After our great walking safari we headed back to southern Tanzania. Our original plan was to rent a car and then drive back to Mbeya so we could spend more time in Kitulo National Park on the Kitulo Plateau checking out different wildflowers which may have come into bloom in the last few weeks, or just explore other parts of the park we hadn't seen.
However, after our recent experiences driving in Uganda and traveling again in northern Tanzania, the statements by knowledgeable people that it would take us several days just to get there rang ominously true. We decided not to kill ourselves trying to drive all the way to Mbeya, and instead visit some areas more easily reachable from Dar es Salaam.
With that in mind, we set our sights on the Uluguru Mountains south of Morogoro, the Udzungwa Mountains, and Mikumi National Park. As you can see from the map below, the farthest of these destinations (Udzungwa Mountains) is about half the distance to Kitulo, and it took us two days to get there!
The reason(s) it took us two days... Well, for one, there is the matter of the roads in Tanzania. For two, there is the matter of the traffic police in Tanzania. For three, there is the issuse of international freight traffic.
As for the roads... There is only one road from Dar es Salaam towards Mbeya. That road is paved. There is a small town about every 15 km, at least on parts where you aren't going through a national park. Every small town has a series of speed bumps, a.k.a. "African Policeman," on the highway as it approaches from both directions. There are at least three sets of bumps on each side of every town, sometimes as many as six. They are very effective... In addition to the speed bumps, the road has no shoulder and is full of potholes.
As for the Tanzania traffic police, they are out in force, and deliberately target Westerners — people who aren't local, have sufficient cash, and don't want to be bothered with challenging them in court. As soon as they see your non-African face, they will pull you over in a heartbeat if they can think of an excuse. 5 km/hr is not too little.
The road to Mbeya is the main freight route to interior countries such as Zambia. Dar es Salaam is the largest port in Africa, and hundreds of container ships unload there daily. Virtually all of those containers head out on one of two roads, and we needed to travel one of them. Many of the containers are heavy, and many of the trucks are old and beat up. As a consequence, you are lucky if you have five minutes of open road before you are again backed up behind a convoy of three to five or more traveling at about 15 - 20 km/hr. If you obey the traffic laws indicated by the dotted vs. solid lines in the middle of the road, you usually have to wait for the next passing lane to pass. Sometimes it's coming up soon; often it is not. Locals don't pay any attention to the road markings or the speed limits, and they seem to get by ok; or at least better than we did. While sitting behind a convoy of containers we were passed in a no-passing zone by other container trucks, buses, cars, and motorcycles.
It also didn't help that my eyes are not great and I need to replace my glasses. A sharp-eyed African can probably spot a police officer quite a ways away; I can't.
Anyway, we picked up our car in Dar es Salaam at the airport. The first sign that things were not going to go smoothly was that the car was not what we had reserved. We had reserved a Toyota Rav 4, but what they gave us was a Hyundai, a vehicle with less clearance and not as well known if we needed a mechanic. I had worried about this, because the rental agreement, like most car rental agreements, said "Rav 4 or similar". I suspect this company didn't even rent Rav 4 cars anymore, but they advertised them with the "as similar" clause because the Rav 4 is so popular — and it's popular for good reason. It's a very durable, relatively high clearance, fuel efficient, all-wheel drive vehicle, and every mechanic in Africa knows it inside-out.
Our rental agreement also said something about not using the car for "game drives". Some of the agreements I read said you couldn't even take the vehicle into a National Park. At least ours didn't say that. I decided we weren't going on any game drives. We were looking for birds. "Game drives" are when you go looking for elephants and rhinos and leopards and cheetas.
The next problem we had is that Dar es Salaam and Tanzania, like Uganda, has no traffic or street signs, even on major four-lane roads. We had a map of Tanzania with an inset for Dar; fortunately it had the airport on it. We knew what we had to do — turn right out of the airport, drive down that main road to another main road, turn left, drive down that main road to the next main road, and turn left again. Then we should be heading west, out of town on the only highway going that direction. We also had an idea of about how far each of the legs were, but that required a working odometer. I think we had one of those, but it was impossible for me to read — small numbers, and a LCD color scheme that made it hard to differentiate the numbers from the background. So periodically I would scrunch up against the door and ask Dona to lean over and try to read it.
