Saturday 14 May 2011

Saturday 14 May 2011

Amsterdam, it is 3:45 Birmingham time or 10:45 local time waiting for the next connection on KLM at 11:30 to Nairobi, Kenya.  Today we will be flying the last leg on a Boeing 747-400 and there is suppose to be some 130 vacant seats on the aircraft.  It has been a long time since I have had a flight with vacant seats so the trip should be less crowded.

No problem with getting through the security checkpoint and body scan and now just waiting for the flight to load.  During this flight if I can stay awake I will try to follow the flight on the map that is on the aircraft.  Usually the flight covers some very interesting and beautiful terrain.

The Prices and us have the next to the last center row (67) on the aircraft but with the vacant seats we will be able to move once we are airborne and the fasten seatbelts signs are turned off.  We did move and I took a row of 2 seats next to the window on the left side and Nancy took the next row ahead of me.  It was nice to have the vacant seat but missed being able to discuss things with Nancy.  I was awake most of the flight and below is the route that we took from Amsterdam to Nairobi.

We headed north out of the airport before turning SE toward headed toward Rome and in route we passed over the Italian Alps with its snow covered ridges and high meadows and the beautiful green valleys.  We went west of Bosnia Herzegovina and over the Troglov Mountain then along the northern shore of the Adriatic Sea.  This area was a patchwork of farms and much of the area was under cultivation.  We headed on SE just west of Cairo, Egypt then South over Khartoum, Sudan.  The dessert in both Egypt and Sudan was just spectacular with occasional lakes and green areas with very little sign of life or civilization on a large part of what I observed.  We continued south just west of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and east of Juba, Sudan.  We basically flew along the border between Sudan and Kenya and around 19:07 the beautiful day had faded away and night fall had overtaken the features below and the stars began to light up the sky.  We were about 1 hour away from Nairobi and then the lingering question, “Will the luggage Make It??”  We got to Nairobi early and got to the gate, departed the aircraft and then waited over 1 hour in the Visa Line to get a visa for our trip to Kenya.  We paid our $25 and got the passport stamp then off to the luggage area where Chris was waiting outside for us.  In Nairobi those that are there to pickup you cannot come into the luggage claim area.  All the luggage was there “GREAT” so se secured it and got though customs an off to the guest house for the night.  We made it and at 2315 we had dinner, traditional Kenyan meal, of rice and great stew with many vegetables. 

It is 0215 15 May 2011 and time to get to bed.  More later