Despite my digestive system cancelling it’s industrial action and now working relatively normally, my stomach was all tied up in knots.
Basically I hate flying and the smaller the plane the worse it is. From the small amount of research I had been able to do on the two flights ahead of me, I had concluded that these planes were definitely going to be on the tiny side and may even have propellors. I hadn’t wanted to delve too deeply lest I scare myself to death, but the minuscule luggage weight allowance was a bit of clue.
Deo arrived right on time and I was disproportionately pleased to see him.
During the hour long drive to the airport, we chatted away - goodness knows what we found to talk about given that we’d just spent 7 solid days together, but the time passed really quickly.
He told me he was starting another safari the following day and I said I hoped the people would be lovely and would appreciate him.
He thanked me and with a typical Deo grin and a big hug, we said goodbye.
Like many airports you have to pass through a security check to actually get inside the airport and just as I was about to load my stuff on to the conveyor belt, I notice a sign saying that lighters and matches were not allowed to be carried onto the aircraft and would be confiscated. I had about 4 lighters on me and quickly slipped one into the side pocket of my main case.
I got through the walk through thingy without setting off the buzzer, but got pulled over anyway.
The young man asked me to empty my backpack and found a lighter in there, which he took. He then went through my bumbag and found another one. He grabbed that as well but fortunately missed the one in my trouser pocket.
He then became completely obsessed with my headphones.
“What are these”,
“They’re my headphones”( I would have thought that was plainly obvious)
“Are they Bluetooth”
“Err - yes?”
“Where did you get them”
I had to think - “I got them in Atlanta in the US I believe - but that was a long time ago - they’re quite old”
“But they are Bluetooth”, I nodded feeling totally perplexed by the whole conversation
By now, the other security guys had joined in and they were all talking in Swahili. I caught the words Bluetooth and Atlanta, but had no idea what the rest of the conversation was about.
They all turned back to me “so how much were they”, the original guy asked.
“I honestly can’t remember” I told him, “I think they were about $40”
They all looked extremely disappointed and there was a lot of muttering going on.
“I really like them- will you give them to me?” The first lad asked.
I thought about this for a bit. He may really like them but in all honesty, for me they were a bit of a pain in the arse. They were the over the head sort, so not not exactly what you would call compact and I could only wear them for a short time before they started hurting my ears.
The Bluetooth connection could be patchy at times and they seemed to need charging every 5 minutes, so it was probably time for something a bit more up to date anyway.
“You can have them if I can have my lighters back” I said.
“I can’t do that - I will lose my job”. He looked genuinely sorry.
“I can slip one into my big case and then it will not be with me on the plane and no-one will know”, I suggested.
“Sorry no - it’s not allowed”.
In the end, I let him have the headphones anyway and walked away.
He was delighted and I was happy knowing that I still had a lighter in my pocket and one in my suitcase.
Check in was a breeze and all my worries about my case being too heavy were unfounded. I had a heart stopping moment when she put it on the scales, but it was 5 kilos under, which was a huge relief……. Until she asked to weigh my hand luggage.
In an effort to keep the suitcase within the limit, all my heavy camera equipment, spare batteries and chargers, laptop etc was in there. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered seeing something about hand luggage having a 5 kg limit and began to sweat again.
The scales registered 8.5 kilos and I looked at her anxiously. She smiled, said “thats fine” and handed me my boarding pass and passport.
Clearly, this small airline used a common sense approach to luggage unlike others I could mention ( Ryanair, Ryanair, Ryanair) and presumably as the overall weight travelling with me was under the total limit allowed, there was no problem. Excellent!!
As this was a domestic flight, there was no onerous passport control to go through, but the man at the second security check, decided to have a look anyway. All was in order and no-one spotted my lighter or took a fancy to another bit of my equipment. The headphones were one thing, but my Mac and cameras were not going anywhere, except to mafia Island with me.
Kilimanjaro is on the small side for an international airport and the domestic flights departure lounge wasn’t huge, but again, unlike other much bigger airports I’ve travelled through, there was more than enough seating for everyone and their luggage. I’ve never understood, why people insist on piling up all their stuff on empty seats, when it’s clear that there are people wanting to sit down. Of course you are never sure if they are saving the seat for someone or just being greedy, so after asking 6 people if that seat is taken and being told yes, I generally seem to end up just hovering.
There was a tiny little cafe, offering a surprising amount of food and drink options for it’s size and most importantly a nice air conditioned smoking lounge. I love airports that provide this facility, it makes me feel less like a social pariah and more like a valued customer.
This one had no seats at all, ( clearly not encouraging you to linger), but no matter. I was used to standing around at airports.
