Lake Manyara - Kilimanjaro - Zanzibar

Today was a day of travel and goodbyes for the touring group.  After breakfast at the Lake Manyara Wildlife Lodge we took a group shot with our Tanzania drivers from Sunny Safaris Peter and Sayid before hitting the road for Kilimanjaro International Airport.  We spotted some giraffes along the roadside of the highway, which made up for not seeing any yesterday (and shows that some animals are in the reserve but not necessarily the national park).  We stopped again at a curio shop, and this time I actually bought some things- note cards with batik prints and a t-shirt for my nephew.

We spent a few hours on the road as we drove through Arusha to get to Kilimanjaro.  After arriving at the airport we said goodbye to our drivers and gave them their tips and gifts.  It was especially sad to say goodbye to Peter as he was such a lovely person and great driver over the past 6 days.  Next it was time for the group to split apart as most were flying to Nairobi and Dubai before jetting off to various locations while Chantal, Shevonne, Shirin and I had flights to Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.  Both of our flights were on Precision Air, which is a Tanzanian airline.  The first flight to Dar es Salaam actually left early, while our second flight to Zanzibar was a bit late although we were only in the air for around 20 minutes. 

It was dark when we arrived in Zanzibar and we had a driver waiting to pick us up and take us to our home for the next few days, the Villa Kiva Beach Resort in Matemwe on the north east coast of the island (about an hour away from the airport).  There were so many people out and about as we were driving to the resort, and you could definitely tell that the population is predominately Muslim. 

At the resort we were greeted by Gabriella who manages the property and is originally from Italy.  The place is pretty amazing and we are staying in a cottage with two separate rooms that join together in a middle closet area.  We had a fantastic light and fresh dinner with seafood in the outdoor dining area before heading back to our rooms for the night.  It will be so nice to rest and not have to get up early to go on a game drive.  I am looking forward to being able to stay in one place and relax before flying back to Melbourne at the end of the week.  I can't wait to see everything in the daylight and hit the beach tomorrow.