Communication in this part of the world is at best, hopeless and a part of the trip which had more adventure to talk about. After an email to the boss at Rawandair about our treatment at Jo’berg and the lost bag, we were treated to the business lounge at Kigali before we boarded our flight to Nairobi in business class. On arrival we were picked up by our driver and taken to the hotel. The trip to the hotel took 2 1/2 hours in peak hour, a trip any other time would have been 20 minutes. The hotel was in the middle of town and under heavy security with large gardens and a country feel about it. The next day we were picked up by Ken to take us anywhere we wanted to. We visited Karen Blixen’s house (Out Of Africa) before the bead & pottery factory and then a lovely lunch. Dinner that night was with out travel agent from Nairobi with his mum and brother, who owned the restaurant. Saturday 3 August – Nairobi to Ngorogoro Crater. The day turned out to be an epic trip. Late departure out of Wilson airport for Kilimanjaro we were met and whisked through customs and escorted to our waiting plane for Arusha. We were the only passengers on a 12 seat Cessna with a local at the wheel, who started the take off on the taxi way. It was the best roll start I have ever seen. The flight was short and on arrival we were transferred on the tarmac to our final flight to Lake Manyara. The pilot was this gorgeous 23 year old German woman called Hanna, the plane was choka and she dropped us in on a dirt uphill strip like a true professional. Our guide Samson picked us up for the 2 1/2 trip up to the Crater. The roads were horrendous and as it was late in the afternoon we were meeting all the traffic coming out of the crater. There were many near misses. We finally arrived at Lamala our first of many tented nights. A few drinks around the fire before the whole camp dined on one big table. The next morning was an early start and we were the first into the crater. We had breakfast with the hippos and were fortunate to see a Rhino very close. It was not as good as we expected but was still very enjoyable with plenty of animals. That afternoon we did a bush walk with a local Maasai ranger.
RosandDensTravels 