Arrival in Tanzania - Days 1 and 2

So here we are back in Tanzania. We left home at around 3am yesterday morning and drove to Bristol airport. From there we flew to Amsterdam with KLM and then on to Kilimanjaro, landing at around 8.15pm local time. The flights were pretty smooth and uneventful. We had seats near the rear of the plane which meant we were able to disembark fairly quickly and so were near the front of the immigration queue. We were through immigration, collected our luggage and cleared customs in about 40 minutes - not quite a record for us but pretty quick.

A driver from Airport Planet Lodge was waiting for us and so we went straight to the lodge, which is only about a 10 minute drive from the airport. They have expanded the lodge since we were there in May last year and we were given one of the new bungalow rooms which was really very large and had a nice bathroom. I would recommend staying here to anyone who wants a hotel close to Kilimanjaro Airport. 

  

We left our bags and headed straight for the bar for a cold Kilimanjaro beer. We also decided to order a few cashew nuts to have with the beers. In true Tanzania style they took half an hour to arrive but when they did, they came straight from the kitchen and were warm and accompanied by warm freshly made popcorn - very delicious and made the wait worthwhile. After this we retired to bed!!

This morning we were up reasonably promptly and enjoyed a good breakfast on the lodge terrace. The lodge driver then took us back to the airport for our flight to Mwanza. On arrival at the Precision Air check in desk we were told that we now needed to provide a copy of our passports. As we didn’t have a photocopy on us (and neither did anyone else it seemed) we were told to step to one side, take a photo and then email it to them. Due to their fairly slow WiFi this took a while, meanwhile a queue was building up and I could foresee problems for those who were arriving later than us!! Anyway the email eventually sent and we were allowed to leave with our boarding passes and head off through security.

 

Our flight boarded on time and once we were sat in our seats I realised that we knew the family sat in front of us. It was Jenny who owns Honey Badger Lodge in Moshi where we stayed many years ago but still often visit when we want a relaxing day round a pool. Jenny was travelling to Mwanza with her 4 children as the oldest 2 children were involved in a swimming competition this weekend. It was lovely to see her and catch up.

The flight was good. We had some nice views of Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro Crater, the pilot even dipping the wings on each side in turn, so people could get a good view.

On arrival in Mwanza Robert was waiting to meet us so we drove straight to Malaika Beach Hotel where we are staying for the next 4 nights. We checked in and then met Robert in the bar for a beer and then some lunch. It was good to catch up with him and sort out plans for the next few days. After lunch Robert left and we spent the afternoon unpacking and then went and had a swim in the pool. This hotel has lovely views over Lake Victoria. We were even joined by a few colourful agama lizards. Later we went down to the beach for a drink as the sun was setting. Tomorrow we will be off to visit some schools.