Around 10 am we arrive at the airport, and wait for our chartered plane to arrive.  It is here, now, that we finally have to admit that we are leaving, flying back to "civilization", ending our dream of the wilds of Africa.  It is too much for Michelle and others to take, and the tears start flowing.  Heck, some of the guys were choked up, me included.

Wednesday, July 27.  Can this really be happening?  Is it time to leave already?  We've only just started to know Tanzania, and have so much left to learn, to see, to know, to experience.  How could 12 days have passed so suddenly, how can time be so cruel that it speeds up when it should be slowing down?  How do we say good bye....
 
We wake at 6 am and prepare for our last breakfast in Tanzania.  The group is a bit somber this morning, as we are all asking the same questions.  But we have a wonderful buffet, and talk about maybe getting together for a five year reunion in 2010.  A long time away, but something to think about.
 
At about 8 am we load up and head for the local Serengeti Airport.  It is nothing more than a grass strip in the middle of the Serengeti, where the pilot has to avoid the local wildlife when taking off or landing.  Fortunately, the government provides a ground staff to clear the runway, and it is completely safe to operate from this  field.

Our departure is uneventful, and we head for Arusha.  As we look down we see that Abu, Willie and Samson have waited for our flight to leave, and are waving at us as we take off.  This is our last glimpse of these wonderful people, these men that have ingrained themselves into our daily life for the last 12 days, these friends that we will never forget.  We can only hope that they feel somewhat the same about us.  While we fly in comfort for an hour or so to Arusha, they begin an eight hour journey to the same place, with empty vehicles, on very rough and dusty roads.  We hope they arrive safe and sound.
 
We are met at Arusha by two other Thomson staff.  They collect us and our luggage, and we drive back to the gift shop where we left our purchases earlier in the trip.  About noon we then check into the Mt. Meru hotel, where we have lunch and a day room.  We take showers, rest a bit, have a Tusker, play a bit of cards, and try to occupy ourselves until the 6 pm departure for the one hour ride to Kilimanjaro International Airport.
 
When it's time to leave, we have to say good bye to Sandi and Dave at the hotel.  They have extended their vacation to take another trip in Tanzania, and will not leave until tomorrow.  There are tears in the hotel parking lot as we bid them farewell, promising to keep in touch.
 
The next many hours are typical end-of-vacation travel.  We arrive at Kilimanjaro at 7 pm and check in for the 9 pm flight.  We then fly an hour to Dar es Salam, where we have an hour layover, but cannot get off the plane.  Then we fly about nine hours to Amsterdam, where we have about a 7 hour layover. 
 
In Amsterdam we say good bye to Jack and Lindy, as they have a direct flight to Atlanta where they live.  There are more tears and hugs, then they are gone.  Paul and Pam, Nick and Julie, and Tom and Erika decide that they are going to take the metro into Amsterdam for some touring.  Michelle and I and Russ decide to pass, so we stay at the airport, where we get something to eat, and go to an internet cafe to check e-mail and check in for our State-side flights.
 
At 2:10 pm we depart for Boston, another seven or so hours in the air.  Once we get to Boston, we have our final meeting in baggage claim, where there are MORE tears and hugs.  Then we gather our bags, and we go our separate ways.  Our next flight is not scheduled to leave for three hours, but we catch an earlier flight, and make it back to Daytona Beach about midnight Thursday night.  We get home about 1 am Friday, totally exhausted.  It has been 48 hours from when we left the Serengeti Serena Lodge to the time we get home.
 
As I write this final page, three weeks later, it is still hard to believe that it all really happened.  This was a dream of Michelle's, and became a dream of mine.  Although I have written a lot over the last dozen pages, I still fall speechless when asked to describe what we saw, who we met, what we experienced, what we learned, the friends we made.  There are just no words that one so simple as I can find that would do justice to the beauty, wonder, and power of those days in Tanzania.
 
The best I can do is say Thank You to my wife, our friends, Thomson, and most importantly, the Lord above for blessing us with such a wonderful life, and allowing us the opportunity to experience Tanzania.