Travel to Kili

Journey to Kilimanjaro

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Journey Pics and Vids

Malaga to Madrid

Madrid to Doha

Doha to Kilimanjaro

Kili Airport to Stella Maris Lodge

My first sightings of Kilimanjaro

Travelling from Home to Kilimanjaro

Written by Tina Sibley in March 2022

Suddenly - it's the day to travel to Africa!

It was actually happening! This was a very long journey, but I was SO excited and loved every second of it. I could barely take in that I was on my way to the heart of Africa.

A few days before

The most important thing that needed organising was the dreaded PCR test. This HAD to be negative or I would be going nowhere! To say I was nervous was an understatement!

As this was so important, I had taken some tough decisions and cancelled a dance event that I had planned on attending the weekend before. In fact, I stopped dancing at the end of January and pretty much isolated myself as much as possible for the first 2 weeks of February.

Fortunately, my test result came back negative - and I was on my way!

First Leg - Home to Malaga Airport

I was travelling with Angel, the 16 year old daughter of my friend Lulu. Angel had arranged a volunteer programme with disadvantaged children in Arusha and managed to get dates that coincided with my trip so that we could travel together. My large suitcase was put into their car the night before and then Lulu and Angel picked me up at 05.30 for the trip to the airport.

Sleep was impossible! I was way too excited and nervous about waking up when my alarm went off. It was a quiet car journey - the roads were empty but by the time we got to the airport, we were very excited.

Second Leg Malaga to Madrid

Once through check in and secutiry, Angel and I enjoyed coffee and pastries for breakfast and before we knew it, it was time to board the Iberia plane for the first short flight to Madrid. The flight departed at 09.20 and landed in Madrid at 10.35.

There was a very stupid woman in the window seat who couldn't get her head around being able to take her own photos and video while holding her phone away from the window and using her zoom facility. Although she could clearly see that I was using my phone to take video, she held her own phone right up to the window, blocking my view completely!! Ah well.

Third Leg - Madrid to Doha, Qatar

Flight times 15.10 to 23.45 Flight duration 6 hrs 35 minutes

We had a layover of around 5 hours in Madrid so were able to get something to eat, get some Tanzanian Shillings and some US Dollars, both of which are used in Tanzania - and, of course, do some duty free shopping! We also had to produce all our documents again at the flight transfer desk.

There was a slight delay in boarding our flight, due to a passenger being escorted onto the plane by police. We could see the police car through the windows, but never did find out why there was a police escort. Someone important maybe, or a criminal being deported? I guess this will always be a mystery to us.

This was a cool flight albeit a long one! Angel was in the window seat, I was in the middle and there was a really pleasant guy in the aisle seat. He was a lot of fun and we ended up playing "Who Wants to Be a Millionnaire" together. I think he played a lot as he knew so many of the answers! I also watched a couple of films. Serendipity with Matthew McConnaughey and Monsters University.

Fourth Leg - Doha to Kilimanjaro International Airport

Once we landed at Doha, we didn't have that much time to get our connecting flight to Kilimanjaro. Departure time 01.40 arrival time 07.40. Flight duration 6 hours.

Doha airport was chaotic to say the least. There wasn't much information regarding flight transfers. We got to the gate area and started looking for the transfer desk, believing we had to show our papers again. We were directed way back to the main area that we'd just come from. When we got there, we were told as both legs were with Qatar, we didn't need to show our papers again! We had to rush back to get to the gate in time.

The flight itself was overnight, and I thought it would be a good idea to get some sleep, so decided to take a sleeping tablet to help me. This was a very bad idea indeed. As usual, I couldn't get comfortable, so couldn't get to sleep, but the tablet had an effect on me as though I were drunk! I was restless and struggled to get comfy but in the end, I did fall asleep, leaning on the poor guy in the window seat next to me. I think Angel disowned me at that point!

We landed at Kili airport a little ahead of schedule and the first thing we noticed as we disembarked was the heat - it was around 30C.

Kilimanjaro airport was small for an international airport and it was also chaotic. There was a huge queue for rapid testing, but for some reason, both Angel and I were waved through without being required to do a test.

I already had my visa paperwork, but Angel needed hers so we went to the Visa desk. Once that was finally sorted (it took ages), we went to go through immigration, but I was told I still needed to complete a paper immigration form even though I had already done it online and got my visa paperwork.

Finally we got processed and our luggage was thankfully waiting for us. I had heard of many stories where luggage didn't arrive at Kilimanjaro airport and, in fact, one of our group had to hike on borrowed gear as her luggage failed to arrive with her!

Once through passport control and customs, I found my driver pretty much straight away and he helped Angel to find her people. At this point, Angel and I went our separate ways until due to meet again at Arusha airport for our joint trip to Zanzibar.

Fifth Leg - Kili Airport to the Stella Maris Lodge

Driving from the airport, I was so very excited. Finally, I was in Tanzania.

It was so cool to be in such a different country! It was very flat, with large expanses of grass and all the buildings were very low shacks, mostly with tin roofing.

The driver was great and explained everything I could see. It was a misty day with a lot of haze, but you could just about make out Mt Meru on the left hand side and then, a little further along, you could make out the shape of Mt Kilimanjaro. The sight of it sent shivers and thrills right down my spine.

The driver stopped to let me take photos of the mountain I couldn't wait to climb!

We got to a T junction and met the main road that travels from Moshi to Arusha and beyond. I say 'main road' in the loosest of terms. Driving in Tanzania is insane - a total free for all but it was good fun! We turned right towards Moshi and as we drove along, the hazy mist cleared and Kilimanjaro came into good view. All I could think of was "I'm climbing that on Friday".

We arrived at the Stella Maris Lodge, which is 6km from Moshi on the airport side. The Lodge is attached to a school for vulnerable children and all the profits from the lodge go to support the school.

When the jeep pulled into the courtyard, the lodge manager, Terri and a guy called Innocent came out to greet me. It was such a welcome! They took my suitcase and my backpack and led me inside to complete registration at reception. They gave me a glass of the most gorgeous and refreshing mango juice I've ever tasted and then Esther showed me up to my room, going through how everything worked. I was surprised and happy at this, as I thought I would have to wait before being able to go to my room.

Then I was invited to go down and have breakfast as it was just after 9.30am by now. I was also invited to join Ursula, another member of our hiking group, who had arranged a day trip to visit a coffee plantation and a waterfall hike.

Although I was tired, I thought this a much better idea than going to bed so I accepted the invitation and agreed to meet at 10 for what turned out to be a great day out.