We headed out of the airport and turned right, immediately getting caught in a huge traffic jam. We crawled along, stopped for minutes at a time, then crawled some more. But the stops gave us a chance to gesticulare madly to get the attention of someone someone in a car next to us so we could ask them if this was the way to the next street. They were all very obliging. Inside our car, the conversation went something like this: "This looks like a big street. Four lanes, lots of trucks. Turn here." "Look for a big market on the right." "Everything along here is a market. Both sides of the street are a market as far as I can see."
The four-lane road was really only two because trucks would park in one lane, or break down and be stuck there. "The new bus station is at the turn." "That looks like a fancy new bus station and a main road, this must be it." Miracle of miracles, we made all the proper turns.
It took us two hours to go the first 50 km (31 mi). It took us six hours to cover the 193 km (120 mi) from Dar to Morogoro. The road wasn't great; the speed bumps and villages with 50 km/hr speed limits were a hassle; the policemen were bothersome; but the real problem was the trucks.
My diary says "Traffic is what I imagine India or China to be like. Way worse than Uganda."
Along the way, I got a ticket for crossing the white (center) line to pass. There were four or five trucks stopped in front of me. I had a clear shot to get around them all, but as I passed the third one a policewoman stepped out and flagged me down. She read me the riot act about "Why you pass on a white line?" What could I say; I knew it was against the rules. Just because every other truck, car, bus, and motorcycle on the road does it doesn't mean I can. The fine was 30,000 Tsh. We passed at least ten traffic traps in the 193 km we traveled that day.
When we got to Morogoro we decided to stay at a place called Simbawenni, recommended in Bradt's Tanzania Safari Guide. As usual, none of the locals knew how to read a map. The maps in our guide book didn't match the ground. We got lost in Morogoro trying to follow the map. We managed to contact the manager by phone; it took us four calls to home in on the place. He gave us directions which are probably fine if you know your way around already; he left out some obvious major landmarks and told us to use ones which were not at all easily identifiable, like the name of a bar that didn't have much of a sign and looked like all the other bars along the road.
But hey! We made it. The guide said it would take 2 to 3 hours, not 6. We rolled in about 19:30, tired but still in a reasonable mood. The manager, Elias (pronounced "Ee-lee-as"), said a few years ago it really did only take 2 or three hours. But that was then, and this is now. He said early morning is better, and afternoon sucks going either direction. He also said there were no street signs because people steal them to sell for scrap or use to build something. Concrete might work.
After we unloaded our stuff from the car I discovered the trunk didn't lock. Great, now we can't lock anything in the car when we go for a walk.
My diary says, "This is my most unfavorite vacation of all time. Because I'm getting old? Because we don't have enough time? Because I don't speak Swahili, even though many here speak some English?"
One nice aspect of Simbawenni is that it is next to a creek / river and has some wild ground which is good habitat. We enjoyed walking around and saw quite a few different birds.
We asked Elias where we could go for a hike in the Uluguru Mountains, and he suggested we go with a friend of his who was a guide. So the next day we set off with Andrew. We drove up through a relatively well-off neighborhood, then up a steadily worsening two-track until it seemed prudent to stop. We left the car at a small store / shop; Andrew asked the owner if he would watch the car for us.
We hiked up past a mission school; there was a sparse but steady flow of people coming down the road. Andrew said they lived higher up the mountain; he seemed to know many of them. It seemed like the entire lower half of the mountain was settled; there were houses tucked in everywhere on the steep slopes. Much of the landscape was cultivated in some manner; there was virtually no native forest unti you got much higher up. We climbed steadily up, but never got out of the settled area. Andrew liked looking for birds, and helped us find more.
It was hot and humid on our hike; the path just went up and up, a steep two-track "road" without switchbacks. We passed some people working on it with shovels, filling in deep ruts with rocks to make it passable by motorbike. They had small kerchiefs laid out by the road with a few coins on them, similar to the way a musician opens an instrument case for contributions. Apparently they do the work unpaid, and hope for contributions; we made one.
When we got back to the car we bought fruit drinks at the shop; Andrew paid the proprietor 5,000 Tsh for watching the car. Drinks were 600 Tsh. Those prices were good to know, so we could try not to pay too much when we were on our own. A few days later when I asked a woman at a market along the road what a bunch of bananas would cost, she said 30,000. I think I bought them from one of her competitors for 1,000.
Andrew was good as a guide. If you're in the area, he may be reached as "andrewmjawa". His email address is at yahoo, but not yahoo.com. That was taken, so he uses yahoo.co.nz, which is clear on the other side of the world! His phone is 715 238396; the country code for Tanzania is 255.
