Into the Wild Blue Yonder...

I woke up this morning at 6:30 without an alarm.
I keep checking the same lists over and over and over again.
I have been loading my iPod with tons of NPR podcasts.
I have been listening to "Africa" by Toto on repeat for about 24 hours.

Time to go to Africa, hon! 

I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since my last trip (I also can't believe that the last thing I wrote about was a Kenyan Reality TV Competition.  Woof.), but I am super excited about this trip.  5 days after I land in Kenya, I will be joined by 7 young adults for a 3 week Come & See Mission trip.  This is the dream, why I started working for the AJs in the first place, and what I have been working towards for 2 and a half years.  It was heartbreaking when I had to cancel the trip last year, but I have been feeling lately that this is how it was all supposed to happen. 

Since 5 of the 7 Come & See participants are medical students at Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine (including my awesome sister Allie!), this trip will have a medical focus.  When the group arrives, we will spend our first week in Kenya at the Apostles of Jesus AIDS Ministry (AJAM) in Kiserian, Rift Valley.  Then we will drive to Tanzania for a few days of safari adventures (Ngorongoro Crater!), before flying to Uganda to work at the Queen of the Apostles Medical Center at Lima Farm in Nakaseke. 

It is going to be a pretty intense three weeks!

I am going to do my best to keep this blog up to date.  I'm also hoping to have some guest bloggers, so you can hear from the people with whom I am traveling.  Of course, as ever, all of this is contingent on decent internet access. 

Be well, dear readers.  The next time you hear from me, I'll be on East African time!

On the Road Again

It's hard to believe I've only been home for 3.5 months.  So much has happened!  On April 20th, I achieved a lifelong goal of becoming an aunt (though I admit that my sister Cassy did do most of the heavy lifting).  On June 16th we welcomed another new member to the family when my sister Steph married the man of her dreams.  There has been joy, celebration, hellos and goodbyes.

And now it is time to return to Africa.

This time I will be traveling in Kenya and Tanzania, retracing some familiar routes and exploring new ones.  I don't want to give anything away, but I am finally going to experience the East African coast!

And here's the kicker, the icing on the cake, the Triunfo del Amor...


My MOM (aka Fred) is coming with me!

It has been her dream since high school, maybe longer, to travel to Africa.  It is a gross understatement to say that she is wildly excited about the trip.  She will be with me for 2 weeks, and I will stay on for an additional 3 weeks.  You will be hearing from her in a "guest-blogger" capacity.  (Which is lucky for everyone, because she is a much better writer than I am.)  This is the first time she and I have traveled together since we famously tackled Ireland and northern England back in 1998.  We are long overdue for a reunion tour.

Look out, world! Here we come!

Internet, I've Missed You So!

So far this trip, I have been to 3 different countries, received 9 stamps in my passport, seen monkeys, wildebeest, zebras, and baboons in the wild, and have covered over 1300 km on the road.

And I'm only about half-way done!

I started writing this on an absolutely gorgeous afternoon in Bukoba, Tanzania, on March 5^th, my sixth day since traveling from Nairobi. At the time, I didn't have any internet, but I had a rare bout of free-time, and got some pre-emptive blogging done. The journey has been phenomenal! We took 3 days to drive from Nairobi to Bukoba, spending our first night in Sirari (where I heard about the plight of the Albinos), and our second night in Mwanza. We first descended into the Rift Valley via a road constructed in 1942 by Italian POWs; those men also built a small church, nestled right at the bottom of the escarpment, a perfect pocket of peace and tranquility. From there, we drove through Maaimahiu, which means “hot springs/water”, then Narok, then past 3 gates of the Masai Mara Game Preserve, Sotik, Kisii, and finally to the border to Tanzania. From Sirari, we drove through Tarime, stopped for lunch at the newly appointed Cathedral of the recently formed Diocese of Bunda, drove across the western tip of the Serengeti where we saw Wildebeests-a-plenty, and on to Mwanza, the “City of Rocks” on Lake Victoria. After Mwanza, we took a 30 minute ferry to Busisi (saving approximately 6 additional hours of driving- and this is a brand new ferry!), through the gold/mineral mining town of Geita, drove along the southwest rim of Lake Victoria and arrived at our destination- Bukoba! Much more on that later, I promise.

This is the first time I've had internet access since our brief stay in Mwanza, so I'm going to post a lot of updates from the Nairobi-Tanzania leg of the journey before delving into my adventures in Uganda, the Pearl of Africa!

And We're Off!

Tomorrow morning I get back on the road. Fr. Kamanzi, Fr. John, and I will be circumnavigating Lake Victoria (I know, right?!) by way of Sirari (a small town at the Kenya-Tanzania border) and Mwanza on our way to Bukoba, where Fr. Kamanzi is from. After a few days there, Fr. Kamanzi will return to Nairobi and Fr. John and I will travel with My Man Godfrey (!!!) to Uganda, where we will stay for about 9 days. This is my first time to Uganda, and I am excited to finally see in person the "Pearl of Africa". I'll be coming back to Nairobi on the Ides of March (sorry to be missing the annual Pressimone party, but I brought my tee-shirt, so it'll be ok), just in time to introduce all of these Africans to the glories of St. Patty's Day (I am spreading the word that they will be expected to wear green.) I wonder if I can get my hands on some Guinness before that...

Like I said, I don't know what internet access will be like, but whether I am able to post or not, I will keep writing! Thanks for reading!

Internet for a Few Days More

Hello, all! I have just returned to Nairobi from a wild weekend in Arusha. I was greeted like family and fed like they were fattening the calf. And the beer.... oof. So. Much. Beer. My liver is grateful for a little break.

While we were there, we visited every AJ Mission in driving distance. I will be posting some tales from the journey over the next couple of days. On Wednesday, we hit the road again, this time for the lake region of Tanzania on our way to Uganda. Who knows what internet access will be like, but I will try to pop in as often as I can.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Travel Update

Friends, I hope that you are enjoying these posts! I am doing my best to keep it interesting.

Tomorrow, Fr. John and I are traveling by public transportation to Arusha, Tanzania until Monday. I do not know what internet access will be like, but I remember it being sparse during my last visit there. So, if you do not hear from me for a little while, worry not! I will continue to write posts whether I can publish them or not. I'm excited about my first experience with the public transportation, and I am especially grateful that Fr. John will be accompanying me.

I will make sure to give a big update next week before I depart for Bukoba, Tanzania, with Fr. Kamanzi.

Kwa heri!