Thu 11th Aug '16 - Day 13
Karatu – Kilimanjaro airport – Nairobi – Dubai –
Sydney
And like that it’s
our last day in Tanzania and Africa. One last national park first though. Of
course the early 07:30 departure in reality becomes 08:30 because the back door
of the Land Cruiser can’t be shut so David goes off to find another one.
Whilst
we’re filling up with petrol as we leave Karathu I purchase a Tanzanian football
shirt from an opportunistic street seller who happens to be passing by.
It’s
just an hour down to Lake Manyana though without music as the new vehicle only
has a cassette player… At the gate there is another money issue for John which
Daniel has resolve but he soon does so and we’re in to much denser forestry
type park with elephants on the hillside and baboons and monkeys on the
roadside. This then opens on to vast flood plains by the lakes edge where we
get our daily dose of hippos and other now familiar animals.
By
11:30 we’re already leaving, John is cautious about getting us to the airport
on time though in reality even with the traffic we have face in Arusha we still
have plenty of time. Lunch is taken outside a souvenir shop which contains more
wooden animal carvings than you’ve ever seen in your life.
We swing past
Nejo Palace Hotel to collect our bags and in a few hours at 15:30 are being
dropped by John (and Remy who we also picked up) at Kilimanjaro airport. The
upside of our early arrival is that there is time for a couple more Castle
beers in the open courtyard before boarding the small plane for 18:20, 45-minute
flight to Nairobi.
Thanks to Clem’s info we know where to sit to see Mount Kilimanjaro
one last time. Sure enough, rising out of the clouds is the peak we scaled just
a few days prior. In fact, during the course of our flight don’t even get as
high as the summit of the mountain – it’s an almost poetic finish.
Our
last treat after the 5-hour flight to Dubai is access to a Lounge to enjoy a
free shower and food and drinks. And from Dubai to Sydney to home.
Job done. Cheers
Daniel. Happy 30th Birthday.