When we were at Mama Africa House outside Arusha, we had a discussion with John, the proprietor, about fees charged by taxis. He said he always used the same taxi driver, because the man didn't try to take advantage of him. Other drivers said to him "Why do you use that other guy? Why don't you hire me? I need 60,000 today, why don't you pay me 60,000?" John told him, "He doesn't try to cheat me. Local people pay 30,000. I pay him the going rate, even for foreigners. I hire him a lot. If you didn't try to cheat me, I would hire you. I pay him 30,000 for many days this month. Which would you rather have, 60,000 once and never again because you cheated me, or 30,000 for many days?" The man was still upset, wanting 60,000 because the foreigner could afford it. I really liked John for that. I'm happy to pay a reasonable amount; but I don't want to be taken advantage of. I would like to be treated like the locals, not like someone special. Especially special in a bad way.
In addition to the birds, Simbawenni has resident monkeys and other cool things. We cooled off in their swimming pool.
We were headed to the Udzungwa Mountains. We got some directions from Anna and Bridge, a couple from Birngham, U.K. who were staying in the tent next to ours. They had been down that way and recommended a place to stay and some hikes. "Turn left in Mikumi Town, follow the tarmac to the left. It's half tarmac, then rough road. The mountains will be on your right, sugarcane on the left." The next morning we headed off down the road, but told Elias we would be back in a week or so.
We crossed the great Ruaha River and stopped to take a look at its muddy waters. There was a nice rapid downstream; given how hot and humid it was, I would have enjoyed taking a kayak out there and playing in it. Looking upstream you could see where it exited the mountains. The Mtera hydroelectric dam with its associated reservoir lies upstream; its water storage has negatively impacted much of the environment downstream, with devastating consequences in Ruaha National Park. Much worse are the large rice plantations, Kapunga and Kilombero in the Kilombero (Ulanga) River valley, a tributary further downstream. Profits from the commercial rice endeavors are dwarfed by losses to power generation and tourism. Unfortunately, the rice farming has been supported by both the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In addition, these large agricultural projects tend to favor export production over solving a domestic food shortage and often have devastating environmental and health impacts.
We drove across the river and parked the car, got out and wandered around a bit to take pictures. In a few minutes a Tanzanian official of some sort informed us we were not allowed to stop or take pictures. He did not, however, make us delete the pictures we had already taken. Terrorism and concerns about it are messing up the whole world.
The pavement ended right after we crossed the Ruaha river. Our slower travel allowed us to spend more time looking for birds, butterflies and flowers.
We found a cluster of really pretty butterflies feeding on something in the soil by the bank of a small creek we crossed.
The Common Bush Brown and Swamp Patroller are very similar, and it's not at all clear I have them properly identified below.
We were heading for a place called Hondo-Hondo, a.k.a. "Udzungwa Forest Tented Camp", which had been recommended to us by a couple from the U.K. we met in Morogoro. After a lot of pot-holed, alternating rocky and muddy road we found the turn-off. As on other occasions, we had originally planned to stay in our own tent but given the frequent rains we decided to opt for more spacious accommodations. We had Godfrey, the manager, show us their "bandas", which are concrete or concrete-block walled cabins with separate outside shower and toilet facilities. We also had him show us their "tented camps" which are really spiffy. We would have liked to stay in one of the tents — they have en-suite shower and toilet and are generally much nicer, overlooking a small (dry at the time we looked at them) creek. But they were $104 each, pretty pricey compared to Simbawenni in Morogoro. So we opted for a banda. Our banda was nicely finished with a texture that is somewhat adobe-like. It was quite spacious inside, but unfortunately, like most visitor facilities the world over, lack much in the way of hooks to hang things on or convenient attachment points for things like clothes-lines.
The shower facilities have solar-heated water, but it is rather crude. The heater consists of a long black plastic supply hose draped in two large loops over the roof of our banda. There is no insulated storage tank, so you need to take your shower during the day when the pipes are actually heated.
We settled in to our banda, washed some clothes and hung them inside to start drying, then took a walk around. We didn't find a whole lot, and were disappointed in that regard. As usual, we were hoping for birds, butterflies and flowers, but we always settle for whatever we can find! We hiked the short nature trail they have set up around the perimeter of the Hondo-Hondo property, which abuts the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. Unfortunately it was not well maintained and in places where several trails came together it was not always clear which way to to. When we came to a fork we had to decide whether the trail leading further into the forest was the actual nature trail or a path the locals used to get someplace else.
