Dec 9. Pit Stop for Leg 7 at Ngorogoro Crater Simba Camp @ around noon and ~18 pit stop till sunup on Dec 10.
Dec 10 Start Leg 8 @ Ngorogoro Crater tour and finish Leg in Mto Wa Mbu the same day. I see no evidence of an extended pit stop for sightseeing. The sightseeing was covered in the Ngorogoro Crater tour. I believe the length of the pit stops were determined by filming in HD during the daytime. So pit stop at the Simba camp was around 18 hours and the pit stop after Lake Manyaro pit stop was 26-28 hours to give teams time to book flights to India
After re-watching the start of Episode 9 multiple times, I have an alternate theory on how teams got from the orchard pit stop in Mto Wa Mbu, Tanzania to Cochin, India.
Bopper/Mark finished Leg 8 very close to midday Dec 10. When B/M and R/D approach the mat, there is almost no shadow. When Ralph/Vanessa and Nary/Jamie arrive, the shadows are very pronounced/elongated, late afternoon Dec 10. I believe that teams were transported to Arusha from Mto Wa Mbu in daylight on Dec 10. The Pit Start on Leg 9 was in darkness on evening of Dec 11, in a fairly well lighted town. The taxis were parked near a curb. What I am attempting to say, is that the Pit Stop Release for Leg 9 was not in Mto Wa Mbu, but in Arusha on the evening of Dec 11. Plus if you look at the special credits posted by Slowhatch here
http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php/topic,26988.100.htmlYou will see that the Mt. Meru Hotel was listed in the credits. It is in Arusha and is an 8 story luxury hotel. The décor of the hotel rooms match the room that the doctor examines Bopper’s knee in. So I think that the pit release for Bopper/Mark was at 9:06 pm on Dec11, 2011 in Arusha. With the other teams following. They are directed to go to Rickshaw Travel (also in Arusha) to get tickets for flights to Cochin, India. Seems like another example where Production got a local travel agent to remain open after hours. The first four teams all book the same itinerary, through Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, arriving in Cochin @ 6:05 am on Dec 13. They will fly out of Kilimanjaro International at 7:40 am on Dec 12. When Ralph/Vanessa arrive at the travel agency, all the other teams have left…either to the airport or back to the hotel. It is about 30 miles from Arusha to Kilimanjaro International. Ralph/Vanessa actually get on the 6:00 am flight to Nairobi. From the short conversation, it appeared that some seats had just opened up, according to the travel agent. One would think that if seats were available earlier, the other teams would have booked them. Reminds me of the finale flights in TAR5 in a way. Last team in to the airport, got the first flights out.
So leaving JRO on Dec 12, 2011
Ralph/Vanessa:
1) PW723 6:00 am - 7:00 am JRO>NBO (Kilimanjaro-Nairobi)
2) EK720 4:35 pm - 10:22 pm NBO>DXB (Nairobi-Dubai)
3) IX434 11:55 pm - 5:20+1 am DXB>COK (Dubai-Cochin)
Other 4 teams JRO-COK
1) PW435 7:40 am - 9:00 am JRO>DAR (Kilimanjaro>Dar es Salaam)
2) QR535 11:55 am - 7:10pm DAR>DOH (Dar es Salaam>Doha)
3) 9W555 11:20 pm-6:05+1 am DOH>COK (Doha>Cochin)
The arrivals in Cochin are pretty close to what was shown in the episode, with R/V already in the terminal, looking for bus schedules, when the other 4 teams arrive.
I just cannot see that any team flew through Mumbai, since the first Mumbai-Cochin flight didn’t arrive till 7:25 am, by which time all teams were gone from the Cochin airport.