Tanzanian Trekking

Day One

Early the following morning, we met up with our guide and walked through Lushoto and into the countryside. We spent the morning walking up and down hills, past rural villages, through valleys, and in and out of the rainforest. During some parts, we had views across sweeping valleys and of the villages and terraced farms on the next hills. Other areas were so thick with tropical plants and shrubs that we couldn’t see anything besides greenery in every direction and the narrow footpath that cut through it. We saw a few colobus monkeys, beautiful butterflies, and several chameleons, some of which were so well-camouflaged I could barely see them after our guide pointed them out – I can’t imagine how he spotted them in the first place! When we stopped in one village, our guide showed us a machine used to make sugar cane into beer. It requires two people to walk around in a circle pushing a big handle, while the middle of the machine squeezes the juice out of the sugar cane. Unfortunately, we didn't get to taste any (maybe that wasn't such a bad thing).

Later, we stopped for lunch, and simply sat down on the side of the path near a small bridge and took out our food. I literally cannot imagine the chaos that would ensue if bazungu did that in Rwanda. Probably, every single person within a half hour’s walking distance would come and encircle you to the point of claustrophobia, each person watching – scrutinizing – your every motion, until you finally became uncomfortable or annoyed and got up and left. But here, in Tanzania, we were able to sit down, relax, take in the fantastic setting, and enjoy simply greeting locals who passed by (and then continued on their way, rather than stopping to watch and ridicule). Our guide pulled out a bag of fresh vegetables and whipped up a delicious guacamole of avocado, onion, tomato, and carrot. We were getting really excited watching him make it, and become downright ecstatic when he pulled out a bag of chapatti. To top it off, he served the meal with flower-shaped chunks of cucumber. Mmm mmm.

After lunch, we continued our hike through the forest, eventually reaching a larger dirt road. By that point, it had become extremely cloudy and we initially thought it was starting to drizzle, until Ryan pointed out, “I don’t think it’s so much that it’s raining, as it is that we’re walking through a cloud.” We got a little wet, but it was pretty cool to be walking up the side of a hill, not able to see anything but the path below our feet and the plants immediately to either side.

Eventually a bus came by, and our guide flagged it down. We hopped on and rode down the curvy, bumpy road for about an hour, out of the rainforest and through the fields on the other side. Hopping off, we walked a few more minutes down into the village where we’d spend the night.

After warming up with some tea at the convent where we’re staying, we set out to explore the village and surrounding area. We walked past a soccer game going on and a group of school buildings (empty, as the schools were on vacation at the time) and into a grove of trees that felt like a very small Montana forest.

Back at the convent, we met a few other travelers from around the world, all with interesting stories – two Israeli girls traveling through Asia and Africa during a gap year between military service and university; a German girl interning at a hospital in Mwanza, Tanzania’s second-largest city; and, a French girl and her French-speaking Belgian boyfriend, who had quit their jobs to travel around the world for a year.

Day Two

We set out early the next morning to continue the trek, planning to make our way to Mtai, essentially the last village on the edge of a large cliff, and then back to Lushoto. We spent the morning hiking through wooded forests, across plantations, between villages, and in and out of the rainforest again. In one village, we visited a local pottery workshop, selling various bowls, jars, saucers, pots, and animal figurines, each piece at $1.30. We purchased a few pieces, and then headed back to the trail. Later, we stopped for lunch in a forested area, where the tall, bare tree trunks made great back rests. Our guide prepared guacamole and chapatti again, so we were thrilled. Shortly after lunch, another guide came and met us with a car to drive to Mtai.

Mtai was a really interesting little village, comprised of one long, narrow path with small buildings on either side and cliffs – and great views – just behind them. On the far edge of Mtai, the path from the interior of the mountains ends at a sharp cliff overlooking a vast, breathtaking view. The pictures I took really don’t do it justice, but we could see an enormous valley, including a couple of Tanzania’s national parks, lakes on the far edge of the valley, and huge mountains on the other side. We spent a few minutes sitting on a rock at the edge of the cliff, just taking it in.

Then, we hopped back in the car and headed back toward Lushoto. Back in the rainforest, we stopped at a waterfall on the way. The water rushed down a series of rocks, forming a large pond at the bottom before flowing into a river, but what really made it an interesting sight was the vegetation surrounding us. We’d hiked down a hill to reach the waterfall, and, standing at the bottom of falls, we were completely surrounded by shrub-covered hills towering over us. It felt like we were deep in the middle of a deserted rainforest, despite not being far from town.

With our hiking done, we headed to our final stop: the cheese- and muesli-producing farm! When we arrived at the farm’s shop, it was closed. But, our wonderful and caring guides tracked down the owners, and we ended up having dinner with them at lodge overlooking a nearby viewpoint. After dinner, they opened up the shop for us, and we (er, I) were ecstatic to purchase cheese, rye bread, muesli, locally-grown tea, and passionfruit jam. All that only cost $10, and it was all delicious! (Well, we’ll never know about the jam, because it was unfortunately confiscated at the airport in Nairobi.)

