A few more views of Katavi NP before we say goodbye....
The flying time to Lake Tanganyika is only 45 minutes so a short hop today. The pilot (who is one of the few lady pilots I have come across in all my travels) has carefully seated us in the plane so that the weight distribution is correct as I believe the Mahale airstrip is infamous amongst the pilots in Tanzania....you'll see why in a minute...I've got a seat in the first row behind the pilot which gives me an excellent view of the proceedings...
Our first view of Lake Tanganyika...
Can anybody spot the airstrip yet? Yep, that's it in the top left hand corner of the photo - between a rock & a wet place....
Now you can see why the pilots get so nervous - most of them won't even consider taking any more than 8 passengers + luggage into Mahale at a time otherwise the plane is just too heavy..
Fortunately I've never been a nervous flier!! If I had to choose a pilot in a tricky situation I would always choose one with experience of bush airstrips - these guys (& gals) really know how to fly...
The trick is to come in really steeply so that you don't run out of runway at the end...
And touchdown - well done Liz!!
And there's our next mode of transport at the end of the runway....a dhow...we LOVE dhows...
A quick stop for the necessary formalities to sign into Mahale National Park...
And another necessity....as it is a good hour and a half to our next destination..a flush loo this time...we haven't seen one of those in a while..
And then we're off...Lazaro has all the luggage safely stowed..did you think I was joking about the dhow?
Ice cold drinks from the cooler box and an absolutely delicious lunch - didn't get my act together on the photography front until dessert so you'll just have to take my word for it....skewers of grilled beef as well as vegetable skewers and homemade chips with a guacamole dip - yum, yum. Such a good idea to have everything on skewers on a boat - makes things far more manageable...and then for dessert..fruit skewers...fresh, juicy watermelon. pineapple & the best mango I've ever tasted...
The water is a lovely shade of turquoise, warm as bath water and so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom..
It IS a tough life...
The first glimpse of our home for the next two nights & I think we're going to like it...
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