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If there were any hangovers
this morning they were yet to show. Everybody had packed their bags, and
placed them on the expedition truck for the last time, and it was time
to leave for our flight from Kigali to Nairobi, and onwards to Heathrow.
Time first
of all for a bit of shopping, and Marcell took us to a local crafts market
in Kigali, where many of us did our last-minute shopping. We arrived at
the airport, unloaded our bags, and all said our goodbyes to our
crew, Marcell, Jules, Dennis & Johannes. For them it was another
week in Kigali - a week they were not looking |
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forward to. Time for them to
do a little maintenance on the truck, clean the tents, and
restock. A week later they were to pick up another group - only
9 this time - for the trip in reverse. We were soon on our way
with Rwandan Air to Nairobi - a very pleasant flight which took
us back over Lake Victoria. From the air, its sheer vastness
could be appreciated - A little
over an hour later we were touching down in Nairobi. Here we
were faced with a wait of around 7 hours. Fortunately, Nairobi
is quite a modern airport, with quite an extensive range of
shops to browse. We had a complimentary meal courtesy of Kenyan Airways,
and at midnight we were on our way home. Our nine |
hour flight gave us a bit of a chance to catch up on some sleep, and at 6.25 am local time we
were landing at Heathrow. It took us another 25 minutes to make it to
the gate - noise restrictions mean that any aircraft landing before 7am
must be towed in. Nancy and I then had to dash across to Terminal 1 by the
Heathrow Express to catch our 9.45am BMI flight back to Inverness.
Another delay - this time caused by a technical fault and it was
12 noon by the time we took off.
A little over an hour later we were
descending across the snowfields of the Scottish Highlands - We were
home. |
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Post-script notes
Following our return - we had numerous e-mails from the
friends we had made on our trip, and from other people
who had themselves made a similar trip - it was great to
hear from them. Maybe it was a sort of therapy - I am
sure many do the same - but we were soon thumbing
through the brochures and hammering the search engines
on the web to seek out our next adventure. Our group
leader Marcell - as we left him - was about to
lead his last overland trip. Plans were already afoot to
put all his experience and expertise to good use,
in the setting up of his own lodge and tented camp in
Rwanda , in company with his partner Sarah. As I write
this in January of 2006, their plans are taking shape.
If you wish to keep track of progress - visit their
website. Should you be planning a trip to Rwanda -
you will be in good hands.
www.elgantafrica.com
And now 12 months on - January 2006- we have decided on a trip to Southern
Tanzania - a "Remote Ruaha & Selous Safari" with
Explore Travel. As we are gathering things together for
the trip, our attention has already turned to 2007.
Africa, once again, we feel sure will be the
destination, with Botswana at present being the hot
favourite - but South America is starting to emerge on
the horizon for the future. Watch this space - and to
all our friends from the "Gorillas & Masai Mara" trip in
January 2006 - we would love to hear from you.
Drop us an
e-mail
Nancy & Bill,
January 2006
AFRICA 2006 - CLICK HERE |
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