Tanzania here I come

I took an early morning Rwanda Express flight from Kigali Airport in Rwanda to Kilimanjaro Airport in northern Tanzania. The prop plane, a Dash 8 with about 20 seasts was nice because due to the short flight we didn't have to fly too high. It was nice to watch the hills with the bright green terraced fields. A bit a cloud cover started so I thought I would have a bit of a snooze due to the early wake up call and when I woke up there was water below. It was Lake Victoria. I was surprised at the number of islands off shore. After the large lake we were flying over the Serengeti but I couldn't spot any animals. Closer to Arusha, off in the clouds I got my first glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro that sits at approx. 5900 metres. I could see the bits of glacier that have not melted but the rest of the mountain was covered in clouds. Oh, how I had wished to climb the mountain but it's rainy season so it's not advised. I guess I'll just have to come back to Tanzania another time.

On arrival into Killy airport, I expected to be picked up by the safari company but that didn't happen. I started to talk to a few other tourists who were arranging a taxi into town and was able to catch a lift with them. There were 3 backpackers from London, U.K. The one girl was from Basildon, close to my mom's hometown and the 4th person was an american working for an NGO in East Africa for the past year. It's $50 usd for a taxi so I appreciated being able to share a ride. I just told the driver to drop me off at a hotel in town, the Impala and they had a room available.