Bittersweet Home Coming

After a month away from site, coming back to my village really did feel like coming home. My mom swept the cobwebs from my hut, washed my sheets, and made my favorite dinner (millet and beans). As soon as I appeared on the road all of my little brothers and sisters started chanting my name and ran out to greet me and carry my luggage back to the house. All of the women at the well made a big fuss over my return and begged me not to be gone for so long ever again. Everyone in the village lamented about how AWFUL my vacation must have been since I got too skinny and lost my "jaifonde" (big butt), and insisted I stop by for lunch so they can fatten me up again. Being back in my own routine, among family and friends, in familiar surroundings has been really nice, but a recent tragedy has made my homecoming a bit difficult.

For several months my best friend Bassirou's wife has been ill, and on June 6th she passed away in her mother's village. No one knows exactly what she died of, but since I was told she had "stomach problems" and I watched her wasting away, it is very possible it was liver cancer caused by Hepatits B, which is apparently pretty common here. Rokhaya was a neighbor and really good friend of mine and I'm deeply saddened by her passing, but since she passed away a week before I got home my village and I are not on the same grieving schedule.

Death is handled very differently here than it is in the western world. When someone dies women throw themselves on the ground and wail and cry, but according to Muslim law the body is buried within 24 hours and after that people seem to "get over it" pretty quickly. I have no doubt that internally they continue to be saddened by the loss of a loved one, but the demands of a harsh life take precedence and once the funeral is over you aren't supposed to show any emotion. You shouldn't be upset that someone is dead because "Allah willed it," and if it was God's will then there's no sense in getting all worked up.

Fortunately my mom broke the news to me over the phone a few days before I returned to my village so I was able to spend a few days mourning my friend, but it was still difficult to go back to Sambande knowing I couldn't show any emotion when extending my condolences to my best friend and his family. It has been a bit of a tough week, but Bassirou is my best friend for a reason and I think he understood, and perhaps even appreciated it, when I wasn't always able to maintain my composure. Rokhaya was a beautiful person and a good friend and her presence is sorely missed. She left behind three beautiful daughters, Koumba, Aissatou and Marie, who seem to be taking the whole situation in stride. Dealing with tragedy is something kids learn how to do at a very young age here and they still have a loving father and a village full of mothers who will take care of them so I don't doubt that in the long run they will be okay. As for me I'm trying to celebrate Rokhi's life rather than mourn her death and I'm keeping myself busy with daily chores and planning upcoming projects. Prayers would be appreciated.

Zanzibar Island

the boat that I snorkeled from anchored off Prison Island

   Zanzibar was the final stop on my vacation, and I didn't have any real plans other than take the ferry over from Dar es Salaam and find somewhere to stay, since a lot of what I wanted to do on the island was dependent on how much money was left in my budget at the end of the trip. I managed to be pretty frugal throughout my travels so I was able to have a really nice time in Zanzibar instead of just sitting in the airport waiting to go home like I feared would happen. I left Dar es Salaam at noon on June 2nd for what was supposed to be a 3 hour ferry ride. Four and a half hours later I arrived in Stone Town, and immediately 

