Arusha III - Hiking to Conclusion


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Africa » Tanzania » North » Arusha
January 2nd 2018
Published: January 3rd 2018
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'What did the giraffe say when he entered the bar? "The highballs are on me!" (The Big Sick)

Christmas was actually pretty festive here in Tanzania. It appeared somewhat comical to watch the bicycles and motor cycles bomb through the streets of Arusha, one hand steering and the other hand holding some kind of Christmas tree. All this occurring with the daily temperatures hovering in the mid thirties! Our meal turned out great all things considered. Our tiny little flat has a full kitchen, however we lack tables and chairs. A single small couch with a coffee table serves as our only area to sit, eat, write, read and watch the world news on Aljazeera. Sheddy gave us a wonderful card expressing his thanks and love for a pair of new found friends. Faraja gave Monica a cut of material, very beautiful and African in design. It is large enough to either sew into a dress or sari or simply to use as a colourful table cover. However, during our Christmas Day siesta I noticed that Monica was constantly clearing her throat. I asked her if she was coming down with something - a cold or whatever. Gradually, it got worse turning into a fever with a wicked cough. We assumed she had caught a bug from the kids here at the orphanage - many of them have runny noses and they spend so much time holding your hand or sitting on your lap, it is difficult not to catch something no matter how often one washes their hands. The real fear for us is that there is little difference between flu and malaria symptoms. The one aspect of Malaria that is different is that the actual bite from the mosquito takes anywhere from ten days to a full month to manifest itself. Hence, if it was malaria, Monica's bite must have occurred either just when we arrived in Dar es Salaam or during our week in Lushoto. Monica was pretty well knocked out for the entire week between Christmas and New Years. We postponed our day hike up Kilimanjaro from Dec. 30 to Jan. 01. So far, I am okay. Suffering from a bit of boredom sitting in this tiny flat as Monica sleeps most of the time. The power is out again so the internet is dead and the fan will not work. I am out of new reading material. The word is out that Monica is sick, so for the most part, the kids from the orphanage are leaving us alone. My patience is being tested but that is all part of traveling and being in a relationship. I do wish that the one movie station we pull in on our tv would show better quality films. I have just about had it with Adam Sandler and Jaws sequels. So Monica continues to work at organizing the orphanage - at giving it a solid foundation so that the daily chaos that seems to rein supreme will not affect the support and good work that this place is doing. She wants to make the orphanage self sufficient and so today, she will accompany Faraja into town with the goal being to purchase the grinding mill. Our thanks to Micky and family back in Canada and to the group of hikers from Dubai who heard and answered Monica's call for support. Your generosity is truly moving. Monica is presently out this morning with Anna, visiting her school - Haradali Secondary School. Monica and Liz in Italy have teamed up to sponsor Anna and get her back in school. She has missed a year after losing her sponsor and this after she had ranked 3rd out of 78 students in her grade. We met a Swiss couple, Natty and Dominic, who did volunteer work last year at the orphanage and were paying a return visit to see how things were fairing. They gave Faraja four chickens last year and with at the help of the incubator that number has grown to 62. To emphasize what an ongoing concern this project really is, Faraja knocked on our door yesterday, asking Monica to take pictures of two new kids just arrived at the orphanage. The tragic news was that both their parents had just perished in a car accident. Monica also spent a day purchasing shoes for a number of the kids who were in need.



Before leaving, Monica wanted me to emphasize the amount of corruption that runs rampant here. Starting at the top, the government taxes everything at an astounding rate. Anything from park fees, (we just paid $70 US each simply to enter the Mt. Kilimanjaro park) to rental fees, (our daily rate rose from $27 US a day to $32.50 when the tax was added on) - everything is heavily taxed with very little noticeable work being done to improve the infrastructure. Even our favourite restaurant in Arusha - McMoody's - announced they were shutting down as of Dec. 31. In the area of volunteer work, any foreigner wanting to do volunteer work here in Tanzania, must pay $300 simply to be allowed to give of themselves for free. This money goes to a government agency and none of it ever makes it down to the actual charities where one might be assisting. However, the worst cases of corruption involve the police. Every two or three miles or so, along the major routes in and out of Arusha, the police sit in wait in clusters of four to six. They randomly wave cars over and announce that you were speeding and must pay a fine of 30,000 shillings. ($15). In many cases, they sit just beyond a traffic light where everyone is coming out of a dead stop - easier to step in front of cars not going very fast. The fine must be paid in cash and on the spot. Monica had one instance when the driver she was with was pulled over and did not have sufficient funds on hand. The police simply took his keys and moved his car off the road. It was up to him to either hike to an ATM machine or, in this case, phone a friend and have them bail him out. Another time, we were pulled over and Faraja waved two 10,000 shilling notes out the window before the officer had a chance to make out a formal ticket. He pocketed the cash and waved us on. No doubt, Tanzania is not alone in having corruption issues. I can remember being told in Costa Rica to carry only a copy of your passport - the police were known to pull you over and confiscate the real thing, then demand $50 to buy it back. And finally the hydro situation. I have already written about the random shut down of power in previous blogs. Our power was absent for two days - the 29th and 30th - and we assumed the government was to blame. However, we later found out that our landlords had failed to top up the hydro card that goes into the metre. The cable tv works the same way. Each household has a card for hydro and another for cable and probably another for internet. It is up to the individual to take the cards and make sure each has sufficient funds placed upon it. In this way, everything is paid for in advance and there are no bills to be collected. I believe Ontario is about to start a metre card program this year with their hydro. At one point, our landlord who happens to reside in France, renewed the internet for our building. A day later, the internet disappeared again. They took her money and than gave her only one-tenth of what she purchased. The locals here simply shrug and accept the situation - there appears to be no way of fighting this.



