Saturday 18th September 2010
Saturday is mainly spent by travelling, leaving Amsterdam around 11 am. We fly with KLM which is a delightful change for me as I’ve been using the so called low-cost companies for my flights to Czech during the last few years. It is very pleasant to be able to get food and drinks on board for free!
We are seated on the left side of the plane. This was carefully managed by Paul during online check-in because we were advised that if we wanted to see Kilimanjaro from the plane we should sit on the left side. A very wise advice. Unfortunately at that time we didn’t realise that the landing time was scheduled just after 8pm and therefore it would be dark. And therefore we wouldn’t see Kilimanjaro anyway… Never mind. It was there. Somewhere.
We are indeed landing (at the Kilimanjaro International Airport) around quarter past eight in the evening and yes, it is dark outside. The air is pleasantly warm though as we proceed to the Immigration check building. It’s not a big building and it’s quickly filled by the passengers of our flight. We have visa and we filled our landing cards on the plane so can join the passport check queue straight away. After around half an hour we’re ready to go and meet…. Alex! Our driver who will take us to the Moivaro Lodge near Arusha.
Alex is very friendly and is trying to teach us some of the Swahili words. Paul chats with him, I am just looking into the dark behind the car window, thinking what’s awaiting us here. The road from the airport is a good one and in around an hour we should be in the hotel. There isn’t much to see, only occasionally we pass lights coming from villages (I assume). What puzzles me though are all the people that walk along the roads. Where are they going? In the dark, without any torches, where there aren’t any visible signs of life anywhere? As we get closer to Arusha, we come across little villages (I assume that’s what they are) with shops and bars and many people hanging around.
Alex suddenly turns the car sharply to the left and we leave the main road. Now we are driving on a very uneven, stony track. If I was feeling asleep before, now I am fully awake holding to anything there is to hold on in the car. There are banana plants around us and a few simple huts and houses occasionally peek through them. I wonder where exactly Alex is taking us. Fortunately, at the end of this funny road there is our hotel.
(http://www.moivaro.com/pages/moivaro_lodge/lodge.htm)
We are welcomed with a warm and wet towel to refresh our face & hands and a glass of juice. This ritual is repeated in any of the hotels and lodges we visit during our trip (apart from the Dhow Palace in Stone Town, I think…). After the formalities our luggage is taken and we follow two of the hotel’s employees into our hut. The path is only lit by small round lamps which create a mysterious and romantic feel around us. Our hut is very nice, simple but friendly. The toilet is moving a bit while seated but fortunately stays in one place. There are mosquito nets covering our beds, a good reminder to splash some repellent on our arms and face before we go back to the main building for dinner.
For the dinner we sit outside on the restaurant’s terrace as it’s a warm and nice evening. The waiter asks if we wish anything to drink but there is no drinks menu on the table so we have no idea what’s available. “What can we have, what drinks do you have?” I ask and the answers: “Beer,” which is followed by a substantial pause as if he couldn’t remember what else they have. “We’ll have beer,” Paul “interrupts” the waiter who happily skips away inside the building. Soon we have two bottles of Kilimanjaro premium lager. Cheers!
The dinner menu is printed on a crumpled piece of paper but offers two choices of each of the starter, main dish and dessert. I am a bit wary of eating meat so am ordering some vegetarian stew, Paul is having lamb curry (apparently the lamb didn’t really taste like one. I refuse to discuss more.) The food is tasting very good though and our first evening in Africa is very relaxed and pleasant. After another beer it’s time to go to get some rest before the real fun starts on Kilimanjaro. Lala Salama.
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