Neighbor fish in their sea-anemone home

began winding my way through the narrow streets looking for the nearest dala dala stand. I had plans to stay at the Zanzibari on the north end of the island thanks to the generosity of Mike, my fellow climber on Kilimanjaro who had paid for 5 nights but could only stay for three. The 60 kilometer ride to the north end on the island on the dala (truck cab with a long open bed that is crammed with people) only cost me $2, as opposed to $45 for a taxi, but it made frequent stops and took about two and a half hours and by the time I arrived in Nungwe it was dark. My plan had been to either walk to the hotel if it was close to the bus stop or negotiate a cheap taxi or motorcycle ride, but all of that went out the window when the dala reached the end of the line; a dead-end dirt road in an impoverished residential area with no resorts, taxis or tourists in sight. With no other choice I hoisted my baggage onto my head african-style and began walking, reasoning that as long as I was moving I wasn't lost. I got vague directions from a man at a shop who insisted it was "very far," but with no vehicles in sight my only option was to try and walk there. Stumbling over uneven dirt roads in the pitch dark with 40 pounds of luggage (remember, I still had all my Kili gear) with absolutely no idea how far it was to my destination reduced me to tears pretty quickly as I imagined bandits and murderers around every corner. Finally, an hour later a local guy took pity on me and led me right to the hotel, and I arrived sobbing, sweaty and scared out of my mind at the most amazing place I have ever stayed in my life, making the whole ordeal totally worth it. After a glorious shower with real water pressure and variable temperature and a 3 course dinner that included free drinks thanks to a sympathetic bartender I collapsed into my enormous canopy bed for the most amazing sleep of my life.

Snorkeling at the reef off of Prison Island

The next morning I woke up early, ate an amazing breakfast and hiked back out to the road to catch another dala dala back to Stone Town. In the daylight the walk was short and actually quite pleasant, and everyone was so friendly that I felt a little bit embarrassed about my freak out the night before. Living in Senegal has really destroyed my trust in people and I realized that next morning that although it is important to be wary, there aren't murderers and thieves hiding around every corner in Zanzibar. Other than that one night, I never once felt like I was in an unsafe situation on my trip, and the majority of Tanzanians are extremely friendly and really just want to get to know you (more on that later).

Just in case you were tempted to ride the 185 year old tortoise

In Stone Town I rented a room on the third floor of an old house right outside the Darajani market. I mostly stuck to the Old City and spent the week exploring the narrow streets and alleyways, looking at the shops and marveling at the intricately carved doorways and architecture that was a a mix of Swahili, Arab, Persian and Indian architecture thanks to its ancient role as a center of trade. The maze-like streets aren't wide enough for cars so wandering around them sort of feels like stepping back in time, especially as I came across historical buildings like the former Sultan's Palace, the Hamamni Baths, the Old Fort, and several cathedrals, mosques and sites associated with the slave trade. The is a lot of culture and history to be soaked in on the island  and I tried to make the most of it.

A plethora of freshly caught and grilled seafood at Forodhani
Gardens night market

On my second day in town I stepped into an excursion office on a whim and ended up joining a group that was going out to Prison Island to snorkel. Our boat, the Gladiator, took us out at 1pm to a coral reef just off the north side of the island and we spent about an hour just skimming along the surface admiring all of the beautiful underwater flora and fauna. The weather turned a bit stormy but since we were already wet it didn't matter, and by the time we went to the island to visit the tortoise sanctuary the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining again. After feeding spinach a 185 year old tortoise and taking a short walk around the island we headed back to the mainland for a drink at the sunset bar. Around 8pm I walked down the waterfront to Forodhani Gardens where every night the fishermen set up tables with white linen cloths and oil lamps and grill up whatever they caught for the day. Kebabs of lobster, octopus, shrimp, mussels and various types of fish are served with freshly baked chapattis and breads for just a dollar each. I chose a warm garlic pita and two skewers of reef shark and vegetables and was not disappointed.

Dolphin watching off the southern tip of the island

I returned the next night alone for an encore, and shortly after sitting down with my plate I was approached by a young Tanzanian man in his early twenties who wanted to sit and chat. In Senegal, anyone who wants to talk with you ultimately wants something, and especially men will usually ask to marry you within the first 3 minutes of the conversation, so I was a bit wary. Still I was in a good mood and stuffed with seafood so I politely answered his questions in what turned out to be perfect English. When he found out I had never tasted freshly squeezed sugar cane juice he disappeared and returned 5 minutes later with a cool glass and two straws. We sat and chatted about Senegal and Tanzania and traded Swahili and Seereer vocabulary until almost midnight when the vendors began dismantling their tables, and then he walked me home. He never once asked me to marry him, or for a visa, or made any indication that he wanted anything from me other than pleasant conversation. It was actually one of the nicest "dates" I've ever been on, and when he kissed me on the cheek and asked if he could see me the next day I agreed and we made plans to meet in the park. We met the next morning and spent the day sitting on a bench talking about everything from science to politics until well after lunchtime, and when we parted ways I was actually a bit disappointed that I wouldn't be seeing him again

