Welcome: The Korol's arrive in Madagascar

As i write this, my parents are in the air on a Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi to Antananarivo, the final leg of their circuitous journey that began a few days ago in Las Vegas and will be completed when they touch down here in a few hours. 10,580 miles separate these two spots on the globe, but they have stopped in London for a lovely night with dear friends and then another night in Nairobi, so their distance traveled is quite a bit greater. These have been the nascent steps on a roughly 3 week trip that will have us in Mada for a week, followed by 10 or so days in Kenya, visiting the country my dad worked in as a peace corp volunteer about forty years ago. Add on some travel days and brief bookend stops in the world's capital of London and you have an ambitious and grand trip.

Deb and Bill @ Zion, 2012

The senior Korol's trip has been months in the making and is unlike anything they have done in their 35 years of marriage. We are so thrilled that they are taking this trip and honored that they wanted to explore Madagascar, Kenya and London together. Before we left the country, 5 months ago, we asked them if they wanted to travel together, hoping that the answer would be yes but never expecting that such a trip would be feasible for a whole host of reasons. Instead, they surprised us. After sleeping on the idea while we were visiting, they told us that they loved the idea and wanted to make it happen. We were shocked and thrilled. Not because such a trip is beyond their abilities, but rather due to the fact that it is such a departure from the kind of travel they have done in the recent and not so recent past.

It has be heartwarming to see how excited they have been about the trip, laying the foundation for us to have a great time here. Exchanging recommendations about packing, making plans about where to go and how to get there, going through the necessary medical checks and vaccinations, watching docs about these countries, reading books. They have really embraced the process and come here well prepared.

Beyond the excitement of seeing my dear, dear parents after all this time away, i am also personally enthusiastic about the context of our time in Madagascar and Kenya. My wife and father spent long periods of their life in these countries, working hard to make life better in communities very far from their own. Honorable work, no doubt. The experiences were incredibly important to the wonderful people they are and it has always been a dream of mine to see these places with them. Now it is happening and has already happened with our visit to Marofondalia a couple of weeks ago.

I do not think it is an embellishment to trace some of my wanderlust and love of different cultures to the stories my dad has told about his time in Kenya. The time he climbed Kilamajorio and the tedium of the talused slope at 5,000 meters, the Thanksgiving with the rancid turkey, the joy of heading into cosmopolitan Nairobi for a weekend of revelry on his motorcycle, exploring the Rift Valley as it comes to be known as the cradle of humanity. These are just a few of the stories that painted an exotic picture of these places far from home. Hearing about them made me want to venture out and see places where life is different, the landscape is distinct and have my own adventures. And i/we have done that, to a degree that is well beyond the experiences one could reasonably hope for in a lifetime.

We have to run now. Heading to the airport, and pick out the Korol's from the rush of humanity that is an international flights arrival at the Antananarivo airport. Yes!!!!

A warm anticipatory welcome to two amazing people on the beguiling island of Madagascar, we are going to have so much fun.