Moshie below Kilimanjaro

We had a chance to get out into Moshi yesterday after our team meeting. The temptation was to stay close to home and pack and repack and then pack again. Our main bag can be no more than 15 Kg, so eventually I unloaded lots of stuff.

Shawn encouraged me to go into Moshi with the bus so I went – Shawn always gives good advice.

The town was amazing. It is large, bustling full of markets, people, and street vendors. We walked through the local market and it was beautiful. All sorts of smells and scents. Everything from small dried fish to the biggest avocadoes I have ever seen to live roosters and chickens, fresh meat on display, everything.

There is lots to see and learn in this place and it comes with the excitement of experiencing something entirely new, a different world.

There are so many stories here that we just don’t have the time to learn about.  The amazing woman, Zainabu Ansell, who runs this hotel and works with hundreds of porters to make sure they get a fair wage and that what they earn is not squandered.

Two young men who are running a small orphanage, taking little children off the streets of Moshi. This is a truly incredible story that I just started to learn about last night.

These stories are repeated all over the Global South, and for me it is important to dive back into the lives of these people and witness how they struggle to make lives better for themselves and their community.

I hope there will be more time later to learn more about the orphanage and perhaps meet Zainabu. But the wifi is crashing and it is time to head out.

6:00 AM in Moshi, off to Kilimanjaro.

 

 

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First stage on the way to Kilimanjaro

We are in Amsterdam! The first stage on our way to Kilimanjaro.

For the first time, our group is all together – 29 people collected in the waiting lounge waiting for the eight-hour flight that will bring us to Kilimanjaro.  Everyone is tired after the first flight, but excited to be one step closer to our objective.

It is great to meet people who we have only seen on the group website!  These are our climbing partners and the people we will all depend on for the next seven days.

We should all be exhausted – its 3:30 AM Ottawa time, but we are about to start something very special.

Also, the coffee in Holland is really good.

Next stop – Moshi and Kilimanjaro!