Whats that coming over the hill - is it a monster? No but this post is!

Well – the Africa Diary. Here it is in all its detail. I have spared you nothing as indeed I am the only reader and this is after all my personal archive of my current life. If you happen to be reading it, then, “good luck” because it is a bit long winded. I havent bothered with pictures though. Maybe for later posts.....It is currently the 11th of May and now the day after the annual torment of the K2B. I managed to complete in 7h 37min – spot on eh? Anyway the diary…

Tanzania March 28 2008 to 6 April 2008-04-26

Friday/Saturday

This trip started with being collected by our chauffeur drive at 3:30 PM and being taken to Manchester airport Terminal 2 to catch the evening flight to Dubai. The flight took 7 hours and we enjoyed dinner service and drinks and a little bit of modest rest before landing in Dubai at local time of 7AM. We then made our way to a very busy business lounge and on checking in there; found that the flight time for the Nairobi flight had been moved to 11:45 from 10:05. This meant only a brief time in Nairobi to collect luggage and check in for our onward flight to Kilimanjaro (90mins max!).

The flight was then a touch late leaving Dubai but fortunately caught up a little time in the air and we were not too late on arriving at Jomo Kenyatta. We drifted into the arrivals area of JKIA and started to fill in some forms in order to acquire a transit visa (for all of 40mins by then!). As we were filling in the forms a couple of helpful Kenyan staff (Lucy and Karen) spotted us and we briefly discussed our problem. They then kept us airside whilst they went to collect our luggage from the arrivals side and brought it back to us in departures. We were therefore able to avoid “entering” Kenya and the need for visas. This cost us a tip but it was worth it as they also helped to make sure we were checked in for our onward flight. The secretary of state for health in Sri Lanka was on our flight into JKIA and he and his wife negotiated the whole transit visa, collect and check in process and still managed to be ready for the flight in time! He was on his way to a conference on malaria in Arusha and then progressing to a safari afterward.

This did mean that we had our luggage with us in the departures and that we would have to carry it to the plane. The flight was late after all that and there were only 18 people on that flight. It was quite odd being in a departure lounge with only 4 people. The staff had held the rest of the passengers outside the “lounge”. The lounge was very basic, as indeed was the airport but it functioned quite well. Information was not easy to come by. When we came to board the plane we were able to place our luggage in the hold as the plane was sufficiently small to be the kind where you can reach into the hold from the ground. The advantages of having small light luggage were already becoming evident and were only to be more advantageous as the trip progressed.

On arrival at Kilimajaro International Airport (KIA) we had to fill in some more landing cards and head for the “health” desk, where we were asked for our Yellow fever vaccination cards. This was not possible as all the best advice we could have asked for told us that, as we were travelling from the UK we would not require such a vaccination. That was the best we could do, but this did not concern the immigration officer who said that we could have it done there and then!

We were then taken into a side office and duly vaccinated and provided with official cards. This was all done for the princely sum of $150. The person in the queue ahead of us lived in Tanzania and was only returning from a weeks work in Nairobi, to be faced with vaccination! It transpired that the regulation had been enforced for all travellers arriving from a yellow fever endemic zone, no matter that we had only been in JKIA for 40mins! If we had travelled direct from Amsterdam as some flights into KIA do, then we would not have needed the vaccine! Welcome to Tanzania! Only once the vaccination formality had been overcome could we progress through customs and enter the country. The whole process in JKIA and KIA was a credit to African hospitality and nature.

We were then met by the CCAfrica rep who handed us to the Hatari lodge driver who was to drive us to the lodge that evening. A 90 minute drive followed. This took us towards Arusha, but off the main road and through a local village via the Arusha national park. We were tailed by an armed escort – apparently normal for night time transit in the park. This was for our protection and the protection of the park.