Ending on a positive note, Monica and I were asleep by nine on New Years Eve, but up at five on New Year's Day. Our guide Elias picked us up at the front gate as the sun was making its first appearance of 2018. We drove to Moshi, about 90 minutes away, where we enjoyed a breakfast and purchased our lunch. We arrived at the gates of the park around nine and then spent half an hour going through all the paper work and paying our fees. Kilimanjaro has three peaks - Shira is about 13,000 feet, Mawenzi is 16,893, and the tallest is Kibo standing 19,341. The actual trek up the mountain is more of an uphill hike rather than a steep climb. The path is about six feet wide and relatively flat - one has to be careful of protruding rocks and tree roots. At times, it is little more than a gradual climb, at others it can be similar to walking up steep, uneven steps. Elias said that the actual climb takes six days. In distance, one covers 9km. the first day, arriving at the base camp known as zone two. The second day, one covers 11km., the third day another nine. The last three days take place in high altitudes so the distance covered each day ranges in the area of five to six km. In the higher altitudes, the mountain becomes very steep, so the paths tend to zig-zag back and forth, slowly rising on the side of the mountain. Doing only a single day hike, our goal was to make it to base camp and then back down again. It takes four hours to climb to zone two, which stands at around 9,000 feet, plus another three hours to come back down. Elias was excellent at pacing us, breaking every 20 minutes or so to look at the monkeys or some other critter as we got our breath back. It got cooler as we climbed but I was still soaked with sweat. Monica is still getting her strength back from being ill so this was quite a physical challenge. We stopped for lunch at about 7,500 feet - about an hour from base camp. We then continued to climb to about 8,000 feet before the weather started to darken and the thunder became constant. Reluctantly, we decided to head back down before the rains hit us. We were also pretty much out of gas. However, if we were making a full climb, we could have made the last thousand feet, knowing we would be done for the day. As it was, we still had to make the trek down. It was easier but still tricky. Being exhausted, one is prone to trip or make a misstep quite easily when moving downward. But we made it down in one piece, both of us feeling very tired and sore. The ride back to Arusha was long and we both sat in a half stupor, sucking on our cold drinks. We passed many people on the trek, from all over the world. It is a popular climb and working as a guide offers employment to a large group of fit, local individuals. There is an actual road that climbs up to about 12000 feet. This is used by the porters carrying up the heavy packs and by ambulances in case of emergencies. This is a very doable endeavour. One does not need to be trained in the skills of climbing to tackle this mountain. It takes endurance and will power, (I tend to let my mind wander onto other things such as tackling the Great Trail on a cross country bike trek), but the path is well laid out and the guides all appear to be fit and well trained in dealing with people of all ages and fitness levels. It cost Monica and I about $340 for the one day. Breakfast and lunch was $40, park fees for the two of us came to $140, and our driver and guide Elias cost another $160. We were told that a full six day climb cost about $2,000 per person.



So tonight will be our last night in this flat - Twenty-five days here beside the orphanage. Tomorrow we pack up and head to the Masai camp outside of Arusha where we will register, spend the night, and of course pay for our 23 day safari. Breakfast and dinner are included. We need to bring four days worth of water and food for our lunch. They supply our tent for the nights. We will pretty much be out of touch until very late in January. It should be quite the adventure.

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3rd January 2018

wow!
I'd love to comment on each of your adventures in this blog, Marty, but fear there is not enough space. Your writing brings us right into your reality, good and bad, and at times we are happy you two are doing this and not us! Wonderful/terrible experiences! From Monica's illness to the corruption (yes, sadly, all over the world) to your Kilimanjaro trek and the orphanage. Well done, you two! By the time you are back on line (and we'll want to read all about the safari!), we should be in tame Thailand. Happy New Year guys!
4th January 2018

Arusha and Safari
Enjoy your time at the Masai camp and have fun on the safari, so much too see and spot. When you get back to BC we have to try to connect in person. Have a safe journey. Edith
4th January 2018

Corruption
Until Africa cleans up its corruption act, it cannot be a main player in the global field. Of course its not the only country .... by any means, just so much more visible & accepted :-( Hope you have a wonderful safari. Stay safe

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