Usambara Mountains
Friday, August 6th
A day off in Lushoto and a hike in the Usambara Mountains (40 miles biking)

"We're in the Usambara Mountains.
The bicycing is wonderful.
The scenery is dreamy.
The hotels are from fantastic to incredibly poor.
One night we're in a luxury suite the next - no water and cockroaches.
Power out in Lesotho this afternoon. Only 15 minutes to post this. Fast internet connection tonight is wonderful."

Ah, this is a very relaxing day. I'm feeling much better. Emanuel took us on a hike through small farms and up to a lookout over an incredible valley that stretches out flat to the horizon. This is a taste of what the Serengeti will look like. On the way up Brit and i helped one woman carry a 5-gallon bucket full of water for awhile and really got a feel for how heavy it actually is. I don't know how they do it. We enjoy a lunch of German homemade cheeses and brown bread at a tourist site close to the lookout. We visited Emmanuel's grandmother, Bibi, (53 years old??) and his 12-year old sister in their home. We were served chai and bread. Emmanuel's parents are dead, and he seems to be one of the sole providers for this family. He works on farms owned by relatives on both sides of his family. They grow coffee, bananas and veggies. Emmanuel has a heart of gold. I think that he works only for others. He is in his late 20's or early 30's with no prospect of getting married. We are so sad to hear his story. He's such a charming, quiet, easy-going person. On our hike we passed a mental facility, not open yet, an orphanage, and a school for the blind all funded by Christian missions. Shopping again in the market, i picked up avocados, papaya, and some cheese, brown bread, and dry fish for lunch tomorrow.
On returning to the hotel i discovered that i had totally forgotten about the date i'd set to meet Imelda. She had waited most of yesterday but we arrived too late, and we were supposed to meet at 5pm today, oops. I was so tired, but how can you say no to a teacher who has been waiting for you for two days? At 6pm (dinner is at 7pm) we took off in a rented car to visit Hallelujah School. Four boys, 7-12 years old sang songs for us. Chris W and Brit, and i taught them "Old McDonald! And "Head, Shoulders..." All the classes are taught in English and the kids live there. Of course they are looking for sponsors. Back for a late dinner and lights out rather late AGAIN.


Thursday, August 5th
Soni to Lushoto (40 miles biking)

Oh, we didn't want to leave this hotel this morning. Only small pieces of bread and papaya for breakfast this morning so once we rode down the dirt road and hit town Jerome had us stop for a second breakfast of beef soup with rice. And then we began our climb to Lushoto and the Usumbara mountains. The river we follow is lined with lush, terraced gardens. I notice that women are carrying buckets of water on their head to water these gardens. No pumps i guess. Gorgeous scenery calls for many stops to take more and more photos. Women with baskets their heads are walking to and from the market. Kids are running from everywhere yelling: "Jambo" and chasing after us. We had a long sleep last night, but i am still feeing a bit run down this afternoon. My left tonsil is swollen and i have a slight sore throat. We shopped at an outdoor market here in Lushoto and i bought some extra avocados, 20 cents, and passion fruit. I'm feeling depleted in vitamin C. We also meet a Masai medicine man and he mixes me up a concoction of herbs and bark to take to get rid of an intestinal problema.




Wednesday, August 4th
Finally biking: Korogwe to Mombo to Soni (about 40 mile bike ride)

We discover that Chris W. has never been bicycle touring before. He only has one pannier which really throws a bike off balance so we soon bungee cord the thing to his back rack. He is also riding in safari pants with lots of pockets loaded with cell phone etc. that probably are banging on his thighs and legs. He quickly figures out to empty the pockets. Ah, youth! Our first stop is Mombo. It's 20 miles of gorgeous rolling hills. We reach it by noon and no one wants to stop for the day. The hotel is poor here so it's a unanimous vote to move on. It's hot but lots of clouds and a nice tail wind blows us into Soni by 4pm. We've talked to Jerome and want to check the rooms before we say ok to a night's stay. Good grief - there aren't even enough beds for us at this hotel! We say "NO." Jerome makes a call and a motorcycle arrives to guide us to another hotel. Then a van shows up to pile in our bikes and packs to get us up a 1/2-mile dirt road. Chris P, Brit and i decide to ride it. Mangwe Farms is an oasis. Besides the hotel rooms there is tent camping overlooking a bird sanctuary and pond. The rooms are very nice. Jacki and I share a huge bed (bigger than king size). The hot shower is a real treat, gardens and flowers everywhere. A turkey in a cage gives us a song and dance. This place was built by the Germans and then abandoned after WWII. It was bought by a Swede who has put a lot of TLC into it. There are hikes that originate from here into the mountains. I wish we could stay for a few days and explore.

Food tidbit: Ugali is a thick, cream-of-wheat-texture carbo that is served in a bowl shaped mound. It reminds me of Italian polenta only it's white in color. You pick off a walnut size piece and roll it into a ball with your RIGHT HAND and dip it into a gravy of beef, chicken or veggies. Very delicious and great biking food.

So where is Korogwe?
Click here
Find DAR at the bottom of the map and follow the coastline north up past Zanzibar to Tanga. Then go inland just a bit and you will find Korogwe just below the Usambara mountains.




Tuesday, August 3rd
Ferry from Zanzibar to Dar Es Salaam (DAR) and a van ride to Korogwe
The ferry ride is so much different than the one i took a few days ago. This one takes twice as long - 3 hours - and is on rough seas. I stand on the back deck most of the time and try hard not to puke, not a pleasant experience.
The van in DAR that Jerome hires to take us to the Safari Inn turns out to be rented by a teacher who just dropped off a load of kids visiting Zanzibar for a few days. I had stashed my hiking gear at the Safari Inn rather than try to carry it all to Zanzibar. Emmanuel somehow will transport all our non-bicycling stuff to Moshi, our bicycling final destination, so that we don't have to carry it on our bikes. We are all piled into the van with all our luggage and bikes. After a brief discussion about unloading and reloading all this stuff back onto a crowded public bus we took a group vote and decided to spend a few extra bucks and just pay this gentleman to drive us to Korogwe. It sounded like a good idea at the time. After driving us halfway out of town so that we could eat lunch at his relative's restaurant, we then stopped to pick up a spare tire. Then we were off somewhere else to add oil to the van by pouring it into an upside down coke bottle and blowing into the bottle to push the oil up into the van. What is that about? Finally two hours later we are headed out of town only to stop within a 1/2 hour to fill up with gas. Then within another 1/2 hour we are watching while the back wheel is pulled and the sticky brake is unstuck. We're all getting a little skeptical about this ride but what can we do? We discover upon arriving at our really nice hotel that the reservations have been cancelled because we are so late. The 2nd best hotel is horrible with cockroaches and NO WATER. We are all happy despite this because tomorrow we actually get on the bikes. Yippee.