I have slacked off severely in regards to updating my blog; I have actually missed writing about my experiences. So here I am again to document my stories for your reading pleasure (I hope!) and for my personal gratification. I will be backtracking quite a way and will most surely cut things short. This post is a continuation of the last, which covered the first half of my summer vacation in the Netherlands and the states. Now I’ll share my experiences from Florida back to Tanzania and everywhere in between. Having just said I’ll keep things short, I did write this section of the blog MONTHS ago, so it is a bit long. Trust me- the rest won’t be so cumbersome.
For those of you who have read my blog consistently in the past, you know that my flights to/from Tanzania have never been without a few big glitches, and this one is no exception.
Once on the tarmac in Tampa, the pilot said that there was a thunderstorm up north and since Newark and LaGuardia were closed JFK was very busy. We waited a while and by the time that we had arrived at JFK the storm had moved and the whole airport was shut down. We circled for a little under an hour before running low on fuel, so the pilot announced that we would go to Atlantic City to refuel before returning to JFK. We were drawing close to Atlantic City and beginning the initial descent when I smelled what seemed like matches that were just blown out or electrical wires that had short circuited. Simultaneously, a few people at the back of the plane said that they smelled smoke. Mild panic ensued and the flight attendants rushed up and down the aisles inspecting the overhead bins while we were instructed to check our purses and footing area for smoldering objects. The pilot just then announced that he smelled smoke in the cockpit as well and had turned off all power in the aircraft except that which was essential to land. He contacted the airport and instructed them to have fire and rescue crews ready!
This was the first time in my life that I have every truly felt like this could be the end of my Earthly existence. I began pleading panicky prayers to God and wondered if this was really happening to me. The pilot instructed us that he couldn’t get too close to the main airport terminals or other aircraft and would have to land with much less air strip. Thankfully, the smoky smell began to die down once the pilot turned off all of the power. While trying to make my mind focus on prayers and to the instructions of how to get into ‘rough landing position’, my fears subsided as our plane was drew nearer to the ground. I wanted desperately to call my family but knew that there was absolutely no way that I would put this kind of fear in them, especially if nothing ended up happening. It’s hard enough to say goodbye for a year to go back to Africa just to call a few hours later with a potential plane crash waiting to happen.
After inspecting the plane for any immediate danger, we had to be towed up to the terminal. Do you have any idea how long it takes to tow a plane all the way up a runway? Without the air conditioning? While I’m in jeans, a sweater, and snow boots I was trying to break in before a hike? Too long!
Atlantic City is not a home for my chosen airline carrier, so we had to wait until a mechanic from another airline could arrive to check the plane. Two hours later it was decided that the cause of the smoke was solely and electrical shortage and that it would not effect the continuation of our journey to JFK. It was decided that before we reboard they would turn on the engine and let things run ‘normally’ for a bit to ensure everything was set. When the attempt was made to start the engine it died and would not come to life again.
During my time waiting in the terminal of a small airport, I was frantically on the phone with my mom and every major airline carrier. I had already missed my KLM flight via Amsterdam back to Dar and the next one that they could get me out on didn’t leave JFK until three days later. Mom was checking other one-way flights online while I was calling the airlines. Nothing seemed to be available for anything less than the price of my both my arms and my legs except for one flight on Qatar Airways leaving the next night. The only problem was that the tickets weren’t available for purchase online and the ticketing office was closed until the next morning at 8:00 a.m.
The other ‘kink’ in these arrangements was that my cousin Scotty was scheduled to fly over to Dar to meet me. I was originally supposed to arrive a day before him but now the earliest flight I MAY be able to get would be the same flight he was booked on from JFK – DAR. I was hoping and praying that I could get a ticket!
Three hours later charter busses the airline had booked arrived to drive us the 3+ hours to JFK. We loaded everything up and hit the road. When we neared the city the driver got lost and we ended up literally in the middle of a neighborhood in Brooklyn at 1:00 a.m. A woman in the back of the bus said that this was her near her neighborhood and we let her off just a block away! ‘This absolutely cannot be happening!’ I thought. ‘Could this day get any crazier?!’ With the directional assistance of our departing passenger, we finally arrived at JFK a half hour later.
All airport hotels were booked when I arrived at 1:00 a.m. and I couldn’t justify going into the city just to be back at the airline office by its opening at 8:00 a.m. so I made a little home for myself between a vending machine and a wall and tried to sleep. At 8:00 a.m. I successfully purchased a ticket for 11:50 that night then promptly found the nearest hotel with a vacancy and took a long overdue nap.
Later that night Scotty met me at the airport and we boarded the plane for DAR via Doha, Qatar, which boarders Saudi Arabia. We had a 12 hour layover in the middle of the night. Both of us had been sleeping on the plane so we rented a car and drove all over Doha that night. There wasn’t much happening at the late hour but at least it got us out of an airport!
While I was away over the summer construction was being done on my house to install a new roof and replace my kitchen cabinets. When we arrived at my apartment we found that the ceiling was done but that the kitchen was still under construction, everything in my house was still packed in my bedroom (which was the only room not being remodeled), and that THOUSANDS of mosquitoes had inhabited my house because someone had taken the screens out of my open windows. What an awesome welcome home! After a major temper tantrum and some breathing exercises I did my best to sift through my things and find all the gear I’d need for the safari and climb I was leaving for the next morning. My cousin and I stayed in a vacant apartment that night that had no power or running water. Welcome to Africa, Scotty! =)
