Adventures with Julia

September 17, 2018

Istanbul Airport

We have just completed our first experience on Turkish Airlines and it was an excellent experience.   Our seats were side by side with plenty of room for our legs and stuff.  The meal was a 4-course affair complete with a white clad chef serving us.  The appetizer course came with several selections on a cart and we chose whatever we wanted.  All very appetizing and tasty.  Then came the individually plated entre.  Mark had raviolis and I had salmon.  Last came a cart filled with dessert selections.  Dinner took about 2 hours and was quite lovely.  Then we slid our seats into the flat position, made our beds with pillows and blankets, turned out the lights and went to sleep.  We both slept well.  Mark actually slept for 6 hours, the most he has ever slept in a plane and I slept about 7 hours.  About an hour out of Istanbul we had a fruit and yogurt breakfast, brushed our teeth and were ready for the day.  Wow! Travel should always be that good.

Istanbul Airport scene

Now we are in the crowded Istanbul International Airport, waiting for our flight to Kigali and Entebbe.  There are so many people, it is hard to keep from being jostled and not lose sight of each other.

September 18, 2018

Protea Hotel, Entebbe

The flight from Istanbul to Entebbe was pretty exciting as we witnessed a huge lightning storm out our windows for about 20 minutes over Juba, Ethiopia. Just like July 4 fireworks.  Our arrival into Entebbe went more smoothly than we have ever experienced.  We were first in the immigration line to get our visas. Papers were in order thanks to Mark’s efforts and no stressful questions were asked.  Just “welcome to Uganda”.   All our bags appeared as soon as the carousel started. In the final checkout at customs, the agent wanted to see what I had in the 2 heavy bags.  I opened one and took out one of the 250 recorders we were carrying. I demonstrated it for him and he got excited, tried it and wanted one.  I told him they were for poor children in the countryside and he graciously let me go.  Close call. I thought he was going to insist.  We were out of the building before our hotel driver expected us.  Not knowing if or when he would appear, we took a cab to the hotel. The hotel was only a mile away, but we were charged $10 anyway.  The front desk very nicely reimbursed us.

Once in the room we were wide awake (6pm at home), but went to bed anyway as it was 4am here.   When we got up at 9:30am, we saw Lake Victoria out the window, got dressed and went to breakfast on the patio.  The air is warm and humid, but pleasant in the shade. The experience is a bit like being on Lake Tahoe, except this lake is many times larger and looks more like the ocean than a lake.  Unlike Tahoe, the landscape is flat and the far sides are out of sight.  Although the water is much warmer, there are no tourists motoring around or swimming.   Most people staying here are attending meetings or conventions.

Lake Victoria in front of Protea Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda

Our program for the day was to find Distilled water for one of our guests and repack our bags so Scott can take some of our weight in the vehicle he will be driving tomorrow.  Jean, Mark and I will take a domestic flight to Mweye with a reduced baggage allowance. Both Scott and Jean arrive this afternoon and we want to save them some trouble and time.

Deo, the driver assigned to help us find the water, drove us all over Entebbe stopping at every pharmacy and grocery store, with no luck.  Finally, Mark suggested we try the hospital.  Lucky idea.  The stuff is called De-mineralized water here and comes in 5-gallon containers.  The nurse had a container with only 3 gallons in it, so we bought the can and water both.  It was pretty expensive, but we were pleased to have found what we needed. Back at the hotel, we repacked and relaxed.

Protea Hotel pool with Lake Victoria beyond. Mark is under the red awning.  We have the place to ourselves.

Late afternoon we heard from Scott and Jean that they had arrived in Entebbe.  We will meet them for breakfast in the morning.  Halima, the operations manager for Uganda Safari Co. will join us to review the details of the itinerary we have been planning for over a year.  Our 8 guests will arrive at different times tomorrow and begin their adventure on the 20th.  Meanwhile, the 4 of us will travel to Mweye Lodge where we will collect our thoughts, plans and energy to be ready to greet the group on the 21st when they arrive by charter flight at the Mweye air strip.

Mark just went lights out.  Guess I will too.