Moshi - 4:18 PM - June 23, 2006

So, this will be a longer blog entry that covers the last few days now that we have more free time. I will start with Day 4 (June 21). Starting off the morning, we landed in Johannesburg around 7:30 in the morning. After waiting in a long customs line, we proceeded to baggage claim, where we discovered that unlike Logan airport, the operators don’t give you warning before they start the rotating belts. The airport porters thought this was incredibly funny, as Seth, Greg, and I jumped off the belt yelping. After this, we discovered that Pete’s bag was missing! After attempting to sort out the lost luggage, we cleared the second customs line and Seth finally found about four Appletizers (in many flavors) at a small café in the airport. Soon after, we took a four hour flight to Dar es Salaam International Airport on South African Air. Upon leaving the airport, we were immediately accosted by taxi and bus drivers attempting to have us commission their services. After a minor fiasco with finding a “bus,” we finally agreed upon a driver to bring us to the US embassy and then our hotel for only 35,000 shillings (about $30). After jamming all ten of us and our packs into a medium sized van (it was cozy, to say the least), we started into the city. The drive was amazing, as we experienced first hand the poverty that plagues much of Africa. We drove past dilapidated houses, desperate street vendors, children begging for money for a soccer ball, and black, smog-emitting buses. After a slight complication at the US embassy, our embassy pack was finally accepted and brought to an embassy employee. Then, our driver brought us to Hotel Jamba (Hotel Hello). This hotel was like nothing we had ever experienced, and would have been considered terribly run down by American standards. After reserving three rooms at the agreed price of only 72,000 shillings (about $60), we walked down the street to “Chef’s Pride” restaurant. The food was surprisingly Americanized and delicious. We proceeded to an internet café, where 30 minutes on a computer cost us only 500 shillings (about 45 cents). After an intense scrabble game, most of us retired to bed.
The following day, we woke up around 7:40 and ate breakfast (included at the hotel). It consisted of a juice, an egg, and toast. As soon as we finished, we power walked with all our belongings to the Scandinavian Bus Line station in Dar. We took the 9:30 economy bus to Moshi. This was another shocking, eight-hour voyage. As we drove out of Dar, the city faded and small, adobe and concrete villages began to pop up along the road. As we left these villages, green shrubs stretched consistently out in all directions. In the occasional village, vendors selling fruit, cashews, cell phones, cigarettes, etc swarmed our bus. We suspected that the driver stopped on purpose in order to let people try to sell us things. Occasional silhouettes of mountains emerged in the distance and then faded away. As we approached Moshi, a mountain started to emerge in front of us. It was probably the most massive mountain most of us had ever seen, and we all exclaimed “KILIMANJARO!” Well, about ten minutes later, an even bigger mountain emerged from the clouds in the distance. We were all immediately awed. This one was really Kilimanjaro. It was a looming figure about 300 kilometers away, and yet, it was still the biggest object any of us had ever seen. Approaching Moshi, we began to get better views of the mountain. Upon arriving in Moshi, we met a World Challenge representative, who gave us a hint to find a good hotel. Taking his advice, we proceeded to the “Buffalo Hotel.” This one was infinitely better than the first in Dar, however it would still be considered “not so great” by our typical standards. After negotiating our room fee ($50 for four rooms) and settling in, our first thought was to go to the roof. As we did, we got an amazing view of the top of Kili as it emerged above the clouds. We discovered that Moshi was a much more “manageable” city than Dar. The people were generally nicer, the city was cleaner and in better condition, and there was far less chaotic activity on the streets. We went to dinner at the hotel, and some people ordered steak. Although there was some apprehension, a steak dinner (only 3000 shillings - $3) was absolutely delicious and caused no nasty side effects. There was another internet café about 10 feet from our hotel, which is where I am now. My personal favorite moment of the day was outside the hotel and café, as a man introduced himself to us, as Tanzanians frequently do. After the usual formalities, Justin commented “it was a hard day for us, but a great one for you.” He was of course, referring to the World Cup, in which Ghana had just defeated the USA two to one. After a look of confusion on the man’s face, Justin exclaimed “The World Cup!” The man immediately broke into laughter and a wonderful conversation ensued about soccer. The conversation managed to bridge all rifts between us, and it was incredible to find something we all had in common.
After a comfortable stay in our rooms, we awoke today to a great buffet that consisted of toast and passion fruit juice. We walked to Will Woodstock’s office (the in-country World Challenge agent), and he gave us a brief synopsis of the city’s dangers and wonders, and how to proceed in arranging our trip to Longido tomorrow. We split up into groups of four and bought food, cooking fuel, rebooked our hotel, set up a bus for tomorrow, and talked to Zora (our Kili guide company). As usual, numerous street vendors selling jewelry, art, fruit, clothing, etc approached us as we wandered the dusty streets. After sorting food and changing over a bit more personal spending money, we were allowed to explore the city, and that brings us to me creating this blog entry.
We will probably not have another entry for a few days because tomorrow we are going to Longido to hike and meet the Masai people.

To infinity and beyond,

-Max + the Team