Day 1 & Day 2

Day 1

We left our home in Bristol at 3.30am to travel to Tanzania. Our flights were with KLM from Bristol to Amsterdam and then on to Kilimanjaro, arriving slightly early at 8.15pm local time. We had Evisa’s so headed straight to immigration and were about 6th in the queue. It took about 20 minutes to get through and by then our bags had arrived so we were among the first to exit the airport.

We were staying the night at Le Parlour, a small hotel, in Boma Ng’ombe about a 20 minute drive from the airport. On exiting the airport you are always met by a mass of taxi drivers all holding up cards with their clients names, and of course if you are one of the first out then you have to scan a lot of cards to find the one with your name. I have to say it took us 2 ”sweeps” to find our driver. However we were soon on our way to Le Parlour. The drive was pretty straight forward until we reached the roadworks where a narrow bridge is being widened. There was a diversion in place and a large truck seemed to have got stuck on the temporary bridge. In true Tanzanian fashion this led to everyone else trying to go round him any way they could which then led to a road block. Luckily after a delay of about 10 minutes the truck managed to get moving and so we were off again.

Le Parlour is down a track off the main road. On arrival everything was very quiet but Eileen, the owner soon appeared and showed us to our “house”. We had our own self contained apartment with a bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen area complete with fully stocked fridge. This all cost £40 for bed and breakfast, so about a quarter of what we would have paid to stay at the airport hotels. By now it was about 9pm so we did a little bit of sorting out before relaxing with a beer and then heading for bed.

Day 2

We got up, showered, and headed for breakfast about 7.15am. Eileen cooked us pancakes and eggs accompanied by toast, juice and tea and coffee, all very good. Our taxi arrived about 8am and we headed back to to the airport for our flight to Mwanza. This time there were no delays and the journey only took about 15 minutes. Our flight was with Precision Air and was due to depart at 9.40am so we had plenty of time for a coffee.

The plane was actually half an hour late taking off but was less than half full. It was a pleasant flight but the there was quite a lot of cloud but no great views.

When we had landed and were waiting for our bags a little girl who had been on the flight stood beside me and seemed to be fascinated by my white skin, she kept looking at me and touching my arm and laughing.....a sign that not many white faces visit this area. On exiting the airport we were met by Robert from ACTT and Shabani, who is now employed by ACTT as a driver. As always it was great to see them again.

As it was not yet noon we headed into town so we could change the donation money into Tanzanian Shillings and pay it into the ACTT bank account. This involved a visit to 2 different banks but all went smoothly and I have to say I was pleased that we didn’t have  to carry all that cash around anymore. We also went and purchased a local SIM card for my phone and a data package. These phone shop always seem really busy but this time we did manage to sort this out without too much hassle compared tp sometimes.

After this it was time for lunch. Robert decided we should go to a restaurant nearby called Kijiji. We had fish, goat and chips which was all good. This also gave us a chance to catch up with Robert and plan the next few days. 

So by now it was gone 2 so we headed for Ryan’s Bay Hotel where we will be staying for the next few nights. We have not stayed here before but decided to give it a go based on a recommendation we had been given. It is well placed in the centre of town within walking distance of the ACTT offices but still has a good view of Lake Victoria.

Our room is large and well furnished and we have a large balcony. We spent a bit of time unpacking and then had a walk around the hotel and then up to the bar for a cold drink. There are some interesting sculptures and signs around the hotel. Once in the bar I caught up on my blog and Pete read his book and did a bit of bird watching.

This is an Eastern Grey Plantain Eater - a very noisy bird!!

The rest of our afternoon and evening was  spent having a bit of a rest and then having dinner in the hotel bar, which I have to say was very good. It was then off to bed as Robert has arranged for us to visit 4 schools tomorrow.

...... and as a final thought Pete took this photo of me which he thought was funny !!