London to Dar to Zanzibar

Next stages of the long journey

waiting (for 12 hours) in an airport in London




London to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania



in Dar-es-Salaam, tired, booking a flight to Zanzibar




Dar to Zanzibar on wee-tiny airplane (4 seats total, including the pilot and co-pilot's seats)






the tiny plane




Dar-es-Salaam suburbs from the sky



Justin in the co-pilot seat

Pemba

We arrived in Pemba, Zanzibar on Sunday morning, after 44 hours of travel, 5 days of packing and moving, and very little sleep.

Pictures later!

Easiest way to reach us is by our gmail acounts sarah dot beckham at gmail dot com and justin dot beckham at gmail dot com

You can also reach us by snail mail:

PO Box 210
Chake Chake, Pemba
Zanzibar, Tanzania

and by phone (use a calling card or you'll pay through the teeth!)

011 255 715 789 450 (Justin)

011 255 714 227 636 (Sarah)

en route

all our baggage



just the carry-on luggage



"I love moving walkways!"




Christmas phone call home



on the plane





chilling in London airport

moving and packing and traveling

Things are downright crazy here. I have traveled back and forth between New Haven and Baltimore three times in the past 5 days. Even Justin traveled down to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (an hour away from Baltimore) at the exact time I was traveling north. We passed each other in New York. Both of Juma's parents were out of town at the same time. We had a friend pick him up from school and put him to bed--sleepover on a school night!

I was in Baltimore on Monday to take two finals, then hurried back on an overnight train so I can help Justin finish packing up the house. Tomorrow we load up the moving van and drive down to Baltimore. So our time in New Haven is down to hours now.

On Thursday and Friday we pack up my apartment in Baltimore, move everything into storage, and run our final errands. Friday night, we fly to Tanzania via London. We will arrive in Tanzania early Sunday morning, then take a little flight over to Zanzibar.

We are going to miss New Haven. Juma is very sad about leaving his friends "forever," and we are going to miss our friends, too. I even made friends in Baltimore, the other first years in my division. Yesterday, they held a goodbye lunch for me.

t-minus

This semester of commuting has been crazy and hard, but we've managed it. Justin has proven his amazing juggling skills, keeping up with a full-time job, TAing, and single-parenting. Juma has been resilient and supportive and a great all-round kid.

I have to say goodbye to Justin and Juma only two more times! Then in a whirlwind week, we celebrate the holidays, I take my finals, Juma has his last day at his school, then we all move our stuff down to Baltimore, stuff it in storage, and fly off to Tanzania.

What can I say? My family is the greatest.