Red Colubus Monkey in Jozani Forest

On my. last day on the island I signed up for a tour to swim with dolphins off the southern end of the island and met at 8am for the tour. It was windy and the seas were extremely rough (prompting several passengers to go "chumming" over the side of the boat), and it was actually better to see the dolphins from the boat than to jump in the water every time they swam past since none of them seemed inclined to stay and visit. After a couple of hours of battling the swells we returned to shore, but not before the tide went out, forcing us to wade100 yards through thigh deep, jellyfish infested waters alternately getting stung and stumbling on hidden rocks. After squeezing lemon juice on our stings (none of us were very inclined to pee on ourselves) we had a nice lunch on the beach before heading over to Jozani forest to see Red Colubus Monkeys, a species native only to Zanzibar that evolved without a thumb. After my tour I returned to my room to pack up my things and had street food in the Darajani night market for dinner before heading to the airport to wait for my 3:30am flight to Addis Ababa. I spent a miserable, mosquito infested night sleeping in a chair in the open-air waiting area before checking in at midnight and finally boarding my plane at 3am.

On Safari

If you close your eyes and think of Africa, what do you see? Flat plains stretching to the horizon...herds of antelope and gazelles frolicking through long dry grass...a lion stalking its prey...a giraffe browsing the upper leaves of an acacia tree? For those of us raised on the Lion King and the Discovery Channel the Serengeti is Africa, and I got to see all of those things and more on our four day safari. As soon as we entered the park on the afternoon of the 26th we stepped into a slice of Africa that has been preserved just the way Livingstone might have found it 150 years ago, with the exception of a few dirt roads and well-hidden lodges. We spent the next several days traversing the park in our safari vehicles searching for "zoo animals" without the cages and keepers, and we found some pretty amazing things. Since words can hardly do justice to an experience like this, I'll let the photos do most of the talking.

Day 1: The Western Corridor

Herds of zebras grazing in the long grass

On our first day in the park was like stepping into a National Geographic nature special. We were treated to all of the regulars; zebras, impala, gazelles, water buffalo, ostrich, baboons, hippos and giraffes, but the big stars of the day were the wildebeests. Every year over a million wildebeests travel a circular migration path through several national parks searching for food and water. About halfway through the drive we turned a corner and stretched out on the plain before us was a giant herd of wildebeest stretching all the way to the horizon. Literally thousands of them, dotting the landscape like grains of sand on a beach. Even more amazing than the sight was the sound...they make kind of a small grunt for such a big animal and it was like being surrounded by a bunch of bullfrogs. For the next 15 minutes there were nothing but crowds of wildebeest all over the bath and as far as the eye can see. We continued driving through the migration and arrived at our lodge, the Mbalageti, just after sunset where we were escorted to our rooms and then to dinner by Maasai guards to protect us from animals that sometimes wandered into the open camp.