After our walk it was time for dinner. I ordered up what is now my favorite beverage, a local Tanzanian ginger drink — Stoney Tangawizi. "Tangawizi" is Swahili for "ginger," and in my opinion Stoney Tangawizi is far and away the best ginger drink in the world — or at least those parts of the world I have visited. It is arguably the best soft-drink ever. I don't know it's history, but it is now a product of Coca-Cola. Given that it is not over-saturated with sugar and not sold world-wide, I suspect they bought it because it was getting too competitive. I also suspect they would like to bury it for some reason, given the lack of world-wide access. That would be a really dumb move, given how poor-tasting and unhealthy their regular drinks are and how many people really like a Stoney's. The company is so unappreciative and clueless they don't even advertise it on their main page for Tanzania. Instead, they push their plain-old sugar-over-saturated coke. Blech.
Dinner was $20 each, $12 for the main course only. No food of your own is allowed in the restaurant. Hondo-Hondo has, or at least had at the time of our stay, a superb cook. Every meal we had was delicious, just right.
The next day we drove to the ranger station, about a km beyond the turnoff for Hondo Hondo, to sign in and pay to enter the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. We wanted to hike up to Sanje Waterfall. You are required to have a guide, or at least that was the impression we got when we checked in. It's probably a good thing, as finding the start of the hike would have been a bit of a chore; it's not well marked, but it's not hidden either. We drove right by it without noticing on our way to Hondo Hondo when we arrived. The fellow at the entrance station made a call and our guide, a young woman named Elinaja, quickly arrived.
The trailhead is located along the road 10 km or so back towards Mikumi amid some private landholdings; you hike up through them to get to the park border, where there is a sign.
The trail is well maintained, and unlike many trails in less well developed countries it doesn't just go straight up. It has a nice grade and steps and water-bars to keep it from being eroded; it even has handrails in places, although they are not particularly stout. As we headed up we both wondered why we were even bothering with this hike; there wasn't a lot of bird-life or butterflies or flowers around, and it was foggy so we probably wouldn't be able to see much.
The bigger trees all had well-buttressed roots, something to help keep them upright in this very wet climate. One of them was particularly large and had a "knocker" rock which Elinaja used to demonstrate how the locals used to communicate, beating on the tree trunk with the rock. It made a deep drum-like sound which seemed as if it would carry a long ways.
We found a few flowers along the way. We had seen Alscolepsis Capensis in Kitulo. At first glance the flower looks like a simple clover, but if you look closer you see there are two very long needle-like bracts which extend downward at about a 45° angle below the flower. What evolutionary benefit resulted it that?
Dona says she's going to tell me what the other flowers are...
We found these abundant parasites growing on plants on our way up. Pretty cool, but I'm glad they aren't growing on me!
As usual, there were some cool, colorful bugs. This one looks like it was designed by our grand-daughter with a coloring book.
On the way up our first stop was a viewpoint where we could get a glimpse of the lower falls. It was still pretty cloudy; I didn't even take a picture. The viewpoint is quite a ways from the falls, and as we learned later, you're only looking at part of it so it is not as impressive as it could be. After a brief stop, we continued on up.
Still hiking under overcast / cloudy skies, we arrived at the top of lower Sanje Falls. The sun was trying to burn off some of the clouds. We couldn't see a whole lot. Looking through the streamside vegetation you could see what was more-or-less the top of the falls, but not much more. We couldn't see the falls from the side at all. It's a very pleasant spot though, and would be really nice on a bright sunny day. A little further up the trail a bridge crosses the creek. If you head that direction you can make a loop and come out near the ranger station. We headed on up the trail we were on to have a look at middle and upper Sanje Falls.
Middle and upper Sanje Falls are one right on top of the other. Each is very roughly 15 m or so tall. They are both really pretty, but reminiscent of hundreds of other falls I have seen. Elinaja told us we were not allowed to swim in the plunge pool at the base of the middle falls. I'm not sure why not, since you are allowed to swim in the pool of the upper falls. The sun wasn't out, so even though we had our swimsuits neither of us went in.
We left the upper falls and hiked back down to the top of Lower Sanje Falls. By the time we got there it was a bit brighter and drier. We dumped our packs on the picnic table under a small shed and grabbed a bit to eat, then explored around a little.
