airport – Snapping The Globe

Every year for my birthday and our wedding anniversary, my husband and I seek out some sun and fun!

This year, we decided to do something a little different. We were going to seek out some adventure (and sun) in New Mexico. Our five days were all planned with hiking and driving and discovering…that is…until we found out that we would have to quarantine when we arrived.

Finding this information out the night before our departure left us scrambling for a new destination. Somewhere that did not require a quarantine was a bit hard to come by in the height of a pandemic, so we headed south to Florida where restrictions were a bit more loose.

Key West is a quaint island with lots of great restaurants, great nightlife and a ton of great tourist attractions and I have visited on a couple of other occasions. Something stuck out to on this trip as I walked down the stairs of the airplane and across the tarmac to the terminal.

“WELCOME TO THE CONCH REPUBLIC”, read a sign on the terminal.

Hmmm…I didn’t ever remember seeing this sign before and it got me to wondering what this Conch Republic thing was all about. Off to google it…

Apparently, in 1982, the United States Border Patrol was set on the idea that narcotics and illegal immigrants were being brought to the United States through the Florida Keys. A roadblock and inspection point was set up on US 1 and all vehicles were stopped and search.

The Key West City Council complained about the inconvenience for the tourists traveling to and from the Keys and that it was hurting the tourism industry. When repeated complaints continued to go unanswered, the local government decided to take matters into their own hands. If they were going to be treated like a foreign nation with a border, then they were going to become one.

The Mayor, Dennis Wardlow and the city council declared Key West’s independence on April 23, 1982 and took the name of the Conch Republic for the locals who are often referred to as Conchs. Though it was all done as tongue in cheek and not an official succession, Key West’s complaints finally resounded and the roadblocks were removed.

Locals still fondly remember this act of defiance and continue to embrace the name as a tourism booster.

Visitors love visiting Key West, but they love telling everyone, who doesn’t understand, that they were on vacation in the Conch Republic! If you really want to feel like you have visited a new nation, visit the website where you can purchase a Conch Republic passport…bet your traveling buddies don’t have one!

For more pictures, check out Facebook, Snapping the Globe and Instagram, @snappingtheglobe.

Key West a.k.a The Conch Republic

Getting There: Many airlines fly directly to Key West. You can also drive the Overseas Highway from the southern tip of the Florida’s mainland all the way to Key West.
To purchase a Conch Republic passport, check out the website https://conchrepublic.com/order-passports

A safari.

Traveling all the way to Tanzania was not for museums, markets or the beautiful Arusha hotel, however much we enjoyed them. Though we appreciated our short stay in Arusha and many things that it had to offer, it was time to go. Time for the real deal.

Since I was a child, watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, I had been fascinated by the places and animals that its host, Marlon Perkins encountered each week. I was particularly enthralled by Africa, a land so colorful and filled with people and creatures that were such a contrast to what my young eyes beheld every day. Though I was from a small town, and travel was not part of our every day lives, I knew that one day, I would manage to make the long journey and set my feet upon this vast continent’s ground.

Life as a flight attendant offers many opportunities to see the world. Any occasion that I was able to secure, to see every city that my airline offered, I took. I particularly enjoyed my travels to Africa. Ghana was my first foray and I loved the people, the culture, the food and the landscape. It was succeeded by trips to Senegal, Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa. Though I was able to go to the famed Lion Park in Johannesburg, play with the baby cubs and drive through their sanctuary and even do a game drive in Senegal at the private Bandia reserve, eastern Africa eluded me. A safari where I stayed in the parks, able to watch the wildlife from the lodges was what I wanted to do.

For my landmark 50th birthday, I promised myself that a safari trip was what I wanted most. Booking the adventure took place seven months ahead and the wait was almost unbearable, but eventually I found myself in Kenya and then Tanzania.

Leaving early from our hotel, we made our way to the Arusha Airport. An extremely small airport with mostly small aircraft, it was surprising to hear that a couple of our travel companions had arrived here from Amsterdam on a Boeing 777. Wow!

After our arrival and making our way through security, we stood alongside the runway awaiting our aircraft assignments.

Soon, we were boarding one of Shine Aviation’s Cessnas and rocketing down the runway. Arusha’s dense landscape spread out before us giving way to mountains and gorges. Although we were told that on some days, Kilimanjaro is visible, unfortunately, we did not have the pleasure. We settled in for the hour flight and before long, the landscape became more barren. I was mesmerized by the Maasai villages that were discernible here and there along our flight path.

As we descended, small animals dotted the landscape and the landing field appeared before us. Lower and lower, our aircraft dropped until we were bumping along the Seronera airstrip. Finally, I had made it.