First glimpse

So as previously mentioned we arrived in Nairobi at approx 6.30am local time. Kenya/Tanzania are only 2 hours ahead of the UK so we weren't going to suffer any jet-lag.

Before we could leave the airport we had to get our transit visas for Kenya - these cost $20 each way. This took a good couple of hours of waiting around in queues. Most of us hadn't slept very well (if at all) on the plane so we were all pretty sleepy.

Once out of the airport, we separated into 2 groups for 2 mini-buses that would take us to Moshi in Tanzania.

Out of Nairobi, we drove along one straight, long, dusty road. We passed numerous villages/buildings, all of which were of a different poverty scale. Some were mud huts, there were little sets of corner shops, and then there were great glass structures in the larger sites. Passing through all these scenes is a bit of a culture shock as it's so different to back home.

We got stopped a number of times by police or officials, but didn't have any problems. The border crossing took forever though - because we were a group of 27 (quite large), and everyone had to have their visas checked it took a long time to get through border control.

I won't name our tour company, but they definitely had some dodgy dealings going on. The border officials looked at our bags which were covered up on top of the bus. The tour company had hidden illegal stuff inbetween our bags, but what we saw was one of the guides handing money over to the official, and then we were free to carry on. - a completely different culture out there.

Along the way we stopped at a petrol station, where this was the very first sight of Kilimanjaro we had - it is absolutely enormous - this terrified me. What had I let myself in for?! But at the same time is was beautiful, just floating in the cloud.

After a 6 hour journey we made it to our hotel in Moshi. It was very basic, but a really comfortable bed. The shower didn't work though which was a bit of a let down as I'd have liked a shower before starting the climb.