The guides dropped us back at the White House Annex, only leaving after assuring the reception was open and a room was available, and giving us instructions on how to get back to Dar the following morning. I decided to forego the dangerous shower that night, and we turned in early.

Back to Dar – and on to Zanzibar!

We were sad to leave Lushoto and the mountains the next morning, but we couldn’t wait to get to Zanzibar. Determined to make it back to Dar and onto the ferry that day, we took the only direct bus to Dar, which left at 6:00am. The ride was uneventful, as far as I can remember, but we slept during most of it – waking up mainly for frequent snacks of bread and cheese!

More interesting was our ride from the bus park to the coast, where we could get the ferry to Zanzibar. Dar is full of standard, normal taxis, with association logos, seat belts, and trunk space. The alternative, which I was not particularly expecting to see in Dar, however, was much cooler – motorized rickshaws, all painted bright blue. Given the choice between this and a regular car, of course we had to take the rickshaw. Getting into felt a lot more like getting onto an amusement park ride than a vehicle, but the rickshaw seemed to be a compromise between a car and a motorcycle, in terms of price, safety, and speed.

We reached the ticket office with time to spare before the last ferry, which was great, as it meant we had time to look for Subway. Yes, there is a Subway in Tanzania. Not a Subway, actually – six of them. Now, I don’t particularly eat at Subway at home, but the idea of the most American thing I’d have eaten in months was beyond exciting (as it has been for all the other Rwanda Volunteers who’ve traveled to Tanzania). Wandering around downtown, having given up hope of finding one, a Subway sign suddenly appeared in what seemed to be a sign for a mall (yes, a real live mall). I practically sprinted to the entrance of the building, and then nearly cried when the Subway, for some reason, was closed. We had amazing milkshakes and pizza at another restaurant in the mall, and then, when walking by again, realized that Subway hadn’t actually been closed, it had just looked closed. Ecstatic, I got a veggie sandwich to go – it even came in a real Subway sandwich bag! Ryan didn’t fully understand the joy and excitement of the Subway, but at least he humored me.

Next stop, Stone Town!

Beginning of Tanzania

My boyfriend, Ryan, came to Rwanda again this summer, and, after spending a couple weeks here, we took a trip to Tanzania. We arrived in the capital city of Dar es Salaam (which, at over three million people, dwarfs Kigali), trekked in the Usambara Mountains, and visited Zanzibar. Here, in a few parts, are the stories of our experiences and our observations of the country. Bottom line: Tanzania is great, you should go!

First Impressions of Dar

We got our first impressions of Dar from the window of our Precision Air flight from Nairobi. It was a surprise to say the least. Flying in over one corner of the city, we could see dozens, if not hundreds, of buildings that looked like they had at least five to ten stories. I knew Dar was a big city, but I was expecting decaying urban sprawl, not skyscrapers! (Just a day earlier, Ryan had predicted that Dar would be really nice, and I laughed at him. Oops.)

The night was a little hot and steamy, but comfortable, and we made it through the rather modern airport with relatively little hassle. We were required, though, to have our fingerprints scanned before we were issued our visas. In the calm area outside the airport, one taxi driver approached us politely, and we were on our way. I also have to note that the cab had air-conditioning AND seatbelts – even in the backseat!

During the seven-mile drive from the airport to downtown Dar, it almost felt like we could have been in LA. The city is big and developed, with lots of tall buildings and periodic traffic lights. More surprising, though, were the multiple housing wares mega-stores we passed, all displaying fancy wardrobes, entertainment centers, toilets, and bed frames, as well as the BMW, Toyota, and Ford dealerships. Not to mention a couple big buildings that appeared to be bona fide shopping malls!

At $18/night (including breakfast) for a double room with a fan and hot shower, plus free Internet access in the lobby, the Safari Inn, located in heart of downtown, was a good deal. We dropped off our bags, and set out to see what we could see. Despite it being a Tuesday night, the atmosphere was pretty lively – lots of people out and about, walking around, doing things. On nearly every street were fruit and vegetable vendors and people grilling meat for shawarma. After exploring for a bit and perusing the various dinner options, we decided to go for some street food, and ended up having absolutely delicious chicken shawarma (which, at about $2.30, is not nearly as cheap as street food in some countries, but certainly better than what $2.30 will normally get you in Kigali) and a glass of sugar cane juice (about $0.87).

The diversity of people out and inter-mingling – black, white, Asian, Indian, Arab, in Western dress, in Muslim dress, speaking English, speaking Swahili, speaking Arabic – also struck us. We saw foreigners and locals sitting at the same sidewalk cafés, eating street food together, talking to each other, and it was normal. Seeing the way people co-exist in Dar really highlighted the divide in Kigali, where, for example, there are clear “muzungu restaurants” (which are also frequented by upper-class Rwandans) and “local restaurants” (where bazungu can go, sure, but not without being hassled to death). Along with this, we were also surprised by the general lack of staring and harassment while we walked around. Coming from Rwanda, it was really refreshing and just pleasant (more on this later, maybe).

