Apr 21, 2012 | Written by Patricia Murphy

7 Weeks to Go

The trip to Africa is getting so close. We feel nearly ready. Seven weeks from today we’ll be boarding a flight to Atlanta where we’ll then board a flight to Amsterdam. We will spend two nights in the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam recovering from  jet lag (it’s a 10 hour time difference) and touring around the city. John has never been to Amsterdam and I have not been there since 1991.

From Amsterdam we have a direct flight to Kilamanjaro airport. Our guide will pick us up and take us to our home for another 2 nights, the Dikdik Hotel. We’ll have 3 nights total at the Dikdik, 2 before the hike and 1 after the hike. I wonder how we’ll feel before and after.

Our climb starts on Thursday June 14. I give specifics about that in another post. The short version is we will be walking for 8 days and sleeping for 7 nights on the mountain.

Kilimanjaro

After a recovery night in the DikDik, we’ll head for safari to the Ngorongoro Crater. We’ll be staying at the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.

Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge

After 3 nights in the lodge and 2 days viewing wildlife in the crater, we’ll move on to the Serengeti. This will be a fun adventure for 2 nights, since we’re staying in the Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp.

Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp

Our guide will then take us to the Serengeti Airport, where we’ll catch a flight to Zanzibar. We’ll have 3 lovely days and nights of recovery at Diamonds Star of the East.

To get home we have to take 4 airplanes so I hope it goes well. Zanziabar to Dar Es Salaam to Amsterdam to Detroit to Phoenix. It will be a long day of travel and I think we’ll be plenty tired.