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Day 4: To Tanzania!

Here I was, sitting in an airplane again – this time Ethiopian Airlines, one of the oldest airlines in the world. I had deliberately left all the background research undone, because I wanted everything to be a surprise. It would turn out to be one of those trips that you experience maybe once or twice during your lifetime.

During the flight we flew over the famous Kilimanjaro peak, which stood out from the clouds as if it were a heavenly place somewhere in the sky. The peak was covered with snow, naturally, since it is over 4km high. During our trip we would run into a couple who had been to the top. Apparently this adventure takes five days up and two days down, although I’m sure there are crazy people out there who have done it in even less.

We landed in Dar Es Salaam around midday, met our beloved hosts, drove to their residence for lunch and later took a tour around the city by car – excuse me, Land Rover.

We visited the Kilimanjaro Hotel and went to the roof for some cold drinks. I would have thought this was the tallest building in town, but I soon discovered that there were two skyscrapers right next to it that were twice as high. Some call these the Twin Towers, although I can see why that may be a problem for others.

Later we ventured to The Slipway, which is a nice relaxed place by the sea. There were quite a lot of facilities useful for tourists such as a (Barclays) bank, a tourist office, shops and even a jewelry store selling the famous Tanzanite stones. For dinner we headed to an Italian restaurant, also by the sea, but somewhere completely different. Since it claimed to be Italian, I felt compelled to try out their Pizzas – the Finnish saying “tuttu ja turvallinen” (safe and familiar) would of course apply here, because it turned out to be an excellent choice.

Our stay in Dar Es Salaam would only last one night before taking off to the Selous Game Reserve.