Photos at last!

Here are several links to our photos:

Chuck's photos (Jalbum)
Kellie's photos (Snapfish)
Mike's climb photos (Picasa)
Mike's safari photos (Picasa)
Jim's photos (Picasa)
Ted's photos (Picasa)
Lisa's photos (Picasa)
Jon's photos (Picasa)

home at last

60 hours after being dropped off at the Kilimanjaro airport we finally arrived at PDX Tuesday evening. What a great adventure! Thanks to everyone for making it such a memorable experience.

55 hours later we're in Atlanta on the plane to Portland. We finally got a break with a mostly empty plane. Pinch me. Is it really almost over?

Escaped from Tanzania. In Amsterdam. Booked to Portland via Atlanta. Arrive Delta 1287 Tues evening.

Back at JRO. It's a zoo with 2 flights going out. We all have tickets 2 AMS bags 2 PDX. Once in AMS we'll figure out the next step.

stuck in Tanzania

OK here's the scoop... the inbound flight to JRO slammed into the runway too hard and set off a whole bunch of onboard alarms. As a result they need to inspect the entire plane for damage and make repairs. JRO is primitive at best (looses power frequently) so the pilot called off the inspection until daylight (they were using flashlights).

Since there's basically one plane out per night everyone left after we boarded. It took a while to recall groundcrew and customs agents to let us unload. Even longer to get buses from Arusha (1 hour away) at 3am. They wouldn't let us spent the night at airport due to malaria risk from mosqituoes so pushed us all into the parking lot where we waited for 2 hours with the mosqitues to be ferried to several hotels.

In the process Kellie's duffle flew off the top of the bus and is now in the hands of someone else. Spent a couple hours arguing with bus driver that he didn't tie it down properly and get him to go back and look - no luck. Stuff happens, but KLM dropped the ball on communication. No announcement were made; everything is second hand information. The latest rumor (at least printed at the hotel lobby) is we're being kicked out of our rooms at 4pm, shuttled at 5pm and then maybe the plane leaves at 9-10pm to Amsterdam. From there it's up in the air how we get home but KLM is working on that.

I guess we needed more adventure. Everyone made it up Kili, we spotted the Big 5 and no one was ate by lions. A delay, lost luggage and African craziness is in order... Lisa made it out on a different flight and is probably on her way to Portland now. Ed and Ben are still here for another week. So Kellie, Linda, Dona, Jane, Mike, Ted and myself are here in limbo. Everyone is safe (minus lost duffle) and in good spirits. I have my phone charging and will try to update the blog when we get moving again.

Bad news. After 2 hours trying 2 fix plane they r kicking us off 2 spend the night somewhere. No idea when we'll be home.