the Lady In Black strikes again

Quick update: I am safely back in Nairobi as of late this afternoon. Leaving Zanzibar this morning was very difficult. I have grown to love it so much and 6 weeks just flew by too fast. There was tons of hugging, some crying, and lots of invitations and promises exchanged to come back again soon. I'll definitely be making another quick visit there in August before heading back to Boston.

And of course, it wouldn't be my life without a little traveling fiasco! I managed to fit all my billions of gifts and other purchases into a relatively small amount of luggage, AND say goodbye to almost everyone in person, AND get out of the house with just over an hour to get to the airport and check in (more than enough time at a small airport like Zanzibar). I was very proud of myself.

Wellllllll, I should know better than to think things could be that easy. I went to use the ATM at the airport so I could get some USD for my Kenyan visa (I thought I needed to buy another one, turns out I didn't, but that's not the point here)...and my precious ATM card proceeded to get stuck while ejecting, and was promptly sucked back into the impenetrable depths of the machine! I instantly flashed back to the Sunview+Crew trip to South Africa, where the same thing happened to me in the first four days of our 3 week adventure, and Andre had to lend me money through 3 entire countries before I could get a new ATM card. Thank GOODNESS the airport askari noticed me struggling and had my Baba call the maintenance guy, who actually got there to remove my card within 20 mins. I had to try again, because I couldn't show up at Kenyan immigration without money...and you guessed it, it ate my card for the second time. We gave it one more try, same result, before I had to give up on getting any money because my flight was literally about to take off. As I rushed off, my baba (who is a prominent Zanzibari businessman) talked to some random important-looking man, who disappeared for a minute, and as I went through the security line someone magically appeared at my side with the $50. I don't have a clue who paid for it because Baba had already said he didn't have that much money on him. Lyss and other Keusch's, if you're reading this, my theory is that The Lady In Black, our family's travel guardian angel, has struck again.