us and the planes.  They also hoped to sell us little items they made.

As you can see, we were most comfortably outfitted for the night.  The Serena Lodge lacked nothing.  Prepare2Go, with Nathalie and Estelle working out the details, made sure we stayed in the best hotels and lodges. 

Our view of the caldera from our private deck.  Very nice place to sit at sunset and enjoy a glass of wine.

During our game drive late afternoon down into the caldera, we came across this hyena enjoying a break in a cool puddle.  He languished before getting to work later in the evening when the lions got to hunting.

A herd of hippos doing their bit to keep ponds useful.  As we approached, I thought we were looking at big boulders.  
I had fun thinking just how fast a person would have to hop from humpy back to humpy back to get to the other side.  Don't think the hippos would like it much!  And they are dangerous!! 

                                                Focus and concentration.  I could learn a lot from her.

 

My apologies!

To any enthusiasts still patiently waiting for the completion of this blog, my humble and huge apologies.  Between some annoying computer problems and day to day distractions that chipped away at time, I allowed myself to get derailed from this worthwhile project.

Will NOW get my blog finished as I work to get my momentum moving in the direction of a completed story -  one that I am proud to say Nick and I actually experienced with all the wonder of kids at an amazing theme park. 

And now,...."the rest of the story".

Day 15. To Eldoret and Nairobi

We departed Lokichogio excited to see more of Kenya from the air and to end our day in historic Nairobi -  a place written about so may times not only in travel books, but in novels of romance, intrigue and adventure.  Our adventure ahead entailed flying over the highest terrain so far.  The day was going to be warm and of course density altitude was a concern for most of us in vintage biplanes.  Density altitude refers to flying conditions that are impacted by the thinner air of high altitudes, humidity and air temperature -- when these three factors spell out thin air, hot air, and moist air airplanes of our category can have a tough time getting to altitude and flying efficiently.

We headed south and flew over amazing vast brown and grassy plains with interesting shaped land masses jutting up in the horizon.  We flew low enough over thatched Masai villages to bring the inhabitants out to look up at us in wonder, long dark arms and hands shielding their eyes from the bright sun.  Some waved as we  waved enthusiastically at them.  I yelled back at Nick - "This is so much fun!!"  He rocked the wings of our plane at them in salutation and on we went.

We saw a small herd of elephants near scrubby thorn trees and a few giraffe beyond them a mile or two.  The terrain started to rise gradually and we got closer to developed farm land.  The terrain turned greener and more lush the closer to Eldoret we got.  On our iPad navigation aids, we could see the 6000' ridges ahead.  The field elevation at the Eldoret airport is 6,945' which means we had to approach it and enter the pattern at about 7,800'.  This was going to be interesting as "Smuggler" did not like climbing in those altitudes.  On the radio, we could hear John Baxter up ahead in his Tiger Moth talking to one of the other Moth pilots about the problem he was having getting his plane up to altitude.  The radio chatter turned to  tips and suggestions of routing that might help get us over the ridges.  Pixie's distinctive voice was easy to hear on the radio and I always enjoyed her updates or making sure those of us bringing up the rear were catching all the messages from the lead plane.
My job while Nick looked closely at the navigation map and flying the plane with an encouraging hand on the controls ("Come on, Smuggler, you can do this") was to keep a close eye out for power  lines -  that's how close we were to the terrain.  The farm land was beautiful and I could see cows and pigs in pens.  In the distance we could see Team Barnstormers Keith and Colin, Team SoCal Pedro, and Team Frog and Kiwi Cedric and Alexandra doing their best to watch what everybody  else was doing to maintain and gain altitude.

Eldoret was just ahead and we still had another 1000' to climb.  Our gal 'Smuggler' literally rose to the occasion and got us over the last ridge with about a hundred feet between us and the crest, and headed towards the field with yet another 700' to climb to be at pattern altitude.

Landing at Eldoret took every bit of skill Nick had to keep the airspeed up in the thinner air while getting the plane to land where he wanted it to knowing that Keith was just behind us and we wouldn't have a lot of time to back taxi to clear the active runway so landing near an "off ramp" to the taxiway was important.  It was a tricky landing and not without some chagrin but it worked and we cleared the runway.

