Well, I have made it! Despite the struggle leading up to the Kilimanjaro trip, I arrived in Arusha late on Tuesday evening... I still not sure what hit me most, the temperature (27 degrees and humid as!) or the mob of mad taxi drivers trying to get my business to transport me from the airport to the township of Arusha... I found my shuttle bus even it I was assured by the cab drivers that there are 'no shuttles today sir'... of course!



The first (and really the only) day in Arusha was spent with Goodluck... that was my safari guide and driver - and they way people drive around here, we sure needed some good luck to make it back alive! We headed off to Arusha National Park, a small scale NP that offers (depending on the cloud cover) great views of Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro - they both were rather shy but I saw enough of Mt Kilimanjaro to start doubting my sanity!... Bloody hell, it's big!

We also saw plenty of giraffes - giraffes for Africa! - some zebras, heaps of monkeys (mainly baboons), buffalos and many more species that I now struggle to remember... where's my notebook when I need it? Overall, a cool intro to an African safari. Next time I am definitely heading to one of the big parks, such as Serengeti!

This afternoon, we will be heading across to Moshi, from where we will set off on our climb tomorrow morning... oh, joy! I shall be back with more news later!