Travel - 2017 06 - Kenya/Tanzania

Spent the day tidying up a few last things at home before packing my gear once again for another epic adventure. Needed to be at the airport by 830pm for a 1030 flight so dad got to my place at 530pm... Just to be safe... Had my brother and his partner over for dinner to see the new house. Which worked out well as he and dad could talk all things building. 

Set off to the airport and arrived right as they opened check-in, though the line was already long. Killing time in the line I saw a work mate off on her own adventure.  Cruising around the Mediterranean. Can't help but think that trip is going to be a lot more luxurious and warmer than mine...  

While having a final beer before the flight there was another traveller on a phone call complaining about check in (line too long) so he skipped to the baggage drop and was blaming the staff when they told him to join the actual line... Some people always think their time is more important than others. Karma worked swiftly apparently as his bag was also 3kg overweight. 



Two long flights, 19 hours in the air + stopover time, later (though I got a relativly decent sleep on the first leg) and I arrived in Kenya. Dell got to the hotel about 2 hours after me giving me time to have a shower and relax for a second. 

Dinner out tonight to meet the crew he's been travelling with on his prior tours and give him a chance to say goodbyes. We went to a really good resturant called 'Carnivore' which was a Brazilian BBQ type setup (unlimited meat on a stick) with everything from Crocodile to Ostrich meatballs. No Zebra steak thought... will have to get that later.



Fell asleep instantly as my head hit the pillow back at the room. Felt like a long time since I left Brisbane already. Early start to head out to Hells Gate national park.

Long drive out on some... interesting roads. Hired mountain bikes at the front gate and rode the 8km to the Hells Gate gorge. Hundreds of Warthogs on the way as well as Giraffe, Gazelle, Zebra and Water Buffalo. 

[caption width="1920" align="alignnone"]Photo cred: Lyndon[/caption]

Did a 4 hour hike down into Hells Gate which was a pretty nice slot canyon. There was also a lot of geothermal vents pushing put some pretty hot water and a few shallow caves to explore. 1230 we started heading out of the canyon and it was a fairly hot climb. Not only the sun beating down but the steam and boiling water venting from the rocks.



The 8km back on the bikes seemed harder. While the elevation was pretty flat so were our tires. Old bikes and each of us having a slow leak making it take a bit of extra effort to get moving. Had a nice break when a herd of Springbok lept past in front of us. Long drive back to Narobi. At one point stuck behind a line of trucks and managed to cover 2km in about 30 min...

[caption width="960" align="alignnone"]Photo cred: Lyndon[/caption]

After we finally got back Lyndon took the opertunity to have a swim in the pool but I relaxed until dinner, some swanky Rooftop bar. Was relativly early night but I couldn't get to sleep until just after midnight. 

Down for breakfast at 630 so we could be ready for the transfer pickup at 7. At 715 with no-show we called and were promised 730. At 750 we finally got a shuttle to the bus to get us to Moshi, the base of Kilimanjaro. After a 2 hour ordeal to get through customs (Kenya's exit customs took just over half of that time) we were in Tanzania! 

The peak was totally obscured by clouds most of the trip but for a brief period the sky's opened to let us visualise the task were about to undertake. 



Got our introduction to Pristine travel when they picked us up at the bus stop and a brief run down on Moshi. Hit up the 'super'market for some snacks and off to dinner at a recommended place. Was dark as we walked back but sticking to the well lit street it didn't feel unsafe. Most of the market stalls were still there just packing up.

Able to sleep in a bit and have a nice relaxed breakfast in the morning. We were picked up at 9am to head up the mountain a little for a coffee tour and short hike out to a waterfall. 

The track up was similar to the easier sections of the CREB track in Cairns which seemed pretty fun in the back of a 4wd Van. About 3/4ths of the way up we got a flat so the village sent down two bikes to get us the rest of the way.



Very self sustained mountain village with lots of different food growing amoungst the coffee trees. We went through the manual process of picking, skinning, roasting and grinding our own beans and the coffee wasn't half bad. This particular coffee plant is only grown on Kilimanjaro. 



After our brew we headed off on the short hike to the waterfall, just over 4km return. Lots of bush tucker advice on the way learning the various trees that can have medicinal use and even stopping to pick some cherry guava. Beautiful tall falls with nice pool at the bottom so it was too hard to resist a swim. Surprisingly not as cold as expected.



Back to Moshi town late arvo to chill a little until dinner. Before that we had our mountain guides come over to do a pack shake down. All welcome advice, they know the conditions up there, my only change was warmer gloves. My mittens (that I've snow skied with) apparently aren't warm enough. They also suggested a second thermal top, as mine will be 'dirty' after a few days. They know not the ways of Hiker Trash.

Indian dinner tonight was fantastic, apparently these are 4th generation Indians brought here during British colonisation. On the way the clouds parted once more as if to beckon us towards the summit.  

Tomorrow we start the main event. Only a paltry 9km in distance, easy right? We'll see if I feel the same way after 1200m + of elevation gain starting at an altitude of 1840m...