We left the Golf View Inn in Entebbe at 10:00 a.m. and headed over to the airport for our flight to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania. Our travel was uneventful, except for the agitation I felt while watching 5 Muslim women in our flight in full berkas. These are the black outfits where every part of the body is covered except for the eyes. Some women were even wearing gloves with temperatures in the 80s. These five women were escorted by one man, and I hope they weren't his wives. Perhaps they were sisters, a mother, an aunt. Apparently Muslim women need a male escort where ever they go. The ones without gloves had beautiful henna designs on their hands.
When we arrived in Tanzania we were surprised to learn that the entry visa was $100 per person. This created a bit of a flurry, especially with the Wicklands as they have 5 people in their family. The immigration folks told us that they recently increased the price to reflect what the U.S. charges Tanzanians to enter our country. I was a little dubious, but low and behold, my recent research did show that they pay $130! This is a month's salary for some Tanzanians. Anyway, we sucked it up and moved along.
The Kia Lodge, where we stayed for the night, was very close to the airport (10 minute drive) and very nice! The bandas (huts) were lovely and the grounds resembled those you'd find at a spa. There were many bushes with purple, red, orange, yellow, and white flowers, and were a smattering of cacti and succulent. We lounged by the pool that afternoon with our newest travel companion, Gail, who lives with Ihla up in Estes Park. My first observation looking around the pool were that there were a lot of Americans there. In Uganda, I can only remember meeting one other American. The second thing I noticed after ordering a beer was Tanzania was substantially more expensive then Uganda! More for the economy...
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