Hakuna Matata Moments

Relief and Exhaustion Moment
It had been a long stretch from early August to mid October and the inventory of what we’ve accomplished at our little school is impressive to say the least. As we boarded the plane last Friday, both Madeleine and I were physically as well as mentally exhausted. However, it was one of those ‘good exhaustions’, the one where one does not feel completely depleted, but rather deserving of being so tired and fulfilled by a sense of accomplishment, the reward being brain numbness. We had accomplished an amazing amount of things during the past 11 weeks at our school, enough to give anyone a brain hernia, if such a thing exists. We boarded the plane with relief and excitement; relief that we had made it to the finish line of the first quarter of the school year, and of course, excited about going to Kenya, meeting up with colleagues from all over Africa, and going on our first real deal safari.

Waiting on the tarmac for our plane to leave, I could almost hear the theme from Out of Africa getting louder and louder in my mind. At one point, Madeleine sitting next to me almost looked like Merryl Streep. Amazing what one Gravol will do to you. Finally, as the plane took off, I silently took inventory (well, as silently as I could with the Out of Africa theme blaring in my mind, intermingled with the sound of Merryl snoring next to me) of all the neat things that had happened and that we had accomplished at our little school since August. The most emotional thought and image coming to mind was beyond a doubt the time we announced to the staff that we were not renewing our contracts next year and we would be moving on at the end of June. Another vivid snapshot image was the sight and the sound of our new pump of our newly dug up campus well, pumping and filling water in our new super neat toilet bowls in our newly renovated campus washrooms. And then there was my daily morning walk from the parking lot to my office, excitingly admiring the green soccer field. Who would have thought that one day I would get to a point in my life where I would get excited watching grass grow and toilets flushing?

How the heck did I get myself in this situation moment
Mental note to self: do not consume alcohol on a hot day in an un-air-conditioned airport, in an un-air-conditioned hot bar that happens to be situated next (like real close next) to a departure lounge filled with people leaving via Emirates Air for Mecca for their annual Haj pilgrimage.

One would think that by now, considering my personal experience and wisdom acquired by my what-continent-have-I-yet-to-visit odometer history, I would have gained a bit more traveling savvy. Not so. Usually, I am not one to make excuses for my occasional delinquent and sometimes uncouth behavior, but, let’s face it, I had good reason to consume that cold pint of Senegalese Flag beer, even though it was still not the afternoon and there were 100+ pilgrims praying next door.

It had been somewhat of a long hot morning having dealt with the inevitable custom leeches at the Conakry airport, followed by the usual I-will-sell-you-anything-and-everything leeches at the Dakar airport, and of course the 31 degree heat at the not so user friendly un air-conditioned Dakar airport; these all contributed to my falling victim to that nasty yet delicious really good beer. Boy, was it good, but boy did it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Finally, as I sat there in my gravol, beer, and heat induced stupor, you know, the sensation of no longer being able to feel your face, the afternoon layover wait turned out to be not too long. The pilgrims left for Mecca and we departed on time for Kenya, which brings me to the next delightful memorable moment...

Who Cares Moment
Upon arrival at the Nairobi airport and after waiting around at the luggage carousal for 90 minutes, we were told that our luggage had never made it on the plane at Dakar. Kenya Airways, the Pride of Africa, had overbooked the flight and due to weight restrictions, had to leave some of the passengers’ luggage (as in ours) behind. Not that it was much of a surprise to us, having kind of gotten used to the African way of doing business. The fine people at Kenya Airways, the Pride of Africa, assured us that they would be putting our luggage on the next flight to Nairobi, which they assured us was the following morning, and that we would surely get our bag the following day and that it would be delivered to our hotel, along with $80 compensation for having to live without a tooth brush, deodorant, and clean underwear for a day.

Well, to make a long story short, there was no bag the following day, nor for the following 5 days, and therefore no tooth brush, no deodorant and no clean underwear for the following 5 days. Too much imagery here, right? There were no flights from Dakar to Kenya until Wednesday. Luckily I had packed some essentials in my carry-on : my camera (took a lot of neat pictures of Madeleine giving a piece of her mind to the Kenya Airways - the Pride of Africa lost luggage guy), my computer (Madeleine took a lot of pictures of me e-mailing the Kenya Airways - the Pride of Africa head office telling them the absurdity of the situation), and my hypertension pills, which would keep my head from potentially popping out of my neck joint, which, rumor has it, commonly happens when people lose their luggage. In the end, last night our prodigal luggage did find its way to our hotel and we were reunited with our tooth brushes, our deodorant, and our underwear.

Being in Kenya, the land of Hakuna Matata, I was able to keep everything in perspective and even look at the bright side of the whole errant luggage situation. Even thought Kenya Airways - the Pride of Africa folks seem to have forgotten about the $80 compensation, I did end up with a whole lot of neat Hakuna Matata t-shirts and boxer shorts that I bought at this great nickel and dime store next to our hotel. Great souvenirs of my time in Nairobi.

Tomorrow, we leave for our safari...looking for the Big Five. Jambo and Hakuna Matata!