A small fraction of the great wildebeest migration

Giraffe giving us the star-down

Day 2: Northern Serengheti

We saw more wildebeest on our second day, but not in the staggering numbers of the day before. We saw a greater variety of animals as we moved North; zebras, baboons, thompsons gazelles, a leopard tortoise, topi, dik diks, ostriches, storks, hyenas, warthogs, a momma and baby giraffe and more hippos, but the day was dominated by the big cats. Shortly before lunch we spotted two leopards in two different trees about 10 meters off the road. They rarely come out of the branches during the day so is pretty rare to see them and we all felt very fortunate. Before we had even gotten over the excitement of seeing our first predator we turned a corner and there was a lioness sunning herself on a fallen tree. Unlike the leopards she was maybe 10 feet from the road and in plain sight. It took a minute for it to sink in that this wasn't some exhibit at a zoo...this was a wild lion in its natural habitat. She sat up briefly when we arrived, but she seemed entirely unconcerned with our presence, and soon laid back down and went to sleep. She knew she was on top of the food chain. Around 2:30 we stopped at an information center for lunch and observed a few humans in their "natural habitat." There were some particularly entertaining asian tourists. One guy in a baby-blue long sleeve, lime green polo shirt and neon pink safari vest really cracked me up...he was clearly a master of the safari camoflage. I also got a kick out of another plump asian tourist feeding orange slices to an even plumper giant rodent, despite the signs forbidding it.

lioness taking stock of her surroundings

After lunch we set out again in the direction of some large rocks and almost immediately spotted another lioness sunning herself high on a boulder. We drove on for nearly an hour after that, and just as the heat and the silence of the Serengeti were lulling me to sleep we pulled alongside another vehicle and learned that there was a momma cheetah and two cubs sitting on a rock under the shade of a bush, just at the edge of binocular range. Our drivers conferred briefly and we turned off the road and set off across the grass. I thought we would stop maybe 20 feet away, but we pulled up literally 5 feet from them. Even though she was with her babies the cheetah didn't give us a second glance and acted as if we didn't exist. She probably knew she could rip us to pieces if she wanted to and didn't feel at all threatened. We stayed for several minutes taking pictures and enjoying her presence, then began making our way to our next lodge. We made two more detours on the way, one for two lionesses napping in a dry stream bed and another for a lone cheetah on a rock. The cheetah got down and actually began running towards our vehicles, but passed between them at the last minute and we got to drive alongside it as it ran through the grass. We finished the day with an extremely pregnant hyena that waddled across the road just before we reached the lodge.

Momma and babies resting in the shade

Jon: "They look full"
Me: "I hope they're full"

lioness standing over a fresh kill

Day 3: Morning and evening game drives

 We left the lodge at 6am for a game drive in the hopes of seeing some more big predators, who do most of their hunting in the dawn hours. Several kilometers down the road we came across a huge herd of buffalo and on the right side of the road was a lioness with a fresh kill, legs still twitching. I couldn't believe how close we were to her...just three feet or so. She had clearly dragged her prize some distance already and she was exhausted and just laying over the carcass. After a while she got up and began trying to move it over the embankment, but didn't get far before she stopped and looked off into the distance. Following her line of sight we saw two enormous male lions moving steadily towards her in the grass. She turned and ran back across the road towards the herd, and all of the sudden the males came after her at full speed, passing just inches from the bumper of our car.

Aslan appears out of the sunrise

The three of them raced off towards the rising sun, and after a few minutes just the males returned; they were from a different family and had stolen her prey. They dragged it into the tall grass, out of sight of the road, and chowed down. We drove around for another two and a half hours and saw a hyena pack devouring a leftover lion kill while vultures waited their turn in line, a juvenile male lion digesting his breakfast on the top of a huge boulder and a glimpse of a cheetah on a high rocky outcrop.

We spent the afternoon relaxing at the lodge and at 4pm we met in the lobby for another game drive. We headed away from the lodge in a direction we hadn't previously taken, through an area much more dense with trees. We stopped at a picnic area next to a partially dried up river that was home to a huge group of hippopotamus. We were able to get out of the car and walk towards the river, although there was a sign warning people not to get too close. More effective than the sign, though, was the smell. When over 30 hippos share a tiny pool that is only flushed seasonally the result is a lake of floating poo and filthy green-brown water. We watched the hippos for as long as our noses could stand, about 30 minutes, then headed back up the road. As we turned the corner there was a huge male elephant in the road that absolutely dwarfed our safari vehicle. Off to the right was a whole family grazing in the bushes and to the left were two smaller males, one of which was missing half its trunk.