As this was Ryan’s first time in a country with a sizable Muslim population (35% of Tanzanians are Muslim, compared to 5% of Rwandans), we took note of the many mosques, including one enormous one, all with rows of shoes sitting outside the entrance, and the crowds of women in headscarves and men in robes coming and going. Ryan also got to experience one of my favorite sounds – the call to prayer, which he did not particularly care for. (It’s an acquired appreciation, and I’m sure my fondness for it stems partially from the fact that it reminds me of Senegal.)

Dar is a major metropolitan area, and the prevalence of so many things there, relative to Kigali, is perhaps due more to its size, and status as a major port, than its level of development. Regardless, Kigali is cleaner, sure, but Dar is definitely more vibrant.

Getting to the Mountains

Aiming to make it to Lushoto, the main town in the Usambara Mountains, by mid-afternoon, we left our hotel early and got a taxi to Ubungo, Dar’s main bus terminal. It wasn’t far, but the road between downtown and Ubungo was basically one giant traffic jam. We bought tickets at an office on the edge of the bus park, and then followed the ticket agent through the maze of huge buses to ours. With three seats on each side of the aisle and probably at least 25 rows, our bus was the size of a small airplane. During the five-hour ride to Mombo, the “scruffy junction town” (according to Lonely Planet) where we changed buses, we observed people standing in the aisles giving lengthy sermons and leading prayers, giving sales pitches for the bottles of something (beauty products?) they were selling, hawking snacks and newspapers, and, when the seats were full, simply riding the bus. The landscape during the trip was primarily the savannah that characterizes visions of East Africa, with periodic small towns along the way.

Not really knowing what we were looking for, we’d been keeping a close eye out for anything that said “Mombo.” We started seeing signs mentioning “Mombo” when we were still essentially in the middle of nowhere. A few minutes later, when the bus pulled into the parking lot in front of a large building, and everyone, including the driver, got off, we got off as well. While most of the other passengers went inside to order lunch, we looked around, trying to determine if we were where we needed to be. Eventually, we asked the guard sitting under a tree near where the bus had parked where we could get a bus to Lushoto. “Walk 500 meters there, to Mombo Town,” he said, pointing down the road. We thanked him and set off, but quickly began to wonder how we’d know when we’d reached “town,” as nothing in the visible distance looked like much of a town. We walked about 15 minutes and reached a small cluster of buildings. Was this “town?”

We approached a group of men sitting under a tree and asked them if we would be able to get a bus there. “Walk to Mombo Town, it is 500 meters,” they told us, pointing further down the road. And so we kept walking, still wondering if we’d know “town” when we saw it. About that time, the bus we’d been on drove past us. Oops. A few minutes later, we encountered a guy standing (under a tree, of course) in front of another group of small buildings. We told him where we were trying to go, and he told us Mombo Town was 500 meters down the road. But then, thankfully, he said we could wait for a bus right there. He sent his friend out to the road to watch for a bus, and, when one approached a bit later, he flagged it down and called us over. Five minutes or so down the road, in a bus this time, we approached what was certainly and recognizably “town.” It just happened to not have been 500 meters from the first person who told us that, or the second, or the third. But finally, we were on a Lushoto-bound bus!

It wasn’t far from Mombo to Lushoto, but the road was curvy and the bus stopped every five minutes or so to let people on and off. Finally, we pulled into the small mountain town and headed to the White House Annex, which Lonely Planet described as “arguably the best” of Lushoto’s “no-frills guesthouses.” The rooms were immaculate, and, apart from the potentially deadly configuration of exposed wires that made up the “hot shower,” it was another good deal, at $10/night for a double, including breakfast.

Just down the street was the office of Tayodaya, a small organization that organizes hikes in the area, so we went in to see what the options were. We had initially planned on doing a couple day hikes, returning to Lushoto each evening. When the guides mentioned we could hike during the day and then drive further into the mountains and stay in another village the second night, we opted for that instead. A big draw of one of the day hikes had been that it involved stopping for lunch at Irente Biodiversity Reserve, which produces cheese and muesli. So, because we wouldn’t be hiking there (and because of our, er, my pathetic excitement about the prospect of cheese), the guides offered to drive us to the reserve at the end of our last day of hiking.

After our trekking arrangements were made, we headed to the restaurant in one of the town’s bigger hotels for dinner, in large part because Lonely Planet mentioned the banana milkshakes on their menu. Shortly after ordering the milkshakes and our meals, though, the power went out. That meant no banana milkshakes, and also no pizza for Ryan. So, he opted to take what I thought was the risk and ordered the “pesto” pasta, which the menu described as pasta with peanut sauce. I’m pretty sure the word “pesto” was just for show, but at least the description was honest! His meal was essentially pasta covered spicy, liquidy peanut butter, but he’s a good sport and seemed to enjoy it.

Stay tuned for the story of our trek!