1. Tanzania. Friday 13th travel strikes again: big plane, tiny plane, no-baggage plane!

Friday 13th!!

Travelling on Friday 13th across Europe and into Eastern Africa, relying on 3.5 flights, once of which had a connection time of 1 hour and 5 minutes with a journey time of around 31 hours door to door (including an 8 hour stop in Dar es Saleem - Tanzania’s capital city - but not including the journey to the airport that I had to do via Birmingham for a work conference). What could possibly go wrong? Bear in mind, the last time I went on a holiday that commenced on Friday 13th I triggered a world changing calamity that you may remember … the covid pandemic, complete with school closures, closed boarders and imminent lockdown, all within the week of my short but doomed holiday!

So I was ready for this not to be without its challenges. The hour connection through Amsterdam worried me enough to phone the airline and see if I could get on an earlier flight to Amsterdam (no madam, not without paying and I’m sure it’ll be fine. But if it isn’t, we’ll booked you on the next available flight and you won’t even have to pay for that) and worry at the check in counter lady at the airport as to whether the connection would actually work. Her terribly reassuring response was a shrug accompanied by a ‘weeeeeell. She followed it up with ‘if you were going through France, I’d say ‘not a chance’ but Amsterdam is a smaller airport so you might be ok. I always tell people not to worry so much when it’s Amsterdam’. I entrusted my main bag to her regardless.

As I write this, I’ve completed the successful connection and am on the big flight down to Tanzania. I would not describe Amsterdam as small at all. It’s a huge airport with well over 150 gates and a walk of around half a mile from landing to my next gate. I’ve got my mega packed hand luggage with me (complete with all the essentials for a week in Tanzania in case I end up without my main luggage - which I’m fully prepared to be the eventuality I may still face) and am doing ok so far! I loaded up with tea at the airport (I even paid for it this time as I wanted real milk in it and am saving my milk sachets for Africa! It was a Costa for I got my beans and in fact, Dad paid for the tea as part of my birthday present and our exploitation of the occasional Costa voucher deals!). I bought a new hand-luggage specially so it had even more room for essentials (such as 60 tea bags and creamer sachets). The bag I was going to get, it turned out I’m tall enough for yet but I found an alternative, which even has a full waist strap in an attempt to save my back problems I often give myself hauling about bags!

The flight time for me is 10hr 50m, which is actually an 8ish hour flight down to Kilimanjaro, where we’re stopping off - like a bus but with wings - then waiting briefly (staying on the plane) before we then do the hour hop on to the capital. It’s quite the long and dull flight. I have got an aisle seat, which is my preference and am sitting next to a young Asian couple. They got on the flight, fell immediately to sleep and have been that way ever since. It’s an absolute skill I’ve noticed in Asians before. I don’t know how they do it but I wish I could too. I did have a sleep and woke up feeling ever so pleased and suspected I might have managed to sleep away hours of the journey. It was 17 minutes. Mind you, they missed lunch. The man does have an excellent Christmas jumper on though - it’s black and white and includes what I think are dinosaurs, which to be fair, did actually exist so perhaps are a better basis for an annual celebration.

I was getting ready to declare this my favourite ever plane meal because it came with a little tapas box of tasty treats and then a macaroni cheese, made with ‘old cheese’, which was delicious although not particularly well named. However, the dessert, which was brought round separately with teas and coffees and was a delicious apple tart thing was entirely ruined by cinnamon. They were so close to perfection. I have read my book, watched a file (Twisters - the recent version of the original. It was almost the same as the original film but they had better gadgets for their storm chasing adventures and considerably better CGI and  I thought was excellent), had lunch, drunk my tea and now written this most interesting piece.

I’m still only 4 hours in …. Quite a while to go yet! 7 more hours until I discover if my bag made the connection too - or indeed if it even left Heathrow. On one of the ‘look at our great feedback data’ at the airport, I learnt that 11 bags in every 1000 are ‘mis-directed’ every day from Heathrow. Seems a lot to me. I’m sure they process thousands of bags every day so, must be busily ruining plenty of holidays every day too. Quite the ‘positive feedback’ and achievement!

******

Saturday:

Well, I managed to pass the time of the flight, listen with interest as the pilot told us that Mount Kilimanjaro was just on our left as we approached the airport - but given the total darkness of night, none of us could see it. We did what can only be described as a vehicle descent into Kilimanjaro airport for our drop off and hour wait, during which time the cleaning crew came aboard worked around us collecting up the used blankets and pillows and rubbish and fancy backpack mounted hoovers - like in ghost busters but for crumbs rather than actual ghosts. On to Dar es Salaam, we landed and waited at passport control. I’d already applied for an e-visa and paid in advance but that didn’t seem to speed the process up. Then onto the baggage carousel …. And the familiar feeling of watching everyone else’s bags arrive but not mine. An hour later and with ‘missing baggage report’ forms in hand, I made it to the airport hotel.

After a brief pit stop there, I was back on my way to the airport this morning. On arrival to terminal 1 (a small shed that the domestic flights go from), I realised the ATM I needed was not present. Fortunately, I realised that before the nice airport transfer man drove off and he kindly agreed to load me back up and take me to a cash point. This involved driving a short distance before pulling off to the side of the road then having to cross over the Tanzanian equivalent of a motorway (no lanes, road rules, vehicle safety standards or any kind of restrictions aside from those imposed by sharing the road with other vehicles). The nice man accompanied me over the death road and safely to and from the ATM then delivered me back to the airport so I was very thankful - and had to tip generously since it wasn’t like I could claim to have no cash!

At the terminal 1 departure lounge (a collection of seats, boxes and a tiny drinks kiosk), I waited before boarding the world’s tiniest plane. They’ve somehow repurposed toy planes to do actual flying as we used one of those for our island hop! The captain welcomes us four passengers aboard and shouted the safety briefing over his shoulder before we headed for the runway and take off - slightly bumpy on the tiny place but some nice island views of the city we left and the little island we arrived to! And so I have safely arrived at my island ‘Butiama Marine Camp’ home for the week. My room is directly next to the beach, which is just the other side of the dive shop from the beach restaurant. The lovely hotel manager here has already phoned the airport baggage people to give them his number for all updates and arrangements to be made for getting my bag delivered when it arrives (he seems considerably more optimistic about that possible outcome than I am). I have, having learnt from last time, some underwear, bikini, shorts, t shorts and rash vest and leggings for diving in my hand luggage, along with suncream, bug spray, deodorant and tooth brush! I have the option of diving tomorrow afternoon (and renting gear) or waiting another day in case my gear does all arrive. I think it’ll be the most taxing decision I shall have to make!

The manager keeps apologising and checking I’m ok and dispatched one of the staff off with instructions in Swahili while telling me he was getting me a drink to help me relax and feel better. I was full of hope for a delicious cup of tea but in fact, said member of staff scaled a nearby palm tree, retrieved a coconut, cut it then presented it to me with a straw in! I have politely drunk my coconut water - and also made a cup of tea from the supplies that are available here for you to use anytime (thank goodness - because my travel kettle is in my main luggage!). I am now comfortably on my house terrace with my tea and the resident dog. I’m pretty he sure he doesn’t have rabies so he’s far more welcome then the horrid mosquitos (don’t worry, I am full vaccinated and dosed up on anti-malaria tablets so all is well).