Blogs from Moshi, North, Tanzania, Africa

On December 21st I headed down a real shady road to Moshi, Tanzania, home of Africa’s highest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was a beauty drive, everything was extremely green, nice mountains and hills all around, the bus was pretty comfy, and I think we had 2 pee breaks during the 10 hour drive which was one more than what I had expected. I had the same number of breaks for my first ride to Shy that took 13 hours, so I was pretty happy with the improvement. My second ride back to Shy from Dar we had 3 in 16 hours but one isn’t totally legit because we gotta flat tire. Needless to say, travelling by bus might be the most common way for people to get from one place in the country to the other, ... read more

Hello everyone! This is coming from wonderful Tanzania, I am so sorry for the lack of blog posts recently, I have been busy, yes, busy. After lacking any constructive focus for the last seven months, I decided to hook up with a small NGO for a few weeks. I have been very skeptical of volunteering and any organization that I was going to give my time and money to had to fulfill three basic criteria. Firstly, I had to be confident that whatever I would be doing could not be done, better, by local people. So, for me working in an Orphanage would not have been right, as far as I am concerned children need long term and stable care that (in my opinion) can better be provided by local people. Secondly, I had to be ... read more

The people who named Kilimanjaro didn't beat around the bush when it came to the meaning of the name. No symbolism here, just, 'The Big Thing.' How appropriate is that? The summit, Uhuru Peak, is 5896m, which is pretty darn high. Add in the fact that it stands alone and towers 5km over the surrounding countryside, and it's easy to see why it was called 'The Big Thing.' We started out trek after a few recovery days in Arusha and a shuttle transfer to Moshi. We met with our guide and assistant guide the night before to talk about gear and to finalize when we were being picked up. Liam and I had decided to do the Lemosho Route, which is the longest one. Ours was an 8 day trek, starting near the Londorossi Gate, on ... read more

So........finally arrived in Africa. Thought I’d write a bit about it as I’ve been here in Tanzania for about 10 days now. To be honest, I didn’t have much time to think about the trip before I left, I was kind of distracted with my mum’s 50th birthday celebration and also, was getting no answers from the hospital or anyone, so I just kind of thought it’d sort itself out when I got there. When I saw an Africa elephant poster at the airport that was the first twinge of excitement - and reminded me of how much I love this whole thing, just going somewhere completely new, where anything could happen! I arrived last week, acutely aware that they were not exactly aware of my arrival. Adey had said it’d be ok, we’d sort it ... read more

I've managed to get to an internet cafe in a place called Moshi, where we are staying for the night before starting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro tomorrow. I'm pretty excited, but also quite nervous about the climb. On the last day we leave at midnight and walk to the summit and down again, which will be pretty tough! It has been lovely to be in a hotel with a comfy bed and hot shower! The last few days at camp were great, and I was sad to say goodbye to everyone yesterday. I did some African dancing, went to the international fair, watched a Britain vs Australia game, went to the National Museum, made a campfire and saw a show of African song, dance and music amongst other things. The Moot was a great experience, and ... read more

This, the first blog on the road, is dedicated to community visionaries the world over and to those who are humble enough to respect their visions. Special thanks to Greg Higgins and Mark Lindow for your work and the unabashed way in which you share your passions with us all. Asalam Alekhum, na safari njema...... It was really just a big trip, nothing besides. That is what we were naive enough to believe when we planned and executed last summer's journey. But lifestyles have momentum and, following a year of dreaming and doing, we found ourselves creatures of a new habit. Winter leaves no doubt about where we should go and what we should do, but the loathsome days of summer require planning for emotional survival in a reality without the nucleus of snowy simplicity. This ... read more

back to third world time now. Africa is apparently just as slow as south america. With just as many new experiences. My group is lovely, and its nice this time not to be apparently paying "charity" money into a company and to actually see where its headed. We are due to start work on our chosen projects later this week, its monday today and its taken us the whole day to get the materials. Tomorrow we are helping to harvest the corn, which could be horribly back breaking but an amazing experince. then wednesday is a trip up.. but why a,m i writing ahead??? So much has happened so far. An amazing week in zanzibar happened, complete with snorkelling, spice tours, village tour, swiming with turtles and a sunset cruise. Of course accompanied by a lot ... read more

I was never going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and witnessing it this weekend in all its immense glory confirmed to me why. Moshi sits at the foot of Africa's highest mountain and has a far more relaxed atmosphere to Arusha. The city benefits from the fertile ground provided by the dormant volcano. There's isn't much to do in Moshi apart from chill out, but I think that's is just what we needed. We spent a very long time sat in a great coffee shop called 'The Coffee Shop' (original I know!), before moving onto the city's bar with the best view of Kilimanjaro to watch the sunset. We were treated to unrivalled views of the mountain as the sky around it cycled through various spectacular shades of red and orange. After witnessing the best show I've ... read more