The airport staff were so delighted to see us.  They all wanted their pictures taken in front of our planes.  Cell phones were out in abundance and photos were snapping click, click, click.  We were told a possible shower was coming so we all wanted to refuel as quickly as possible and get on our way to Nairobi - our destination for the next two nights.

The terminal was very  nice and not too busy. Small aircraft including light commuter carriers flew into this airport.  It had a nice coffee shop, restrooms, and security screening.  We took the time to have some coffee and snacks.  The fueling was taking a long time.  The aircraft who landed ahead of us were done with fueling and some had taken off already for the last leg of the day.  As we tended to be among the two or three aircraft that pulled up the rear, we were generally the last to get fuel.  Forty five minutes had gone by and Beatrice, Sam Rutherford's wife, came up to us with a serious look on her face.  She said, "We just got word that the Stearman has crashed in a field about 60 miles out.  John and Bella are okay, but it's a total wreck.  The helicopter is circling back to pick them up."  Our jaws dropped. First, just hearing the opening words, "the Stearman has crashed" was horrible.  Immediately, we thought of John and his lovely,  young daughter Bella.  That they were okay was an incredible relief to us and John Baxter and Norman, Keith and Colin, Cedric and Alexandra.  As soon as our fueling was done, we were eager to get out of Eldoret and catch up with the others and eager to hear more word about the  crash.

Again, density altitude made its mark on our take-off performances.  John and Norman took off first and we watched as they took up practically the whole runway to get airborne.  Their Moth lingered at takeoff altitude for what seemed like a long time before they could accelerate their climb and get more altitude.  Next, Cedric and Alexandra took off and again, they needed every inch of runway to get their bird to fly.  This didn't look so fun to me, but Nick was confident we could get our gal to do what she was designed to do.  We too needed most of the runway to get airborne.  It's a thrill to look  ahead and see the end of the runway approaching and we're still not in the air!  But when it counted, we got 'Smuggler' to indeed do what she was designed to do.

Enroute to Nairobi, we could hear the chatter on the radio between the helicopter flown by Boris and Yulia, and John using a hand held radio giving them directions on how to locate the Stearman wreckage.

 Nairobi is a big city and wouldn't you know it, they have skyscrapers right near the approach end of one of the runways.  A storm cell was moving fast over the city and this caused a sudden change in the wind direction.  The tower had given us clearance to land on runway 07, but Nick could see the wind was stronger out of the south so asked for runway 14 which the tower approved.  We landed and then heard on the radio that one of our members who landed just ahead of us had a tough time and nearly went off the runway because of the wind shift.  Fortunately for all of us, we had hangar space for the night before the rain came.

The next day was a free day.  Nick got up earlier than I to get back out to the airport for an airshow.  I had plans to meet with a local chapter of women who are active in a cause I care about.  Down in the dining room for breakfast, I was so thrilled to see John and Bella in the dining room having breakfast.  I hugged them both and said how happy I was to see them both so unscathed.  It was a very frightening experience for them, of course.  They shared their story with me. The Stearman engine suffered a failure and John broadcasted a mayday over the radio and aimed for a field to land in.  Just close to landing, he suddenly saw a bunch of farmers stand up in the field where they had not been clearly  visible before.  They were looking at him approaching.  John quickly maneuvered the plane to an adjacent field with moments to spare.  Unfortunately, a hard to see wire fence caught the plane and upended it as it crashed into the ground.  John got himself out of his cockpit and immediately feared for Bella who was hanging upside down in her harness and  perfectly still.  His panic swelled as he reached through wreckage for her, then he heard Bella say,  "Dad, are you gonna get me out of here?"    When we hear of airplane accidents, it's easy sometimes to fear and assume the worst because fatalities do happen.  I remembered, though, the accidents in Alaska bush flying where many  pilots and passengers got out okay.  Well, John and Bella's trip in the rally was over now as it was going to be anyway.  The owner of the Stearman, a gentleman from Israel was arriving the next day to retrieve his plane and continue the rally to  Cape Town.  John and Bella flew it across Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia --countries Aharon and his co-pilot preferred to cautiously avoid.  They learned of the crash when they arrived in Nairobi but were very grateful and relieved that John and Bella were spared injury or worse.