The track through the park was quite rough, but on the way we saw giraffe crossing the road and a couple of spotted hyena by the roadside. Rashid was our driver and eventually we arrived at Hatari lodge where we were the only guests that night. This is the rainy season and as a consequence the parks and lodges are quiet. We settled into a comfortable bungalow before a dinner in the main bar, after which we took to bed. But not before we had a bath. This proved to be quite interesting as the water was somewhat brown. It was still great to be washed after more than 24 hours of travel. We lit the candles around the bath and this proved quite useful as the electricity supply stopped on the dot of 11PM, when the generator shut down. If we wanted to leave the room after this time we were told to open the door and shout for “security”, whereupon a Maasai guard would come and help us out.

Sunday

Woken at “daft-o-clock” by the monkeys dashing about on the roof of the bungalow – this apparently is quite normal and we had been warned that it might occur. They were very noisy but it was quite fun all the same. Breakfast was on the terrace at the lodge and was a lovely breakfast with fruit and waffles and bush meats and a fantastic omelette with salsa.

We were then taken on our first “game drive”, which was to end up at Arusha airport for the next stage of our journey. We were taken on a brief tour of a portion of the Arusha national park, up to the Ngurdoto crater and through the rainforest. The national park is over 2000m above sea level. I had certainly thought that the whole of the country would be a savannah type environment and this is certainly not the case as would become very obvious as the days went by. The rainforest is just as you would expect it to be; quite damp and misty with a vast high canopy of trees and a dense undergrowth of jungle. This was great place to find monkeys. We saw Blue monkeys, Colobus monkeys and Baboons here. What followed was an interesting drive through Usa River and Arusha which provided a view of everyday “African life”. So much appears to be going on all the time and being Sunday, there were church services as well. It really is a whole different world and runs in a completely different way from our rather sanitised western culture. This is quite striking wherever we have travelled in Africa and the middle-east and is not without its attractions.

On arrival at Arusha airport we were taken to the Coastal air office and “checked in” for our flight to Kleins camp. Baggage handling is done by hand here and you can watch the progress of your bags visually. It has to be borne in mind that throughout this trip our bags went through a staggering number of systems and we came home with them, whilst at the same time, T5 at Heathrow had just opened into chaos. It should also not be forgotten that our original plans had us flying with BA to Nairobi from Heathrow direct. This would have meant us flying from T5. I am so glad we put our foot down and demanded Emirates from Manchester!

We then boarded our single engine plane with 4 other passengers and 2 crew and took a flight to Kleins camp. We had a stop at Seronera airstrip which is gravel and has a terminal hut. This strip is deep in the Serengeti and serves the lodges there. We proceeded to Kleins airstrip which has but an acacia tree and a grass runway. As we arrived there was a thunderstorm in progress and the pilot made a low pass to check the runway before landing, or we would have been taken to another strip some three hours away by track!

It was very wet underfoot when we disembarked and we were given waterproofs before getting into the waiting open sided jeep. Alex (the driver) and Masanga (the spotter) were to take us back to the camp (some 45mins away by track), but we did digress and tried to find some cheetah they had spotted earlier (to no avail), but we did see plenty of other game and as the weather dried up the day just became quite glorious. On arrival at the camp we were given a glass of Baobab juice with ginger and then taken to lunch. What an eventful start to Sunday! It simply was quite surprising how much we had managed to pack in since our start in Askam!

Later in the day we took an afternoon / evening game drive and saw our first elephants. We also went down to the river crossing we had come over only a few hours before and found the river in such spate that crossing was not possible.

That was OK because we met Brad and Annie there – at the end of their 3 week honeymoon. We joined them for drinks by the river. Their driver had brought a fully stocked “bar”. We made our way back via the riverside and spotted some night game. This kind of activity is not possible in the national parks. Off road driving and night driving are possible here as the Kleins concession is rented from the Maasai – who are allowed to graze their animals there. We eventually returned to the camp for a lovely dinner and then to bed. The kitchens here seem to be able to produce the most amazing soup – beautifully balanced flavours and gloriously smooth – as good as any Michelin starred restaurant. Denis was our butler at Kleins and he looked after our needs and brought us a cup of tea and biscuits as a wake-up call.