The top of lower Sanje Falls is a big flat slab that makes a shelf. The water runs over that slab onto another big slab about 3 meters below it, and then falls in a series of long cascades. At the time of year we were there, the creek is relatively small, and Dona and I could climb down onto the topmost shelf. There wasn't an easy way to get to the second shelf down, unfortunately. It would have been fun to look over the edge of that shelf to see the water cascading down the lower falls!
Wow! Is that ever a cool place. I could only imagine the incredible thunder the falls would make in the rainy season when the creek is full. There is a campsite across the bridge (pictured above) just a short way upstream. In nice weather it would be a spectacular place to spend some time. I'd love to sit on those rocks and watch the sun rise and again watch it set.
There were a number of really bright flowers near the falls. Most were still wet from the morning showers. We also found some nice butterflies and a really cool transparent slug. Then we headed back down.
The Udzungwa Mountains are home to many Tanzanian endemic species; among the twelve primates that inhabit the area, five are endemic. We were delighted to find some Red Colobus Monkeys on our way down. We just got glimpses of them through the dense foliage. When I looked into their eyes I felt sort of helpless because we couldn't talk.
We found some pretty interesting over-sized wormy things too...
We hiked back down to the viewpoint for the lower falls. The lower falls is some 180 meters in overall extent, and has four distinct sets of cascades. But from the viewpoint all you can see is the first cascade at the top. You know there is more down below, but you can't see it. That's frustrating. Really frustrating.
By this time things had cleared up a bit more. The sun was poking through now and then, and the clouds had burned off a bunch. We were keen to get a better view of the whole thing. From the viewpoint a trail leads down to the base of the falls. It's an easy hike, except for the thought that you are going to have to come back up.
We set off down the trail. It isn't all that far, but it did seem to keep going down and down. But Wow! When we got to the bottom and stepped out of the forest... All I can say is it is one of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen.
I kept looking up at the falls. What I really wanted to do was scramble up and round and stand on each one of those ledges up there. I wanted to look at the pools at the bottom of each drop, and peer over the edge of the next one. I wanted to see what birds and butterflies might be hiding out up there. Sigh. We had only limited time, and I don't think anyone but me really wanted to do that. But doesn't that middle picture above really look like it just needs serious exploring? All those nooks and crannies and rocks and pockets and hidey-holes? There have to be some amazing plunge pools up there.
It was hot and muggy and we were dragging a bit. We were not allowed to swim at the bottom of the middle waterfall, and when we were at the upper one I wasn't particularly inclined to. But now it was warmer, we were on the way down, and the sun periodically came out. I thought about skinny dipping but it didn't seem appropriate. I switched to my swimsuit and splashed in. Boy, was that refreshing!
The sun was still poking out when we returned to Hondo Hondo, where I enjoyed another Stoney's and we both enjoyed another excellent dinner.
The next day we headed back towards Mikumi National Park. We had not stopped on our way out, wanting to get as far as we thought reasonable and then work our way back knowing what obstacles and road conditions we would have to deal with. On our way we found a few birds along the road, but the mono-culture rice fields on one side of the road probably severely affected the overall diversity.
We saw this Pin Tailed Wydah flying around like he was really enjoying life. Maybe he just looks like that all the time because he's aerodynamically marginal with his overly long tail. Or maybe, as legend has it, he really is proud of himself.
We stopped frequently by the side of the road to investigate flowers, butterflies and birds. People driving by would slow down and stare at us like we were aliens. I guess in a way we were. But everyone was friendly and waved back at us with a big smile when we waved at them. Dona took this great photo of a couple and their two kids on their way to somewhere.
We stopped for the night just west of Mikumi National Park. We stayed at Mikumi Adventure Lodge, a place recommended by our Bradt guide. It was still in a state of construction; the swimming pool was incomplete, and they were rebuilding the covered restaurant which had collapsed. The place was virtually empty; the last guest had left a week before us. Steo, the Maasai guard, took us on an evening walk through the forest around the lodge. It was disappointing even though it borders the national park.
We wanted to explore the south part of Mikumi National Park because it was supposed to be a good spot for birds. The next morning we drove to the park headquarters and paid our entrance fee. They looked at us strangely when we told them we wanted to go into the part of the park on the south side of the highway; almost everyone goes driving in the grasslands to the north looking for Africa's big mammals.
We weren't supposed to take our car on any "game drives", but we rationalized we weren't going on a game drive, we were just going bird watching. If we had had a Rav 4 like we reserved, we would have done fine. But the Hyundi we had has a lot less clearance. We bottomed out a few times with a loud "thunk!", an unsettling experience that convinced us not to venture down a couple of the tracks on our map. The tse-tse flies were horrible in the woodlands. We couldn't drive with the windows open. As it was, whenever we stopped and rolled them down the tse-tses would immediately swarm into the car. After raising the windows we would systematically murder them all before continuing on.
