Tanzania!!!

It was cloudy in Nairobi when we departed, which was something of a disappointment. We were hoping to get a good look at Mt. Kilimanjaro but, alas, only the top thousand feet or so poked through the clouds. The icefields on the summit could be clearly seen though, much reduced in size from old pictures. Soon the descent began, and barely 50 minutes after we left Nairobi we touched down at the Kilimanjaro Airport. This small but busy field serves much of the international traffic in and out of Tanzania.

Stepping out of the airplane, we were ushered into the terminal. First we filled out arrival cards and were then asked if we had visas. Since we did not, we were escorted to the first station where we presented our documents and answered a few questions. We were then escorted to the second station where we paid the visa fees and picture visas were produced on the spot and pasted into our passports. Total elapsed time so far - 10 minutes. Visas in hand, we proceeded to passport control, then over to pick up our bags. We were trying to decide whether or not to declare the gifts we were bringing to the orphanage when the customs officer waved us to the exit. Total elapsed time - 15 minutes. If only Kenya were so friendly and efficient!

Entering the arrival lobby, we began looking for a sign with our name. No sign, but there was David, taking a picture of us arriving in Tanzania. This was something we would have to get used to: David is a photojournalist and is of the opinion that people never have pictures of themselves having fun on vacation because they are always behind the camera. One of his missions during the trip was to make sure this didn't happen to us by being our personal paparazzi. I have more sympathy for celebrities now - it is a little disconcerting to turn around and frequently discover someone candidly taking your picture. We very much appreciate him doing this for us, but we never really did get used to it.

After connecting with David, we headed out of the terminal and met our driver, Julius, who would be with us for the next several days. The bags went into the truck, and then it was on to our first night's lodging at Rivertrees.

The drive to Rivertrees was an interesting experience for a third world newbie. The road from the airport was paved, if narrow. What was surprising were the people who lined the road. People on bicycles. People hanging out. People walking on the almost nonexistent shoulder. Children playing in the ditches. There didn't seem to be much margin for error for Julius relative to avoiding pedestrians. Also surprising was the immediate evidence of poverty. Trash, small dwellings, lack of services like electricity, etc. We would see much more of this in the days to come, but this first exposure was shocking in its own right.

There are a couple of interesting characteristics of paved Tanzanian roads. First, they really like speedbumps. They are frequent and large to keep speeds down, presumably to help protect pedestrians. Second, as you drive along you see white pillars some distance off of the road at regular intervals. Apparently at some point the government decided that they wanted to widen all of the roads and so they planted the pillars to mark a right-of-way in which it is forbidden to post signs or build structures. The widening hasn't happened but the pillars still exist, though they are occasionally ignored.

The rest of the trip to our accomodation was uneventful. It was a little disconcerting to discover that Rivertrees was behind a large fence and a security gate with armed guards. I was starting to wonder a little about our safety, but decided to trust David. It looked like the trip was going to be interesting, though...