The plane ride home was the longest ride of my life. My journey home consisted of two separate flights. The first flight left Arusha at 9 PM. Kind of. It was supposed to leave at 9 PM and because of delays with luggage we actually left at 10:30 PM or so.
After an hour we landed in Dar es Salaam to load more passengers onto the plane before departing Tanzania. They quickly cleaned the plane out and began boarding more passengers. There were of course more delays and we didn’t get into the air until 1 AM.
They immediately served us dinner which was much appreciated. All of the extra time from delays had left me starving. I must say Royal Dutch KLM airlines serves really good food on their flights.
Though I was satisfied by the meal, I also realized I was starting to get sick. I guess all of the climate changes from trekking down the mountain so quickly, the minimal sleep, the physical exertion, the stress of repacking and flight delays, and the dry plane air had finally gotten the best of me. My throat was killing me.
On top of that I was experiencing the worst cramps of my whole life. I had insanely painful knots of cramps in my legs and abdomen. After such a high intensity level of physical exertion for a week straight, sitting still on a plane for an extended period of time was really not working for me.
One major point of advice I would give to people hiking Kilimanjaro is to not fly out the same day or day after getting off the mountain. Give yourself at least two days to recover physically and relax your body before subjecting yourself to hours-long plane rides.
Fortunately for me, I won the plane seat lottery by sitting next to an older lady who was a nurse on a medical mission trip. She stocked me up with Vitamin C packets to mix into my drinks, throat lozenges, and Tylenol. I befriended the flight attendants as well so that I would have continual drinks to sooth my throat. In total I would estimate I drink at least a gallon and a half of water and a gallon of orange juice on my flights home.
The flight from Tanzania arrived in Amsterdam the next morning very early around 8 AM. I had a two hour layover in the airport so I took advantage of the opportunity to stretch my legs and walked around. I also connected to the internet to e-mail my mom and let her know my flight schedule. Skype and e-mail are such a godsend when traveling. I used it to call and update home all throughout my trip to Tanzania and while I was in route.
Eagerly, I got onto the plane as soon as they began boarding because by this point I was so excited to get home. Fortunately on this leg of the flight I was seated in a bulkhead row and was able to stretch out my legs. First rule of picking flights: always try for a bulkhead row or exit row.
On this final flight I was far too anxious and excited to get home to sleep. I watched Dear John and Alice in Wonderland, chatted with the woman next to me, and ate the in flight meal to pass the time.
By the time we landed I was so happy to be on the ground and almost home. By this point I had been traveling for twenty-five hours and I was exhausted and still feeling sick. I gathered my luggage from baggage claim and waited in line at customs. After being cleared, I took the train in the Atlanta airport to meet my family.
Words can’t begin to describe how excited I was when I found my mom and dad. After giving them a big hug and having my mom cry she was so happy I was home safe, we drove home.
After a month away, I was finally back. My mom made a big dinner to celebrate and invited over my grandparents. It was so nice to see everyone and share with them my adventure.
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