Almost There!

Five months of planning finally comes to an end! We embark on a journey of a lifetime day after tomorrow and I guess we have most of the items checked. We will get the yellow fever vaccination today. Two futile attempts at the Allegheny medical center doesn’t seem to have deterred our grit. Pi and I work in tandem and eventually get everything done. Things that matter to him don’t seem to bother me. I didn’t think this vaccination is all that important (especially after the first attempt) as it is recommended and not mandatory. But we are getting it nevertheless because he feels that of all the things that can go wrong, there will definitely be a sudden outbreak of yellow fever.

Take this Kenya situation for example. It's just horrible and for the sake of the country, I just wish the violence stops! Africa doesn't need this, not now, not ever. As adventurous as I am, getting torched by a crazed people was not in my wish list. Lee and I were freaking out, while Pi remained quite calm, unlike his normal cautious self. He felt it would be nice to hang out in a bus when fresh blood is flowing in the streets as we speak.

All week long, the situation in Kenya got worse and the pictures we saw in the news were harrowing. Our expectations that the clashes would subside was very wishful and things were getting more volatile. Even Nairobi seemed to be getting targeted and shops were closed. Travel advisory warnings shot up in every website and tourism in Kenya declined drastically. We were to fly into Nairobi, spend a night in a hotel and then take a bus out to Kilimanjaro.

For the past two days, we looked for alternatives. We got last minute flight tickets from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro, thanks to Leela’s high connections. She worked hard on the Kenyan officials, the airline industry, spoke to Kofi Annan and got some Sheiks from Dubai to promise us an armored vehicle if it came to that. Dubai Red Bull sponsored 40 cans for the team. The cans of Red Bull don’t really compliment the plot, but it’s a fact nevertheless.