Today was a traveling day, from Nairobi to Arusha (Tanzania), so no animal watching. The day was not without some points of interest however. To start with the hotel recommended we book our taxi for 5:45 to travel the 15 km to the airport for an 8:30 flight; seemed like a lot of time to us. Once we were on the plane we could understand their suggestion. Even at 6:00am in the morning Nairobi traffic was thick and not moving very fast. At the airport there was a long line of people trying to get into the terminal as all bags and passengers had to pass through a security screen before entering the terminal. And then the gate staff commenced boarding the plane an hour before takeoff. The good news about the early boarding was that the cabin staff could serve the "meal" while we were still on the ground as the 35 minute flight time really did not give them enough time to push their service trolley up and down the aisle more than once. The other good news was the relatively new and apparently well maintained plane.

On descent into Arusha (the Airport is called Kilimanjaro International Airport - code JRO) we got a brief view of the twin mountains of Kilimanjaro and Meru and the flat dry plains around. The airport was a modest cluster of buildings with staff primed to quickly handle the inrush of tourists about to descend on them. So keen were they to get everyone processed that when we announced that our health cards with proof of Yellow Fever vaccination were in our luggage they simply waved us past the inspection. The visa process took maybe 5 minutes and soon we were outside wondering where our pickup was. Not there as it turned out but we found another driver from the same company and after a little wait we were on our way towards Arusha and the Mount Meru Hotel. The hotel, as the name implies, is located on the flanks of its mountain name sake. This mountain location (4500ft) results in a very abundant supply of water and hence verdant vegetation and a cooler climate than the plains.

The hotel is quite a change from the one in Nairobi, about 3 times the price, and much more of an international 3-4 star establishment. It seems to be mainly a transit point for people on safari and a smattering of business, government and NGO types.

Towards the end of the afternoon we went for a short walk along the main road out the front of the hotel to have a look at the local community. Lots of small shops, car wash places, a veritable horde of motorcycle taxis, and the usual furniture and steel gates fabrication, taking place right on the "side walk" (not that the side walk really exists).