Monday

We were up at 6-30 for a 7AM breakfast and 7-30AM game drive. The nights here are pitch black – no light at all – very eerie when waking in the small hours. On waking we were greeted with the sight of a herd of 40 elephants grazing on the meadow below the bluff on which the camp is situated. We drove down to meet them and the solitary bull elephant who was also wandering the area.

We picked up some lion tracks on the way and followed these, eventually to be rewarded with the sight of a solitary lioness. Masanga had spotted her from quite some distance away. Lions are hard to differentiate from hartebeeste as they are a similar colour. The lioness we found was quite lean – this time of year is not good as the migration has moved on and the pickings are lean. There are gazelle and other smaller herbivores but they are also quite fast and difficult to catch. We did find some vultures picking over the remains of a kill on a field which contained the picked clean bones of many wildebeest and buffalo.

We then drove to a suitably open location and set up to take tea and a muffin as a mid-morning break from the driving. I had a coffee with amarula to give it a bit of a boost – all very civilised. Giraffe were not far away at this break and we then took a leisurely drive to the camp to have lunch and an afternoon at rest. By then we were the only guests in the camp. Later in the afternoon we went out for another game drive. The hammerkop bird produces a huge nest and we saw one of these down by the river – it is apparently enlarged each year and can weigh up to 50kg.

There were some ostrich by the airstrip – the male is black so he absorbs heat in the day and can then incubate the eggs at night whilst the female feeds. Impala are said to have an “M” on their backside to indicate that they are the lions’ McDonalds – extremely fast food. Alex was keen to point out that warthog are “lions’ sausages”.

We crossed the Grumeti river at a very steep crossing and tracked along the far bank looking for but not finding leopards. We did see dik-dik and baboons. Leopards tend not to be where baboon are found as baboon will happily see off leopards. These baboon were nit-picking each other and larking in the trees. The nests of weaver birds are very prevalent here and in some species the male can build several nests before the female will accept what has been built. She will also destroy nests which are not up to her standard.

We travelled behind the hill opposite the camp and had a call on the radio to let us know some lions had been spotted. The camp had sent a second set of spotters out just for us as we were the only clients in the camp. They led us to a pair of lionesses in the long grass and shortly after led us to a large male lion lying just next to the track. He was roaring – a sound which is more felt than heard. We were exceptionally close and within a few yards there was another lioness coming in to meet the male.

On our way back to the camp we found the track blocked by elephants. These are not to be argued with and cannot be moved if they don’t want to be. Alex was also aware that there could have been a lot more even if we had overcome the first block. We reversed and drove through the bush only to discover a load more elephants. It was very dark by this time. Further backtracking and a bit more off-road driving took us back to the river crossing. It had been mooted that we might have to return via the crossing we had used earlier in the evening, but that if we got stuck, as was likely to occur, we could call on someone to come from the camp and rescue us! The previous night some staff had been stuck on the far side of the river as the water level had been too much to cross – they had spent the night in the local Maasai village. We had been delayed but in the best way possible and we returned to a great dinner served in the bar.

Tuesday

Up early to get an 8-00AM drive to the airstrip for our 9-00AM flight to Manyara. This had been brought forward as the camp confirms exact flight timings the day before. It would appear that flight schedules are more “guidelines” here in the bush. We were given a fantastic send-off by the staff – indeed all the staff came out to see us leave. We saw further lions on the way to the airstrip and just as the plane was coming in to land a topi strayed onto the runway – this was chased by Masanga but the pilot had to make a flypast to come back for a second run. We then flew to Seronera and had an hour wait in the “terminal” there before the next hop to Manyara.

Whilst wating at Seronera we had a chat with the IT coordinator for CCAfrica – Steven. He was in the process of installing internet into the rooms at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge and trying to improve the email access to the more remote camps such as Kleins. He was also telling us that the Maasai are losing their identity and traditions.

