14th October 08

Date: 14th October 08
Location: Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
Weather: Scattered clouds and very hot, 35°c
Status: Looking forward to the arrival of Mum and Dad!

There was rain overnight so packing away the tent was a wet process but it was only for a few hours it’d be in its cover. Not enough to cause problems.

Left the campsite at 6am to take on the morning rush hour which the Sunday evening’s arrival had promised but probably twice as bad. Sometimes though things work in your favour, the anticipated carnage wasn’t there and we arrived comfortably at the airport in 45 minutes, not the two hours we thought it’d take!

Their fight arrived on time and through the gap in the arrivals area doors I could see Mum and Dad hovering around the baggage carousel waiting for their bags, they spotted me and gave a huge wave looking particularly pleased with themselves to have made it!

Mum rushed through the people to jump up and give me a big hug, it was great to see them both looking so well and hopefully ready for their second African adventure with me. We gathered all of their bags and headed back to the Colonel which dad hadn’t seen for nearly 10 months so was dying to see how he was holding up, what mods and damaged I’d caused and which squeaks and creaks he could get his hands on first!.

The drive back to the campsite was uneventful and easy, we checked them in to their beachside room and headed back to our site to erect the tent for a dry out. The day was then spent letting them get used to the heat and the surroundings…..particularly difficult when sand is scorching hot, the ocean impeccably warm and the G&T’s delectably chilled!

We had a great meal together in the evening sampling the delights of the restaurant and then headed to bed for a fairly early night as tomorrow we’d be leaving to head out to Zanzibar.

End of day location: Dar Es Salaam
Distance covered: 35kms