Travelling to Tanzania and our Arrival in Mwanza

We left London Heathrow at 8.15pm on Tuesday 13th January and flew with Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa where we then had approximately 3 hours before catching our connecting flight to Kilimanjaro. This all went smoothly and I would happily fly with Ethiopian Airlines again. It was obviously dark on our first flight so we didn’t take any photos but Pete took some on our second flight. The first 2 are on take off, of Addis Ababa, the second is mid flight and the last is as we approached Kilimanjaro.

We landed in Kilimanjaro at about 1pm. We had opted to get our Visa on Arrival which was very quick but we then had to wait 30 minutes for our bags as they were probably among the last off the plane. 

We had booked to stay at KIA lodge for our first night which is literally 5 minutes drive from the airport.The lodge run a shuttle service so after a short wait for some other guests we were taken to the lodge. Check in was smooth and we were very quickly shown to our room. We did some minimal unpacking and then got a drink by the pool before catching up on some sleep before dinner. It was very hot so we were grateful for the efficient air conditioning in our room.

We ate dinner this evening in the lodge restaurant. It reminded us of the sort of menu you get at a safari lodge. We sat outside on the terrace and enjoyed our meal.

Thursday morning we had a good breakfast at the lodge before being transferred back to the airport for our flight to Mwanza. We had enjoyed our one night stay at KIA lodge and would happily stay there again if needing an overnight stay between flights.

We had booked the 10.20am flight to Mwanza on Precision Air. Check in was very quick and at this time of day the airport was very quiet.

We were boarded before 10am and the flight actually took off early. We landed in Mwanza before midday and were met by Aaron and Amos from ACTT who drove us to Tilapia Hotel where we will be staying for the next few days. The drive was about 20 minutes and the hotel is right on the edge of Lake Victoria. We have stayed here before and were happy to be back.

Again check in was smooth and we were quickly shown to our room on the first floor. It’s is a good size with a nice balcony.

It was very hot this afternoon so we had a swim in the pool and spent some time reading our books in the shade. Later we got a drink in the bar. Robert from ACTT came and joined us for dinner. It was good to catch up and make some plans for the next couple of days in Mwanza before we head to Geita to start visiting the schools.

All in all a very good start to our trip.