We spent most of our time working our way around one 4WD track in the southern part of the park, then took a quick turn out onto the grasslands. By the time we left it was noon and time to hit the road if we were going to make it back to Morogoro before dark.
There were a lot of European Bee Eaters around; their acrobatics are pretty amazing when they are catching flies.
As we left the park, the constant stream of trucks hauling containers was choking up the road. In no time we came to a place where the road was half blocked by a truck tipped on its side burning up. Despite the broken down trucks and industrial traffic, we made it back to Morogoro in reasonable time. After checking in with Elias at Simbawenni, we spent the evening and a bit of the next morning looking for birds in the wild area on the property. We left fairly early for our trip back to Dar es Salaam because we now knew the traffic was way worse in the afternoons.
Dona had made us reservations at Kipepeo Beach Village, a place on the beach on the south side of Dar es Salaam. We had a heck of a time finding the place; the main road was torn up so we had to detour. But like all good Tanzanian road matters, whoever was responsible didn't put up any signs. You were just supposed to know your way around. We went back and forth, asked about fifteen people which way to go — half said one way, half said the other. The main problem was a huge oil refinery and a military base, and we needed to be on the other side of them. It was right there but you couldn't get there from here. We finally made it, then I got a traffic ticket for doing 58 km / hr in a 50 km / hr zone. Of course, no one else was going too fast, just me. Uh-huh.
Even when we got to the place, we weren't there. It took us three tries. But we made it eventually, and enjoyed relaxing and cleaning up a bit. Sid's friend Kristen met us for the afternoon and we got in a good visit. She was staying in Zanzibar and working on her PhD in African History. Her thesis was about the disconnect between statistics and reality; about how misunderstanding of the culture from which statistics are gathered often results in unintended results and misguided policy, sometimes the opposite of what was intended.
We went for a swim in the Indian Ocean. It was warm like a bathtub. Kristin said the water by Zanzibar was much more inviting and clearer.
The next day we flew home, or at least took off and headed that way. It took us forever to get to the airport — over two hours to go maybe 20 km. There were wrecks everywhere, bashed in, broken down and burned out commercial trucks carrying containers. Almost none of the one way two-lane road we traveled was actually usable in both lanes due to all the broken down trucks parked on it. It took us three tries to get onto the one km long spur road going to the airport — because of traffic rerouting, roads blocked off and turned into one-way streets, useless maps and ... you guessed it, no signs. On our third and final try, yep, I got a ticket, sort of. For not coming to a full stop. Actually, I'm not sure that's what it was for, as the policeman didn't speak English and my Swahili is pretty much non-existant. He did say he needed some "Chakula kidigo" — "small food." Hah! Perfect. We had all sorts of left over food to give him. Except he didn't want it. He wanted money. Duh. Another day, another bribe. Tanzania, a land of friendly people, unfriendly infrastructure, and a totally corrupt police force.
We had a five hour layover in Zurich. We could have enjoyed playing some Bananagrams while we waited, but there were no tables in the place despite huge open spaces. So we played on the floor. Customs and Immigration at Newark airport was a breeze, for once. Our plane to Denver was late arriving. Then it had a "small" mechanical issue which was fixed in 15 minutes. But we couldn't get going because we were "waiting on paperwork." "Paperwork" takes 45 - 50 minutes. We arrived in Denver late and missed our connection to Missoula. They could have held the plane, as it was the last flight to Missoula that day and it overnighted in Missoula and there are no connecting flights out of Missoula. The airline knew we were almost there or maybe even landed already. It would be an easy explanation to people on board — "We're waiting for some folks on the last leg of a long trip." But hey, it's a humongous United States airline, and "we don't do customer service, we do money."
We grabbed a bite to eat at the airport before heading to our hotel in Denver. As expected, the cheap United Airline vouchers didn't cover it. They also printed us new boarding passes for the next morning without the TSA PRE stamp, so we had to go through the supposedly more rigorous, longer screening process. In reality it takes about the same amount of time, although we had to take off our shoes. We both got a full pat down anyway.
The good part about all this is we had begun reading The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. I found it full of good thoughts and insights, like this one:
"...he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure."
And so we arrived, eventually, back home, adventurers in a quest of our elusive treasure.