Our onward flight took us over the Ngorongoro crater and gave us a great view of the lodge there before landing on the edge of the rift valley at Manyara airstrip.

We were then transferred to the Lake Manyara Serena Lodge. The CC Africa Manyara lodge is closed in April. Serena is a bit more like an hotel, but very relaxed and our rooms were connecting on the top floor of one of the 4 room huts. There was a very inviting swimming pool here but we never got time to use it. Although it was larger, it was still quite quiet as since it is the rainy season, the majority of tourists stay away. The busy period is June/July /August, but apparently it is very dry and dusty then and not as nice.

We were treated to a game drive that afternoon with our guide Maulid. The birds at Manyara are abundant and varied. The hippos are also quite something – you arrive at a pool full of grey backed humps which then start moving, a lot. There is then a great deal of activity as they jostle for position and defecate all over one another. It is quite a spectacle. We had dinner back at the lodge and enjoyed a quiet night in readiness for another full day drive the following day.

Wednesday

Today was the day we learnt a bit of Swahili. If all you did on safari was look for the “big five” then you could get bored, it is far more interesting to get beneath the surface a little. We had numerous discussions on several issues with our guides, and learnt some Swahili and also looked at the birdlife and flora of the area. This provided for a lot more interest to build up a better picture of the overall experience. Kleins was a place where I certainly got a really good handle on how the whole of an ecosystem works from the highest predator to the lowliest insect. You could really see how each part had its place. That to me was far more enlightening than just going with a tick list of the most popular things to spot. Anyway – some Swahili:


Twiga - Giraffe
Tembo - Elephant
Simba - Lion
Duma - Cheetah
Tumbili - vervet monkey
Nyani - baboon
Jambo - how are you?
Mambo? - what’s up
Poa - I’m fine – reply to above
Asante - thank-you
Mzuri - very nice / beautiful
Asante sana - thank-you very much
Baba - father
Mama - mother
Mtoto - baby
Kaka - brother
Dada - sister
Na - and
Caribu - welcome / you’re welcome
Manyara - cactus
Mbu - mosquito
Chui - leopard
Faru - rhino

We had a long drive out to the south end of the park at Manyara to visit the hot spring there. It is a VERY hot spring. We had a picnic lunch in the land-rover with elephants just outside and at another picnic site we observed a weaver bird actually weaving a nest.

On the way in that morning we had stopped for a whole troop of baboons in the road. Most of them seemed to be making baby baboons. If they weren’t looking after young ones themselves that is! We spent a good deal of time with the hippos again and eventually returned to the hotel in the mid afternoon.

We had quite a discussion with Waulid on the pronunciation of English words. He had asked us if we had tribes in the UK. We answered, that while we do not have “tribes” in the classical sense, we certainly do have distinct regional identities. We explained that this has a big effect on pronunciation of words and we demonstrated the difference between North and South and he was quite taken with this. We used the example of “water” as a word with differing pronunciation. He then expressed his dislike of Americans by poking fun at their rather over-stressed pronunciation of “water”.

I then arranged a trip to walk the site with the resident naturalist – Yotam. The site was just barren farmland in 1993 and now has some fairly mature trees. These trees are representative of the local species and replacements are grown in the on-site nursery. On the way we saw many species of birds and Yotam explained the geology of the area which led to the formation of the rift valley and notably the Western edge of the eastern arm on which we were stood. Lake Manyara is shrinking and is also quite alkaline, but becoming less so. This can lead to problems with the production of the wrong sorts of cyanobacteria on which the flamingo thrive. They are now seeing toxic blue-green algae. The lake is only 6m deep now and recent dry years in 2000-2005 have been a challenge. Farming activity also leads to silting up of the lake bed. Hydroelectric schemes further up the valley have caused downstream problems with the lake. This is a problem which is likely to worsen rather than improve in the near future. The lesser flamingo are pink only because they of the cyanobacteria on which they feed.

