Today started out pretty calm.  The Internet was working; I was able to post my daily thoughts; a tasty vege and cheese omelet for breakfast; and then off to the airstrip. While we were waiting I showed my photos from the Masaai village we visited outside the Ngorongoro Crater because the two guys who drove us from the lodge were from that area.  They laughed and enjoyed looking at them because they knew some of the people in the photos.  I felt like the mayor of Kogatende: greeting the other passengers that I had met along the way at other lodges or airstrips (you tend to see the same tourists again and again on these trips because people move in similar patterns), and then I saw Cody, a pilot for TSA.  He had stayed an evening at Sayari Lodge and we had some yucks and he let me know that passengers were welcome to sit in the cockpit during flights – all I had to do is ask the pilot.

Sooooooooooooooooo like a 12-yr old nerd, I could not wait for the plane to arrive and ride in the cockpit.  The plane was delayed about 40 minutes or so.  I could not contain my excitement so I danced around while listening to the song of the day in my head, which happened to be “Word Up” by Cameo (at least I think that was the name).  FYI: with these flights there is no security check and no set time for arrival or departure.  If your flight is scheduled to leave at 10:30AM, you are advised to arrive at the airstrip at least 30 minutes early.  If your flight arrives ahead of schedule and you are not there, they will not wait for you to arrive – they’ll leave without you.

When our plane arrived (Coastal Air), I asked the pilot, Mikel, if I could ride in the cockpit and he said yes.  Woooohoooooooo!!! I climbed into the seat and he showed me how to strap in and how to open my door when it was time to exit.  I took lots of pictures. There is one that is especially funny because Veta is in the background and it truly sums up our relationship: I am bouncing around, often making a complete idiot of myself and she is watching rolling her eyes probably thinking, “What a jackass.” The sad part is…she is right and with a capital J.

It was a smooth flight and Mikel and I landed the plane without any bumps in Tarime, where we met up with a mother (Bianca) and daughter (Eva) and grandmother (Shirley) who were headed to Masaai Mara as well.  They were originally from South Africa, but now are American citizens living in Los Angeles.

Getting our visas stamped to leave on the Tanzanian side was a breeze, but the Kenyan side was another story.  First of all no pictures can be taken in the area surrounding the customs double-wide shack.  I did manage to snap a few while in the van.  Once we parked, the five of us were told to get in line for customs. All five of us got in the single line of about 30 people. Most were buying visas, but Veta and I already had ours so we just needed to be photographed, fingerprinted, and visas stamped. Bianca, Eva, and Shirley had to buy visas so we knew we would have to wait for them before driving to the Migori Airstrip to fly to the Masaai Mara.  The line behind us grew by another 20 people or so and then this rangy, grungy looking man wearing an Adventures of Tin Tin T-shirt pushed his way into customs and made an arrangement with one of the guys inside to push his group of 24 tourists to the front of the line to have their visa processed ahead of all of us in the line.

Shirley, who was nearest the doorway, heard what was happening and said to the smarmy tour guide, “That is not right; you must get in line like everyone else.”

He replied, “We are a tour group of 24.”

Shirley hollered, “We are a group.”

The tour guide snapped, “I went inside and asked and we are being processed,” and he started ushering a line of 24 German or Austrian people ahead of the line.

Shirley tried to go inside to speak to a customs officer and two of the interloping tourists blocked her way.  When she tried to wedge herself by them, one of the men pushed her. Then Bianca, defending her mother, pushed the man back hollering, “You cannot push a 70 year-old woman.” Then all hell broke loose. I started shouting and Veta was shouting and then the people behind us started shouting.  One of the customs officers popped his head out of the window to see what was happening and Veta and I started yelling that 24 people were trying to cut the line and it is not fair. They should get in line like everyone else. I kept yelling over and over, “This is not fair. It is not right that they should cut the line.” Then all the customs officers came to the entrance to tell the angry mob to quiet down, but we wouldn’t we kept yelling at pointing to the man in the Tin Tin shirt and his tour group screaming they should wait in line like everyone else.

