Friday 27 October 2006
After a tiring 8 hour flight we arrived at Kilimanjaro Airport. Stepping out of the plane at almost 20.00 in the evening the stifling heat hit us – we hadn’t expected it to be so warm at that time of night (28°C)!! We were met by the Dik Dik Hotel Representatives and they gave us a small bunch of red flowers before taking us to the hotel – it was only a short journey (30km).
When we arrived at the hotel we learned some Swahili words from the hotel receptionist:
karibu = welcome
jambo jambo = hi/hello
asanti = thank you
asanti sana = thank you very much
We stopped at our room “Pelican 3” to freshen up before dinner. The bed is covered by a mosquito net to keep the bugs out! We went for dinner expecting something simple to eat since it was quite late by then. We found a table that was free from the flying bugs but we could hear them constantly falling around us; there was a mosquito net around the dining area but there was a big hole in the net! They came because the rains have arrived here in Arusha, and we became a little paranoid about them landing in our drinks or on us – they resist when you try to move them away; they seem to hold tight! It sounded very much like it was raining bugs with all the noise, pop pop pop as the bugs landed on a table or the floor! Heiko tried to flick one off our table but it went in a completely different direction so he didn’t flick anymore in case they landed in our dinner! Despite the bugs we enjoyed a very nice 3 course meal starting with tomato soup, chicken & pasta and finishing with a very chocolaty dessert!
Shortly after dinner we’re back in our room and very tired now. We have breakfast at 6.00 and leave for Arusha Airport by 6.30am so hopefully, since we are so tired right now, we will sleep well tonight (somehow we ended up only in bed for an hour last night, last minute packing once again); we definitely need sleep! Heiko is already in the bed. Let’s see what tomorrow brings…