2015 was a relatively quiet year for flying, a modest 13 flights over the course of 27,107 miles.

My first trip of the year found me traveling to upstate New York to visit with some family just north of the city of Syracuse. It had been about 5 years since my last visit but was really nice to have a visit again.

Finally my big trip had come. I had spent a number of days looking for award tickets and finally scored them to East Africa so that I could climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. The trip involved purchasing 4 one-way tickets. The first was Minneapolis to JFK. The second was JFK to Nairobi, Kenya via Amsterdam. Coming back my 3rd ticket was from Kilimanjaro Airport to JFK via Kigali, Rwanda, Amsterdam, Netherlands and London, England. Finally my 4th ticket was the return journey from JFK back to Minneapolis.

I was home a mere 3 weeks from this trip, with just 4 weeks until my birthday, when I decided I wanted to go somewhere special for this year. At first I was going to fly to Chicago to see a Musical. Then I thought I would get a better choice by flying to JFK. I mulled this over for a few days and finally decided that I was going to do something epic for this trip. After clearing the time off with work I booked my tickets to London, England.


View the Flights Here

Airlines Flown:

Aircraft Flown:
Airbus A320-200
Airbus A330-300
Boeing 717-200
Boeing 737-700
Boeing 737-800
Boeing 747-400
Boeing 767-300
Boeing 767-400
Bombardier Canadair CRJ-900
Embraer ERJ-170-100

Countries Visited / Entered / Exited:
Kenya	Tanzania	United Kingdom
United States

Airports:
AMS		Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands
JFK		John F Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York
JRO**		Kilimanjaro International Airport, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
KGL**		Kigali International Airport, Kigali, Rwanda
LGA**		La Guardia Airport, New York, New York
LHR		Heathrow International Airport, London, England
MSP		Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, MSP, Minnesota, USA
NBO**		Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya
SYR		Hancock International Airport, Syracuse, New York
** new airports for 2015

Kibo rising high above the Shira Plateau. (alt: 11,700 ft)

Michael contemplating the beauty, with Mt. Meru in the distance. (alt: 12,805 ft)

Mt. Meru in the distance. (alt: 13,000 ft)

Camping at the foot of Kibo, in the great Barranco Valley. (alt: 13,034 ft)

Kibo in reflection. (alt: 13,877)

Danël & his guide, Imram, at Uhuru Peak - the Highest Point on the African continent. (alt: 18,341 ft)

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Cheetah in the Serengeti

Morning rays in the Ngorogoro Crater

Foraging elephant in Tarangire National Park

Leopard in the Serengeti

Mamma and her baby. Tarangiere National Park

Stonehenge: On a beautifully freezing Saturday in November!