Willy's Snowy Peak
Trip Start
Nov 15, 2006
1
187
228
Trip End
Jul 15, 2008
Moshi,
Tanzania
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Moshi, Tanzania
Exchange rate: $1 = about 1150 Tanzanian shillings (TS).
From Nairobi Kenya we traveled to Moshi, Tanzania. We took the Akamba Bus line. It was supposed to be one of the better buses but the seats were falling apart and Irina spotted a roach traveling with us. The roach might have been hoping to get some of the meals they pass out. We didn't get a meal but we didn't feel bad about that. The bus let us off on the Kenyan side of the border and picked us up again on the Tanzanian side. Passing through customs was uneventful. But you do have to fight off the people trying to sell you trinkets and change your money. Again, just like at the Ethiopian/Kenyan border it is better to wait until you cross the border to exchange local currencies. Soon after crossing the border we pass through Arusha, which is a pretty well scrubbed town and the seat of the Organization of East African States
23-01
. President Bush stopped here last week and the Rwandan genocide trials are being held here. There were protesters in the street with signs saying they wanted someone "dead or alive". We didn't catch the name of the accused. When we got to Moshi the bus let us off just around the corner from the Buffalo Hotel, which is where we are staying for 20,000 TS per night. The room is large with en suite bath and our window has a nice view of the snowy peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro. As soon as you step off the bus you will be greeted by shouts of "jombo" from touts who want to sell you animal safaris or mountain climbing trips. There're also men and women who try to sell us elephant hair bracelets, wood carvings and banana leaf paintings. It's pretty much like Nairobi in that respect, but by now the novelty of carved elephants has worn off for us, and stuff looks even worse than what we were suckered into buying in Kenya.
February 24, 2008
There is a very nice restaurant directly across from the Buffalo Hotel called the Indotaliano, and here we meet the various types of people who come to Moshi. The first group is the trekkers who have come to climb snow peaked 'Killi'. Most of these young people fly in just to climb the mountain and while they are here they will join the second group who will take a safari into the Serengeti and associated parks
23-02
. The third group, which apparently is sizeable, is what Paul Theroux would call the "do-gooders". We met several of the do-gooders. One lady from England had been doing volunteer work in Uganda back in the 60's when PT was there. She said she never met him but he wrote a column in a local publication which she read. She's here for just a few days to buy supplies for a village agency from money her "group" back home had collected. The village is on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and she said the people are "so nice", and "it is so beautiful up there." She was having dinner with a local "community activist" through whom she was working. He had the '70's activist lingo down and was clearly there to make sure her visit was reassuring. We meet a retired Swedish optometrist who had spent 5 years in the early 1980's setting up an optometry school at the local college. His young family had been with him then. He was back with his wife to see the school again and to give out 1,500 pairs of reading glasses which he had collected from donors back home. He said the great thing about charitable work in optometry is that the recipients get immediate results. We also met people on two week projects to teach English. These people would probably have disgusted Paul Theroux. But you know what? These people are happy. PT on the other hand seemed to be bitter and negative about Africa. He came to Africa in 1964, in the first bunch of Peace Corp volunteers, to avoid the draft. That was back when the stuff the colonial governments had put in place was still in fairly good order
23-03
. When he returned on his Dark Star Safari, at the age 60, he saw all, that he had done his small part to improve, had fallen apart and decayed. But these holiday do-gooders are proud of their vacations in which they can see the sights and salve their conscience. It is not surprising that they chose this area. The Moshi-Arusha area is one of Tanzania's tourist centers. The roads are good, the restaurants and hotels first class yet rustic enough to make the tourist do-gooders feel like they are in the heart of Africa. The holiday do-gooders don't have to suffer too much here and can return home with photos of the thatched roof school and the kids they taught. But this is not the part of Tanzania that needs help; it must be one of the richest parts of the country. We met two couples who took a seven day trek up and down Mt. Killi said that they estimated that 200 people made the ascent with them. Each person had to pay about $1000 for the porters, supplies, and fees for the Killi trek. People doing the animal safaris (and we estimate there are a thousand on animal safaris on any day) are paying from $150 to $200 each for the standard sleep in a tent safari; those flying into the park and staying in the expensive lodges are paying amounts we can't comprehend. So lots of money is coming here and the locals are comparatively well off. As P. Theroux said; Tanzanians unfortunate enough to live in a village without the big animals around are out of luck. Do-gooder tourism is a win-win program here but it doesn't help the kids in Dodoma. February 25, 2008
Moshi, Tanzania
Irina has longed to see the Serengeti since she was very young. So here we are and this is her opportunity. We go to the Kindoroko Hotel safari agency and sign up for a 3 day safari for $150/day/person which is way over our daily budget, but they assure us we will not have to sleep in a tent, that we will not have to join a group, and we certainly will see the "big five". The safari agencies will tell you anything to make a sale. The "big five" are: the elephant, the buffalo, the lion, the leopard, and the rhino. The reason we finally decide to go with this agency is because they throw in 2 free nights at the hotel, which is very popular and looks pretty good. We leave on safari in the morning.
