Moshi and Marangu, Tanzania

Recently, I made a weekend excursion to Moshi and Marangu. Moshi is a lovely town located in northern Tanzania very near Mount Kilimanjaro. Many people pass through due to its locale, but immediately I could sense it was much smaller and more relaxed than the city of Arusha. Even though I had climbed to the top of Kilimanjaro nearly a month ago, I had not yet clearly seen the highest free-standing mountain in the world from a distance; It can be quite shy; always hiding behind the clouds. The view from the hostel the first night was exactly what I had come for.

On my one full day, I chose to visit Marangu. It is a very small village, 40km northeast of Moshi, that acts as a starting point for climbing Kilimanjaro via the Marangu route. I went for the forest, caves, and waterfalls. As you may well know, I love waterfalls... and caves for that matter. I can't get enough! Avoiding the "fly catchers" is a difficult task, but I made my way past them all to the oldest hotel in the region, Kibo Hotel. It has been open for over 100 years and it proudly displays that President Jimmy Carter and his family stayed there in August 1988. I inquired inside about a map/directions to the caves and the waterfalls. Better than a map, Remi kindly offered to be my guide and show me around. He had been working there for over 30 years and had guided the Carters all those years ago.

We started by walking through farmland and the forest. There is an abundance of water in the region making the landscape lush and the walk itself very enjoyable.

The Chagga (local tribe) caves were the first stop. A very knowledgeable, Chagga man named Daniel owns the land above the entrance. He lets you see a little into the traditional Chagga lifestyle including their huts.

He also gladly gives historical tours of the caves below. These man-made caves were used 200+ years ago by the Chagga people. During times of drought, other tribes in the lowlands would try to steal food, water, and supplies from the highland tribe. The Chagga would take refuge in these caves; most people never seeing the light of day for a month at a time. They adapted a system for everything life required in the caves. And they had ingenious but brutal methods of capturing and killing the enemy if he were to try to enter. There is a small section of the caves open for tour, so anyone who isn't claustrophobic may get a glimpse of what they are like. The entire system runs for about a half-mile (that's a lot of underground digging with primitive tools!). I wish I could have explored more of it.

There are at least five waterfalls in the area. I didn't want to pay the entry fee for each, so I asked Remi to take me to the best. Soon we were at Kilasiya Waterfall. The descent down to the river was very similar to that of Arusha Waterfall. However, the path here was a little better maintained. 

At the bottom, you could see the waterfall in the distance.

The river was still too high to follow the trail all the way to the base, so I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants, and walked upstream to get a closer look. Incredibly beautiful!

We climbed back up to the road and, on my request, walked further along to get some views of the forest below.

On the bus back to Moshi, there were more amazing views of Kilimanjaro. The locals on the bus looked at me very strangely when I pulled out my camera and opened the window. They are so used to the view that it doesn't impress them anymore. It was still impressive to me.

I even found a rooftop lounge when I got back to Moshi town just so I could stare at it some more before the sun set.

It was a quick trip, but a very nice getaway.

Click here to see more photos of Moshi and Marangu.

Volunteering with GLP, Arusha

The Green Living Planet has been working at Terrat Primary School to help improve its facilities and grounds since 2012. Terrat is a public government school that is located in the outskirts of Arusha, Tanzania.

Public schools in Tanzania are very minimalist and receive very little in terms of funding and resources. Much has been done already by GLP, but there is still lots to do. The current needs include improving student washrooms, refurbishing classrooms, and completing the build of partially completed classrooms. 

I have been helping with building/cementing the retainer walls for eight vegetable gardens. The gardens will provide a small amount of food for the students and will teach them how to care for the vegetables.

It's been a lot of hard work, but very rewarding to see the positive changes we are making. For more information on the volunteer project, check out the GLP website at www.greenlivingplanet.org.

While volunteering I have been staying at a hostel called The Greenhouse (associated with the Green Living Planet). The set up is very nice and the staff is superb!

Ayubu is there to answer any questions and orient visitors with the town. He also arranges the logistics for those volunteering. Last weekend we went to his Masai village and met his family.

Lucy and Sherry take care of the daily cooking, cleaning, etc. and are there for anything else you may need around the hostel.

And Nala and Acacia protect the property ;)

With a little over one week down, I will be here for at least another three weeks. Then depending on how much progress we've made I will decide to stay or move on.