Kili Time--One last time!

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta

Hi friends!  I'm excited to share with you another installation of my adventures!  The countdown is really on now, 32 days until I return to the USA.  I have mixed feelings for sure, but overall I'm ready to return home and get back to my life at home.  But dang I do have some pretty phenomenal memories! I've been busy at work with just 700 more words to go for my final paper and an interview for a job in DC in the works!  Not getting my hopes up but it would be pretty awesome if that came through.  Lets see, besides that I've been chilling at the house and helping support some different projects at work--trying to leave the organization with some useful things that will live on long after I'm gone.

Enjoying a night time bbq at my house, what was on the menu?  Meat, meat and more meat!

Wearing official uniforms for Tanzania's International Women's Day event at work.  Too bad I didn't actually get to attend because the airline changed my flight time to the morning instead of the night! Hmph!

So instead of going to the International Women's Day event which we had been planning for quite some time I had to quickly hop on the plane and head out to Kilimanjaro.  The airline FastJet (a budget airline that is very unreliable) changed the time of my flight to leave in the morning instead of at night which I didn't even think was possible.  So I put up a big stink at the airport but still no luck in getting anything for free or some type of reimbursement.  I begrudgingly got on the plane to head over early (which of course isn't the worst thing in the world) and made it to Kilimanjaro an hour before my friend Vivek (a fellow student from Brandeis arrived from Ethiopia).  Vivek had been traveling for about a month through India and Africa and was so kind and interested in visiting me in Tanzania on his way back home to Boston.  We had been planning this trip for the past few months so it was exciting that it was finally happening, even if I had been hopping around for weeks and weeks already ;).  

We arrived to Moshi and to the lovely Secret Garden (for the 3rd and last time for me).  Gill and Daudi my friends were off on a trip to Ireland so they kindly allowed us to use their house whilst they were gone.  Made our adventure more budget friendly and cozy!  We got settled and headed into Moshi for a milkshake and for me to get measured for another dress!  Yes I know, I have a bit of a problem buying things--ha!  To our realization Vivek's bank card was unable to work but luckily we were able to take out money on mine for the week.  I showed Vivek how it was done with my magic Mzungu bargaining ways, some people probably think I'm crazy but I get what I want when I get a little riled up and that makes me pretty happy, everything is a negotiation, so why not grab life by the balls!?  We took motorcycles back to the house and got to take a nice walk with Zakayo, one of the Secret Garden Staff to his coffee stand to give Vivek a view of local life in Moshi.

Vivek and Zakayo walking down the road to the coffee shack!

We went to bed early to prepare for our journey to the Maasai village the next day.  I had made some arrangements with my friend Lekishon who I met a few visits back to take us to his village and see some nice things along the way.  We left in the morning and saw a lot along the way.  We also had another fellow explorer, Ilona from Russia join us for the adventure! She was an interesting character and enjoyed taking pictures of everything and everyone no matter their comfort level!  

We bumped along the road enjoying the "African Massage" aka bumpy potholes and stopped the car from time to time when we saw some nice sights.

Check out how big the trunk is! Vivek, me and Lekishon in front of the Baobab tree

Trio under the amazing Baobab tree

Me, Vivek and Lekishon enjoying the hot Tanzanian sun

Skirt twirl at a river ;)

After the long car ride we made it to the Maasai village.  The house we were staying at was not a village hut like we expected.  Ilona and I were both expecting to stay in a traditional Maasai hut as we wanted to experience a bit more culture than staying in a regular house...we dropped our bags in a surprisingly modern house and quickly hopped back in the car to head over to the hot springs a few kilometers away.   The hot springs were great!  Very busy with Mzungu tourists but beautiful nonetheless.

A still and calm picture beautiful hot springs, the color of the water was amazing!

Happy day!

Check how clear the water is!

We did a few jumps into to the water but then decided to get out of there because it was just too busy with obnoxious tourists.  Good thing we had Lekishon and his friend Edward to lead us around the area for a nice walking trek.

The trek begins -- crossing the river that goes to the hotsprings

It was so hot, but we kept going stopping from place to place along the way when we saw interesting things.  This area was grazed on by Maasai cattle for many years and now the grass has permanently left the space.  The Maasai conduct special ceremonies on this land now.

I <3 crew adventures

Lekishon sharing his Maasai wisdom about local berries and plants and how the Maasai use them in everyday life.

Enjoying climbing trees

Lekishon, me and Ilona taking a break from the hot heat!

Some old German houses from the colonial era, I went inside and it looks like they are used for burning fires of some sort

Yay, a place to cool down!

Trying to assist Ilona as she slides around in the water! She got a big thorn in her foot and Lekishon had to dig it out with another thorn type plant.  Crazy!

We came across another beautiful landscape as we made the trek back to the Maasai village.  It was raining and sunny at the same time making for interesting views, my phone died right after I took this photo so I'm glad I got a few snaps before it did!

Once we arrived back to the Maasai village after walking on foot we began preparing for evening.  We walked around and saw the traditional huts, even going inside one.  It was very dark and smelled kind of like cow dung (as they use the dung to make the house).  The bed was a flat board and after seeing that I was ok to sleep in the modern house.  However Ilona was still very gung ho about sleeping in the hut, so she decided to sleep there for the night!

Before it got dark we got to explore around a bit and see the village,  there were a lot of goats and I even got to see a Maasai woman milking them. We also got to conduct an interview with a local elder about his life and culture.  It was an awesome experience.

Lekishon and Edward preparing the tools to make fire!

We found a magical tree/plant in the village, also lots of goats, my favorite!