The kitchen has a large garden at Serena and they are able to grow nearly all their own fruit and vegetables there and source their meats locally. The garden uses local cow dung and composted kitchen waste as a soil improver. We explored a termite mound and I found out about the abundance of life that these support. The termites “farm” a type of fungus to feed the queen to keep a constant supply of drones for the mound. Snakes, rodents, larger invertebrates, spiders and anteaters also inhabit the mound and the internal temperature is quite warm as I found by putting my hand into one of the vents.

Yotam also introduced me to the parallel “little five”:

Lion Ant lion
Rhino rhinoceros dung beetle
Buffalo buffalo weaver
Leopard leopard tortoise
Elephant elephant shrew

The ant lion forms a small hole with a surrounding cone into which an unsuspecting insect will fall. The ant lion then paralyses the insect and liquefies its insides before consuming it.

Black rhino are distinct from white rhino. The white rhino name is the result of a misunderstanding of the pronunciation of the word ‘wide’ by Afrikaners. The white rhino has a wider mouth and graze widely.

The layer beneath the bark of the African flame tree is quite soft and can be boiled to make a remedy for retained placenta in cattle and this layer can be used to make ink-stamps in much the same way as the cork-oak.

The Manyara cactus is a great plant to use as a boundary shrub as the sap is highly irritant. It is of the euphorbia group which share this feature. Animals do not want to try and breach this barrier. It is also easy to propagate and will quickly take hold from a very small cutting. The sap is also good as a makeshift mild adhesive.

There are 4 main habitats at the Lake Manyara national Park:
1 Groundwater forest
2 Open savannah
3 Water edge wetlands
4 Lake

The town at the head of the lake called Mto Wa Mbu – Mosquito town and it is said that nearly all of the 126 languages in Africa can be heard there.

Our dinner that night at Serena was as good as ever and we enjoyed a South African wine and listened to the band play the very distinctive African rhythms as an accompaniment to dinner.

Thursday

We had an arrangement to be picked up by CC Africa that morning to be drive to the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge high in the Ngorongoro highlands. Vicky was our driver for the morning. The lodge is about 90 minutes drive from Lake Manyara and this took us through some small villages and through the reasonably sized town of Karatu. Karatu is the home town of Maulid our guide whilst at Lake Manyara. The drive through these regions gives quite an insight into the lives of the general population of the country.

We had a short stop at the ranger post on the outskirts of the Ngorongoro conservation area. This contains a number of sites as well as the Nogorongoro crater itself. The crater is actually a collapsed volcano and more accurately termed a caldera. On the road to the lodge there is an excellent viewpoint with a wide vista of the crater. This apparently is usually quite misty, but luckily was not on the day we visited. The clouds hang around the crater rim whilst the floor of the crater can be exposed to bright sunshine. There is a rainforest type environment high on the crater rim and on the outer walls. This is where the female elephants live in herds and the males live down on the crater floor and only visit during the mating season.

The ranger post has a small interpretative display and a lot of baboons in the car park. There is a nightly fee of $55 per person to stay within the conservation area. An awful lot of official looking paperwork seems to be generated. I did notice that whilst the paperwork is organised in one hut, it is then inspected by the chap in the hut not 10m away before entry is granted. Not only do they do paperwork well but they also have large numbers of staff to make sure it is double checked. All the buildings in the national parks also have official numbers stamped on them to identify them. We certainly gave them army efficiency and bureaucracy as a legacy!

The road from Manyara through to the crater lodge becomes the main road into the Serengeti and you can keep driving and find yourself in that park.

On arrival at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge we were taken to the “North” camp. The Lodge is arranged in 3 camps; North camp, South camp and Tree camp. There are 12 rooms in each of the North and South camps and 6 in the Tree camp. Each camp has its own bar and dining area and a separate team of staff. Festo was to be our butler and Irene was the camp manager. We were introduced to Timothy, our ranger who was to take us into the crater that afternoon, for our first experience of the wildlife there.

