Leg #1 Complete - ABQ to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Airbus A380 double decker jumbo jet

Two level jetway to load the A380 with 500 people

We were both really beat after 36 hours of travel from leaving home at 9PM on Thursday night to arriving at our hotel in Dar es Salaam late Saturday afternoon.  Everything was on time and no lost luggage.  From New York to Dubai, a 15 hour flight, we were on an Emirites Air Lines, Airbus A320.  This is a huge doubled-decker aircraft that carries close to 500 people easily and our plane was packed. Even with the nicest seats in coach that I have ever seen it was still a REALLY long time on an airplane.

When we arrived in Dubai this morning, we had the lovely opportunity to go through security right after you exit the plane before you go to your connecting flight.  Luckily we had plenty of time and they were much more efficient than the TSA.  And the Dubai airport is HUGE... I think we walked over a mile to get from gate to gate.

Our driver was waiting for us in Dar as we cleared customs and we immediately were in a late Saturday afternoon traffic jam caused by the President of Tanzania's motorcade passing on the main highway into Dar.

We are leaving the bike suit cases and a large duffle bag with the bike trip essentials at the hotel in Dar while we tour Tanzania.  That will lighten our load considerable (about 150 pounds).  We come back to the same hotel for one night at the end of our Tazanian visit and then it is on to Livingston.  This was the plan all along since we are limited to just 33 pounds of luggage on our local flights over the next two weeks.  We are really looking forward to flying tomorrow.  We may have to land and take off on grass fields up to 4 time tomorrow to reach our final destination at the Mafinga Highlands Tea Plantation.

The very busy concourse at the Dubai Airport that goes on about as far as you can see.