Air travel in East Africa was really rather pleasant.  Once we arrived in Nairobi on British Airways, we flew on many different aircraft shuttling between locations, and on three different airlines.  Luckily we were able to spend one night in Nairobi first, catching up on much-needed sleep prior to making our way to the Serengeti.  From Dallas to Nairobi, it took us about 24 hours, so we were very tired.

Air Kenya was our first local airline to fly.  Although we landed in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport the night before on British Airways, the flight to Tanzania was from Wilson airport- a very small airport more geared towards general aviation.  That made the process more pleasant, as we didn't have to deal with the crowds, and the few staff present were very friendly.  Our flight time was delayed a couple of inexplicable hours- no idea why, but in the end, I guess it didn't matter too much.  It was a propeller plane- a DeHavilland DASH-7, and we flew about 45 minutes from Nairobi to Kilimanjaro International Airport- KIA.  On a clear day, you can get a good view of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  We did not- although we got a bare glimpse of the snow-capped peak, it was just that- a glimpse.

Once we cleared Tanzanian Customs, we changed to Precision Air, a regional airline that does a lot of charter flying in the region.  Our tickets technically were issued by Air Kenya, but were honored by Precision Air, which seems to act as an aggregator of sorts for other area airlines to get passengers to their final destinations in the area's national parks.

The pilots of Precision Air were very professional, and the flights in general were short.  We flew from KIA to Arusha International Airport on a Cessna 404, and then on the same plane to the Lake Manyara landing strip, where we deplaned and waited on another aircraft.  At that point, we boarded a Twin Otter 5H for the remaining hour-long flight to the Grumeti airstrip in the Western Arm of Serengeti National Park.  See Route Details for more details.

When we completed the Tanzania portion of our trip, we took a bus back to Nairobi from Arusha, and the next morning boarded a flight on Kenya Airways for Lusaka, Zambia- part two of our trip.

The Kenya Airways experience was a bit frustrating at first.  I was able to purchase my ticket months in advance via their website, so that part was OK. They were a bit slow to respond to emails initially, but they came around.  I did call several times to verify my ticket.  However, the frustrating part was actually getting the ticket.

Kenya Airways requires you to pick up the ticket in advance at the airport, at least for foreigners.  I should have picked it up when we landed in Nairobi at the beginning of the trip, but forgot due to extreme tiredness.  Subsequent calls to the airline usually ended with "If you don't pick up your ticket by the day before your flight, your reservation will be canceled."  This caused some fear, as we had only completed half our vacation.

So, we had a driver meet us at a gas station outside Nairobi.  East African Safaris- our Tanzania Safari provider, had graciously arranged for us to meet a driver.  We met him and he took us to the airport, where it took about 30-40 minutes to finally get our paper tickets printed.

The next morning, we showed up 2 hours before the flight, and needed nearly the two hours to go through check-in, and grab a small amount of food for breakfast at the airport.

In Africa, you go through security, a lot.  It's a good thing they are careful, but it does add some extra time to the check-in process.

Finally, we were on our aircraft, a Boeing 767, which was flying to Harare, Zimbabwe, then continuing on to Lusaka.  The flight was great!  The food was very good, the crew was friendly.  The wait in Harare was pleasant enough, though we were not allowed off the plane.  We used the time to buy some placemats and jewelry from the plane's duty-free cart.  Not terribly expensive, and not a terribly good deal, but some decent looking, decent quality souvenirs, nonetheless.

The flight landed close to on time in Zambia, and we were able to make our connecting flight for part two of our trip.