Today\u2019s the day! I\u2019m all packed and ready to face the adventures that await me in the Serengeti. But first I have to make it through three grueling days of traveling\u2026<\/p>\n
The first stop on the way to East Africa is Newark. Most of the students in the group booked their flights through the program and Newark is where we\u2019ll all meet for the first time. From there we take an overnight flight to London. Our twelve-hour layover will allow us plenty of time to get acquainted while taking a brief and speedy tour of the city\u2014 the first of hopefully many safaris, if you will (yea, I went there haha). Then we\u2019re off again on another overnight flight to Nairobi. This is where the SFS staff will meet us and guide us through obtaining our visas, pupil\u2019s passes, and plane tickets to Tanzania. This part makes me a little nervous but they know what they\u2019re doing. Once we get into Tanzania, we\u2019ll head to a hotel in Arusha for the night. I don\u2019t know about everyone else, but I\u2019m hoping for a shower at this point. Then, FINALLY, we\u2019ll get to the field station the next day, June 7th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m actually really looking forward to spending the day in London! I\u2019ve been there a few times with my family on vacation and I can safely say it\u2019s my favorite city. I just won\u2019t eat any fresh vegetables while I\u2019m there\u2026 yikes. Plus, it\u2019ll be nice to have a day between our two longest flights.<\/p>\n Well, I think I\u2019m ready. I\u2019ve been learning Kiswahili on YouTube, read through the packing list like eight times, and started my malaria drugs. Speaking of which, I had an interesting\/scary incident a few days ago at my last travel medicine appointment! After getting my last three vaccinations, I walked out into the waiting room and promptly passed out. Luckily, I had the foresight to sit down first. I guess it\u2019s actually a pretty common reaction that people can randomly have even if it\u2019s never happened before. It was awful, but at least it didn\u2019t last very long! For those of you who are curious, my vaccination count for this trip comes to six: Polio booster, tetanus booster, Hepatitis A (I already had B), Typhoid, a second Meningitis, and Yellow Fever. I didn\u2019t have time to get the Rabies series but still, that is one impressive immune system if you ask me. I\u2019ll just have to remember to keep my arms and legs inside the Land Cruiser!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s the day! I\u2019m all packed and ready to face the adventures that await me in the Serengeti. But first I have to make it through three grueling days of traveling\u2026 The first stop on the way to East Africa … Continue reading