Hungry Hungry Hippos

Handicapped Elephant

Day 4: Ngorongoro Crater

Hyena. The reason my family won't let me leave the village
at night

We left our lodge in the Serengeti and drove East into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which was formed eons ago when a volcano larger than Mount Kilimanjaro collapsed. We crested the rim of the caldera and were greeted with a sweeping view of the crater floor 620 meters below. There was a big sulfurous lake, white and steaming, and several smaller freshwater lakes and streams. The crater is 19 kilometers from rim to rim and 196 square kilometers in area and is described as an ecological fishbowl. That gave me the impression that we would be seeing animals everywhere, but in reality it seemed more sparsely populated than Serengeti. Maybe it just depends on the time of year. There were still plenty of zebra, topi, wildebeest, gazelles and antelopes, but we only saw two elephants and giraffes don't live in the crater because there isn't enough vegetation to support them. We did see a ton of flamingoes that thrive in the sulfurous lake, and when they took flight they turned the air pink. Another animal unique to the crater is the rhinoceros. I was hoping to see one since they are really rare, but the closest we got was a glimpse of one far off through the binoculars so I didn't get a picture.

Lion playing king of the hill on our way out of Serengeti

There aren't as many roads crossing the crater as there are in the Serengeti so it was tougher to get close to wildlife, but even so we came across a lioness on her back right on the side of the road. She was very still and breathing heavily, and I thought she was a victim of a "traffic accident" (as our guide called it), but our driver insisted she was fine, and a few minutes later she rolled over and went back to sleep. We rounded out the day following a cheetah as she stalked her dinner. We spotted her laying low on the left side of the road staring at a small group of zebras. She wasn't being very stealthy and they clearly knew she was there, but they seemed reluctant to run and stood their ground stamping and snorting. The cheetah paused for a long drink then crossed the road and began prowling about in the grass on the other side. We though we were going to see a chase, but she was just scoping out the buffet and didn't seem too interested in deciding just yet, so we returned to the lodge. The next morning we stayed at the lodge just long enough to watch the sun rise over the crater before packing up and heading off to Arusha.

Climbing Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro:
Location: Northern Tanzania
Size: 641 square miles
Elevation: 5,891 meters (19,341ft)
Prominence: 5,882 meters, 4th in the world
Distinctions: highest point in Africa, worlds highest free standing mountain, 4th highest of the Seven summits

The start of the Rongai Route

Day 1: Rongai Gate to Simba Camp

We left Moshi at 8am on May 17th and headed to the park gate at the base of the Marangu route to purchase our permits and sign the log book. After getting all of the paperwork in order we drove another hour and a half around the base of the mountain to the Rongai route, one kilometer from the Kenyan border. I chose this route because it is a bit more difficult and therefore less traveled than some of the other routes, and descends via the popular Marangu route, so it would give me the opportunity to see two different sides of the mountain. We began our climb at the Rongai gate, with approximately 1950 meters of elevation under our belt. The trail climbed gently through a deciduous forest, and it was easy to imagine I was somewhere back in the states until a baboon wandered across the path to burst my fantasy bubble. After about 45 minutes we entered an older growth forest with lichen covered rocks and trees draped in vies and spanish moss. At one point we crested a small hill and turned back to see the Kenyan plains stretching away beneath us and another mountain range on the horizon. After a year of flat brown desert the sight was absolutely breathtaking.We traveled about 8km in two hours, crossing several small streams and passing out of the forest and into the moorlands before arriving at our first camp at an elevation of 2600 meters. We spent the night at Simba camp, sharing the area with a group of German climbers and some elephants who didn't show themselves, but left us a few "presents" around the campsite.

