Tanzania Entry 6

Joyce

Saturday morning we packed up, bid Ibra good bye and the driver took us to the “Luxury” bus to Lushoto we thought we had tickets on. As in Alice’s Wonderland, nothing is as you think it will be. Fortunately it was a rather cool day and the sky was overcast because we were packed in like sardines for the 7 hour trip that was suppose to take 5.

The “express” bus stopped 6 times to take on vendors to sell snacks. The last 20 K the express bus turned into a city bus. We were picked up in town by the Lodge driver, loaded up and started up the hill. Uh-oh, a rather large delivery truck was hung up on a concrete bank blocking the road to the hotel. A crowd gathered and soon the driver had plenty of advice and support from the community. The truck was unloaded, a wrench was rounded up and with much cranking, pushing, yelling and laughing the truck got unstuck and off to one side to be reloaded.

We treated ourselves to a lovely mountain lodge which had beautiful gardens and mountain view. William, the manager, got us settled in. When we told him we wanted to walk into town. He insisted that he send someone with us to show us the short cut. He enlisted the gardener, poor man, for the job so off we went. We got squared away for a hike to the rain forest on Sunday then walked back to the lodge for a beer and the most fabulous meal ever. The mountain air is fresh. It’s cool and peaceful here. What a treat! I snuggled under the covers and slept like a baby.

Guess what? It rains in the rainforest! We hiked for 18 K up the mountain and through the rainforest in the rain. It was the most dense forest I have ever experienced but very calm and peaceful. We scared a pair of Cobules (sp?) monkeys and caught a glimpse of them high in the tree tops – very cool! We stopped here to send messages then headed back up the hill for a hot shower and dry clothes. Guess what??? We have scheduled massages before dinner! A totally self indulgent day.

The ground is composed of red clay – very pretty. The scenery is somewhat like PEI with the red soil and green vegetation. Only the one main road is paved and the road and paths can get pretty slippery. We are very proud of ourselves for not having landed on our butts.

Joyce