Wilson to Amboseli

Our Safarilink flight to Amboseli was due to leave from Wilson Airport at 0730 and Jackson would be collecting us at 0630 so we both set the alarms on our iphones for 0500 and I also did one on my ipad, just to be on the safe side.

I lay in bed for what seemed like hours unable to sleep and then suddenly panicked that I hadn't changed the time on my phone as for some unknown reason it doesn't do it automatically, unlike the ipad.  As Kenya is 3 hours ahead the alarms wouldn't go off until 0830 and we'd miss our flight.  Never mind though, at least the ipad was set as a backup, except I'd done that for 0558!!  I hid the devices under the bedcovers so as not to wake Ian with the lights whilst I reset the times, but still I lay there worrying we wouldn't wake in time.  Of course we did.

Breakfast was already laid out in the restaurant when we got down at 0545 so we had a nice leisurely meal of fresh fruit and pastries.  I made the mistake of asking for tea without specifying cold milk and unfortunately the waitress poured me chai which I absolutely couldn't drink. 

Jackson was waiting for us at the appointed time.  The hotel is literally a stone's throw from the airport's perimeter fence although to get into the complex involves a 15 min journey but we were still there in plenty of time for the 0700 check-in.  Jackson came in with us to make sure check-in was OK and there were no issues with our weight allowance - we were pretty careful with our packing but carrying the heavier of the camera/lens might be key to us getting in under the 15kgs each.  We were fine though as they didn't weigh my shoulder bag which actually was quite heavy as it was full of IT.

We said our goodbyes to Jackson and hopefully he'll be collecting us in 9 days time.

Safarilink has its own terminal with a little café area which, although it was early, was still surprisingly empty. 

So I asked the check-in staff if the plane was going to be full "No Madam, you are the only passengers" came the reply which was amazing but I was slightly concerned as their T&Cs do reserve the right to charge more if less than 4 passengers are on the flight.  Luckily no more money was required. 

Despite the forecast, it was a beautiful morning and the planes were all lined up ready.

Of course boarding took no time at all and here we are in our own private jet.

We met our pilots who both looked so young I seriously wondered if they'd just plane-jacked the aircraft and were going on a joyride.  But, no, they seemed capable enough and after a short taxi we were soon in the air.  

We flew more or less straight at Mount Kilimanjaro but a decent photo through the cockpit window just wasn't possible and this is the best I could get.

There wasn't a great deal to see, certainly no herds of wild animals milling around, but the soil patterns were quite interesting. 

And it does look rather wet!

About 35 mins later we were touching down at Amboseli airstrip and it was a super soft landing, no bouncing around from side to side as often happens with these small planes.  

Amboseli "airport" through the plane window, hence the strange colouring.

Our little plane on the right loading passengers for its next flight.

Solomon, a Masai guide from Tortilis Camp, was there to greet us with the predictable coffee and biscuits which neither of us were in need of, but he enjoyed them and then proceeded to talk at us for quite a time on how much easier his job would be as we were not safari novices.  Actually, I probably disagree with that as surely the guide has to work harder to come up with more interesting information and also we are able to identify 95%+ of the animals ourselves and a fair number of birds too (at least Ian can).  Solomon also explained that he would only be guiding us for the morning as his young son was in hospital and he was keen to visit.  Actually I wasn't too bothered as I didn't feel an instant rapport with him and although it probably means we'll be paired with someone else that was fine, we hadn't paid for sole vehicle use.

Last time I think we only had a clear view of Mt Kili on our first day, so I'm not taking any chances.