Sunrise at Simba Camp

 
Day 2: Simba Camp to Second Cave

Uhuru Peak, summit of Mount Kilimanjaro

I woke up at 6:15 the next morning, just as the sun was beginning to break over the horizon, and immediately walked a few minutes back down the trail and found a good vantage point to watch the day begin. I was so distracted by the sunrise that I didn't even see the mountain until I turned around to walk back to camp, and all of a sudden there it was. It was my first glimpse of Kilimanjaro since arriving in Tanzania, because it had been obscured by the clouds every day. We started hiking at about 8:30 after an amazing breakfast of rice porridge, toast, eggs and sausage. I ate better food on the side of a mountain than I do in my village! The trail was steeper and rockier than the previous day and passed through the moorlands and open grasslands. To our left was Mawenzi, a smaller second peak on the mountain, and ahead of us was Uhuru peak, the summit of Kilimanjaro and our final destination. We were above the clouds to start the day, but they slowly chased us up the mountain, overtaking us two and a half hours later, just before we reached camp. The clouds were streaming past all afternoon on their way to the top of the mountain, obscuring all but our most immediate surroundings, and the air was cold and damp. Our campsite was called Second Cave, thanks to a small overhanging rock roof about 10 feet deep, and was about 3,400 meters in altitude. I spent the afternoon writing in my journal and playing spades with my fellow climber Mike, our guide Edward and our porter Deo. For lunch we had chicken, a luxury I can afford once every two months in my village yet we had it every day on the mountain!

Sunrise viewed from inside the Second Cave

Day 3: Second Cave to Third Cave

The night was significantly colder than I had expected it to be, and although I slept in two layers of capeline and my down jacket I never truly got warm. It wasn't easy after a year of desert temperatures to all of a sudden find myself above the frost line. I was treated to another amazing sunrise the next morning over a blanket of clouds, and I woke up at 6 and climbed to the top of an outcrop of boulders to watch it. The sky above was clear and I had a great view of the summit back lit by a full moon. The group of Germans that we shared our first camp with had taken a different variation of the route, so we had the area all to ourselves, and it was amazingly peaceful. It wasn't until that moment that I realized just how much of my stress in Senegal was due to not being able to be alone in the wilderness. Our elevation gain for the day was small, only 475 meters, and we hiked several hours through alpine desert over a relatively flat plain to our camp at the creatively named Third Cave. We had circled around a bit to the left side of the peak and it now towered over our camp which was situated next to a dry riverbed and surrounded by enormous blocks of volcanic rock.

View of Mawenzi peak from Kibo Camp

Day 4: Third Cave to Kibo Camp
Our final hike before the summit bid was our longest yet, cruising over mostly even terrain at a steady incline. We gained about 830 meters of elevation and left most of the vegetation behind us before arriving at Kibo camp at 4713 meters. Here our path converged with the Marangu route and there were several other groups of climbers already hanging around camp, including the Germans we met on our first night. The clouds that had been creeping up behind us all day brought a light rain that fell as tiny little ice crystals, and we spent most of the day napping and resting up for our hike to the summit, which was to begin at midnight. We went to bed immediately after dinner, but 11pm still came too quickly. I dressed inside my sleeping bag, putting on every layer I had before stepping out to brave the cold night air. The clouds had dispersed and the full moon shone clearly, illuminating our final destination as we switched on our headlamps and began to climb.