Lekishon facilitating an interview with a village elder.  We asked him lots of questions about his life in the village and how he felt about his culture and its interaction with modern society.  His main answer was that Maasai are proud to be Maasai and should keep protecting their culture.

Edward making fire--they use donkey poop as kindling, yumm!

We had a nice and relaxed dinner and prepared for bed.  However Ilona was a little upset because she had been promised to be able to see the famous Maasai jumping and singing and we had yet to see this.  Lekishon left for a bit and returned to tell us that he had organized a "surprise" for us.  We were all excited and a bit nervous to see what this surprise was!  As time drew closer to the big reveal we saw many people heading over to the church nearby and a lot of noise coming from the space.  What were we getting in to?!

Awful photo of me due to the flash but here's the tourist crew--me, Ilona and Vivek getting ready for the "surprise" 

We walked over to the church which was getting fuller by the minute and arrived to find the kids from the village starting to sing and play the drums together wearing their traditional Maasai clothes.

Inside the church when we first entered, still getting full

The kids kept coming and it kept getting louder and louder!  The songs were all about Yesu (Jesus) and the kids started getting up to dance traditional Maasai jumping!  It was really neat to see, I even got up and danced with the kids for a bit.  Lekishon stayed true to his promise and followed through with a full performance haha!

After a short time the church was packed!! Us in the front, kids in the back AND can you see Vivek all the way in the back row? ahhahah!

The kids performed a lot of singing and dancing for us!  We got to see the full cultural experience!

It was quite the fun time!  We left and yet we heard the kids singing until well after midnight.  The next day we woke up and prepared for our trek to Arusha National Park.

We had a funny joke after that night, I woke up at about 4 am and was SO thirsty but had no water.  I went out and woke up Lekishon to ask if he had any, he came back about 15 minutes later with water in a cup for me which I wasn't quite sure where it came from.  The next day when we asked Ilona how sleeping in the hut was she said the donkeys kept her up all night making noise and at about 4 am the woman in the hut (who she was sleeping right next to) told her she needed to go outside, Ilona was very scared and the woman's only response was that "they need you".  So she left the hut very scared and wondering what was happening and who "they" were.  It was all part of the same story as it was actually just Lekishon asking her if she had some water for me.  LOL so the rest of the trip we kept mentioning "they need you" and laughing a lot because the whole situation was really hilarious--oh and I am so glad I did not sleep in that hut too.   We did a bit more looking around the village and talking to locals and it was sad to say goodbye so soon, but the journey must continue!

Vivek ready for another day and making friends with a cat

A beautiful front yard full of flowers in the Maasai village

After a few hours drive we made it to Arusha National Park and got to see all kinds of animals and beautiful views along the way!

Baboons enjoying the cool river at Arusha National Park

Day 2 crew--new addition is the driver that took us through Arusha National Park

Squad goals!

An overlook of a mini crater in Arusha National Park -- much smaller than Ngorongoro crater I had seen previously but still very beautiful

Two beasts staring each other down

Chewing the day's cud

Pano of the soda lake in Arusha National Park

Vivek and Lekishon admiring the soda lake

So many beautiful views! + Acacia trees

Can you spot the giraffe?

  

An impressive fig tree in Arusha National Park

Me trying to do some sort of jumping pose in the tree

Crew + tree = <3

Mount Kilimanjaro from Arusha National Park!

View of Mount Meru a 4 day trek and very cloudy and dark

Vivek and I!

Perfect viewpoint

Zebra in Arusha National Park

It was a full day's adventure and a fun experience we all got to share together.  Lots of "oohs" and "ahhhs" while viewing the animals is always fun too!  We returned to Moshi for the evening and rested up for the last day's adventure to Lake Diluti a small local spot near Arusha.

Trekking to Lake Diluti

Beautiful flowers on the way to Lake Diluti

We arrived at the lake and got to hop into a canoe for a brief ride around the lake.  It started to rain a bit but the short ride in the canoe gave us a lot to look at, lots of beautiful birds and plants on all sides. We learned the lake was originally a crater that filled up with water a long time ago.  The name "Diluti" is based off of the sound the water makes when you throw a rock into it "blub blub" maybe in English ;)

Canoeing (or sitting in a canoe) on Lake Diluti

One of my favorite places to be!

Beautiful pano of Lake Diluti

Awesome snail near the lake, we came back and someone had crushed it though :(

It was a short day trip due to weather but we rode back to Moshi from Arusha and Vivek and I enjoyed just relaxing on the porch at the Secret Garden.  We talked a lot about dreams and energy and read oracle cards and talked about what they meant. We even decided to collaborate together to create a book about rats and rabbits--as they are very dear to our hearts.  Nothing like good conversation and good friendship!

As the evening drew to a close we organized an impromptu interview between Vivek, George, Lekishon and myself about culture and development.  Vivek and George (another Maasai friend) discussed the differences between Indian villages and Maasai villages and I just enjoyed listening to the discussion.  Vivek hopes to make a podcast of the interview and post it on the internet--very prolific!

Vivek and George discussing Maasai culture while recording a podcast

Lekishon, Vivek, George and I talking during the podcast

The next day it was time to go already!  We had such a whirlwind good time and its always sad to say goodbye!  I'll see Vivek next month when I return to the USA but its hard saying goodbye to friends when you know you might not see them again for a long time!  So there were some sad goodbyes but a lot of gratitude for the time we spent together overall.

A final goodbye photo! Lekishon, Vivek, me (in my new dress!) and Zakayo! 

Back in Dar now and back at work.  Debating whether or not to take one last trip before my big return home.  I really would like to go to Rwanda but lets see if my budget allows!  Now time to get back to work.  Until later.