Hike of a Lifetime

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Well, Sunday night after finishing up my last entry on this page, we packed up and got ready to hit the ferries back to the mainland of Tanzania. The ferry was to leave at 10pm, and all of us were exhausted and hungover from the previous night of festivities. Arriving at the ferry terminal we got our passports checked and boarded. Shown to the first class section, which is not much of a first class, it had pillows on the couches which smelled like a mixture of piss and puke. Wrapping my face in my sweater I stretched out along the couch and passed out. Somtime during my sleep the ferry departed and went along its way to the port in Dar Es Salaam. After 8 hours of sleeping and boat cruising, we arrived at our destination about 6:20am. I was feeling a little light headed from the rocking of the boat for 8 hours, but we made it off and found our way to the bus terminal.

We hopped on a bus, which was so packed with people that it required some of them to stand. After sitting for about an hour, the bus finally departed to Lushoto, an 8 hour hot and sweaty ride along many unpaved and pothole-covered mountain roads that made any thought of sleep imposisble. After departing the bus, we grabbed our bags and headed for the tourist info to book a hotel and plan a hike for the next few days.

The hotel was shit, but for only $1.00 Canadian per night you can't complain... but I still will. The beds were horrible and the people working there did not care one bit about you. They played the tv all night at its highest volume, talked as loud as they could, and kept us awake for the most of the night. Crawling out of bed still deadly tired in the morning at 7am to start our hike, I went to the washroom in a hole in the ground and took a nice bucket of hot water from the stove and bathed myself. Many places dont supply hot water at all, but being up on a mountain the water is freezing and these people heated it for us. We ate breakfast at a local restaurant, which was great and cheap ($2.00 Canadian), grabbed some bottles of water and boxes of crackers for the hike and left with our tour guide on our 3 day trek.

The First Day
The first day of the hike was about 30km and was to consume of about 9 hours of hiking. Mostly up mountains, through forests, and through many small villages. It was absolutely mind blowing... as soon as our white heads popped over a mountain ridge, it was like a beacon or fireworks for all the kids in the surrounding farms and villages to take notice. From the bottom of the mountain ridge, through the valley and up the other side of the opposite mountain ridge, hundreds of kids would scream "Jambo" (hello in Swahili) to us and wave. They never seemed to get tired, and it was like they had never seen anyone white before. They would all run to the bottom and wait for us to arrive, then some would dare to "high five" us while many hid behind older siblings or ran into their homes. We eventually arrived at our destination for the night, a small village somewhere over the 8 or more mountain ranges we had crossed (i had lost count). We ate dinner, had a few beers at a little cafe and went to bed.

The Second Day
The next day we started hiking about 9am. The first part of the hike was a few more mountains and hills to climb, but the last part was quite flat and easy. The hike took about 6 hours this time and we crossed maybe 22kms or so. When we passed through one of the villages, my bag broke and I was stuck in the middle of about 50 kids all watching me try to tie my bag back together. Jord, down in front of me a ways pretended to be Santa Clause as he started handing out pencils and whistles to all the kids and they immediately left me to run to him. I tied up my bag by wrapping my towel around it and we continued on our way. For the night, we stayed at a nunnery on the side of a mountain range. This convent was by far the most peacful place I have ever visited in my life. They served us an amazing home-cooked dinner, and provided us with hot water and very nice rooms for the night. The also had a good laugh at me, as my bag looked like an African woman's bag with the towel tied around it.

The Third Day
Throughout the night myself, Jas and Ryan awoke a few times to the sounds of Jord not doing so well. He to had come down with Malaria, and therefore, would not participate in the days hike. He stayed behind at the convent, in the good hands of the nuns. With one soldier down, we continues on our way to the final destination for our hike, Mtae. The hike was enjoyable, after 2 hard days of hiking, this hike was a breeze, and very relaxing. We passed through a deep forest and saw a few colorful insects and birds. After 5 hours of hiking and about 18kms or so, we arrived at Mtae. The little village was on the top of a mountain and it overlooked a massive and beautiful valley of villages, rivers, lakes and jungles. We watched the sunset over the valley and hills below us and then enjoyed a dinner at a quiet local restaurant.
We hit the beds around 11pm, and awoke at 2am from the sounds of bus horns warning us about their early departure schecdule. We packed up at 3am and got on board our bus back to Lushoto at 4am, picking up Jord along the way.

We arrived in Lushoto about 7:30am. We settled into a much nicer hotel than the previous one we had stayed last time and then Jord and Ryan went to the doctors to check on their Malaria parasites. We all relaxed for the rest of the day, I finished reading "The Firm" a great novel, and we just ate a few meals and hit the beds. The next mornging we caught the 7am 8 hour bus ride to Arusha.

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Photos

The Crew
The four of us, somewhere along the route of the hike.

Water Girl
A little girl fetching some water.

Santa Clause
Jord handing out a whistle and a pencil to a small group of children that came over to say "Jambo" during our lunch break on the first day of the hike.

Jambo!
A father and his children wave hello to us.

Break Time
A short break at the top of a mountain, overlooking the villages and valleys below.

Mountain Side Farm
A small farming settlement on the side of a mountain.

The Team
Here is our team... Ryan, Jas and Jord, along with our guide.

Taking In The Sights
Jas and Jord just cruising along our trek and taking in the sights.

Fight!
A couple kids trying to capture the attention of my camera.

Peek-A-Boo
A child hides behind another. Many kids did this whenever we turned around to talk to the group of children following us along our hike.

The Trek Continues
Just crossing a small stream on our way to Mtae.

Laundry Time
A mother tends to the family's laundry as the kids try to help.

Valley of Farms
A shot of the farms that line the land and mountain sides.

Night One
A shot of the village we stayed at during our first night of the trek.

Kids
A handfull of kids we encountered along our journey.

Mobbed
Jord taking the heat off me, by distracting the kids with presents. While I tied and fixed my broken bag up.

More Kids
A few more kids, some blessed with the gift of a whistle from Jolly Ol' Jord.

The Covent
The covent that brought not only a peaceful feeling, but delicious homecooked food, warm water, and caring that only nuns can offer.

Delicious!
Snack time, prepared and served by numerous nuns.

Soldier Down!
Due to another Malaria attack, we continued on our way to the top one man short.

Tough Kids
A few more kids pose for my lens.

Comments

[Reeves]

Pretty cool stuff.
That indeed looks like an adventure of a life time. I'm glad your documenting it. Looking forward to seeing you at the end of August.