Shrinking glacier on the summit of Kilimanjaro

Day 5: Kibo Camp to Uhuru Peak to Horombo Camp

The weather as we started our climb was cold, but not unbearable, and I warmed up nicely as we began moving. We maintained a slow but steady pace as we switch-backed up the steep volcanic slopes and the terrain was challenging but not technical, so for 5 hours I plodded away feeling confident and strong. I didn't have any shortness of breath, dizziness or headache from the altitude, and I (foolishly) began to wonder when it would become "the hardest thing I've ever done" like everyone said it would be. That moment came at about 5am, when a mildly irritating stomach bug from the day before turned into a full-blown intestinal rebellion. I just kept willing myself to put one foot in front of the other and not look too far ahead, but my stomach was churning and I began to feel winded and my legs were shaky. Finally, just after I was passed by the German climbing team I had to make a pit stop just off the trail behind some rocks. I felt marginally better and managed to climb the last few meters to Gilmans Point, at 5,681 meters to take an extended rest and watch the sun rise. Up until that point the climbing had been extremely steep and rocky. From camp we had switch-backed up loose gravel, which had given way to scrambling over large boulders. Now that we had reached the crater rim it was mostly a flat or gently undulating gravel trail around to Uhuru Peak and I was feeling stronger after my 5 minute rest so we continued on. Unfortunately shortly after leaving Gilmans Point my stomach began protesting again and I threw up pretty violently on the side of the trail, after which my guide JJ pronounced me "cured" and we marched on. I reached Uhuru Peak at 6:47am, just after the sun had fully risen, and after snapping the obligatory summit photo I spent some time just sitting and soaking in the view from the "Roof of Africa."

My guide JJ and I on the summit

 
Although we had already been awake for 7 hours, our day was just beginning. The descent was steep and rocky and at times felt pretty precarious. We spent several hours "ski/sliding" straight down the steep gravelly slope and then another 45 minutes on a bone-jarring downhill stomp back to camp. I kept turning around to look back at the distance we had come and wondering how I managed to get up there in the first place. I finally stumbled into camp around 8:30, utterly exhausted and looking forward to resting my legs and going to sleep. What I got instead was a 20 minute nap and a 9.8 kilometer hike to Horombo Camp. At first the walk wasn't too bad...I seemed to get a second wind and I set a pretty brisk pace, hoping to get there as soon as possible so I could finally rest. For the most part the trail was just a gradual down-hill slope and as we lost elevation we began passing more vegetation and the trail became rockier. Soon we were traveling through rolling hills with streams crossing the path and we had all but lost sight of the summit. It was certainly a much different experience than the route we came up. After several hours I began expecting to see camp around every corner and over every ridge, but we didn't arrive until 2pm at which point I collapsed into the tent and almost immediately fell asleep. I woke up ravenous at 5pm and ate some popcorn and forced myself to wash up and put on clean clothes before passing out again.  My hips and knees protested through most of the night and I slept fitfully thanks to the cold.

view from our tent at our final camp

Day 6: Horombo Camp to Marangu Gate
I woke up the next morning feeling a lot better than I had expected to, and I tried to really soak in the view from above the clouds since we would be descending below them soon. We broke camp at 7:30 to begin the 17 kilometer hike to the base of the mountain, passing back through the moorlands and into the rainforest. The Marangu route isn't as steep as the Rongai, but the distance hiked per day is a bit longer and you don't get your first glimpse of Uhuru Peak until your third day of climbing. I'm glad I chose to hike the Rongai route because not only did I get to experience two sides of the mountain, but it was much less crowded and the views were better. We hiked 11.2 kilometers from Horombo to the Mandara Camp before taking a 30 minute break for lunch. It took about 3 hours of steady descent and there were numerous small streams crossing the trail or running along side of us and a few big bridges spanning little rivers and gorges. Once we entered the rainforest the trail became slick clay and required a slower pace and some concentration to navigate safely. After lunch we hiked the final  6 kilometers to Marangu gate where we stopped 6 days ago to buy our permits. At the gate I signed the summit register and we said goodbye to our guides and porters before heading to the Babylon Lodge for a long hot shower and some well-earned rest.

My guides Edward, JJ and I at the Marangu gate

Trip Report: Tanzania

I arrived back in Senegal yesterday, exactly one month after leaving my village, and I have to say it feels good to be back. After a month of adventure in Tanzania I feel rested and refreshed and ready to go home to my village and get back to work. I had an amazing time on vacation. I arrived in Moshi on the 13th after two days, three flights and a fourteen hour layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I spent a couple of nights at Twiga Home, exploring the city and resting up for my climb of Kilimanjaro.

