Is that your Final Answer?

   I knew that I was going to be traveling weeks in advance but there I was twelve hours before boarding my flight out of LAX and I hadn't started to pack.  This was a work trip: was I going to blog? tweet? send back pics? Can I manage with just my iphone or do I have to bring my laptop?  I was going to be escorting a small fam group.  Did I leave enough room in my bags for extra travel bags (for en route acquisitions), extra luggage tags, etc.....
  So I get dropped off at LAX and I check in for my flight. The counter personnel asks "What's your final destination?" I answer "Nairobi" without giving it much thought.  Fast forward 12 hours and I have collected everyone's baggage off the carousel in Dubai - except mine.  I go the luggage handling office and am advised that my bags are being held inside customs as they had been tagged all the way through to Nairobi.  Duh!  And then the pieces fell into place.  I understood what had occurred but ask myself "What would one of my clients do if it had happened to them?".  Why don't they just ask, "Where am I tagging your bags today?"  Well, it takes a few minutes and a return trip to the airport three hours later but I get my bags.
  Fast forward 48 hours and we are checking out of our Nairobi hotel and somehow or other, the room charges are mucked up.  I takes me about twenty minutes to get everyone's bills sorted.  Again, what if this happened to one of my clients?

  Again, fast forward 7 days to the end of our trip and we are driving up a hardpack road to out lodging in Karatu (outside the Ngorongoro Crater) and we get stuck in the mud.  Thankfully, an emergency vehicle passes within 10 minutes and helps pull us out.  Fast forward 24 hours, same road after a full day in the crater and after we successfully make our way past the mud pit we all cheer.  Not more than 300 yards further along the same road, we get a puncture.  

Okay, everybody out and I help the driver change the flat. Am I feeling hexed? No, not at all; this is Africa and there is always the possibility for the unexpected.  The group and I all put things in the proper perspective and have a better handle of how to prepare our clients.

  And to close with something humorous - well, at least to us anyway.  We were seated at dinner and the lighting was atmospheric. The server presented a plate of assorted greens, to which one of the group asked "What's in the salad?"  I mean, I am from LA, is it endive? escarole? arugula? The question seemed perfectly sensible. However the server had a perplexed look on his face and after what seemed like about 15 - 20 seconds, replied with confidence, "Salad."  Well, after we looked at each other and stifled the urge to burst out in laughter, I just couldn't contain myself and uttered "Is that your final answer?"  Well, maybe it's only humorous if you were there. 

Note: The names have been changed to protect the innocent. We all really had a GREAT time and future entries will cover more of the relevant details!  Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it!

- Richard