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Ok, so we finally got on a flight to Kenya....hooray for BA who seem a lot more willing to fly to Kenya these days than Virgin. A late arrival meant a quick dash to the hotel with Stephen our taxi driver pointing out Nairobi's main attractions in the cover of darkness. Couple of hours sleep and there was good old Stephen waiting to take us back to the airport again at 05:30 (did he go home?). Again, cover of darkness so we are really glad to be going back to Nairobi after Mt Kilimanjaro to actually see it. But our fun with airlines was not yet over. We checked in for our flight to Kili, and as we were trying to board the plane they decided not to allow me through. Funnily enough it wasn't because of the state of my jeans or top which I managed to soak in (decaf) coffee on the flight to Nairobi (yes we are grubby creatures that have already started wearing clothes more than once due to the tight packing restrictions)....but apparently the person checking us in never attached a ticket number on our boarding pass. So just like an episode of "airline" on the tv we were left protesting to no avail as our left for Tanzania and Mt Kilimanjaro flight (oh and luggage too, so much for airline safety in Africa and the normal rule where a passenger must accompany baggage or it should be removed from the plane).
After much apologies and a complimentary breakfast we finally boarded the next flight out - there was a point where I was doubting whether we would ever get to Kili.... But from here things improved dramatically. Our luggage was there waiting for us, the hotel driver too, and once we had changed currency and almost instantly became millionaires we were off to our hotel (Springlands) in amongst the coffee plantations around the base of the mountain. And to prove things were improving we went past the Moshi brewery.....yes SAB flows strongly through these veins (well maybe more so Sean's than mine). To be honest there was a point where we became a bit nervous about where the taxi was taking these two tourists as we appeared to be heading into the middle of nowhere, down some very dodgy roads which were in a shocking state...but eventually we arrived at Springlands.
The hotel is a little oasis - the beautiful blue skies above, the cold refreshing Kilimanjaro beer, the fabulously tasting soft drinks in the original bottles, the refreshing cool swimming pool waters....and a touch of Tanzanian hospitality to round it off. So now all that is left is the minor matter of getting up that wee hill that didn't look so small as we flew past it on the way in.......
Wish us luck.....and say a prayer on Sat night as we will be attempting the summit on Sun, crack of dawn.
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