Safe and Sound

Arrived yesterday in Moshi, Tanzania which is located near the base of Mount Kilimanjero and is easily seen from our hotel. We had been delivered there by our safari driver. On the way I was explaining to Kasenya that worrying is seldom helpful. Later in the day, I was really hoping that no one had wasted a moment worrying about us as the events of the last week had unfolded. We were still basking in the warmth of our amazing safari experience and were oblivious to what has been going on in the world. 

In Moshi we hoped to meet up with Anna McEachern (Dave used to teach with her mother). She would be starting her Kilimanjaro climb the following day. She had left a note at the hotel where we were supposed to be, but ended up not staying at, (one more hotel story for our collection) and Dave tried to call her on her cell phone but reception was horrible. He hoped she had heard the name of the new hotel so we could meet there. 

A couple of hours later while they were walking around, Anna’s friend (who she is travelling with) spotted a kid in a wheelchair at an outdoor restaurant and sure enough it was us! During the course of our visit, Anna asked if we were in Kampala, Uganda at the time of the bombing. We had been completely cut off from the outside world while we were on safari and blissfully unaware of the bombing that apparently killed over 60 people. As near as we could determine, the bombing had taken place the evening of the day we flew out of Kampala. But lets pick up where we left off at the hospital ...

We were in Kampala mostly to visit an organization called Kulika and they were amazing hosts. Not only did they get us to the clinic and hospital but Elijah, who is the Executive Director, came to see Devin and Dave late in the evening on the day Devin was admitted. I had returned to the hotel where Lacey and Kasenya had been waiting. By that time, Devin was feeling quite fine and Dave decided that they would ask to be discharged since all the tests had come back negative and Devin had been rehydrated. This was when the fun began.

The hospital had to redo the bill several times before it was close to accurate and Dave would agree to pay it. Dave and Devin were delivered to the hotel at about 1 am by Elijah. We were exhausted but relieved that we could fly to Arusha, Tanzania to start our safari the next day. Devin continued on antibiotics and has been fine since. ​