Out of Africa
Trip Start
Jul 24, 2012
1
27
Trip End
Aug 19, 2012
Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Sunday, August 19, 2012
We quickly got over to Terminal 1 for our domestic flight to Manchester and immigration were very interested about where I had been, where I was going, if I was going back to work etc, etc – still they were very cheery and it made a nice change from how we were greeted when we got back from our big trip – I wondered if everyone had been intensively trained prior to the Olympic Games?
As expected Andrew wanted to find somewhere which served a proper breakfast so after scanning the menus and finding Rwandan coffee (after missing it at the Genocide museum in Kigali) on the menu at Giraffe we found a table. Andrew ordered a breakfast and we both had a coffee – my heart burn was still killing me so I declined any food. We killed some time in Dixons - Andrew loves these types of shops looking at cameras etc – I would rather poke my own eyes out.
We killed some more time with The Observer reading all about the Olympics which we had sadly missed but had caught whatever we could when we had tv and internet access – hoping to get the box set at Christmas – he he. After enquiring about whether we would be able to change our flight to the earlier one and finding that as we had checked our bags through to Manchester we couldn’t we were surprised to see that now we weren’t on the 2.05 but the 12.15 – result.
So we arrived back in Manchester at 1.15pm and got a black cab home. It had been such a great trip, meeting the best people, seeing some of the most incredible animals and visiting some amazing countries. Our first proper trip in to Africa had been enlightening. Here’s some things we didn’t expect though:
To know what cheese triangles tasted like semi-frozen
To know how it feels to stare in to the eyes of a Gorilla and have them stare back
Mosquito bands don't work - the only bites I got were on my hands and feet right near them!
That our feet would be permanently filthy
To meet someone who had got to 30 and had never chopped an onion (love you Ariel)
The amount of dust a road can throw up – our hair looked as if we’d dyed it red
How good a Warbie’s loaf really is
That we would really appreciate the back on a chair (not a camping stool)
The amount of waving involved (my bingo wings are significantly firmer)
The amount of crap we would eat (crisps & biscuits on the truck)
Just how much we enjoy a powerful, hot shower
The scar a Tsetse fly bite can leave (I didn't feel it bite though)
How many pre-6am wake ups there would be
Just how bumpy the roads would be
How much fun we would have
The great people we would meet
To walk – with flip flops through human waste
How good red wine is when supped out of a camping cup, round a camp-fire, with friends – IN A CHILLY AFRICA!
