Days 1-3

MAMBO!

I made it to Arusha in 1 piece early hours of this morning, it already feels like I've been here ages so much has happened but this post is about my time in transit and a little bit beyond! 

So I left my house Monday 11:00, that was a longer drive to Manchester airport than expected due to road works and horrific weather conditions, but made it, I got a little teary eyed when my Dad wished me Bon Voyage. Got onto the plane and felt v.nervous. The seat next to me was empty which made it a little easier to stretch out and relax-saying that I was impressed with the available leg space-much better than expected! That flight was straight forward enough, a little bumpy at times but nothing more than driving down one of the roads at home! 

2103 miles later I landed in Istanbul at 20:30 and although I'd slept on the flight I was really tired. I went through the transit door at the arrival gate and went and found a bench as it got dark. It soon got busy as the gate I was next to had a departure but that was only 23:30 so a reasonable enough time. And then I lay down! I had my headphones in which helped me doze but there was a group nearby and they were really noisy up until 03:00 Tuesday! And I decided I could never cope sleeping on a park bench, this 'cushioned' bench was making my bones numb! I rolled over so many time-right side, back, curled up, stretched out, left side, front, legs up, legs down... properly woke up about 06:00 and went to the bathroom to freshen up and go find something to drink. I then decided to find my way to the transit desk to find out about the tour, I'd read this airport can be a bit tricky so thought it best to allow plenty of time. Well I got told off for not going to the desk as soon as I arrived-how was I supposed to know?! Plus I already had my boarding pass so it didn't make much difference. Anyway then it got a whole lot confusing-she told me I had to go through passport control and go to the hotel desk. Straight forward enough, right? Queued up and got to passport control-he had no English and I had no Turkish, he asked if I was transit, I said yes and he waved me away! Didn't give any clue what or where to go just flapped to the left. So I went and joined another queue in the general direction he was waving. Got to the front and he asked where my visa was-told him I don't have one as I'm in transit-he laughed and told me I should be going through transit security not passport control. So I told him I'm going into the city, and was told to come here. So I finally got told I need a visa to do that and he pointed in the direction of the visa desk that I'd not spotted. Went there, paid $20 and got a stamp. Went back to passport control and finally got through! Went and registered for the tour at the desk and was distraught to see that right next to it was a Starbucks with big comfy armchairs that people were sleeping in-I so wished I had gone to the transit desk the night before! So I curled up in one and had another doze for about 40minutes until we were called for the tour. Onto an open top bus and away we went, the warmth outside was lovely but the air was fresh and cool and smelt sweet and spicy...well except for when we went past the sewage works! We were taken to a restaurant for breakfast-plate full of ham, feta cheese, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, bread, honey, an egg (which I don't eat) and lots of sweet tea. This gave us a chance to chat and compare journeys and adventures-I was sat with a Brazilian guy heading to London to study medicine, a New Yorker heading home after a trip to Tel Aviv, an older man who was a traveller in every sense and considered himself a citizen of the world with no fixed address, Manuel from Sweden, Mia heading home to Hong Kong and a family from South Africa who's children were fluent in 3 and 4 languages at the ages of 5 and 9 respectfully, thanks to a multi-lingual marriage!

Driving along the coast I have never seen so many ships and liners all queuing to get in and out of port! They just went on and on. We then went to the touristy centre-visited the Basilica Cistern which is an immense underground cistern built to store/provide water to one of the palaces above. Truly was an immense space with thousands of columns holding it up. Then moved onto the Hagia Sophia, which was a cathedral and the biggest structure in the country for some time, adorned with gold mosaics and fantastic chandeliers. It was the turned into a mosque and the artwork was plastered over. Since becoming a museum they've exposed some of the Christian artwork but left some Muslim details in place to show the contrast.

Across the square was the Blue Mosque, unfortunately I didn't get to see inside-really wish I had! 

Then onto lunch-lentil soup (possibly the blandest thing I've tasted), salad, grilled chicken with rice and creamed potatoes. Then something very sticky and sweet for pudding. 

After that it was 15:00 and some of us went back to the airport-I was still knackered and was feeling a bit run down-a little bit of me does wish I'd stayed out and visited the spice bazaar but with the heat too and another flight to endure I wanted to make the most of stretching out. So I had another freshen up and got changed then had a wander the full length of the airport and a nosey in some of the shops. I began to feel like a zombie  so searched for another quiet bench. And that time I really did fall to sleep properly. Woke up about 18:30 and felt like a new person. After a bit I headed to my gate for the 20:35 departure, this plane was at full capacity-the airline merged 2 flights together so half the passengers were continuing onto Mombasa. I was sat next to April and Clark, a retired couple from Los Angeles, they'd been in Istanbul for 5 days, were heading for a 12 day safari followed by a 5 day Gorilla trek in Uganda! April said she had to look after me properly as I look after so many women at such an important time-that was heartwarming! 

We took off and my heart was pounding again! As we were still climbing the plane swerved left, then right, then there was a couple of small screams and gasps as I grabbed onto the chair in front certain we were about to do a barrel roll, then there was a lot of bobbing of turbulence followed by a dip...then it just became bumpy like the flight the day before, but that was my nerves shot! I'd even started praying even though I'm an atheist! That was when I felt very lonely and wished one of my nearest and dearest were with me-someone familiar to grab their hand. There was a lot of turbulence during that flight, bobbing away. I kept trying to persuade myself that some roads at home have potholes that make journeys bumpier than this one but I wasn't fooling myself...although the attempt provided a good distraction at times. After lots of turbulence we finally touched down (a bit unexpectedly) and that was a very bumpy landing too-but there was a cheer we'd made it! Not sure whether it was a cheer just at the excitement of arriving in Tanzania, or relief of surviving...dare say it was a bit of both!