{iad->dar}

bye, mom!

it was a long 26 hours, but i made it!  thanks to a combination of ambien and dramamine, i managed to sleep most of the first two flights, but also slept through all of the meal services.  i was very thankful my mom had packed all of the food that she had! 

my final flight was through addis ababa, ethiopia.  it was definitely an interesting airport, and not one i'm sure i want to travel through again.  

i made it to dar es salaam at about 2:30 am saturday morning and then had to get my cta stamp from the immigration office.  i was told to come prepared with copies of my cpa license, copies of my passport, passport photos, a copy of my resume, as well as other forms, and $200.  of course, once in tanzania, all they wanted was the $200.  someone just grabbed my passport and my money and magically, an hour later, i was given my cta certificate.  

i was a bit fearful my luggage wouldn't make it as i ended up having to check 2 bags, so i was pleasantly surprised to see them waiting for me in baggage claim.  then i hopped in a cab about 3:30 am and arrived at my amazing hotel about 4 am.  not what i was expecting in africa! 

after a quick nap at the hotel, i met some of the rest of the group, and our van picked us up at 9am to take us the 50 miles to bagamoyo.