Last year I flew Northwest/KLM via Amsterdam to Arusha. I had about 2 hours in Amsterdam each way; enough time for a brisk walk, a hot shower and some non-airline food. I thought it was a nice break during the trip. No problems at all with regard to travelling with guns, except my ammo was weighed and I was held to 5 kilos.

If you happen to be a WWII history buff, read ahead of time or take a book on the history of the airwar over Europe. For the first two hours out of Amsterdam, the inflight map shows many of the famous bomber targets in Germany, Austria and all the way to Greece. What was a scenic 30 minute flight for us from the Dutch coast to Schweinfurt was a harrowing multi-hour ordeal for the 8th Airforce in the fall of 1943.

If you are going to hunt Selous or western Tanzania and plan to fly through Dar to get your charter you have lots of options. If you are hunting the Masai out of Arusha there is only one air carrier out of Europe: KLM. KLM has directs from Amsterdam to Arusha / Kilimanjaro.

In October 2001, we flew NY to Amsterdam, then connected to the KLM flight to Dar es Salaam and Arusha.

George

The last time I went to Tanzania I went Denver to detroit to Amsterdam to Arusha to dar es Salam. I wouldn't even consider going through South Africa on the airbus. The Amsterdam route on KLM is a very nice flight and they are hunter friendly.Not only that but it is a shorter route less air time on more comfortable airplanes.

Magnum,

As Shakari said just call Kathi she knows all the ins and outs of traveling with guns to Africa. One route that hasn't been mentioned is through London. If your charter to the hunting area is out of Dar you can fly BA direct to Dar from London with no layover in Arusha. I haven't flown that particular route with BA but have flown BA to Africa several times with no problems. The planes are roomy even in coach and the service is great.

Regards,

Mark

Here's my intinerary for 2005:



27 JUN 05 - MONDAY
AIR KLM ROYAL DUTCH FLT:622 MULTI MEALS
LV ATLANTA 505P EQP: BOEING 767
DEPART: NORTH TERMINAL 08HR 55MIN


28 JUN 05 - TUESDAY
AR AMSTERDAM 800A NON-STOP

AIR KLM ROYAL DUTCH FLT:571 MULTI MEALS
LV AMSTERDAM 1035A EQP: BOEING 767
08HR 45MIN

AR KILIMANJARO 820P NON-STOP