Unlike Turkey, Tanzania is not an easy country to navigate.
Unless of course you pay the big dollars and get a tour company to do everything for you, which is the way most people visit Tanzania. Trying to do it on your own can be frustrating and is often more expensive than it should be anyhow.
So on Friday, we had gone downtown with our friend Justin to buy bus tickets from Arusha to Lushoto in the Usambara Mountains.
We've just been relaxing the past few days since our return from the top of Kilimanjaro. The weather here in Arusha hasn't been great. Rain on and off, and hard at times. So we've been doing some computer work and getting caught up on things from our almost a week away. And, we've been doing some planning to figure out what we're going to do next!
We are so close to Serengeti National Park. Just about any tourist who comes to Arusha is here because it's the set off point for safaris in the Serengeti. But apparently we are not "just anybody"...
Wow. We are a little overwhelmed by all the comments on yesterday's post. Thank you all so much.
You would think we would have slept like a rock on our final night after the marathon of hiking we had done the day before. And I think we did sleep well... until one of the nearby camps started making noise at about 3:30am.
We had wanted to get up early... but not that early! We still had an 11 km (6.8 mile) downhill hike to get to the exit gate where a van and a nice lunch would be waiting for us. But we still managed to toss and turn a bit until we finally got up around 6:00am.
We were woken up at 11:30pm and fed a hot drink of ginger tea to warm us up a bit for our planned six hour hike in the darkness up to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro... Uhuru Peak, located at 5,895 meters (19,350 feet) altitude.
Why are we hiking in the dark? It's a common question, and there are actually a few reasons.
We were up at 6:30am again. A fairly big day ahead of us as we were going to hike up to Lava Tower at 4,630 meters (15,190 feet) in time for lunch, and then back down the other side to Barranco Camp at 3,976 meters (13,050 feet) over a total distance of 9.7 kms (6.0 miles).
They made us a packed lunch, and we got going at about 8:10am.
The guys got us up at 6:30am and we did some washing up and had a good breakfast. There was always hot water for tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, and lots of fruit and millet porridge every day. I ate my fill, but I have to say that I would be happy to never see a bowl of millet porridge again. My mother used to make it when we were kids, and I didn't enjoy it then either! Then there would be some eggs and sausage and some kind of casava bread. The cook was well aware of Ruth's gluten free diet.
By 8:20am, we set off for a 5 km (3 mile) hike that would bring us up another 878 meters (3,000') in altitude.
Are you looking for ways to make extra money to help you get by? Believe it or not, there are a lot of things you can do to generate income. As crazy as the following ideas may sound, they might work well for you. So, why not try these out:
Sell Jellyfish
It is unlikely for you to find someone who has a pet jellyfish as they certainly are not the cuddliest. However, there is a market for jellyfish, and they are quite costly. In fact, the cheapest one there runs around $330, including a small tank and some food good for three months.
Day 1 started at 7:00am in Arusha. We then had a two hour drive from Arusha to Moshi, and we stopped at several places to pick up either people or gear. There is a lot of logistics involved with getting two people to the top of Africa... and we had a total of 11 people helping us get there!
We had our two guides, Kobby and Shalali, our cook Martin, and eight porters carrying the gear and supplies needed for seven days and six nights on the mountain!
By the time most of you read this we will be well into our first day of hiking the highest mountain in Africa!
I am drinking a nice Kilimanjaro beer this evening as I write this. It will be the last one I have for a week!
I want to tell you a little bit about the mountain and the route we are taking...
Back in December when we were trying to figure out where to go next, the Tanzania option had one big negative. It would be the most expensive option.
And so while we knew that in advance, it's still difficult for a couple of normally frugal travelers to watch the numbers add up! But, it's only money, and you can't take it with you. Not really much point in having it if you don't spend it. Within reason, of course.
The last day of our 4 day 3 night hike up Mt. Meru was really great. Our park ranger Dominic agreed to take us on a route that went through an area where we would see a waterfall and a high chance of seeing some of the animals that call Arusha National Park home.
We were woken up at 6:30am at Mariakamba Hut. Had a good sleep and felt much better! Ready for the 6.8 km (4.2 mile) hike down to the entrance gate with a short detour to a waterfall along the way.
If you haven't already, you really should read day 1 and day 2 of this hike!
Before we get into the summit hike itself, I wanted to explain a little bit about Mt. Meru. It's a dormant volcano that had half of its cone somehow collapse 8,000 years ago. So the remaining part of the cone is what we were climbing. You make your way up and along the ridge of the cone itself, with the 2,000 meter (6,600 feet) sheer cliff walls on one side, and a steep volcanic slope on the other side.
If you missed day one, you will want to start reading here...
https://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2021/01/mt-meru-tanzania-hike-day-one.html
Because of our late start on day one, we had not arrived at Mariakamba Hut until about 6:30pm Monday evening. The first day hike had not been that strenuous and we were feeling pretty good. We had done about 9 kms (5.5 miles) uphill, rising in altitude 915 meters (3,000').
Our ranger Dominic had set a fairly slow pace and we weren't doing much more than 2 km/h. They really stress that you need to go slowly for proper acclimatisation, and a higher chance of success of achieving the summit.