View of the summit of Kilimanjaro from our first camp

On the 17th I left Moshi and traveled north, one kilometer from the Kenyan border, to the start of the Rongai route at the base of the mountain. At 5,895 meters, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the fourth highest of the Seven Summits. Its also the world's highest free standing mountain. We left Horombo camp at midnight on the first day and reached the summit at 6:47am after watching the sun rise at Gilman's point. Over the next two days we descended the Marangu route on the opposite side of the mountain, and I spent the night of the 22nd recovering at the Babylon Lodge in Marangu and two more days relaxing in Moshi and planning the next stage of my adventure.

Uhuru Peak, summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro

At 6am on the 25th I boarded a bus for the 15 hour journey to Mwanza to meet up with Dr. Koesler, a former professor of mine from college, and a group of students from Longwood University. I got a window seat so I could enjoy the scenery, but spent most of the ride crushed against the glass by an enormous woman, although other than that it wasn't a bad ride. 8 hours later the bus stopped in Singida for our first (and only) bathroom break, and at 8:45 we arrived in Mwanza, a small city on the shore of Lake Victoria. I spent the night in the type of hotel where you barricade your door before going to sleep and met up with the Longwood crew the next day at a hotel a couple of kilometers out of town.

A cheetah just feet from our safari vehicles

On the 27th the 10 of us piled into two safari vehicles bound for Serengeti National Park. For three days we traversed the grasslands with our guides Henry and Mr. Sweaty (I'm aware that's probably not how his name was spelled, but I swear thats how it was pronounced). We crossed paths with the great wildebeest migration on our first day, spotted a rare leopard and a cheetah with cubs on our second day, and were treated to a fresh lion kill first thing in the morning on the third. In between we saw everything from zebras in their striped pajamas to 30 hippos wallowing in their own filth, to an elephant with only half a trunk. On the fourth day we drove into the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area where we visited a tradition Maasai village and watched a cheetah stalking her dinner before spending the night at a beautiful lodge on the North rim of the crater.

Sunset over Ngorongoro crater, viewed from the North rim

The next morning we drove to Arusha where we spent the day bargaining at the market before I started planning my next move. I knew I was going to Zanzibar, but I wasn't yet sure how I was getting there. After some failed attempts at contacting local airlines I stopped by the Dar Express office and bought yet another bus ticket. At 5am on the 1st I parted ways with the Longwood crew and boarded yet another bus bound for Dar es Salaam, with plans to take the ferry to Zanzibar that evening. Unfortunately what was supposed to be a 9 hour bus ride turned into 11 and so I missed the last boat of the day and had to spend the night at the YWCA. 

A fishing dhow off the coast of Zanzibar

The next day I took the noon ferry, which was the cheapest, and arrived in Zanzibar at 4:30. I took a dala dala to the North end of the island, which was much farther than I realized, and arrived after dark. I was staying the night at the Zanzibari thanks to the generosity of my climbing partner on Kilimanjaro, but I had no idea where it was and there wasn't a taxi in sight. I spent about an hour wandering down scary dark streets with my luggage on my head hoping for a miracle, when finally a man led me to my hotel. The upside is the people at the hotel felt so bad for me they gave me free drinks with dinner. For the rest of the week I rented a room in Stone Town for $10 a night and stayed fairly close to home. I spent the days wandering the maze-like streets of the old neighborhood, eating street food (chicken and chips!), snorkeling, and eating freshly caught seafood at the night market. It was an excellent way to relax and wind down at the end of a long trip, and by the end of my time in Zanzibar I felt ready to go home. I spent the night of the 7th sleeping in the airport waiting for my 3:30am flight to Addis, where I spent another couple of hours sleeping in the airport waiting for my 9am flight to Dakar.

It has certainly been an action packed month. I'm staying in Dakar for a few days for my mid-service medical exam, so I'll work on individual posts for the three big portions of my trip; Kilimanjaro, Safari and Zanzibar. Stay tuned for more pictures and stories!

A view from the road in Moshi, Kilimanjaro is obscured behind the clouds