Sometimes being a tourist can pay off

This is from Saturday August 30th, 2008 (blogs might not be in exact order)


My plan this morning was to take a relaxing trip into the centre of Moshi and explore the streets, shops and enjoy the nice sunny day. I left the lodge just after 10am and walked down the bumpy red dirt road which I knew would lead me to the main road, even if it did seem like I was back tracking slightly.

Turning the corner by the Toyota factory (Rajinder's - I think they manufacture Toyota breaks or something) I came across two young girls, probably around 13 or 14. They came right over to me "Jambo" I replied "Jambo". Then they asked my name and look surprised when I asked theirs and said it was nice to meet them. They wished me well on my walk and I was on my way. At this point in my day I thought "wow what a great story to write about later, how interesting and great it is that people on the streets are so welcoming". Little did I know how the rest of my day would go.

The walk to the side of the centre of Moshi closest to where I am staying is approximately 1km, depending on the book you read. Along that part of the road I must have had at least 20 people say Hi, Habari, Jambo or Mambo. One guy even stopped his car and asked if I wanted a ride. Yes, slightly creepy, but very kind!

There are 2 main round-a-bouts that I have come across in the centre, the closest is the Askari monument in the middle and the YMCA in the north east corner, the other is the clock tower which is the main centre surrounded by the postoffice, banks, hotels and places to eat etc. When I reached the Askari round-a-bout I noticed that the sun capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro was showing. After careful debate in my head I decided there were many people around and it was midday so why not snap a few photos? Just as I was about to pull my camera out a young man came over to me and asked if I was heading into the centre. I said that I was, and he offered to walk with me. I told him that was very nice of him but I wanted to stop and take a photo of the mountain first from the other side of the road and he didn't need to wait for me.

Not only did he wait for me and explain that I did not need to worry about people and having my camera out, but after asking how long I have been in town, he offered to show me how to get wherever I needed to go. At this point my spidey senses were telling me that perhaps this wasn't the best idea, and I really just wanted to walk around anyway, no real agenda.

As I continued into town he walked beside me and we began chatting. Mwono, is a mountain guide for most of the year and during the off season he works various tourism related jobs, such as bringing carvings from the villages into town to sell, walks to the local waterfalls and bird watching tours. He gave me his card and said I should call sometime if I was interested in any of his ventures. Not one to turn away information about tours I thanked him for the card and tucked it away into my bag. By this point we had reached the clocktower and he inquired about what I had planned to do for the day. Perhaps I am too honest but I told him that all I really wanted to do was walk down to the market and look around along the way. He pointed his finger to market street and asked if he could walk me there. By this point I figured that company is not always easy to find when you are new to an area (or country in this case) so I accepted his offer.

I soon learned that Mwono is from the Chagga tribe and grew up in Marangu with his grandmother, after his mother moved to the coast. His father has 4 wives and upwards of 20 children. Mwono has never lived with his father but now heads to the coast in the off season when he can to live with his mother.

Along the way we were stopped by a parade of men and women dressed mostly in green with some yellow carrying signs and photos of the Prime Minister. Occasionally, people head to the streets in parade to show respect for something that the government has done and from what I have gathered he has distributed some of the money the government has to more people. (feel free to email me if you hear different, I have limited access to the media and up to date news in English!)

The market was quite a way up the street. On my map it shows 7 blocks from the clock tower to the market, but these are not evenly spaced blocks. The streets were filled with so many people and along the way various different types of music could be heard. The main market is called the Mzungu market because many of the foreigners can usually be found there. I didn't see any. Mwono wanted to show me the hanging beef, I am not exactly sure why, but there was a whole row of stalls with just slabs of meat hanging and people cutting off pieces an weighing them before putting them in small plastic bags. Good thing I am not a big meat eater. Mwono encouraged me to take a photo when I said that in Canada, hanging meat in a market is not exactly common, but when I took my camera out one of the men at the stalls shouted "no photo". I said that was fine and put my camera away, but Mwono was convinced that this was very rude and he was a mean man to say no to a photo. I don't like having my picture taken by strangers, so I really have no problem with him saying no to me!

The next part of the market had fish, mostly looked dried, then a large area of grains and spices beside some souvenir type stalls. I told one man that I would like to look but will be here for a while so I won't be buying anything too soon. I think he understood. Behind the market outside were many people with vegetables and fruit. Mwono explained that to have an area to sell items at the market you must have a license and there are different costs based on the size of the area you want to sell in. By this point in the day it was getting very hot and I was starting to become suspicious of Mwono and whether he was giving me a tour which would end in him asking for money. I was very open to giving him something because he seems very educated about his country and Moshi and has excellent English, which meant I was definitely learning from him, but also didn't want to be surprised at the end and disappointed that his company was solely for profit.

However, I didn't really know where else I wanted to go and had only been in town for less than an hour. Off we went to the Swahili market, where prices are cheaper and the locals are more likely to shop. Mwono warned me that it is not always safe to go to this market alone as a foreigner but after I am here for a while I may feel I know the town better and more people will know me so it will be safer. I did not feel unsafe today, but I was also with a local.

We walked through the market and then down one of the main streets which lead to an industrial area which, for some odd reason, contains Moshi's newest night club. The road leads to a path which only meters from the road were bubbling springs. Various pools of water bubbling out of the top one and trickling down to a second pool. There is no river or stream the main pool is attached to, but all the water comes from below. Pays off to have a random guide!

Walking up the path from the water were a few men sitting on blankets with small man made covers. Mwono insisted we go over and see what they were doing. The men had returned from the east with wood and were carving various images and animals from what they had brought back. They were all very friendly and showed off their work without trying to sell it. One man made a beautiful rhino out of rosewood, which was a combination of a brilliant red and deep cherry colour. I later learned that the brillian red was most likely painted to cover the lighter colour which grows around the deep cherry centre of the tree. I had never seen anything like it before.

