On Tuesday evening, a lovely group of 22 of us got together to walk the back streets and dark corners of Lymington, being entertained and spirited into many a ghoulish tale by "Haunted New Forest's" historian and ghost hunter Hugh.

I first met Hugh back in the summer when my elder daughter and I joined him for a ghost hunting walk at Rufus Stone  and I was so impressed with his story telling, knowledge of local history and and how he made it fun and inclusive.

When I moved my classes online all those years ago (5 years and 7 months to be precise) the social side of our online life was so important to many of us for companionship and a regular check in with friendly faces. Not least those of us who live by ourselves. This is a large part of my business that I take very seriously and really value and to that end, I organise various social events that are always so well supported. Those of us who may be exclusively online really enjoy the social side of getting to know "the person away from the mat" and I take huge pride in the amount of friendships that have formed and how we have grown. Occasionally online members message me to say that they are not well or are recovering from something but will still log in just to be there, to see everyone and to feel the company of their fellow class mates - a bonus of being online and accessible!

With our socials in mind, I am always thinking of things that may be a bit different and entertaining and with the exception of our upcoming Christmas lunch, this was a super way to wrap up a very busy 2025. 

Hugh told us some fascinating stories about how pubs got their names, famous smugglers and ruthless kings of the dark ages. I think we may have scared the spirits away as there were a lot of us but there is no doubt that Lymington is steeped in history and has, over the years entertained many a royal as well as noblemen, temptresses, ruffians and ne'er do wells - some of whom may still be lurking in the shadows.

Most of us met first to eat before setting off into the dark night and it was a really fun and lively evening. It was a pleasure to see you all.

As you know, I was then heading off to see my daughter in Tanzania. So, about that...

As I have a new dog sitter in situ, and my flight was ridiculously early the following morning, I decided that rather than go home after our ghost walk to then leave at some unspeakable time and disturb everyone, I would  drive straight up to Heathrow. As the super organised person that I am, I was delighted that all went to plan - parking sorted, a couple of snatched hours snoozing in the car before heading off to check in and make my way to the gate. All absolutely tickety boo. The swiftest of short hops from London to Schipol, just long enough to cacth up on The Arches, dutifully downloaded followed by a power walk to the gate for my flight to Kilimanjaro and prompt boarding. Marvellous.

When they said we were being delayed due to engine issues, no-one really paid attention. When they said we had to leave the plane due to the problem being too much to sort, we were all mightily miffed. The captain advised that they were going to look for another plane, as you do. To be fair, they appeared to find one quite quickly and we reboarded and all was well albeit 3 hours late.

My daughter had expressed concern at the fact that I was arriving on the day of the presidential elections and that major trouble was predicted. I made various enquires in the upcoming days. The airline insisted they were flying and the online Government travel info did not express any concerns so why would I ?

Mid flight, Rosie was messaging to say it was pretty awful and they had all been told to stay home and all roads were blocked  but this was in staggered messages as all comms have been turned off in. the country.

I was very worried for her but felt that the fact we were flying in was a good indicator.

Except that we weren't... there were a couple of announcements from the captain that there were concerns about road blocks and so on,  and he would keep us updated.... and then when we were literally an hour away, he made THE announcement that we were turning around as it was not safe to land and the country was in full lockdown.  He had tried to get us to Nairobi but other airlines had got there first and blah, blah and we were heading all the way back to Amsterdam with a brief drop in at Vienna to refuel. We initially boarded at 9am yesterday morning and arrived back into Schipol at 1.30am  this morning.

Along with  the horrendous news of Jamaica that I had been reading, when the captain mentioned road blockades and the army taking over, accompanied by what I could tell was real concern from Rosie,  I was taken right  back to my Tsunami panic  - I  had to watch "Paddington in Peru" to stabilise - slightly embarrassing as I had tears dripping off my chin along with the occasional, out of the blue, uncontrolled sob and hoped my neighbours didn't think I was a little over invested in the fate of Aunty Lucy.

.But it's so sad - the Tanzanians are not an angry, aggressive people - later at the airport when I was talking to some of my fellow passengers and I mentioned government corruption, they told me swiftly that it is against the law to speak of that, and it was very sobering:  standing as a free British national in a European city, to think how much we take for granted.

Anyway... I made a new friend in Becky who was on her way to  Kilimanjaro for a safari from her home of Denver, Colarado and as we sat in the airport at 6am this morning having tried to sleep in plastic, upright chairs and now  drinking coffee, she was showing me a video of a wild bear who had climbed through the open boot of her neighbour's little red car and was literally sitting in the front seat, eating the pizza she had left there, at the same time as my daughter is sending me intermittent messages to tell me they are locked in at home, after hearing a night of gunfire and I honestly wondered if I had been transported to a parallel universe.

I waved goodbye to Becky who is on her way back to bear and mountain lion infested Denver to pick up a safari  another time, and we are going to keep in touch but no, I am still going. Of course I am. On literally the first available flight.

Every day is a school day. One thing I shall take away is just what one actually needs in one's hand luggage long haul. In future, assume the worst and throw in some clean smalls and a couple of adaptor plugs. As my luggage languishes in the bowels of KLM's storage (I assume - could be on its way to Denver to see the bears), I am going to be getting dressed tomorrow in day 4 of the same clothes which I shall then sleep in for an overnight flight. Yes I could have gone into the city and done some shopping and no, I can't be bothered. (I did dear reader, take advantage of Victoria's secrets in the airport!)

 I popped into the electrical shop. to get yet another adaptor plug (toothbrush- tick, face cleanser and moisturiser -tick, deodorant -tick, adaptor plug - won't need that) to be met by the most sullen sales assistant ever. When I enquired about a multi charger, he took his time telling me that different parts of Africa use different adaptors..well, "tsk" said I - "isn't that typical!".. "no madam it is not typical" says he." It is very unusual" ...7..8..9...10..

. When he saw my boarding pass however, he said "Oh, you were on THAT flight"....I didnt push it further because the urge to slap him was a little overpowering and I am running on close to empty but when I got to customs to leave and the official said the same thing, I asked what he meant and he just said that everyone was talking about it.

I, God willing, head off to TZ tomorrow night so please keep everything crossed for me because I won't rest until I see my girl and then whoop de whoop, I get to do it all again in 4 weeks.