Summing up this trip

First of all, the part of this trip we were able to do was so amazing.  The places that were chosen, except for Madagascar, were the best part.  The things we got to see, the tigers, the leopards, the sloth bears, the lemurs were spectacular.  The people on the trip were all very excited to be there, were generally very nice and that made it very comfortable. Everyone wanted to have a good time. It was pretty amazing going to these many very remote parts of the world. Just driving from our last hotel in Madagascar there were native people walking everywhere. They walked miles to fill up a water their water jugs. Huts were made out of wood, bamboo or scrap medal. The ox walked in the streets with no fear of vehicles. Everything was very green. We saw school age kids walking home from school. They have half day classes due to lots of kids and only one school. We saw many younger children sitting around the homes. Our hotel internet was really bad. I could barely get a message out, certainly not pictures. The air conditioning was also sporadic and this made it hard for Betsey. Quite a contrast when you drive by a beautiful home owned by a European. They are big and solid!  We take so much for granted in the USA. Not that I didn’t know how good we had it before but this trip sure showed us that.  

On the other hand, although, or maybe because they don’t have a lot, there did not seem to be an issue with theft.  There were certainly no guns and the people did not go around shooting each other. This seemed to be true in India, as well. So while we may be ahead in many areas, we have many areas upon which we could improve.

Our trip ended  way sooner than planned when I (Betsey) tested positive for Covid.  I was actually the fourth of fifth person to test positive.  So far seven people have tested positive (that I know of) and 11 people have left the trip, either because they tested positive, they were with someone who tested positive or they did not want to contract the illness. It is a frustrating situation. But I won’t go into that here.

We are  at the Heathrow airport hotel waiting to fly home tomorrow. It will be good to be in our own space and in control of what we can and can’t do.