It's Me, Again

Ch. 36 (Dylan)

As we left the hotel to head back to the airport, the city lights were still glittering and the sky was a light grey blue. It was dawn and we were a mess of emotions. Tired, excited for the next part of our trip, and sad to leave Dubai before we got to really explore. Silent goodbyes to the city were said from the taxi windows and we were off to embark on the main part of our trip.

Compared to our 13 hour trip to Dubai, the 5 hour flight to Nairobi was a cake walk. We were able to nap for most of it as the jet lag was finally catching up to us. From Nairobi we had to take a separate flight into Serengeti National Park and this is where the light luggage was key. Kate and I spent hours poring over every single item we wanted to/needed to take with us on this trip and figuring out luggage weight down to the ounce. The small flight that takes guests into the national park is a propeller plane and has strict weight guidelines. I don't really need much, but being a guy - and a fairly tall one - even my lightest of clothes are bulky and take up space. Don't even get me started on how many Marie Kondo videos Kate sent my way on how to fold my clothes to maximize space. Kate packed a lot of things that she could wear with multiple outfits so she could maximize her clothing pieces and pack less. What was really going to weigh her down was her camera equipment. Lizzie hooked us up through a friend at the ultra posh Four Seasons and the hotel lends out camera equipment to guests. And I'm talking about nice equipment like telephoto lenses and all that stuff that I don't really know too much about. As devastated as Kate was that she couldn't bring much of her own gear, she knew it would weigh too much so she only brought the bare necessities and kept the really heavy gear at home.

The propeller plane was an adventure to say the least. I felt like we were in some Indiana Jones movie. Kate was a little nervous, but I assured her we were perfectly safe and I put a brave smile on. I was holding my breath whenever the plane dipped though.

As soon as we landed, I thanked God silently, and turned to Kate, "See, we made it, no problem!"

We collected our luggage and walked off the dirt tarmac to get our visas checked and all that travel paperwork business. When we walked through the doors, Lizzie was standing there with a poster that had our names on it. Kate ran to her sister and they hugged for forever. I let them have their moment and slowly walked over. They were hugging still, crying happy tears, and talking about how much they missed each other. Finally, they let go of each other, wiped their faces, and Lizzie and I hugged.

"Sorry to get your shirt wet from my crying," Lizzie laughed and wiped at her cheeks.

"No problem. I'll take tears over your sister's puke any day," I chuckled.

"You threw up?!" Lizzie asked her sister.

"No!" Kate smacked me playfully with the back of her hand on my chest. "I just told him that the turbulence on the last flight was making me a little nauseous, but I didn't get sick."

"Thank God. Can you imagine how bad that small plane would've smelled if you did?"

"Oh please, you know you'd take me throwing up next to you over not getting to travel with me any day." She crossed her arms with a smirk on her face.

"That's true," I smiled.

Lizzie looked from me to Kate and back again a few times.

"You guys never change. So!" She clapped her hands, "how about we go to your hotel, get you all checked in and you can freshen up. And then we'll get dinner and I can tell you all about the safari tour I booked you guys on and all of that."

"Perfect. Lead the way!" Kate said as she grabbed her small suitcase. I followed behind the two girls as Lizzie led us to her red jeep caked in dust from the dirt roads.