Carb loading before Kilimanjaro 9/24/18
We didn't sleep last night due to the bloodbath, at least it was a mosquito bloodbath and not ours. We tried to sleep under the heavy ass sheet up that wasn't going to work. Early in the am we turned on the lights and the hunting began. Some of those buggers are stealthy, but Andy killed them and we were left largely untouched considering.
The shuttle picked us up at 7:45 after we said our last goodbye to Sam who was nice to wake up to see us off. The shuttle took us to another dropoff location where we got on a bus. We started on our journey and stopped by the airport and several other places to pick others up. I napped. We took in the landscape and appreciated being out of the dirty city finally. Countryside as we imagined it: dry plains with endless fever trees and dust devils with Masaai attending to their goat herds.
The Tanzanian border was a little interesting. When we were paying for our visa, the border patrol asked for $100 each. Oh hell no, we only need to pay $50. I asked the German's, standing behind us, how much their visa is. $50, just what I expected. Then Andy started to control the situation w/ the border guard. Am I wrong? I quickly Google it and found out, alas, yes it's $100 for US citizens. Dammit. Luckily there was no harm done and we were able to get through, I'm glad I had extra cash in my wallet, and he took the older $100 which I didn't think they would accept. At least this was no Chilean apple customs situation.
We started to gain altitude in Tanzania since we lost it leaving Kenya. We saw dust devils across the land and into the Rift Valley. We even saw a wild ostrich on the side of the road (I think she was giving birth but I'm not really sure what was happening).
Arusha is a smaller town, much better than Nairobi. The shuttle dropped us off at the Oasis hotel where our tour booked for us (the economy price). The shuttle was driving deeper off the main road where it was getting more sketch (it wasn't really sketchy). We made bets on 1) is there a pool, 2) is there a pool you will get in. To my surprise, the answer was yes and yes! But it was a bit too cold for me to partake, plus we hadn't eaten all day and it was 3. Elly, the nice young man who takes care of the guests, showed us our lovely room. It’s big, clean, with a big mosquito net over the bed. I thanked him, asante sana. Do you speak Swahili? Ha no. Obviously they appreciate us trying to speak Swahili. We order some personal pizzas and beers and it was yummy- so happy to have a break from typical local food.
Ben showed up- he's our tour guide for the climb. He went over the route and look over our gear. He was very serious, better to be serious than not? Don't worry, this isn't our first rodeo hiking. The hike doesn't seem too bad, only 3-5? hours per day hiking. Except for the last day (which is making me nervous), we have to wake at 11pm and then we hike all night. Ugh.
We went by the main road to get some cash and peanut butter for instant fuel for the hike as needed just in case they don't fee us enough. When we came back, Achmed, the tour group owner, was waiting for us. Beer? Yes of course.
Achmed is a British dude who's been in Arusha for almost 25 years. He found his way here after being a truck driving tour guide across Africa back in the day. He's white and married a Muslim Tanzanian (obviously he converted to Islam hence his name). We started the convo off easy, then quickly jumped into poor jokes, he's funny and quite the entertainer. I was a bit surprised to see a British dude, as I expected someone whose native language was not English due to the email responses I received. We sat the remainder of the night, some talk of the hike, mostly of everything but. I stopped the beers from flowing after 2, Andy and Achmed went many in. We said our goodbyes and ate dinner for an early night. I decided to go veg this evening and got the veg curry which was really good. Andy got the fish. Fruit plate for my dessert, his was a banana split.
Up early tomorrow for a long drive to Kilimanjaro, then we hike only for 2 hours. Man we really need to get some sleep tonight. It's super windy here which is kinda relaxing. Let's hope those bloodsuckers stay outside the net this time. We'll talk again in 8-9 days when we are back from our hike!
The shuttle picked us up at 7:45 after we said our last goodbye to Sam who was nice to wake up to see us off. The shuttle took us to another dropoff location where we got on a bus. We started on our journey and stopped by the airport and several other places to pick others up. I napped. We took in the landscape and appreciated being out of the dirty city finally. Countryside as we imagined it: dry plains with endless fever trees and dust devils with Masaai attending to their goat herds.
The Tanzanian border was a little interesting. When we were paying for our visa, the border patrol asked for $100 each. Oh hell no, we only need to pay $50. I asked the German's, standing behind us, how much their visa is. $50, just what I expected. Then Andy started to control the situation w/ the border guard. Am I wrong? I quickly Google it and found out, alas, yes it's $100 for US citizens. Dammit. Luckily there was no harm done and we were able to get through, I'm glad I had extra cash in my wallet, and he took the older $100 which I didn't think they would accept. At least this was no Chilean apple customs situation.
We started to gain altitude in Tanzania since we lost it leaving Kenya. We saw dust devils across the land and into the Rift Valley. We even saw a wild ostrich on the side of the road (I think she was giving birth but I'm not really sure what was happening).
Arusha is a smaller town, much better than Nairobi. The shuttle dropped us off at the Oasis hotel where our tour booked for us (the economy price). The shuttle was driving deeper off the main road where it was getting more sketch (it wasn't really sketchy). We made bets on 1) is there a pool, 2) is there a pool you will get in. To my surprise, the answer was yes and yes! But it was a bit too cold for me to partake, plus we hadn't eaten all day and it was 3. Elly, the nice young man who takes care of the guests, showed us our lovely room. It’s big, clean, with a big mosquito net over the bed. I thanked him, asante sana. Do you speak Swahili? Ha no. Obviously they appreciate us trying to speak Swahili. We order some personal pizzas and beers and it was yummy- so happy to have a break from typical local food.
Ben showed up- he's our tour guide for the climb. He went over the route and look over our gear. He was very serious, better to be serious than not? Don't worry, this isn't our first rodeo hiking. The hike doesn't seem too bad, only 3-5? hours per day hiking. Except for the last day (which is making me nervous), we have to wake at 11pm and then we hike all night. Ugh.
We went by the main road to get some cash and peanut butter for instant fuel for the hike as needed just in case they don't fee us enough. When we came back, Achmed, the tour group owner, was waiting for us. Beer? Yes of course.
Achmed is a British dude who's been in Arusha for almost 25 years. He found his way here after being a truck driving tour guide across Africa back in the day. He's white and married a Muslim Tanzanian (obviously he converted to Islam hence his name). We started the convo off easy, then quickly jumped into poor jokes, he's funny and quite the entertainer. I was a bit surprised to see a British dude, as I expected someone whose native language was not English due to the email responses I received. We sat the remainder of the night, some talk of the hike, mostly of everything but. I stopped the beers from flowing after 2, Andy and Achmed went many in. We said our goodbyes and ate dinner for an early night. I decided to go veg this evening and got the veg curry which was really good. Andy got the fish. Fruit plate for my dessert, his was a banana split.
Up early tomorrow for a long drive to Kilimanjaro, then we hike only for 2 hours. Man we really need to get some sleep tonight. It's super windy here which is kinda relaxing. Let's hope those bloodsuckers stay outside the net this time. We'll talk again in 8-9 days when we are back from our hike!