Back over the train tracks we went to go back into the main part of town. By this point I was very hot and getting tired so I told Mwono that I also wanted to spend some time in an internet café, thinking this was his out to go do whatever he originally had planned, and I could get some downtime to figure out what to do with the rest of my day (I also wanted to go on the internet!). He guided me to the Buffalo Internet café, and said he was going to visit friends but would probably be back later.

One hour of internet time at Buffalo cost me 1000 shillings ($1) = $1.00 worth the walk into town! And while I was waiting for the sometimes slow internet to load, the man beside me told me all about his safari business and was very excited that I am a 'volunteer'. He said he gives discounts for volunteers and even gave me one of his cards and printed a flier of his to give to me. $280 for 2 days, to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater (meals and camping equipment included). Something to think about, but I would like to explore the other options first. There were also many tourists that came into the internet café while I was there, definitely 3 were American, based on their accents and what I overheard about their parties back home and the time difference between here and back home (east coasters). However, most appeared to be just stopping through because they had safari vehicles waiting outside.

After my hour of internet had ended, or in my mind, my hour of time sitting under a fan inside, I went outside and quickly ran into Mwono. I told him I was thinking of grabbing some food, but wasn't sure what I wanted but that I did want bread to take home. Off we went to the Kilimanjaro supermarket. Super market, or just food store might be a better way to describe it. Very small with limited choices of everything. I managed to find bread, peanut butter and 2 bottles of 1.5L water for 4,400 TZS (~= $4.00)while a girl followed me around and took whatever I picked up to take to the cash. I was wondering what would happen if I just started randomly picking things up that I didn’t want, just to look at them, would she be taking everything? And was it normal for her to be taking my things at all? Or only because I am a mzungu? The cash was also interesting because the woman there put the items into the cash register then decided it was wrong and re-added everything up on a calculator which reduced the cost by 100 shillings. Never hurts to save 10cents here and there!

Mwono was waiting outside and asked if wanted a snack for now as well. Since it was still very hot and I was avoiding the walk home, and I had not eaten since breakfast, I thought food sounded good. We walked down another road then cut across the Coffee Tree hotel which has many shops in the bottom then went into Chrisburgers. I ordered a chicken burger and water and Mwono got a coke. Our total bill was probably around $2.50. I am sure at some point I will stop putting down the cost of things, but I write them down so I will remember later, and to become accustomed to the costs of living here.

It was still hot out but I couldn't think of anything else to do in town and I was getting tired. Mwono was great about sharing information about Moshi, Tanzania and his own life throughout our travels and I was ready for some time to digest all the information, and perhaps have a nice afternoon nap. He showed me an alternative route back to the lodge which I suspected existed but didn't want to try out on my own. It felt like it was taking a long time but then out of nowhere, I was home! Just before we parted at the last cut off before my road, Mwono offered to take me on a tour to his village Marangu or to see the waterfalls (or up Kili if I were to decide to do that), and I said I would text him at some point to keep in touch. He shook my hand, ensured that I knew his name and he was saying mine correctly and he headed off back to his uncles house on the other side of the river.

I was very excited to return to my room at the lodge. I immediately changed into cooler clothes (had to have my knees and shoulders covered in town), put the fan on high and crawled onto my bed. The rest of the afternoon I enjoyed reading my John Grisham, looking at maps of where I had been and where I still want to go and dozing on and off.

At one point I decided to wander outside and see what was going on. I took some photos around the lodge and ran into Tim, Corey's dad and Lyn's husband. He had just returned from Nairobi and was tired so I left him to rest but it was nice to finally meet him. Then I was summoned into the main reception which scared me because I have not yet paid or settled the cost of staying here (Lyn only told me that she was told around 15,000TZS/night) but the woman that owns the place, she is called Mama (name to be remembered and filled in later), wanted to introduce herself, as she has been away since just before I arrived. She was very nice and let me know I am very welcome. Karibu sana.

Finally around 6:30 I decided if I didn't eat dinner soon, then I probably wouldn't eat until morning. Feeling reluctant to spend time with the people I could hear chatting in the dining room because I was tired and relaxed, I hesitated but then choose a chef over my peanut butter sandwich.

I was sitting enjoying a diet coke after ordering my beef stew, when Denis, who also lives here joined me at my table. We chatted a bit while watching the TV (I watched, he watched and understood what they were saying) and he offered to take me for a walk in the area tomorrow. My feet were not impressed. While my sister's Teva's are very comfortable, they also seem to have created some strategically placed blisters on my left heal. I could wear my flip flops but I'm not sure what he meant by a walk. Perhaps I will put my hikers on just to be sure. I really have no other plans so why not take advantage of another kind Tanzanian. Denis is staying here while he works in town and is somehow related to the owners of the lodge. He grew up in Dar es Salaam but is living here now and plans on finishing his schooling in finance and one day wants to do his masters in the UK.

Some other random facts:

· There is a crater up near the summit of Kili where large amounts of sulfur are emitted which causes some people to become "crazy" when exposed for long periods of time. Climbers often have drugs to prevent the effects of the sulfur but the guides cannot afford these drugs or do not have access to them, so climbing in this area can become hazardous for the guides when climbers insist on spending more time in the crater than is recommended.
· Tosha means "enough", I hear many people saying this into their cell phones for some reason
· When I plug my computer in to charge I can feel my arm getting prickly when it gets too close to the plug, also when I type while it is charging my body feels different, I'm not sure what this means, but perhaps an engineer reading this can explain before I get some sort of electrical poisoning.