Not wanting a riot, the customs officers told Tin Tin and his gang to get to the back of the line and wait like everyone else. I kindly pointed to the last person in the line and hollered to get behind them.  Then this huge guy came out to see what was happening.  He looked like a 6 ft Yaphet Koto.  I could tell he was the head of the customs office by the way he strolled out to take charge. He bellowed for everyone to stop shouting and asked what the problem was.  I have been searched on a train by border people when traveling in Eastern Europe and it is not pleasant. I could tell he was not the man to mess with so I loudly said to the crowd, “Let’s be quiet. There is no problem because the people who cut the line have been told to get to the back.” Bianca pointed at Tin Tin and the big customs officer looked at him and told him he had to wait in line like everyone else.  Tin Tin ushered his people to the back of the line.  The customs person told Bianca to go ahead in and then she pointed to two local men and said they had been ahead of her. So the big customs honcho told the two guys to go in.

I could not contain myself and started laughing uncontrollably.  The whole incident just seemed so insane. Bianca looked at us and hollered, “Woman power!”  I looked inside the office and even the customs officers were laughing.  Veta and I were in and out within 5 minutes, but Bianca, Shirley, and Eva took longer because they had to pay and wait for their visas.  As I strolled by the line of locals who had been watching the riot with glee, I hollered, “Those mazungus better get to the back of the line.” They all started laughing and gave me a nod.  Mazungu is the Swahili word for white people.

Veta and I walked around a bit to see the border town.  I wanted to get a picture of the Crime Office, which was a two-room shack.  I went inside to see if I could photograph the building. The lights were off and there were 6 men sitting at a long table. They told me no photos could be taken so I left. As we headed back to our van, this Dutch family who had been behind us in the line started clapping for us and wanted to take our picture. I struck a boxing pose, but then some officials came and told the man he was not allowed to take pictures.

But the best part of this story, a true cherry on top moment, TinTin was detained by the customs people and taken to the crime office for questioning.  While Bianca, Ava, and Shirley were waiting for their passports, they saw the customs official ask to see TinTin’s papers for conducting tours. He replied that he did not need them. The officer said that he did. Then TinTin lied and said that this was his first time leading a tour into Kenya, which is why he did not need papers. Then the customs official said that was not true because he had seen him there many times with tour groups. TinTin had to admit that he had no papers so he was taken into the back for questioning and his entire group was stuck and had to wait even longer.  Moral of the story: wait in line like everyone else especially when you are operating and illegal business.

By the time we got to the Migori Airstrip, we were an hour late.  We said our goodbyes and got on different planes.  On the flight, we met two Australian women who had been travelling on safari. We apologized for our lateness and told them about the border fight.  They too chuckled and said men should learn not to mess with strong women.

The flight made one stop for their lodge and then we continued another 15 minutes to our lodge: Sanctuary Olenana.  It’s a very lovely lodge and the staff is very pleasant.  Veta was happy to see our tent has a hairdryer.  Because it draws a lot of power, it can only be used from 6am-10am and 6pm-10pm.  Our ten has a lovely deck and a perfect view of the Mara River. Isaac, out tent attendant told us that we are in the tent that the hippos like to visit.  As I am writing now, I can hear them outside munching on some nearby bushes.

We had a delicious lunch: beet salad, fresh fettuccini with pesto, and a chocolate mousse for dessert. After we ate, we did a bit of shopping at their craft shop and then went on our game drive.  We saw the usual suspects: giant herds of wildebeest (those that had migrated from the Serengeti), giraffes, zebras, warthogs, impalas.  Then we drove a bit more and saw five lions feasting on a wildebeest.  The lions’ faces and paws were smeared with blood and they were just munching and ripping the poor thing to threads.  At one point the wildebeest’s hind legs were up in the air as the lions repositioned the body to tear at its flesh. The largest female who must have eaten her fill was passed out under a nearby tree.  I could just see her big belly rising and falling with breaths of exhaustion.

We drove a bit more and came upon a male and a female lion. They had just finished mating and were exhausted.  Our guide Duncan circled them so we could take photos from every angle.  It was around 6PM so he drove us back to our camp for sundowner cocktails and dinner.

Tomorrow morning we head out at 6:30AM and our top priority is to see a crossing.  We are sharing the car with two other couples.  The couple from Japan who only have one day left in the Mara want to see the crossing so we agreed to let them set the schedule since they are leaving soon. The British couple from Dubai is going ballooning in the morning and will join us later. They will be here for 4 nights so I am sure they will agree and I guess too bad if they don’t.