Our transfer to the airport takes place in the afternoon and we arrive there after just a few minutes' drive. The familiar litany of pointless security checks begins and we arrive at the gate of the small airport on time. In fact, we board the plane way ahead of schedule, take off before the scheduled time and, because of the very short flight time of just 15 minutes to Dar Es Salaam, land at the time of the scheduled departure! We have never experienced that before.

On August 1st this year, a new Terminal 3 was opened at the international airport in Dar Es Salaam, and this is where long-haul flights are handled. The new building is obviously too big for current needs, as not all of the counters are occupied and there are no shops set up. But the air conditioning works, and we are kept cool at what feels like 18 degrees.
What doesn't work is KLM's check-in system and despite the best efforts of the IT department, the computer-based booking acceptance, labelling of the suitcases and control of access cannot be used. But we are in Africa: Ha kuna Matata. We are given handwritten boarding passes and the suitcases also receive handwritten transport labels. This leaves the door wide open for mistakes, but it is still fun and we hope that at least some of the suitcases checked through to Munich or Frankfurt will arrive.

So a great vacation comes to an end and we all arrived home safe and sound with most of our suitcases. Only the Fischer family's suitcase, which had already been delayed on the way there, didn't arrive this time either, but it is supposed to be delivered later that evening.