Day 24 - A Long Travel Day

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Woken early by a knock on the door. Wake up call. Hmmm, phone didn’t go off, old style manual call. Found out at breakfast that others got a call. Must have knocked the phone so it didn’t work. Good service.

Brekky then into the bus for our short trip back to the airport. Back through the check in routine and towards customs, etc. Farewelled our tour guide, Graham. He has been really good and keeps saying we have been the best group he has ever had. We vehemently say he is talking shit but he steadfastly says he has had loads of fun and hasn’t had to work hard at all. Anyway, more hugs and kisses - and handshakes for some. Then we head through his secret security entry which is much quicker than the first way we went through many weeks ago.

Into the shopping arcade and do some duty free for cosmetics. Wander about then call Jessica and chat to the kids for a while. Back through the shops and to our gate. One of the original crew from Namibia comes down the escalator looking a bit flustered. We then notice him talking to 2 black Africans (we are allowed to call them black here without being persecuted by the PC gang). He then hands over cash.... Turns out he changed money and walked away without one of his carry on bags. The people at the exchange booth obviously noticed his bag. Had his boarding details from the exchange and came to the gate and waited to hand his bag back. The money he handed over was a tip, not a bribe. Very happy Chappy and shows that there are good people around still.

Boarding called and on the bus again to our waiting plane. This time nowhere near full, so we get 3 seats to ourselves. Lucky as this is a 3+ hour flight. Food and drinks. Food is quite good and beer cold - we’ll it was almost 1200...... They even had entertainment and a movie of sorts on this flight.

Good flight and arrive at our first stop, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Luckily we are met at the foot of the stairs by the people from our next flight team. They give us the entry papers to complete, help with the bits we don’t know and then shepherd us to the Passport control booths, shuffling us to quicker lines, almost. Anyway, after finger prints for some - read moi (electronic) we are through. Bags all there. I pack most onto trolleys as we all know whose bag is whose now. BTW, noticed that the sign they held up said 11 for APT. Hmm, then we sit and there are the 2 new faces. Eventually find out they are from Adelaide - never mind....

Ushered with bags to the last bit where all the bags go through another x ray machine. Back on trolleys and finally out of the airport where we meet our APT agent. Turns out they are not allowed inside the airport, which is why the next airline people looked after us. Into a bus and off around the corner to the domestic terminal. Greeted again by the airport crew from our Arrival experience. Glad they were there to help as we were one of three flights to arrive at the same time. Chaos.

Anyway, bags in, us in through security again and to the special waiting lounge. Called to our flight. Into our 13 seater plane and off on our next flight of about 1.5 hours to Arusha. Good flight, lots of cloud around so not easy to spot too much or take good pics. Finally arrive early due to good tail wind. Out to the throng of drivers with signs outside the gates. None for APT. Back into the arrivals lounge. Airport staff ask who should be picking us up. We have a name but no number. Wait then eventually 2 4x4’s arrive with APT wheel covers. Saved. Bags in and welcomes and apologies. Explains if the plane is early they normally get a call. Didn’t happen. No dramas.

Drive to our accomodation. As we pull up a wedding group is just coming out for photos in the garden. We pile out of the trucks in the middle of the group. Get welcomed and allocated rooms. Little huts with a chandelier in the lounge area, step up to a bed with mozzie net around it and a good size bathroom. Nice.

Back to the main area for a welcome drink and nibbles and a talk of what we can expect. Tour leader (Moses) seems really nice and imparts his information well. Session over, we sit and finish drinks and have a chat with him. Loves his coffee and tells us he grew up on a coffee plantation. Chris susses out the barman and asks if they use real skim milk or long life. Winner, real skim milk so looks like Chris might be back on the real stuff for breakfast tomorrow.

As we have gathered stuff on the way we have to shed some weight. Luckily we get APT issue bags so we can downsize, and they arrange to take the other bags back to Nairobi where we end up. This means re-packing bags, but more importantly saves sending stuff home by post. Done and dusted, now to bed.

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