Thursday, September 16, 2010

Flight Arrangements

As soon as you have submitted your half of your mission fee to CACHA, it's time to book your flight. All mission travel arrangements are booked through Premiere Travel (PT)

UNIGLOBE Premiere Travel Planners Inc.
100-24 Selkirk St.
Ottawa, ON K1L 0A4
Phone: (613) 230-7411

All mission participants are responsible for contacting PT and making their own travel arrangements. We dealt with Shirin at PT who was extremely patient and very helpful. Since we were planning an extended trip (staying in Africa past the mission dates) we needed to make sure our departure dates were altered.

Once booked, PT contacts CACHA, notifying them of the amount to pay. At this point your itinerary may be altered slightly as CACHA negotiates with PT for cheaper flight dates/times.

It seems as though KLM is the PT airline of choice for flights between Canada and Africa. I think that this airline does not land in either Ottawa or Toronto—so all flights are in and out of Montreal (Pierre Elliott Trudeau Intl.) airport. Thankfully KLM runs a shuttle bus (as part of the flight cost) back and forth between Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. If you are leaving from Ottawa, the KLM bus will pick up from the main Ottawa train station (on Tremblay Ave) ONLY and will drop you off at the Montreal airport.


The flight runs from Montreal to Schiphol airport in Amsterdam (6 hours 40 minutes). You switch flights to another KLM flight which then flies to Dar Es Salaam then on to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) which is located half-way between Arusha and Moshi. In Dar Es Salaam, the flight makes a stop over—basically you are waiting on the tarmac. Total duration from Amsterdam to Kili is 8 hours 25 minutes.


Blue pointer shows the Kili Airport, Red pointer shows Kilema Hospital


If you are arriving at the Kili Airport in the late afternoon or evening, you will be staying at a hotel (arranged for you by CACHA) in nearby Moshi. Apparently you don't drive on the roads at night because they are in pretty rough shape. Regardless of whether you are staying the night in Moshi or driving directly to Kilema, your mission leader will meet you at the airport and will have arranged for transport to Kilema.

Trip Insurance
CACHA recommended not purchasing trip insurance. Since we usually do this, it was a bit difficult not to. If you decide to purchase any of the insurance offered through the travel agency, you do so out of pocket. Arrange with your agent to pay for the fees separately.

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