Still dreaming of wildlife, we have little to do today but book our hotel in Zanzibar and start thinking about Chile. It's our last day in Moshi and finally the Kilimanjaro shed its cloud cover!!!
With all the Kili climbing, safari business and much needed rest, we've been in Moshi for close to two weeks...
We used the road system quite a lot in Tanzania to go to Mwanza, Kigoma and back and we were far from impressed. Now we understand where all the road money goes... it's between Arusha and the nearby parks! It's so great to cruise on a beautiful asphalt road. We enjoy it while it lasts ;) It's very clear we're on the tourist track because every stop, street vendors rush to the car to sell us stuff. We've got quite a bit of driving today on our way to Serengeti and we have to pass by Ngorongoro crater.
We visit a few safari companies with Andreas and find something leaving 2 days from now. The rest of the day is entirely dedicated to chilling :D
Now that the safari business is settled, we can plan Zanzibar. In between power cuts we look for places to stay over there. The electricity problem in Moshi is another scandalous thing.
The night was very cold again, it's tough to get out of bed. The sea of clouds is back this morning. The Kilimanjaro is basking in the morning sun and Mount Meru is a huge black mass like an island clearly visible in the sea of clouds. One could get use to such grandiose sights in the morning ;) We leave camp at 9am. It's a very short hike today which is fine since we'll leave around midnight for the summit. We're walking in a rocky desert. It's monotonous and a bit boring to be honest. Snow is falling when we arrive at Barafu camp. It took us 2h15 to cover the 4km (7180 steps). As suspected, this camp is at the advertised altitude (4670m) so we'll gain twice as much as what's recommended :/ Some people are coming down from the summit, it must have taken them about 12 hours for the round trip but they look okay.
It all started with a frantic prep. Climbing that mountain requires a big organization. We'll have a crew of 19 for the 5 of us and everything has to be carried with us (tents, food, cooking stuff, …). Obviously the guys are used to it but still it looks a bit hectic. We all board what could be a school bus and are on our way. The ambiance is great in the bus, probably not unlike what you can have in a merry school bus :D The only problem we have is with the music... Celine Dion again! They need music therapy to get over that!!!
Mosquitoes were hungry in Kigoma and we leave them behind happily. Instead of a sandwich, we try the salad for the lunchbox; cutting empty plastic bottle and using them as container (the cut head upside down to close it). This time we accept the wrapping and ask for 2 plastic bags to maximize the protection... we'll see in Mwanza :/ The bus station is much smaller here and much quieter. For no clear reason though, they're blasting some Celine Dion at 5am... wtf is wrong with them! And it's not just one song but they seem to be playing all the greatest hits. Torture!
The chimps are waiting! We get up at 5 and get in the boat. It's very dark and turns pitch black when we leave the bay of Kigoma and its lights. We have the endless lake on one side and the mountains standing out against the star files sky. Then gradually dawn comes. It's far from yesterday's display because we're hugging the shore. It takes much less than the 3 hours we were told yesterday (good surprise). We're even too early at the park. They offer us coffee while waiting for the guy is charge of tickets to get ready. All buildings in the park have wire netting on all windows and all the doors must be kept shut.
Since there's so much you can do remotely, we keep our good habit of spending the first few days organizing the practicalities of our visit of Tanzania. We were thinking of taking the 2-3 days train to Kigoma but of course it's not possible to book train tickets online and we understand better why when we see the railway station. It probably hasn't change since the British kicked the Germans out.