As we got off the plane, I felt like for an instant like Jack Bauer in 24, walking on the lit tarmac in the darkness of a foreign land. The air was warm and still, not too humid and not too dry. It then dawned on me that in less than 24 hours I had tripled the number of continents I had set foot in.
Entering the terminal was like going back in time. Everything basic, plain, but functional; it was like visiting a Canadian airport back in the 1950s. The terminal was crowded with other researchers and tourists filling out visa applications and H1N1 forms. After getting our visas, we collected our luggage (fortunately nothing lost) and made our way to our shuttles.
Stepping out of the terminal I was struck by how different the vegetation was. The stars were different too; I realized this was my first time in the Southern Hemisphere as well. The first animal I saw was a dog with swollen nipples trotting across the parking lot, probably to go and feed its pups.
Our family hopped into the shuttle van and we drove away - on the left side. The road out of the airport was lit and lined with telecom billboards. It reminded me of long trips across the prairies our family went on when I was a little kid, seeing the dark, lonely prairie landscape go by. The difference here was the occasional person or donkey walking along the side of the road.
As we got closer to our lodge, paved, lit roads made way for un-paved, bumpy, dark roads. There were always people around at the side of the road. After traveling through an unlit cathedral of trees, we had finally arrived at the lodge.
The Lodge was a spectacular sight. We were staying at accomodations that were about as luxurious as it gets: the lodge had internet and a pool and our room had a TV and a jacuzzi-tub. This would not be an authentic African experience, and to be honest, I wasn't really prepared for one either. Nonetheless, the next few days would be the most stimulating of my life.
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