We arrive
Our flight for Tanzania left on Monday, October 22 in the mid-afternoon. Fr. Michael Cronin drove us to the airport in Minneapolis for our departure. We were grateful for that.
We packed a lot of things to take with us to Tanzania. I filled a suitcase with t-shirts, rosaries, ditty bags, candy and school supplies (pens and pencils). Denny filled a bag with frisbees, toys, candy and other items. We also took our regular bags with our clothes and personal items. We were able to check in online on Monday morning which made the airport arrival run more smoothly.
Making sure we had tickets, passports and visas we made our way to the gate. I was trying to arrange for my phone to work in Tanzania but never was able to do that. I was without personal phone or internet for 10 days - and I survived!
Our transatlantic flight was uneventful. I did some reading, played some games on the plane entertainment system and watched a movie. The food was decent and they fed us twice - dinner and breakfast. Of course, as we are crossing time zones meal times get a little wierd but we arrived feeling tired but well taken care of. We had a couple hour lay over in Amsterdam before boarding the plane to Tanzania. It was nice to be able to walk around, use a decent sized bathroom and the rest. I have alway found the Amsterdam airport a little challenging with the need to go through customs between flights when you are remaining in Europe. Because we were going to Africa that was not necessary and a nice treat. We found our gate (only to have it change later) and relaxed. When we arrived at our plane we saw that it was called "Mount Kilimanjaro" which we thought was appropriate for our trip to Tanzania where our first stop would be Kilimanjaro.
The trip to Dar es Salaam was also a decent flight. The plane was not full so I was able to move to a seat with no one next to me. It made for an easier ride. I slept for a little while but did not get much rest on either of these two flights so by the time we arrived in Dar es Salaam (around 10 p.m. local time) we were pretty beat.
Here is a view of the airport in Dar es Salaam. The exterior pillars are like big palm trees. Kind of neat to see.
We went through passport control and made our way to baggage claim where we were greeted by one of Fr. Mbiche's relatives who works at the airport and helped us gather our luggage and make our way through customs. As we left the terminal there was Fr. Mbiche, some of the sisters from the place we would be staying and Joseph who is Fr. Mbiche's driver when we were in Dar es Salaam. After a couple of trips in the city I see why he wants a driver. It is crazy!!!! Only the main streets are paved, the rest are dirt which means they are often rutted and hard to navigate. They also have speed bumps everywhere (I guess it was to slow down the big buses which had killed a number of people because of fast driving). This was true of the highways as well.
Here are two of the sisters who greeted us and who provided a late night supper when we arrived at the residence. We stayed at a kind of dorm for graduate students and missionaries staying in Dar es Salaam. It was very basic but comfortable. We stayed two nights before we began our journey toward Matamba. The picture below shows me in front of the building the next day.
We packed a lot of things to take with us to Tanzania. I filled a suitcase with t-shirts, rosaries, ditty bags, candy and school supplies (pens and pencils). Denny filled a bag with frisbees, toys, candy and other items. We also took our regular bags with our clothes and personal items. We were able to check in online on Monday morning which made the airport arrival run more smoothly.
Making sure we had tickets, passports and visas we made our way to the gate. I was trying to arrange for my phone to work in Tanzania but never was able to do that. I was without personal phone or internet for 10 days - and I survived!
Our transatlantic flight was uneventful. I did some reading, played some games on the plane entertainment system and watched a movie. The food was decent and they fed us twice - dinner and breakfast. Of course, as we are crossing time zones meal times get a little wierd but we arrived feeling tired but well taken care of. We had a couple hour lay over in Amsterdam before boarding the plane to Tanzania. It was nice to be able to walk around, use a decent sized bathroom and the rest. I have alway found the Amsterdam airport a little challenging with the need to go through customs between flights when you are remaining in Europe. Because we were going to Africa that was not necessary and a nice treat. We found our gate (only to have it change later) and relaxed. When we arrived at our plane we saw that it was called "Mount Kilimanjaro" which we thought was appropriate for our trip to Tanzania where our first stop would be Kilimanjaro.
The trip to Dar es Salaam was also a decent flight. The plane was not full so I was able to move to a seat with no one next to me. It made for an easier ride. I slept for a little while but did not get much rest on either of these two flights so by the time we arrived in Dar es Salaam (around 10 p.m. local time) we were pretty beat.Here is a view of the airport in Dar es Salaam. The exterior pillars are like big palm trees. Kind of neat to see.
We went through passport control and made our way to baggage claim where we were greeted by one of Fr. Mbiche's relatives who works at the airport and helped us gather our luggage and make our way through customs. As we left the terminal there was Fr. Mbiche, some of the sisters from the place we would be staying and Joseph who is Fr. Mbiche's driver when we were in Dar es Salaam. After a couple of trips in the city I see why he wants a driver. It is crazy!!!! Only the main streets are paved, the rest are dirt which means they are often rutted and hard to navigate. They also have speed bumps everywhere (I guess it was to slow down the big buses which had killed a number of people because of fast driving). This was true of the highways as well.
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