These Boots Were Made For Walking

Walking has never been my deal. I mean, I like walking when I need to get from A to B and in Arusha I walk everywhere rather than take a dala-dala. However, walking for fun has never been on my list of priorities. Then came Projects Abroad's social to Moshi. Situated 80km east of Arusha at the base of Kilimanjaro, we had to meet at the office at 8:30 a.m. Earlier than at any other social. The first thing we did was stop of at a patisserie to get some bites for lunch. Being the quintessential English gentleman that I am, I let everyone else go first and there was not exactly a huge amount left when it became my turn, so I bought everything. Two vegetable samosas, two chicken pasties, a cheese pasty, two cheese croissants and a plain croissant. I figured someone else would have forgotten to buy food. The journey there was regular enough until we turned off the main road just before Moshi and began climbing the hill towards the coffee plantation we were to visit. The road was really steep and the previous night's rain had not helped matters. Multiple times everyone was required to disembark and the lads had to push, here is a tip though: when pushing a bus, do not stand behind the exhaust. When we finally reached our destination, it was lunch time and sure enough people had forgotten to buy food. We had a short demonstration of Chagga tools to grind coffee and maize, as well as their drinking gourds and weapons. It was not long before we were all handed walking sticks and sent on our way towards the waterfalls. The hike along the muddy paths took us past a bunch of trees with long thin leaves which our guide told us were, according to the Chagga, leaves of forgiveness. Any Chagga tribesman who receives one of those leaves must forgive the giver of any deed they have done to wrong them. Having given a leaf to one of the other volunteers that I'm usually a douchebag too, I can confirm that this does not necessarily work for wazungu (foreigners). After that we trekked further up the mountain, over streams and wooden bridges towards a small cave that the Chagga used to hide their cattle and women from the raiding Maasai. The cave was situated by a river, so that the noise of the running water would drown out any crying babies or loud animals. Entering the cave into the blackness we were only able to walk about ten metres in, but we were greeted by what seemed like hundreds of bats. They were hard to see in the darkness but you could feel them flying past your head and when I went to take photos, the flash from the camera would illuminate the cave allowing the group to get a glimpse of the sheer size and amount of bats in the batcave. After leaving the batcave, we headed to the waterfall. After another long hike, along muddy trails and many slip-ups later, we descended towards the bottoms of the waterfalls. It was not exactly Niagara but the waterfalls were pleasant enough and some of the volunteers even went for a swim in the cold water.

When we made it back to the coffee plantation we ate some more and were given the chance to grind and roast our own coffee, which was interesting and meant we could enjoy a cup of real coffee, a strange luxury in a country where one of the major exports is coffee. We were also entertained by some dancers showing us traditional dances and we were also invited to take part. Finally, we were given some banana beer to try. It was a lumpy, white liquid which had a slightly sour taste. It was not terrible but I would not be able to make it through a whole pint of that.

Not content with a whole day of walking at Moshi, a group of volunteers decided to go trekking up some hills on Tuesday 1^st May. We took a dala towards Usa River and got off near Nkoaranga where we met up with some Swedish volunteers from another company. In order to get to our starting point we had to pile thirteen volunteers into an estate, no easy feat in a car where the windows were transparent plastic and which broke down half way up the hill. However, we managed to arrive at our destination in one piece. We began the trek up the hill immediately and, although the path to the top was dryer than at Moshi, it was steeper and more difficult. Trekking up the hill was a long, sweaty affair but the views on the way were great, albeit marred by the hazy Tanzanian morning.

Once we neared the top, we came across a small farming village, remotely situated on top of this hill, and had to pass through an old couples land in order to continue. He kindly offered to show us the way forward and when we had passed we were again led in the right direction by some local children using the little Kiswahili we knew to ask for directions. The view from the top was great but the rain clouds were moving in and hunger got the better of us as we made our way down via the road before heading to Tanz-hands. Tanz-hands is situated just west of Usa River and is a residential rehabilitation centre for disabled Tanzanians. There, they help them create a sustainable living by making items for sale to the public. Additionally, they have a nice little café where one can order food that is cheap, delicious and the all the money gets pumped back into making the lives of these people better. I had half a feta cheese toastie and a ham, cheese and tomato roll with some coleslaw and a chocolate and peanut butter milkshake, followed by pancakes and ice-cream for dessert. All for about £8. I love Tanzania.