Life's a Stitch

I’m delayed in posting this. Two days after our return I was hit with what was probably the flu. I’m reminded yearly flu shots don’t last forever. It’s been a slog that spanned a couple of weeks. The happy side of the delay was having our elder grandson here for a week during spring break

and Mari and KC here for Easter:

Back to Africa:

We had to leave earlier than planned to get to the Kilimanjaro airport, a 1.25 hour drive. It was the day of a summit of the presidents of the eight countries of East Africa and the road was scheduled for closure for security reasons.

It was shopping day and we passed many displays of household goods and clothing.

Shoes:

Furniture:

An artist’s gallery:

We waited a long time for the check in gate to open, then found our way to lunch. Finally I had the opportunity to eat a delicious chipsi mayai, a popular Tanzanian street food made with fries and eggs, similar to Spanish Tortilla (potato omelet).

As we waiting to board we saw one of the presidents leaving.

As we took off we saw the top of Kilimanjaro:

Our first layover was in Nairobi, the place of our arrival. It was a bit of a disaster involving a phone left on the first plane and its recovery, and the breakage of two of three special bottles of wine from the duty free. The next two flights were 8.5 and 9 hours. Yup, it was a trying 28 hours.

We flew over Greenland, Canada’s soulmate when it comes to a threatened takeover by the US.

Finally home, we reflected on a wonderful experience despite the arduous travel time. With the exception of the Camino de Santiago, it was the best trip we’ve ever taken,

Home sweet home: