AND NOW, THE END IS NEAR . . .

But, hopefully, it is not my final curtain.

Yep, it's that time. My African odyssey has hit its end and I am flying out of Nairobi late tonight. High highs, low lows and everything in between . . . it's been a literal and figurative trip. Here are some thoughts as I sit at the Indaba EA Campsite guzzling a Savanna Dry Premium Cider, preparing to duct tape the giant & gaudy "Garfield" bag I got to hold my camel blanket (best purchase EVER) and gearing myself up for the long trip back to lovely Oregon.

• The pax group finally actually pretty much jelled on the last leg (there were only eight of us) and I will actually MISS people. Who would have thunk?
  
• I ended up loving our nameless, ill-equipped, unsecure, leaky, dirty truck. And, as only two other people liked sitting in the open-sided backness of it all, I had limitless tanning opportunities and someone (Justin) who was willing to switch seats mid-drive so that our arms got equal bronzing opportunities.
• I loved the sights of Ethiopia, but the majority of the people and the constant ripping-off were beyond challenging. The crossing into Kenya could NOT have come soon enough.
• I loved, loved being the only guest at a posh resort in the Samburu National Park (Kenya). Sorry, Drago, but one night off-truck was kinda heavenly.
• I loved, loved, LOVED the safaris and seeing a herd of elephants in the moonlight only yards from where we were sitting on a dry riverbank in the Samburu National Park.
  
• I did NOT love camping in the middle of African wildlife, especially when it involved growling hippos that were only a flimsy electric fence from my tent or screaming cats or teeth-baring baboons or . . . God knows what. I had several "Stormi's Nights of Terror" where I lay hyperventilating while I tried to figure out if it was my fly cover flapping or a murderous animal circling my tent.
  
• I don't mind eating a goat or a ram that has just had its throat cut in front of me.
• I like ostrich meatballs, but I don't care for crocodile chunks.
  
• Riding horses in the Bale Mountains was a major plus. Doing it in sandals with an ill-fitting stirrup was not. Why, you ask? Because it resulted in a DISGUSTING and ulcerous wound on my left ankle that has not healed in almost three weeks. Which led to a trip to the ER in Nairobi yesterday. Ugh. I will say that The Karen Hospital was the cat's meow in terms of cost, cleanliness and efficiency.

Will write more + post some pix once I'm home, server keeps going down.