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Published: October 28th 2007
Kuringe Waterfall
This 72m waterfall is supposedly the tallest on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The water was icy cold.Jambo! ("hello" in swahili) I am quite behind on updating this blog and have so much to say, but will limit this entry to my last week in Moshi. I'm currently in Arusha and flying to Zanzibar later this afternoon after returning from a 4-day safari yesterday. I can't wait to share my safari photos with you, but will have to wait till I get to a place where I can upload my photos.
I mentioned in my last entry that I was going on a hike on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. With 20 people on a bus (all from our hostel), we headed to the Materuni village and hiked up to the Kuringe waterfall. It was a great day for hiking and the waterfall was beautiful...and cold! The tour company provided a cook to prepare us a hot meal up on the mountain. During our lunch the guides also showed us how they prepare and roast the locally grown coffee beans, which we then were able to grind and drink. It was awesome to see the whole process and then actually get to drink the coffee.
After a big lunch and some delicious coffee we made our
unroasted coffee beans
The unshelled coffee beans prior to roasting. way to a local pub on the mountain that served homemade "banana brew". It was unique. I'm not sure how else to describe it, but it was interesting to taste. All in all, it was a great day.
Monday (10/22) was my last day at the orphanage. During the last week a lot of progress was made on the kitchen construction, the painting, the wiring of the boys dorms AND enough money was raised by the volunteers to ensure the progress continues. After my whining in my last blog about not having a cordless power drill, an anonymous donor was kind enough to donate one to the orphanage. On that note, THANKS for the generous donations that totaled almost $2,000. I will do my best to keep you aprised individually of how the money is spent. We ordered a sample bunk bed, which I didn't get to see before I left, but some of the other volunteers did and said it was a good bed, but they had to reorder another sample that was 2 seperate beds to stack since the pre-made bunk beds wouldn't fit through the doorway. (oops!) Either way, it's very exciting to know that very
roasted coffee beans
Yummy - this was just before they ground the beans and brewed them for us to drink. soon the 30+ boys at this orphanage will be sleeping in a proper building with sturdy and clean beds.
My friend Laurence arrived in Moshi on Tuesday (10/23) and we met up with several of my hostel friends for drinks and dinner before departing for our safari on Wednesday. Mt. Kilimanjaro made a rare appearance for my last night and we got some great photos, unfortunately I can't upload them today, but will add to my next entry. I have so many pictures to share I'm going to have to do a Kodak Gallery album and send that around with my next blog entry. I'll be in Zanzibar for at least the next week (scuba diving...yea!!) and will figure out the rest from there. Hopefully I'll find a good internet cafe and can post another entry soon. Thanks for all the kind emails and Facebook comments re: my blog. It's fun to hear from everyone and I'd love to know what is going on in your lives.
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helen
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I'm not jealous at all :)
Wow, this all looks like such an amazing experience. Not that I'm jealous or anything. Thanks for the update.