Our trip into the crater was very interesting. The crater floor is some 600m below the rim, which itself is 2300m above sea level. There are separate crater fees for each vehicle entering. This fee is $200 for the vehicle and is no more or less each time the descent road is used. There is a one-way system with one descent road and one ascent road in current use. The crater is teeming with wildlife. There is a resident herd of about 15000 wildebeeste and 6000 zebra. These have a relation ship which works quite well so they coexist nicely. The zebra crop the grass short so the wildebeest get the short stems they like so much. We saw wildebeeste males performing a most interesting territorial activity. They run in circles delineating the area in which they have the dominance. The wildebeeste had calved in February so the calves we saw were about 2 months old. We also saw some pregnant females. I explained to Timothy the principles of the 5 “F”s of swollen bellies. The bird life of the crater is also abundant and spotting this helps to give a fuller picture of what is on offer. Timothy was an avid bird watcher and was able to point out species which we would have otherwise missed.

The crater gates are closed at six and we were duly out on time. On arrival back in the camp, the bath had been run in our rooms and the masseuse had brought her equipment, so that Debi could have a relaxing massage after so many days having “African 4x4 massage”. It would seem that the butler is alerted to our return by the radio from the rangers and this is how they know when to run the bath.

The bar here is quite something and its associated toilets are some of the most sumptuous conveniences we have ever experienced. The evening was punctuated by an impromptu song and dance from the staff in order to bring out cakes for those celebrating special occasions.

This lodge also requires Maasai escort after dark, as wild animals do roam the lodge environs. The laundry ticket carries a warning that hyena and baboons sometimes raid the laundry yard and the implication is that you might not get back all you send!

The rooms here are quite something, a bit like an elaborate cinema set. Even the loo has quite a view over the crater and the potential to spot a buffalo looking back at you as you are sat down. It is on the whole extremely civilised, with an iPod dock, decanters with sherry and port, and a selection of sweet treats should you feel peckish at any time. The butler also brings tea and biscuits on a tray as a wake up call here. There are also wellies in the closet should it get a bit muddy round the lodge.

On our return to the room after dinner, we found the fire lit and the electric blankets on. This is quite blissful and is a reminder that at this altitude it can be quite chilly at night.

Friday

This was an early start to get the most from our time at the lodge. Breakfast was as good as ever and the themed “crater omelette” was excellent. Debi had the cinnamon pancakes. We took a picnic with us today as we were not due back til the later afternoon.

Our trip into the crater once again took us onto the floor of the crater. Timothy took us through the Lerai forest. Lerai is the Swahili name for the yellow fever acacia. These trees have a distinct yellow bark and are found in the kinds of locations where the mosquito responsible for transmitting yellow fever are found. Leopards have been seen in this area but we were not rewarded with a sighting and Timothy had not seen one there for some months. It was however very good for birdlife and elephants.

The strangler figs are seen here. Each fig tree has its own particular fruiting season and the baboons will exploit a tree whilst it is in fruit. Each type of fig tree also has its own associated wasp responsible for pollination of the tree. The strangler figs are bird dropped seed which germinate in the upper branches of the trees and send aerial roots which aim to reach the ground. They will eventually do this and the original host tree may be killed in the process.

On our trip we were rewarded with the sights of black rhino grazing near the lake and even a baby rhino with its mother. The rhino were also marking their territory by spraying urine. The rhino do not come close to the vehicle tracks and views of them are rather distant. It is still a great privilege to be able to see such a critically endangered species in the wild.

Our lunch stop was at the Ngoitokitok picnic site. There were quite a few vehicles there but nowhere near as many as there would be during the busy times of the summer. The birds here are very cheeky and have learnt to beg and scavenge food from the visitors. The Black Kites are very bold and will take food from your hand and indeed I came close to being attacked from behind but Debi spotted the inbound offender just before it took the chocolate brownie and my fingers. The picnic we took was very large and would have been enough to feed the whole site. It was fantastic and came with all the usual accompaniments expected from the service provided by CCAfrica.

