Saturday, July 16.  Day 1, the beginning.  Sounds a little melodramatic, I know, but it is truly the beginning of a journey that neither of us could imagine, where neither of us knew how it would end.  Our first completely arranged tour, we were somewhat nervous. But we trusted our research, and we trusted Thomson Safaris.
 
So, off we go to the Daytona Beach airport at 6:45 am.  Our Delta flight leaves for Atlanta at 8:41, and while we live only 30 minutes from the airport, we wanted to make sure we got there in time.  We arrive and check our luggage through to Boston, where we will pick up the tour flights.  We have a four hour layover in Boston, and I am concerned that we will have enough time to collect our luggage from the Delta baggage claim, catch a bus to the international terminal, and get checked in for our Northwest Airlines flight to Amsterdam.  I need not have worried, we ended up with a couple of hours to spare.
 
Speaking of luggage, we are limited to a single duffel bag each, no more than 36" long and 14" in diameter, and a backpack that we can carry on the plane.  We are also limited to a maximum of 33 pounds luggage, as we will be making a flight in a small plane.  We thought it would be difficult to get 12 days of clothes in that size bag, but with good planning, and some suggestions from the Thomson group, we did fine.  We only had to have a little laundry done once while on safari.
 
It is really happening, and it is hard to believe that it has been six months since we put our deposit on the trip.  We are filled with excitement and trepidation.  Another adventure awaits us!  Who will we meet?  How will we be treated?  What animals will we see?  Will everything be as promised by Thomson?  So many questions, and all the answers await us…
 
Our flights to Atlanta, and then on to Boston, are uneventful.  We get our luggage checked in at Boston, head through security, and find something to eat.  In the food court we see others with Thomson Safari baggage tags on their backpacks, and strike up a conversation.  We meet Dale and Jane and their son, aka Tarzan and Jane and Boy (you'll see that we end up giving almost everyone a nickname).  They are on a different Thomson Safari, at the same time as ours.  We'll end up seeing them numerous times during our trip, and they are as excited as we are.
 
Finally, we load up the Northwest Airlines Boeing 767 for the seven hour flight to Amsterdam.  I requested seat assignments as soon as we could, and ended up scoring emergency exit seats on the NW flights between Boston and Amsterdam and back.  While they were not as comfortable as business class, we had legroom to spare.
 
We depart on time, and soon we are jetting across the Atlantic to Holland.  Day 1 ends with us cat napping and dreaming of the adventures to come.