While an upgrade to business class on any trip is always a treat, a surprise one is even better. I didn't apply for that first Halifax to Montreal leg for my trip back to East Africa, preferring to save my accumulated upgrade travel points for the long hauls, but as I boarded in Halifax I was given a new seat up front with the big wigs, my travel points in tact! The trip just kept getting better. As I sort myself into my posh seat out of Halifax, I recognize a face, and it just happens to be the Captain of the rig I'll be flying to in southern Tanzania. Not someone I expected to run into a ten minute drive from my house, both destined for two full days of travel....to the same remote spot!
One leg down, over beers and the last Canadian hamburger I'll see for six weeks, in a fancy restaurant in Montreal's International departure lounge, my new friend and I watch huge Airbus A380's push their throttles into take-off and the fresh rain on the tarmac behind them creates a maelstrom before they slowly start to move, quickly gaining momentum, vapour trails spinning off the wing tips, as fluid dynamics works it magic and the massive aircraft eventually lifts her nose, the wheels escape the runway, and off they roar into the gloom, bound for Singapore, if the plane's livery is any indication. I love watching planes take off, and A380's departing in rain raises the bar.
Relegated back to coach for the Zurich to Dar flight, with a quick stop in Nairobi, I find myself seated by a khaki dressed outdoorsy looking gentleman, who happens to be an Austrian balloon pilot. He has spent the last twenty five years buzzing elephants low level across the planes of Maasai Mara, within the shade of Kilimanjaro, in balloons full of paying tourists. Having also crossed the Swiss alps, the Sahara itself a few times, Turkey, Sri Lanka, and a long list of places I've forgotten, the stories made the trip to Nairobi quite a pleasure. I took his website address down for if I ever get to Massai Mara, I'll be looking him up and taking a balloon ride.
Another benefit to this routing I had not taken before was the entire route, short of the hop across the pond, would be in daylight. I've always done the trip at night. First we watched the massive mountains of Austria pass beneath us, where my balloon pilot friend pointed out his house and we chatted about Reinhold Messner and other famous mountaineers that I've read about, and that he actually knew.
It was quite amazing to be flying over the endless deserts of Egypt, or at least, to be able to see the endless expanse of sand while doing it. I tried to capture the view, but the frosted windows at 39,000 feet and -55 Celsius made photography nigh impossible so I just sat back and took it in. We first crossed the Nile itself as we left Egypt and headed into Sudan airspace, and overhead Khartoum, looking down at the glittering silver roofs of tin, like the sun shimmering over the ripples of a pond, all the sandy streets aligned in a perfect grid. The life water brings readily apparent as man redirects and contains it to suit his needs in such a harsh environment, into endless miles of rectangular fields in a quilt work of natural colours, from deep green and browns to sand and everything in between.
The rainy season is still upon East Africa, and it's not the towering cumulus surrounding us that gives away the time of year, but the sea of deep dark green as we fly over Tanzania, everything looking lush, alive and flourishing. I'm soon working my way through Tanzanian passport control and looking for Ali, my ride to the Holiday Inn for the night, before continuing on to Mtwara next morning. I eventually find myself in an open air bar on a roof top in Dar es Salaam, sipping on my gin and tonic as African music washes over me. Dar es Salaam means "Haven of Peace", and I think I've found some.
No comments:
Post a Comment