2 June, Thursday Moshi to Usumbara mountains
We get travel weary quickly these days and I now understand why
overlanders would say they took a week or 2 vacation: stay put in one place and
regroup. One would not think it, but this does tire you in an interesting way.
After 2 hours drive Willie starts to look for a place to camp. We have a
waypoint of a camp which, apparently, has a stunning view.
We stop at Mombo, the last town before you drive into the
mountains or shall I rather say, we are stopped by street vendors whose shop is
on top of their heads…big round baskets filled with anything you can think of:
chips, sodas, water, chocolate, gum, tissues, samoosas, sausages, roasted corn
on the cob, small donuts, peanuts, cashews…They are accompanied by shrewd stall
salesmen who want to lure you to their little restaurant or food place.
Everyone has a wonderful plan for my life and I lose my thinking processes as I
am being barraged by their incessant talking trying to convince me that their
product is the best. I, inevitably, go with the smoothest of the talkers, spend
too much money (although he assures me that is not the case) and end up deathly
tired back in the car. Hugo usually goes with me and he, on the other hand,
loves to negotiate and barter with a big smile and loud voice without getting
angry or tired. I think I am stocked up for a meal for the
evening.
We drive on a narrow, windy road which twists and curves higher
and higher into the mountain through lush, green and dense vegetation and trees.
Our aim is Irente Mountain View Hotel – built on a cliff with decidedly the most
unbelievable panoramic view I’ve ever encountered. Standing on the ledge and
overlooking the world below gives a surreal feeling – an outsider looking in on
a world that has grown distant and silent and small. I feel her breath on my
skin as she sighs and I wonder if this is an inkling of God’s perspective of an
unseen and unknown universe out there…?
We pitch camp in the parking lot of a hotel with no guests…We are
told it is low season and the quiet time of the year, but it is weird to see a
big complex so empty. The hotel is 150 meters away from a small village that
boasts, without a doubt, with the noisiest, hair salon in Tanzania: loud,
ear-piercing, thumping music pumps out of that small building to cover the
surrounding area like dripping icing on a cake. My theory is that you do not
need scissors for a haircut – the pitch and sound level make your hair fall out
spontaneously!
Willie, Sammie and I walk to a viewpoint to watch the sunset. The
ledge with no barrier has a sheer drop and the dizzying height makes me feel a
little sick to my stomach. The view is breathtakingly spectacular as the sun
changes into different colored robes behind the cloud
curtains.
We get travel weary quickly these days and I now understand why
overlanders would say they took a week or 2 vacation: stay put in one place and
regroup. One would not think it, but this does tire you in an interesting way.
After 2 hours drive Willie starts to look for a place to camp. We have a
waypoint of a camp which, apparently, has a stunning view.
We stop at Mombo, the last town before you drive into the
mountains or shall I rather say, we are stopped by street vendors whose shop is
on top of their heads…big round baskets filled with anything you can think of:
chips, sodas, water, chocolate, gum, tissues, samoosas, sausages, roasted corn
on the cob, small donuts, peanuts, cashews…They are accompanied by shrewd stall
salesmen who want to lure you to their little restaurant or food place.
Everyone has a wonderful plan for my life and I lose my thinking processes as I
am being barraged by their incessant talking trying to convince me that their
product is the best. I, inevitably, go with the smoothest of the talkers, spend
too much money (although he assures me that is not the case) and end up deathly
tired back in the car. Hugo usually goes with me and he, on the other hand,
loves to negotiate and barter with a big smile and loud voice without getting
angry or tired. I think I am stocked up for a meal for the
evening.
We drive on a narrow, windy road which twists and curves higher
and higher into the mountain through lush, green and dense vegetation and trees.
Our aim is Irente Mountain View Hotel – built on a cliff with decidedly the most
unbelievable panoramic view I’ve ever encountered. Standing on the ledge and
overlooking the world below gives a surreal feeling – an outsider looking in on
a world that has grown distant and silent and small. I feel her breath on my
skin as she sighs and I wonder if this is an inkling of God’s perspective of an
unseen and unknown universe out there…?
We pitch camp in the parking lot of a hotel with no guests…We are
told it is low season and the quiet time of the year, but it is weird to see a
big complex so empty. The hotel is 150 meters away from a small village that
boasts, without a doubt, with the noisiest, hair salon in Tanzania: loud,
ear-piercing, thumping music pumps out of that small building to cover the
surrounding area like dripping icing on a cake. My theory is that you do not
need scissors for a haircut – the pitch and sound level make your hair fall out
spontaneously!
Willie, Sammie and I walk to a viewpoint to watch the sunset. The
ledge with no barrier has a sheer drop and the dizzying height makes me feel a
little sick to my stomach. The view is breathtakingly spectacular as the sun
changes into different colored robes behind the cloud
curtains.
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