So, I was really going. It was only a week away.
I knew about the wildlife. I started to think about the people – who I would meet along the way – local residents and other travelers. I planned to visit a Masai village but didn’t know what to expect.
I also wondered about the owner of the safari company. 

My flight arrived at Jomo Kenyatta international airport in Nairobi, Kenya at 6am. I sailed through the shorter immigration line for travelers with pre-issued visas and proceeded downstairs to the baggage claim area.

We waited and waited. And waited. All the passengers were now assembled around the carousal. We waited. We waited some more.

 The baggage had to be manually removed one at a time, loaded onto luggage carts one at a time, driven from the plane to the terminal and placed on the belt one at a time. A very labor-intensive  and time-consuming process. We had arrived on a modern aircraft at a less than modern airport. Finally, the conveyor belt started to roll forward slowly.  Individual pieces of luggage began to appear and make their way around.

Where’s my luggage?
It was now more than an hour after we landed. As I stood there patiently watching others pull their belongings off, it occurred to me that I didn’t know for certain that my small tote bag had made it onto the first flight or that it got transferred successfully from the first international airline to the second partner airline.

I glanced over at the long line of passengers from a previous flight at the airline baggage counter. That didn’t look encouraging. I had lost luggage before. I knew the procedure. Fill out the paperwork and hope that an airline emlpoyee sees your bag and sends it on its way to you.

The problem was tomorrow’s flight would be too late.
To be continued . . .