During our 2 years in Mali we talked quite a bit about returning on a boat, dreaming of crossing the Atlantic in days instead of hours, so we did. Our ship left from Dover, England. We first spent some time exploring the famous white cliffs.
Atop the white cliffs.
It is a little too slippery for Sam's liking.
Your town needs a nice castle to be taken seriously in England.
We boarded the ship for the journey across the Atlantic Ocean. It turns out that this is much larger body of water than a quick glimpse at the map might indicate. It took twelve nights of pretty much constant steaming (or diesel burning, as it is nowadays) to get stateside.
It took 2 days of cruising to reach Portugal. The seas en route were so rough that many folks were hiding in their staterooms or using the white bags provided on the stair railings (We've seen these in planes before). In fact, we were afflicted with land sickness when we walked around Lisbon. It was tough to stop swaying.
Beautiful old world architecture.
The streets look the same as they did back when Portugal ruled the seas.
With the one port of call behind us we had the next 8 days at sea. Since we were making up for lost time living in a muslim country, we spent much of the days eating bacon, playing trivia and drinking beers in the hottubs.
On the way to the hottubs (note: beers in pockets).
Familiar decorations onboard.
Finally touching land in the U.S. of A.
We have looked forward to returning home for so long. Obviously, we are happy to be home. We will do our best to see everyone as soon as possible. We don't need to tell any of you to be patient with us, you are all used to that. We will try to see all our friends but, as we learned in Mali, it is family first.
Lila playing with dad and Uncle Mark.
Kayla, Emily and Megan dancing with Aunt Sam.
We are thrilled to be back but will never forget where we went. We cannot express our thanks to all of you who made it all possible from family to friends to Peace Corps crew. It has been incredible. We have grown in ways we never expected, seen places and done things we could never have imagined and met people we will never forget. Thank you all.
"That way to Africa."
