Msaranga

Day 1:

So after consuming a lot of gin I touched down in the tiny airport that is Kilimanjaro. Immigration was a breeze even though you have to go through four different people which I’m sure could have all been done by one person.

I had a lovely taxi driver that took me to my hostel. We found common ground by talking about football to which he mentioned that his brother played for the national team and was lucky enough to play against Brazil when they were over for the South African world cup which is pretty cool. I eventually dozed off in the back until we arrived at the hostel.

I had booked a dorm but the place was so quiet they offered me a private room for the same price which was a great start to the trip. I was ready to crash but I was also starving so I ordered lunch. As expected it took an age for the food to arrive but it was worth the wait. The veg curry I had ordered was just like mum’s cooking.

After eating I went to bed for a much needed nap. I woke up again at 4pm and had the urge to explore. I took a stroll into town which was a 30 minute walk. As soon as I got into town I was approached by two guys. I read that it was rude not to exchange pleasantries when someone speaks to you so I ended up having a very long conversation which eventually resulted them trying to sell me some paintings. I should have seen this coming but I hadn’t travelled in two years so I was a little rusty. I tried to fob them off by saying I was in town to get money as I had just arrived. Big mistake. They then wanted to show me the nearest ATM which was across the road. So I went with them but I lied that my card wasn’t working and that I needed to head back to the hostel to ring the bank as they have blocked it. This didn’t work the persistent buggers, they insisted that I try the Barclays ATM as this always works with the foreigners. We walked at least a mile and as I didn’t know the town I had no idea where I was being led and if I was going to be mugged. Luckily I saw the blue sign and went in and pulled the same trick. This time I insisted that I needed to get back and sort this issue out with my bank. They looked visibly pissed but such is life. I then walked away and went a different way to avoid them following me. I’m glad this happened as I was still green from not backpacking in such a long time and this was the wakeup call I needed to not be so naive.

I actually needed money so I found another bank and proceeded to explore the town. Moshi was tiny and I had seen everything in a couple hours and had my bearings. On my way back to the hostel I bumped into the two guys again with a bottle of water in one hand and a packet of biscuits sticking out of my pocket so obviously I had some money to buy this stuff. They asked if I had any money to give them as they were not able to sell anything due to the low season and they needed the cash to get home. I apologised and said I still hadn’t got back to the hostel to speak to the bank and parted ways, phew.

That evening I ended up eating at this vegetarian Indian restaurant that was highly recommended on Tripadvisor. The food was exactly like mum’s cooking, from the filo pastry samosas to the roti’s. I had eaten a lot in India but the food was never quite like home but my mum was born and raised in Tanzania so it started to make sense that her cooking had a different twist to it.

Back at the hostel I met one of the guests who was from South Korea. He ended up being an NFL fan and even better a Patriots fan so we instantly hit it off. He was a really interesting guy that was studying Farsi and had spent some time living in Iran. We spent a long time talking about languages and he taught me some basic Swahili words to get by which I am very thankful for.

Day 2:

I woke up a little late in the morning and had missed the time for breakfast which was something like 8am. So I thought I’d head to a coffee shop however on my way out the receptionist stopped me and said that they would bring out breakfast for me which was incredibly nice of them. The staff were fairly quiet because I don’t think their English was great but they were lovely and very helpful. I ended up sitting with two American’s called Dave who were planning to climb Kilimanjaro too. One of the Dave’s had a tour company in Tanzania and had been selling Kilimanjaro holiday’s but has never done it himself. We spoke about what we were getting ourselves into but no one had any idea what was in store for us. One of their guides arrived to give them a briefing but I had a chance to chat with him to get some advice. He had climbed up Kilimanjaro for the last ten years so this guy knew what he was doing. The key thing he said was it’s all in the head which is what the guy in the pub said too. I had no idea what this meant but he used the phrase, “love the mountain and the mountain will love you back. If you think of the mountain as torture then the mountain will make you struggle.” So what I got from that was, positive thinking, even if your leg is falling off.

Whilst chatting to the Dave’s, Rik’s friend Raj arrived. We had spoken a bit on WhatsApp in our Kilimanjaro group but I had no idea how he knew Rik. He had got the same flight as me but a day later so like me he pretty much crashed as soon as he dumped his bag. I thought I’d head back into Moshi and get my caffeine fix. I headed to Café Union and my word this was one of the best coffees I have ever had. It was so unexpected to get a perfectly brewed coffee in Tanzania. They roasted the beans on site so I should have assumed they knew what they were doing.

Raj ended up meeting me in town and we walked around a bit getting to know each other. He actually knew Rik from his time in Malawi. He went out there to volunteer as an accountant and met Rik at his lodge which was a part of the same company.

When we got back to the hostel, Rik and his cousin Hiten had arrived. We caught up over dinner then it was time for bed. No one was keen to drink with Kilimanjaro fast approaching.Read more