During the afternoon a call came in on the radio that a cheetah had been spotted. There were a few vehicles there by the time we arrived but it was still a marvellous sight to see a cheetah stalking gazelle. The gazelle were very alert to this and were moving to avoid her. A group of warthog passed her nose but she did not attack these. The warthog will fight back and could cause injury to the cheetah which would be devastating to their hunting ability.

Shortly after this sighting we saw a serval cat. We were also rewarded with sightings of hyena. These members of the dog family do like to roll in the mud and live in “dens” which are quite disgusting. That said they are still a major predator and we were very grateful that we had the chance to see them.

There are hippo here as well and when we arrived at one of the hippo pools we were treated to a display of a rolling hippo. This happens because the hippo cannot fully submerge in the shallower water of this pool and must roll to keep cool.

The black bellied bustard has an interesting call an ascending note followed by a guttural popping noise. Josh was able to do a very convincing impression of this.

We returned to the lodge later in the day and once again found our bath run. We had champagne with dinner as a final celebration.

Saturday

This morning was the last in Tanzania and marked the beginning of our long journey back to the UK. We were woken to the now familiar sounds of the butler bringing the tea and biscuits. Our breakfast was as good as ever and our bags were taken to the truck to await our departure. We left with a grand send off from the camp staff at 9-30 AM to begin our drive to the airstrip at Lake Manyara.

We arrived there in good time and the aircraft was early. We were expecting a direct trip to dar-es-Salaam in readiness for our onward flight to Dubai. What actually occurred was more elaborate. Our first stop was in Arusha to disembark and our luggage was left on the plane whilst we enjoyed a one hour wait in the departures area for Coastal aviation. Our pilot remained the same for the whole day and she did a great job given the large number of hours for which she was flying. Our next flight took us to Zanzibar, where it was quite humid and wet, still we could say that we had actually been there and set foot on dry land. We then took a final hop to Dar-es-Salaam airport domestic terminal. On arrival it was raining but this was set to get worse in the next few minutes. This had led the pilot to declare that she would not land after the two larger Boeing aircraft but to come down first as she could see the rain advancing onto the runway. Hence she made a quick loop whilst declaring her intent to the local tower and making a beeline for the runway. She had already been delayed leaving Zanzibar to make way for another larger aircraft.

We were met by the CCAfrica rep at Dar airport who escorted us to the international terminal. This is quite chaotic in appearance but functions perfectly well. The business lounge announcements are almost inaudible but you do eventually manage to get onto your flight at the right time and with little fuss. At check-in there appears to be a somewhat intricate system which involves passing the usual labels to a member of staff who applies them to your bags and then loads them onto a manual trolley for onward movement. Presumably the whole process is very manual but appeared to work a whole lot better than T5 which was still enjoying a rather less than grand start to life.

We then boarded the 17-20 flight to Dubai. This arrived at 11-30PM and we had a transfer to Dubai arrivals as we were not on a short transit this time. We then had to acquire a short term visa for the UAE which would allow us to access our hotel for the next few hours. The whole process was relatively swift. From business desk, to passport control to limo area to hotel took no longer than ¾ hour and we were placed in the Taj Palace hotel on the 10th floor in a massive suite so that we could spend the next few hours grabbing a little sleep prior to our onward flight.
An early morning wake-up call soon brought us round and we transferred back to the airport to catch our onward flight to Manchester. This was quite a long flight and as usual the Emirates food service was excellent. We arrived back in the UK at 1PM and on clearing customs our car was ready to take us home. They had again provided 2 cars, should we need them. However, with so little luggage, one car was more than adequate. Josh could have had his own, had he wished it so. Our holiday was unfortunately over once we arrived back in Askam, but it had been a very memorable experience.