Kibo .. Kili .. Kilimanjaro

On Saturday, 28 November I boarded a Dar Express coachline at Ubungo bus terminal in Dar es Salaam. My destination was Moshi, a town in Northern Tanzania. A couple of weeks earlier, Felister (a colleague of mine at the WFP Tanzania Country Office), and I were chatting over lunch and I mentioned how much I'd like to see Mt Kilimanjaro. All the while I had been thinking it was out of the realm of possibility given my time constraints. Hailing from the north of Tanzania, Felister not only said it was doable but also said I would be most welcome to stay with her family in Moshi. I planned my trip north on the Eid-ul-Fitr long weekend.

I paid 25,000 Tanzanian shillings (appx US$21) for a one way ticket from Dar es Salaam to Moshi. Departing at 8am I arrived in Moshi at 4:30pm. Here's a picture of a rainbow we passed about 4 hours out of Dar es Salaam. I didn't have time to collect the pot of gold.

Felister's family welcomed me with open arms at the bus stop. Below is a picture of her wonderful family in Moshi. Mr (right of pic) and Mrs (left of pic) Msuya are both teachers. Mr Msuya is also an engineer.

That evening I was invited by Mr and Mrs Msuya to join them at a post-wedding thank you party at a local restaurant (pictured below). The party was hosted by the parents of a recently married family friend to thank the wedding organising committee for all their help organising the event. In Tanzania, when a couple gets married close friends of the couple's family form a wedding committee to help plan and organise the event. We dined on tender roast goat and chicken with cooked shredded cabbage and grilled bananas. The parents of the bride gave a thank you speech to their friends in Swahili.

After the party we walked a few doors down to the small convenience store that Mr and Mrs Msuya own. They sell a variety of goods such as drinks, cooking oil, mobile phone recharge, snacks and more. In the back Mr Msuya has a small office.

Moshi is a beautiful town - if I remember correctly it is the tidiest town in Tanzania. The air is fresh and the rains create a luscious oasis of green. The pictures below are my first sightings of Mt Kilimanjaro (also known as Kibo by locals or affectionately as Kili). I took these pictures of the Mountain as we drove into town from Mr and Mrs Msuya's house on Sunday morning. The first is taken through the back window of the car!

At 9:30am on Sunday morning I met Felister's friend, Abisai, who was going to take me to the base of Mt Kili and on a tour of sights in the area. At least five days is required to climb Kili so I had to settle with planting my foot at the base.

Marangu route, also known as the 'Coca Cola route', is the easiest and most popular route to reach the top of the mountain - hence the name 'Coca Cola route'. The picture below is the start of the Marangu route with a couple of climbers setting off on their expedition. I smiled at the sight of tall Australian gum trees at the base of the mountain which you can also see in the picture below.

This sign indicates the five key stops along the Coca Cola route. The peak of the mountain sits at an altitude of 5895m where the depleting ice cap is located.

After spending some time soaking up the fresh air at the foot of the mountain we headed to other sights around Marangu town. At the start of the day we picked up a guide - Kenneth - in Marangu. As you drive through Marangu a number of guides wait by the side of the road and you can negotiate a price with a guide to show you around for the day. Here's a picture of Kenneth showing us through some caves.

The people of Kilimanjaro are known as Chagga. According to Wikipedia they are the third largest ethnic group of Tanzania. Below is a picture of Edward, the curator of Chaggaland Museum which documents the history of Chagga people. The traditional Chagga home is a round hut with a thatched roof. The outside of a Chagga hut is surrounded by pineapple bushes whose serrated leaves protect the occupants from snakes or other creatures who can easily cut themselves on the sharp leaves. A Chagga family traditionally keeps their cattle inside their hut. This is a picture of Edward, the curator of the museum, with a cow inside a hut.

Inside the Chagga hut there are two beds. The father sleeps on his own bed near the entrance ready to protect his family from intruders. The mother sleeps with her children on the second bed. Here is a picture of me baring my pearly whites on the mother's bed.

I ended the day by having a swim in Kilasiya Waterfall. The water is cool and fresh - run off from Mt Kilimanjaro. No one else was game to join me so it was a solo dip.

A snap after the swim on the way back to the car.

After a wonderful couple of days I left Moshi at 8am on Monday morning. This shot of ladies selling fruit and vegetables was my last memory of Moshi as I left on the bus back to Dar. Don't those fresh carrots look delicious?