We put out our duffle bags and the land Rovers were soon loaded up for the trip to the small airport. Sadly our stay in this camp has come to an end.

The distance to the airport is short but the roads are very rough and rocky. Dust follows us where ever we go unless it has been raining.

As we were traveling to the airport we were second, behind our leader in the first vehicle. We lost sight of him on a curve for a short time and when we saw the green Land Rover again, it was on the side of the road with the two flat tires on the drivers side.

My first thought was that we would miss our flight to Arusha and the one on to Zanzibar.

We pulled up behind the leading vehicle as our guide climbed out in his kakis. “Don’t worry about a thing, the flight will wait for us,” our guide said as he walked up to our vehicle to sooth our worries. I was relieved but curious that a flight would wait for anyone.

The Land Rovers carry two spare tires, thank goodness. At this rate we may actually get to the airport, eventually.

The tires were changed very quickly and we were soon on our way again. We had passed the airport a few times in our ventures looking for game so I knew what the small airport looked like.

I recognized it when it when the low white building came into view a few moments later. I was relieved to see it sitting among a few trees and low shrubs. I just added the flat tire incident to a long list of unexpected little events in my travels.

It could have been much worse, no doubt. No one was injured and we made it to the airport for our flight.

When I saw the plane out on the runway in the distance I understood why it had waited for us. It was just a tiny thing. We had to wait a few moments before boarding our plane. There was one in line before ours. It was a forty seat plane like the one we had come in on.

Our small group were the only passengers traveling on our plane. It was a thirteen seat, twin motor airplane that looked like a private plane you see at most airports. The pilot was a young woman and the copilot was a young man. Our leader and one other person were in front of my wife and I in the front row. That row was two seats wide as all of them were.

I could nearly touch the pilot from my seat. To say that it was a bit cramped in the plane would be an understatement. But on the other hand, these small planes can glide for miles when the motor conks out.

I know this for a fact as one of my high school buddies was a pilot at 17 and we talked about this many times. He flew to Catalina from L.A. often and mentioned that if the plane suffered an engine loss half way into the 26 miles journey he could glide in for a landing in Catalina. That was a reassuring memory.

I have taken many flights in small planes in foreign countries and have always survived. I do look them over carefully to see that they are clean and appear to have all their parts attached securely. What else can I do.

The flight was smooth and the views, incredible. We made it to Arusha and landed at the airport with no unplanned incidents. I took a few pictures of those in the plane with me and out of the window as well. There is a video on Facebook at R.C. of our take off.

Don’t miss the “The Adventures of the Smith Family,” my 18th century adventure romance novel. It is one of my many novels available on Amazon.