Hi all,

We have arrived safely but we are both very tired!

Our flight to Doha went very well, we were on a big plane however there was lots of empty seats which made it very comfortable and quiet, we had 3 seats between the 2 of us so Laura got some good kip! Ben on the other hand watched numerous movies!

We landed in Doha at 6:20am and had to transfer to another plane which took off at 7:35am, we were worried that we wouldn't have time but it was very straight forward. When we got to the gate it was full of Chinese people so had us questioning if we were in the right place....we were. We got a quick sneek peak at Dohas skyscrapers in the distance and were taken away with the heat at that time in the morning! All the Chinese were persistent of taking photos of Doha in the distance whilst boarding the plane which was rather annoying! However our moods were quickly lifted when we saw our bags being loaded on the plane as we were worried they wouldn't.

As soon as we were in our seats we were both fast asleep, Ben slept for nearly the whole flight whereas Laura didn't enjoy this one so much. We were in a smaller plane and it felt cramped. We thought we were flying straight to Kilimanjaro however our plane dropped people off at Dar Es Salaam which took us the the total of 3 taking offs and landings in 24hrs!!! Having to listen to the saftey talk 3 times got a bit tedious however we got fed lots!

After Dar Es Salaam there was only us and about 30 Chinese people left flying on to Kilimanjaro, we enjoyed watching one lady doing oragami! When we arrived in Kilimanjaro Dula our transfer man was waiting for us and was very enthusiastic about seeing us, it was a hour transfer to our hotel which was spent in silence as we were both staring out the window taking everything in and of course all the locals staring back like we are aliens.

We are settled into our little lodge now and about to go for dinner, very desperate to meet people we are climbing with, haven't seen the mountain itself yet as sky very foggyhazy however Dula told us we are 45mins away from the park gates, will find out more at our meeting tomorrow!

B&L xxx