Another day of travelling

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At breakfast we again see Sudi and are almost running late to meet Roman to get on our way to the airport as we are talking again! Such a nice guy!

EVENTUALLY WE WILL GET TO THE AIRPORT

Roman is such a popular and well respected guy in the towns that when we drive through them, there are lots of stops for him to say hello and have a chat to so and so and this person and that person. Unfortunately for us, every time he steps out of the car we get swamped by every person in town who has something to sell, I even get another trade for a koala bear offer but this time decline.

We check with the souvenir guys for my flag but they were only able to get a smaller one so we decline and hope to get one in Kenya. Doesn’t sound logical, But for some reason Kenya airport sells all sorts of bits and pieces for every other country.

It’s nice to see that when we are driving along down the mountains, Roman always looks out over at the view, it clear to see, even though this is his job, he loves doing it and appreciates the view.

When we get to Arusha, Roman drives us past his daughter’s school, it’s one of the nice schools in the centre of town. Then he stops at a building in a back street and says this is his office and his boss wants to see us. Hhmmmm we think, we just want to go to the airport! But we go in and wait. It’s just a small office with some other rooms out the back. There’s a couple of desks with computers, a couch that we have been planted on and a TV that Tim has fixed his eyes on, his first TV in a week! After waiting for half an hour for his boss to come back I tell Roman that as much as we would like to see his boss we would much rather just head to the airport now if he could just pass on our regards thanks. So off we go.

At the airport the security to get in is tight. Each driver is questioned before they are allowed through the gate. Unfortunately our car stalls when it’s our turn to move up, and all 3 of us just hold our breath, Tim’s already got a vision of us having to walk the rest of the way with our luggage, but then it kicks back into life! We get all our things, do our farewells and swapping of addresses and phone numbers and we go to check in.

TANZANIAN CUSTOMS AGAIN

We have to get past Customs to get into the airport. A very serious man who asks again about our bags and have we been given any gifts to take out of the country for another person, blah blah blah. Then we see a young girl, maybe 4 years old, sitting on chair nearby. He tells us this is his daughter and immediately his demeanor changes to that of a proud Papa!

Once we get in we are told check in won’t be open for another hour, no 3 hour check in rule here! So we sit and wait, have lunch, phone ahead to Johannesburg to arrange airport pickup and chat to a couple on their way to Rwanda to trek the gorillas. They are part of the private plane set, so no long drives for them!

Finally we’re checked in, and on our way back to Kenya and the odd airport that when you come off the plane you are in the same area as the people departing, but not just people waiting at your gate but the general departure area. But at least we are sitting together this time.

BACK IN KENYA - BUT JUST FOR A MOMENT

After collecting our bags (finally, for such a small plane we couldn’t find Tim’s bag for ages!) and the long walk to the right building to check in again for Kenyan Airlines, we queue up for the initial security check. At this airport, only passengers are permitted inside the building, so all farewells are done outside. You also have to go through an x-ray immediately as you enter so there is a huge queue lined up outside, just like an ATM machine in Tanzania!

On checking in, again there is a problem finding us in the system, we are handed over to another counter and finally she finds us, whew!

So more airport waiting time. We hunt around and sure enough I get my Tanzanian flag!

We sit down for lunch and I have the spiciest spring rolls in my life! For every bite there’s a big drink, even my throat is burning!

In the café we are sitting next to two guys and a girl from our previous flight, they are from South Africa and live in Johannesburg. One guy and girl are travel agents and the third is the girl’s cousin. They did a similar Tanzanian trip as us but did it for work. Sounded great until they said they have to visit all the hotels in each area and their game drive experience is going from one hotel to the next!

They even saw our hot air balloon, they were watching the same pride of lions that we saw and were growling at the balloons for making the lions leave - oops, sorry!

So it was a nice easy way to kill time. On the flight to Johannesburg the girl and her cousin sat together the other guy switched seats and sat next to us, although before too long we all ended up asleep, our headphones didn’t work so no movie for us and it’s been a long day for all.

We get to Johannesburg at midnight and we look and wait and look and wait until the terminal is empty except for us - can’t see anyone here to collect us. Phone hotel and they say they know nothing about it so we just catch a cab. Finally get to the Don Johannesburg International Airport Hotel. It looks nothing like the picture on the internet to the point that I ask the taxi to wait until I go inside and make sure!

The rooms are great, they are actually a one bedroom apartment with a full kitchen. If you were staying here for a short while it would be quite good.

So excited about arriving in Zimbabwe tomorrow!

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