First couple of days
Lucy: We've just arrived in the small town of Moshi, in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. Finally- Tash thought every little bump in the landscape was Kili, until we passed them and realised we could climb up and down in about 3 hours. Now we can't even tell it's a mountain because it's so huge.
Tash: Tried very hard to film bits of our journey (lucy got the camcorder working...i've decided i'm technically inept) but I'm really not sure how much you can make out from the blur and the bumpiness. Oh well. I think we saw some Masaai in their distinctive red clothing, leaning nnchalantly on random bits of stick. Crossing the border was interesting...lots of 'hawking' and 'touting' but otherwise a relatively easy immigration process.
L: And the women were carrying stuff on their heads - no hands! Very impressive. At the crossing they dangled bits of jewellry at us and thrust animal carvings in our faces, even against the windows of the 'bus'. The pictures in books and TV are pretty close to reality! Still very disappointed about the weather here - Kili is shrouded in a blanket of cloud that still hasn't let the sun through!! Though we'll probably be melting when it does.
T: Nairobi to Moshi takes about 7 & 1/2 hours and we shared the journey with a few Brits (one of whom was at Oxford!), a few more Americans (one of whom had done some studying at Oxford) and some Germans (I think). All seemed very pleasant! About half were heading up Kili, the other half on Safari. Hopefully we might meet up with them at the top (which we are going to make)!
L: The Germans spoke Swahili, the Africans love it. We'll have to swot up. I think the two German ladies were a lesbian couple, and the African girl they were with was their adopted daughter!
T: Whoops forgot about a few Africans on the bus. There was the cutest little boy who had the biggest brown eyes but wasn't having any of our little waves and smiles! And evidently my usually sensitive 'gaydar' isn't working because I did not pick up on this at all!
L: In some respects being here isn't that different to Nairobi. As white girls with huge rucksacks/guidebook in hand, we're an obvious target for bus/safari/taxi/trekking touts, and we're still not used to it! But Nairobi was definitely a capital city. We got security-checked to enter the snazzy Barclays skyscraper, wandered round the university grounds, visited a chic cafe, and walked up Museum Hill to visit the National Museum. Only to find it was shut for renovation. There are lots of posh hotels and fancy colonial buildings - we dined in the restaurant of the Stanley (of 'Dr Livingstone, I presume' fame), doncha know.
T: Walking around Nairobi is like walking with an uneven limp. But although there are loads of people, all going in different directions, no-one is stressed or bothered. They have a carefree air about them, even at rush hour when there are long queues of people waiting for a random, cool-looking matutu to rush up and take them, well, home I presume. Crossing roads is somewhat interesting. We are learning to go as soon as theres a possible gap and be prepared to stop at any point across the road or alternatively run for your life (a little exaggerated!).
L: Off to sort out our accommodation and climb now, but not before we get some food as we haven't eaten since a rushed breakfast at 7 this morning! Ta-ra for now!
Tash: Tried very hard to film bits of our journey (lucy got the camcorder working...i've decided i'm technically inept) but I'm really not sure how much you can make out from the blur and the bumpiness. Oh well. I think we saw some Masaai in their distinctive red clothing, leaning nnchalantly on random bits of stick. Crossing the border was interesting...lots of 'hawking' and 'touting' but otherwise a relatively easy immigration process.
L: And the women were carrying stuff on their heads - no hands! Very impressive. At the crossing they dangled bits of jewellry at us and thrust animal carvings in our faces, even against the windows of the 'bus'. The pictures in books and TV are pretty close to reality! Still very disappointed about the weather here - Kili is shrouded in a blanket of cloud that still hasn't let the sun through!! Though we'll probably be melting when it does.
T: Nairobi to Moshi takes about 7 & 1/2 hours and we shared the journey with a few Brits (one of whom was at Oxford!), a few more Americans (one of whom had done some studying at Oxford) and some Germans (I think). All seemed very pleasant! About half were heading up Kili, the other half on Safari. Hopefully we might meet up with them at the top (which we are going to make)!
L: The Germans spoke Swahili, the Africans love it. We'll have to swot up. I think the two German ladies were a lesbian couple, and the African girl they were with was their adopted daughter!
T: Whoops forgot about a few Africans on the bus. There was the cutest little boy who had the biggest brown eyes but wasn't having any of our little waves and smiles! And evidently my usually sensitive 'gaydar' isn't working because I did not pick up on this at all!
L: In some respects being here isn't that different to Nairobi. As white girls with huge rucksacks/guidebook in hand, we're an obvious target for bus/safari/taxi/trekking touts, and we're still not used to it! But Nairobi was definitely a capital city. We got security-checked to enter the snazzy Barclays skyscraper, wandered round the university grounds, visited a chic cafe, and walked up Museum Hill to visit the National Museum. Only to find it was shut for renovation. There are lots of posh hotels and fancy colonial buildings - we dined in the restaurant of the Stanley (of 'Dr Livingstone, I presume' fame), doncha know.
T: Walking around Nairobi is like walking with an uneven limp. But although there are loads of people, all going in different directions, no-one is stressed or bothered. They have a carefree air about them, even at rush hour when there are long queues of people waiting for a random, cool-looking matutu to rush up and take them, well, home I presume. Crossing roads is somewhat interesting. We are learning to go as soon as theres a possible gap and be prepared to stop at any point across the road or alternatively run for your life (a little exaggerated!).
L: Off to sort out our accommodation and climb now, but not before we get some food as we haven't eaten since a rushed breakfast at 7 this morning! Ta-ra for now!
posted by Lucy at
2:10 pm