At the airshow, Nick, like several other pilots,  took some people up for rides.  On one flight, he flew over a game preserve near Nairobi.  Johannes in the Waco flying behind Nick noticed a black rhino that didn't care for Nick's flying and tried to "chase" the plane.  Nick was low for his passenger to get some good photos, but was unaware of the rhino!

The next morning we were up early to begin our next journey into Tanzania with high hopes of seeing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Approaching a Masai village in the Kenyan wilderness.

Beautiful, wild Kenya.  Enroute to Eldoret.

Getting into rural farming areas at higher elevations as we approach Eldoret.

 Happy Eldoret ground crews wanting to get acquainted with us but mostly "Smuggler".

Enroute to Nairobi, passed this remnant of a volcano crater. 

Beatrice, Nick, Keith, and Bob and aircraft getting tucked away for night in Nairobi.

 Tired Travel Air pilots Pedro and Keith taking it easy at the famous and historic Aero Club of East Africa near the Nairobi airport before we all headed to the hotel.  The early aviators in Africa came here regularly for 'libation' and socializing.

The Aero Club walls are covered with great vintage photos of early aviators in East Africa.

At a luncheon with new friends in Nairobi. 

The happiest picture I've taken on the trip -  A very safe and unhurt John and daughter Bella.

Day 14 November 25. Hello Kenya!

After a night at Gambela's Grand Hotel, I was ready to be up early and off to the airport.  I'm no Morning Lark but an early breakfast and "wheels" at 0700 sounded great.  At the airport, we walked through the terminal that had been our sleeping quarters for two nights before exiting out to the ramp and our airplanes.  I looked around carefully at everything as I didn't want to forget one feature of our detention.

We endured the typical "hurry up and wait" sequence that seemed to go with every lead up to departure. Refueling, taking care of a few maintenance problems, and having our briefings about the upcoming route.  The flight to Lokichogio in northern Kenya was beautiful.  We had to fly carefully to avoid going too far into South Sudan air space.  The terrain around our destination was an interesting blend of sweeping plateau country framed by rocky mountain crests.  Somewhere along this leg, our wayward, character in residence, Maurice, ended up flying deep into  South Sudan.  As he was no longer officially part of our rally, he was indeed making his own decisions.

Our reception at the airport in Lokichogio was such an energetic  and welcoming celebration for us.  High school children in dancing attire danced and sang Masai songs for us.  They jumped in unison nearly two feet off the ground in perfect cadence with the music and showed such enthusiasm for our arrival.  After Ethiopia, we were in the celebratory spirit as well!  Just outside the fence line near the taxiways, about a hundred locals were gathered to  wave at us and eye curiously our aircraft.  This would prove to be one of the greatest highlights of our trip.  No matter where we go in the world, it's the people that make the most impression not only because of what makes them different from us, but because their curiosity reminds us how bonded we all are -- everybody who is alive with spirit wants to know and understand things and people they rarely or never see.  They weren't afraid of us and we weren't afraid of them which goes to show that fear of what we are not willing to understand is the biggest barrier between peace and war.

Our passage through immigration was as breezy and easy as could be.  The officials were very accommodating and friendly.  They must have gotten some details about our experience in Gambela and wanted to show us that we were out of those "woods" and in beautiful, friendly Kenya.

Our lodgings this night were divine.  We stayed at a rural  lodge of thatched roof, round cabins.  The beds had netting, the rooms were comfortable, clean, and no TV or Wifi in the rooms which was okay.  We had wifi in the dining area.  The food and drinks were fabulous.  I was really surprised that in a rural setting as this that the food was so  varied and delicious.  I know for me, this setting was SO wonderful after Gambela that I couldn't find a thing wrong with it!  Praise, praise, praise!  And I slept like a baby.

 Happy dancers at the Lokichogio Airport.

Mountains of northern Kenya

After two nights at the Gambela terminal and one night in the "Grand Hotel", these lodgings were SO nice.  Looks primitive, but we had bathrooms, showers and comfy, four poster beds with netting.

Locals eager and curious hanging on the chain link fence near the taxiway.

Tiger Moth pilots, Brett and Mark SO happy to be in Kenya!

Prepare2Go staffer, Jeremy,  Pipistrael pilot, Wolf, and Waco pilot Johann all very happy too! After days without electronic devices, Wolf was quick to get on line and let friends back in Germany know he was okay.