A lovely young couple staying at Christina House had told me all about their horrific experience with their internal flight into Kilimanjaro and so my expectation bar was set pretty low. With that in mind, no-one was more surprised than me when we began boarding at exactly the time printed on my card and I was delighted to see a reasonable sized jet parked right outside.
This time we were allowed to walk across to the plane ( no stupid bus ride to take us 20 meters - see day 2 of this blog for the story), boarding was done quickly and efficiently and there was plenty of room in the overhead lockers for everyone’s hand luggage.
The safety briefing was conducted in record time and we were out on the runway taking off bang on time.
Well this was a pleasant surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever taken a flight that has actually lifted off at the time it’s supposed to - other small airlines and airports please take note.
It was only a 45 minute flight but we were still given complimentary juice/water and either a cake or a large bag of cashews. I’d barely finished them when we were landing at Dar Es Salaam.
So far so good ( despite being one pair of headphones and 2 lighters short).
Dar Es Salaam airport is much bigger and bit more hectic than Kilimanjaro, but it didn’t take long for me to collect my case, find a trolley, go through yet another security check and make my way outside.
Rather than suffer another transfer debacle I just asked a young man behind a desk right by the door where I should go for my connection.
“I’m flying to Mafia Island with Auric Air” I explained, fishing the confirmation out of my backpack.
“Ahhh - that one goes from terminal 1”, “and how do I get there”. I enquired, feeling that sick sense of deja vu.
“Wait there and I will bring someone”, he said as he dashed off through the door I’d just come out of.
A few minutes he was back with a young lady in tow, who was wearing an Auric Air teeshirt.
“Are you Linda” she asked me. “Nope I’m Marion, but I’m flying to Mafia with you”.
“Did you book a transfer?”, “sorry no - I didn’t realise I had to”, I replied feeling a bit stupid. I am know in my family as the research queen and yet I still managed to miss an important detail like this one.
“Hakuna Matata - no worries”, she said, “You can jump in the car with Linda as soon as I’ve found her”.
She pointed to a spot right by the tourist information booth and instructed me to stay there and don’t move. There was no chance of that happening. Now that I’d found someone who clearly knew what she was doing, I was going to stay rooted to the spot.
“You will come back for me”, I asked feeling just a teensy bit pathetic.
“Don’t worry, I won’t forget you, but I might be a while because I’m not sure what flight Linda is on”
She was right, it did take a while but I quite enjoyed watching all the comings and goings and as I was almost outside, I had a fag or 4 while I waited.
I was just on the brink of a little tiny panic that it was all taking too long and I had indeed been forgotten when I spotted my helper across the concourse, complete with Linda and her luggage. In the car, Linda and I shared our respective safari experiences although hers was in a completely different area to mine and she had also done a gorilla trek.
Terminal 1 was much smaller than the main one and they definitely do things a little differently here.
First there was the inevitable security check and all my luggage made it through without a problem and our lovely helper took us to check in.
This was a bit of a shock.
No rows of smart check in desks and agents here, just 2 blokes sitting at a wooden table. They may not have had a ton of high tech equipment but they clearly took their job very seriously.
They took so long to check my passport and my confirmation sheet, I started worrying all over again. What on earth was the problem? I looked at our little helper, who just shrugged and gave me a reassuring smile.
One of the men addressed me “you have luggage?”.
“I do and waved towards my case and backpack”.
“Ok - now we are going to weigh”.
I looked around feeling a bit perplexed. How? Where? Was someone just going to lift them up and guess?
Another man showed up at that moment pulling what looked like a smaller version of the sort of trolley they use to transport luggage to and from planes. On closer inspection, I realised it had an old fashioned set of scales attached to it. No digital displays here, just a swingy needle that points to the weight. (Readers of my age will know exactly what I’m talking about - younger people may struggle).
My case and backpack went onto the trolley at the same time, got a thumbs up ( I’d bought extra weight when I booked) and he was about to carry them both away, when I explained I needed to keep the backpack with me.
They were not keen on this idea ( I was soon to find out why), but after a short burst of Swahili from our little helper, they agreed.
My boarding pass was a tiny flimsy slip of paper ( about the size of a shop receipt) and I immediately worried that I might lose it, so lid into my purse.
We had a long wait for our flight and were shown to a nice little air conditioned lounge. Linda and I chatted a bit, then we both read a bit, then we chatted some more.
It had been a while since my last cigarette, so I decided to test my little helpers promise that it wouldn’t be a problem for me to pop out for one.
I left the backpack with Linda and went outside with just my bumbag ( fannypack for my American readers).
