Having finally got
to bed about 00:30 and with a wake-up call due at 05:30 Ian managed a few hours
sleep but unfortunately I none; I just roamed around our vast suite. At
one point I decided I'd put on a bathrobe and go and lie on one of the sofas
and read my tablet; except the bathrobe was way too small (probably UK size 6)
and the tablet was dead. Sleep is overrated anyway!
It’s ironic really,
we have a fully fitted kitchen but are unable to make a coffee/tea in the
morning. Still the lovely staff laid on breakfast early especially for us
and at about 06:20 we met with Jackson for our transfer to the domestic
airport.
In the 25 or so
minutes it took us to drive there, the streets went from being practically
empty to teaming with hoards of people walking along, seemingly very
fast. I asked Jackson about this and he said many people received such a
low wage (US$1 per day) that they simply couldn't afford public transport and
as for the speed, well they had a long way to walk. Some were even just
going to the labour market to see if there was a job for them.
Wilson Airport
seemed to be just a ramshackle collection of buildings but Safarilink with whom
we were flying had their own little terminal with a coffee shop and no queues.
We knew from the
start that we only had 15kg luggage each and that included everything so, given
that my photographic equipment weighed 14kg, we were struggling to say the
least - luckily we have laundry included at all camps so if we take 3/4 days’
supply that should be OK. Also it's supposedly cold at night so fleece,
jacket etc is recommended and then it might rain so waterproof ..........
All weighed and packed except two day before we left I was browsing
Safarilink's website and come across a luggage dimensions limit (sneakily
hidden under an "About Us" tab). As it was late afternoon on
Saturday we couldn't ring Safari Consultants for clarification so bit the
bullet and split our stuff into two small, scruffy bags. Consequently
along with a flight bag we'll look like a couple of tramps!
Being able to keep
within the 30kgs also means wearing our heaviest clothing and stuffing lenses,
sd cards, spare batteries etc etc in our pockets so now we look like a couple
of FAT tramps.
The aircraft looks tiny and seats 12 pax so as Ian was looking a little apprehensive I asked the best place to sit and was told somewhere in the middle. I think his nerves dissipated pretty quickly as soon after boarding he suggested we move to directly behind the pilots for a better view.
Although I was a
little concerned when he seemed to be reading an instruction manual!
The airstrip at
Amboseli, there is in fact just a small building, the rest of the bits you can
see are trees and jeeps waiting.
This was a different
airline's plane but a Cessna Caravan like ours.
The flight was
great and after about 35 mins we were on the ground again and met by Junior who
we assumed was just transferring us to the lodge but no, Junior and his 6
seater Land Cruiser are at our sole disposal for the next 2 days.
Normally you have to pay extra for private use (US$300 per day) so we are
absolutely thrilled.
He very
thoughtfully had coffee and snacks waiting - what a lovely way to start
First elephants
Zebra and Wildebeest practically on the runway.
