OK, so I know I said I wasn't going to write again until after Kilimanjaro, but then I decided on two things: 1) that Kili should really have its own entry, as will the safari afterwards, and 2) enough has happened to write about...so why not...
So last we heard, we were all in Tanga. Tanga is right on the coast, and is normally really hot. We were all glad that it was a bit overcast so that we didn't die in the heat. We tpired around the area and saw the town that Jory had been living in for his 8 months while he was here, including his gym which was part of a tiny farm and you had to walk through the animals home to get there...a cow, goat, some chickens...all just hanging outside of his gym which consisted of a bench press a few dumbells and arm curl bar. It cost him 1000 shillings a month (60 cents). But he soon found another gym to go to that had a bit more stuff.
We also went on a tour and saw the recoding studio where Mkali Nucta recorded his hit, Naogopa, and where the video was shot. (You can see the video on earlier posts). We also went out to a local bar that night, Club la Chica. What a funny place. When we got there there was a group of British people there all dancing like 20 year old drunk people (which they were), so of course we chatted them up and hung out with them for a bit. At around 1.30 we were on our way out when we ran into some people that Jory knows, so of course we stayed with them. And how happy were we that we did. The place got busier, and as expected, the Tanzanians broke out into a line dance!! Yes, it is true. And freaking funny to see. And to take part in. As a Calgarian, I knew it was my duty as a gentlemen and a scholar and a lover to get in there. It certainly was not the most complex line dance; 2 steps right, 2 steps left, 2 steps right, sway, sway, sway, turn. It was perfect timing for this, as the Calgary Stampede was also just getting underway. It was about 2.00 am, so 5 pm in Calgary, and everybody everywhere was busy getting drunk.
I also tested the local liquor. Konyagi - Spirit of the Nation, is not the best tasting of liquors, and left me with a monster head ache in the morning but hey, what can you do. When Jory's friends bought Konyagi in honour of his last night in Tanga, you have to partake. It was a really really fun night. We left the club at about 3.30 and had to be up again at 6.30 to catch our taxi to our bus to get to Moshi.
The bus ride is an entire other good adventure story. Thankfully, it is the last major travel we have to do until getting on a plane to come back to Canada. It was a 6.5 hour trip on a bus that, by local standards is the elite bus, and by our standards prolly wouldn't be allowed on the road. As expected, they dont' fill up when all the seats are full, but when the aisles are full also. Thankfully, we had secured the very front row seats which had the most room and had the least amount of people falling on top of us. However, every time the bus stopped and people got on an off they inevitably hit me in the head with their bag, their box of stuff, or an elbow. Whatever, the bus only stopped...a lot.
Much like our taxi ride on Zanzibar, the bus had to stop for police checks. With the police checks, and the stops for passengers, in the first 3.5 hours we must have stopped the bus 12-15 times, about half for each. I am not sure if they were bribing the police officers this time, but one of the driving crew (there is about 3 people working the bus at all times; 1 driver and 2 other guys checking tickets and loading/unloading passengers) always had to get off to speak to them. After only having about 3 hours of sleep, I was able to rest for a bit of the journey, but the frequent stops and passenger changes, with the accompanying head shots, kept waking me up. For the last hour or so before the rest stop I was playing Angry Birds.
After the rest the trip was much smoother. Another 3 hours with not as many stops because there were not any police checks. Finally when we arrived in Moshi we were accosted by people trying to sell their crap...again. Bracelets, necklaces, paintings, crap, crap, crap. One guy in partiucular, who was either drunk, just weird, mentally unstable, but most likely drunk, was being pretty agressive. After saying no repeatedly and Jory telling him to go away in Kiswahili, he started getting louder. A police officer finally told him to leave and he shoved the cop. The cop then hit him with his cop stick. It wasn't too hard, but just hard enough to feel almost sorry for him. After the cop left, the guy came back though and started yelling at us, but from afar. We hurried out of there and into a taxi to our hotel. Kirondoko Hotel in Moshi. It is a nice place and we are all staying in one room for the three nights that we are here.
The food here is great. And by the food, I mean the Mushkaki. They are kebobs that are sold on the street for 500 shillings each (about 30 cents). Delicious. I have, perhaps, eaten too many of these. But then again, perhaps I have not eaten enough. Most likely it is the latter. I will go get some more when I am done here, as they provide invaluable meat energy that I use to do things.
Yesterday we went to an oasis to go swimming. Literally, an oasis in the middle of the desert (we have pictures of everything, but the interweb is too slow, so it will have to wait until I get home to post). It was absolutely amazing! The water came out of the ground, almost at bath temperature, and the area around it was lush and green. It took just over an hour to get there from our hotel in Moshi, and the trip for four people totalled 120,000 shillings. Work it out if you want to. But it was absolutely worth it. The water was crystal clear. So clear that the bottom of the pool looked like it was only a few feet deep, if that, but was in fact about 8. My first entry I jumped out of a tree from about 12-15 feet up and did not touch the bottom. They brought out a rope swing and we jumped off that a bunch of times, and in general swam around for about an hour. It was just us and one other German couple, and a few local people standing around, including our driver and guide who came with. We went for dinner and met a few of Jory's friends, we wathced a movie and then went out for a drink with the same friends who Jory will only see again if they come visit him in canada or if he goes to Germany.
Today we met the company with whom we booked our Kili climb and went to stock up on gear for our trek. They have everything that you could want for the climb in a basement, from boots, to long johns, jackets and everything in between. Pictures were took. It was a really funny place, mostly because you know that every piece of clothing there was either left behind, or more likely, stolen from tourists like me. I was looking through all the stuff, expecting to find something of mine there, but I did not. But they literally had everything. So I stocked up and got long johns, socks, boots, turtle necks, pants, jacket, rain jacket, sleeping bag, daypack, bigger pack, hiking poles, water bottle and awesome touque. Now it feels amazing and that the climb is actually happening tomorrow! We are all really super excited!
Then we came back, got some meat on a stick energy, and now am here. For lunch for the past three days we have gone to these amazing little cafes that serve western sandwiches with juice or coffee, all made with filtered water. So it is nice to eat at that place. And feel safe eating the vegetables, which I miss eating.
I think that is what I got so far. I am also running out of time, and you need to keep some extra time to let it post and save and etc. So now, for real, I will have my next update after our climb up Kilimanjaro!!!
Sincerely,
Elliot S. Weinstein
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