I asked the security guys if it was ok to go out and they nodded. I set of the walk through alarm as I went out, but no-one grabbed me and wrestled me to the floor. So that was a bonus
After a quick 2 cigarettes in succession, I returned to the terminal and despite already having been through, was required to send the bum bag through the machine again.
I collected and was just headed back to the lounge, when I was stopped by a man in uniform clutching a clipboard, that I hadn’t seen before.
“Where are you going”, he asked
I misunderstood his question. “To Mafia Island” I replied.
“You have no luggage”.
Ah - now I understood. “No, I know - I’ve already checked in, my luggage has gone to the plane and my other bag is in the lounge”
“Show me your boarding pass”
“OK - it’s in my bag, I’ll just go and get it”
“NO - I NEED TO SEE YOUR BOARDING PASS”
I tried to stay calm.
“But I’ve just explained - I checked in ages ago and have been sitting in the Auric Air lounge. I was told I could go out for a cigarette and my boarding pass is in the lounge. Do you want to come with me so I can show you?”
Where was our lovely little helper when you needed her?
One of the security guys had been watching this exchange with a grin. He shouted something in Swahili and my interrogator softened.
“OK - you can go”
I resolved to try to limit my cigarette breaks from now onwards and note to self ; remember to take that bloody tiny slip of paper next time.
I made it outside and back in once more without incident and then got cocky.
“I’ll just pop out for one more”, I said to Linda.
As my little bum bag went through the machine for the 4th time, I got pulled over. Oh no - what now?
“Give me your lighter” said the security guard. Oh for f***s sake, how could I have been so stupid. I obviously had a lighter or else I wouldn’t have been out for so many cigarettes. I suppose I just had to be thankful they didn’t take it the first, second or third time my little bag went through.
I knew there was still one more left in my large case, so at least I could light up when I arrived at the island and boy was I going to need one!!
As it close to the departure time, a nice young man came into the lounge and said it was time to go. He escorted Linda and I past the people waiting in the tiny main departure lounge and out onto the tarmac, where we were confronted with some of the smallest planes I’ve ever seen in my life. Some of them were just little 2 seaters and the others weren’t much bigger.
“I don’t think the plane is full” the young man informed us. “So exactly how many passengers can the plane carry?” I asked.
“Oh it’s quite a big one”, he replied. “About 14 including the pilot”.
I stopped dead in my tracks and my stomach started performing somersaults.
Seriously? Just 13 passengers and a pilot?. What about a co-pilot or even a cabin crew person - anything really to make me feel like I was on a proper commercial plane, would be good.
My sheer terror, must have been obvious because Linda turned to me and said don’t worry, it will be fine.
Apart from the pilot, who was already in position ( no sealed door to the cockpit on this plane), we were the first ones to board.
We went up the stairs (all four of them), placed our hand baggage in the space provided ( inside the tail of the plane behind a curtain) and I bashed my head on the roof as I moved down to take a seat next to Linda, right behind the captain.
I’d just got settled ( well as much as I was ever going to be in this tiny flying machine), when another man put his head through the open door on the right and asked me to move into the front seat next to the captain.
I was tempted to cry out “I DON’T KNOW HOW TO FLY A PLANE SO WHERE’S THE F***ING CO PILOT”, but felt this wouldn’t be terribly polite, so just said “ no thank you, I’m fine where I am”. He explained that someone had to sit there as the plane was full after all.
Linda came to the rescue. “I’ll go “ and she climbed over into the front seat.
I’m sure some people would be fascinated by being able to see all the controls and dials, I on the other hand was paralysed with fear and definitely didn’t want to see how high, fast and level we were flying.
Once all the other crazy people taking this flight were seated, the captain turned and shouted the safety briefing over his shoulder. This was actually quite amusing, even though the noise inside the plane was so loud, I couldn’t really hear what he was saying.
Still he was very smiley and seemed to have a reasonable grasp of what he was doing.
As we moved round to the runway there were tiny planes taking off and landing all over the place and I actually thought he was going to look left, right and left again, before he pulled out.
Once the coast was clear, he didn’t hang about and we were down the runway and up in the air in a flash.
I tried so hard to relax and kept telling myself that once we were up and level, I’d feel a bit better.
I lied. I hated every minute of it and couldn’t wait to be back on the ground.
Fortunately it was only a 30 minute flight, but I think they were the longest 30 minutes of my life.
Once we’d landed at the smallest airport I've ever seen in my life, I breathed a huge sigh of relief until I remembered that in 10 days time, I was going to have to do it all over again.
First impressions of Mafia Island, Snorkelling adventures and Whale Sharks coming soon……..