In the cockpit ....

…. or so it seems!
 
Back blipped.
We packed up, had an enjoyable breakfast & left camp at 8.00 am to head towards the airstrip. We went past a resting hyena, some resting giraffes, then past the lionesses lying in the Kopje, that we had seen yesterday. See extras.
A slight detour brought us past Mr & Mrs Ostrich & their 12 young, it was lovely to see them. I couldn’t get them all lined up, so the extra only shows a few.
At the airstrip, we checked our luggage in, were given tiny tickets, & said goodbye to Jackson. We waited in the airport lounge! It turned out the plane had 2 pilots & 12 passengers. We both sat in single window seats along the left-hand side. The aisle was very narrow & it was easier to go in sideways, after leaving hand luggage in a holding area at the back of the plane picking up a bottle of water each. It felt like, I was in the cockpit. We flew over the active volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai & had a great view of the vast Serengeti during the flight. I was glad we flew, rather than well over a day driving that our driver Jackson had, with an overnight stay on his way back to Arusha.
We touched down in Arusha, for some passengers to disembark & then a short, 15 minutes or so flight & we arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport, domestic arrivals. We had to wait for our check in to Doha flight, maybe we should have had a few hours in a local hotel, as a lovely lady had met us off the plane & brought us out of the airport & tried to organise the person we needed to see from Hoopoe, without success. She directed us to a cafe & waiting area. We waited there for a few hours, got some drinks & ate the picnic the camp had supplied. We went to the international departures building a bit early & again saw the helpful lady.
We got checked in, through security & took a look around the shops as we hadn’t purchased any gifts during the whole trip.
After day 2, I said that was the last safari I would go on as every muscle in my body ached, due to the bouncing about on the rough roads the first few days (I had forgotten about that). That view didn’t last long, with all the amazing highlights & sightings, I do hope we can do another before too long & Jackson pointed out lots of options at a different time of year.