Globus Kenya & Tanzania: The Safari Experience - Serengeti Farewell and the Start of Four Flights
We checked out of the hotel at 8:00 this morning for a game drive on the way to Seronera Airstrip.
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| Our final Serengeti sunrise |
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| Our first sighting was a lion on a rock - a nice Serengeti farewell |
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| Isn't she majestic? |
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| There were so many interesting rock formations in this area |
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| Our second stop was another pride of lions munching on a cape buffalo |
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| An interested jackal was sent packing by a lioness |
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| They had already come a number on this side of the head - you can clearly see the horns and teeth |
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| She was working hard on the other side |
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| Big Daddy was working on the midsection |
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| One had had enough and went for a drink in a puddle on the road |
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| Remember the slew of vultures, a hyena, and a jackal going to town on a carcass yesterday? This was all that was left today - nature is incredibly efficient |
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| Can you see the dark brown line going across the middle of the photo? |
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| Look closer |
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| It was hundreds of Cape buffalo |
Tour Director, Elia, got a call stating that the flight for the six in our group who booked the Zanzibar extension had been moved ahead to 10:00. That meant that our drivers, Petro and Victor, got to live their Dakar Rally dreams as we flew through the Serengeti, arriving at 9:45.
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| Our driver and safari guide, Petro |
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| Seronera Airstrip with a dirt runway |
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| High-tech boarding passes |
We all bid farewell to half the group as they left us, and the remaining six of us waited for our 11:10 flight to Arusha.
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| Our fabulous Tour Director, Elia, really made the Tanzania portion of this trip amazing |
11:10 came and went, as did 12:10. Our plane finally arrived at 12:30. We were excited to see that it was a Dash 8-100, significantly larger than the Cessna Grand Caravan we flew last. But it was already mostly full, and we were just a pick-up. We filled the plane completely. It was crowded, hot, and stuffy.
We loaded and were airborne at 12:50. The condition didn't improve in the air. The air conditioning was barely moving air, so the whole plane was sweating. Luckily, the flight was only 45 minutes.
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| Our last view of the Serengeti |
We leveled off at 16,000 feet ASL before starting our descent into Arusha. After gathering our luggage, a van took us to the Mount Meru hotel, where we all had day rooms provided by Globus.
We said our goodbyes to the remaining travelers and found our room. The air delay wiped out most of the time that we were supposed to have in the room before transferring to Kilimanjaro Airport. But there was enough time for a quick shower and a change of clothes for me, which was much needed.
We were flying out of Kilimanjaro Airport. It was 25 miles from the hotel, which in Tanzanian terms means more than an hour. Our driver, Baraka, arrived 25 minutes late for our pickup, but assured us we would be there in plenty of time to make our 7:10 departure.
We're booked on Lufthansa, but the flights are operated by Ethiopian Airlines. I tried checking in online with Lufthansa, and they flipped me to Ethiopian Air, who said, "Not Found". Oh well.
We arrived to find the stupidest airport security that I have ever seen. To get into the airport, you have to have your luggage X-rayed, take out your laptop, take off your shoes, go through a metal detector, and, in my case, with a metal hip, go through a whole pat-down.
After you get your boarding pass, you go through Immigration, and then you have to go through an entire additional, identical security scan. If I passed the first one, why do you need to do it again? Seriously.
We were flying Business Class, which came with lounge access. But the longest was 100% full. That was until staff made a table full of rude passengers remove their cellphones and bags from all the chairs they were monopolizing. At least we got seats. We had about an hour until boarding.
Going down to the gate was nuts. People in African airports are the rudest anywhere we've flown. No regard for personal space, pushing through you in line, paying attention to nobody but themselves. And it was nearly universal. At one point, we had to join in and just shove our way through, or we wouldn't have made it through.
Our plane arrived about the time we were supposed to depart, so the place was packed, and we were delayed.
We finally launched a little before 8:00, more than 45 minutes late. That makes us two for two on delayed flights. That got us to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a half-hour late. Speaking of Ethiopia, we generally don't count a country visit if we're just in an airport. That happened when we flew through Brussels on the way to Africa. We haven't visited Belgium yet, and we didn't count it. But we're making an exception to that rule for Ethiopia, as we have no intention of coming back. So, Ethiopia is country #117 on our count.
The passenger rudeness continued in Addis Ababa, both when getting off the plane and going through the terminal. The place was packed on a Saturday night.
We found our way to Ethiopia Airline's Cloud 9 Lounge for a brief respite before the next flight at 12:05 am local time to Frankfurt, Germany
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| At least there were seats in this lounge |
We'll be in the air for over seven hours, and then a 7.5-hour layover in Frankfurt before our 10.5-hour flight from Frankfurt to Orlando. I'll be wrapping up this trip with a final post covering the last leg and our summary of the trip tomorrow (unless I'm whipped, and then Monday). We're looking forward to touching down in Orlando just before 6:00 on Sunday evening.
