Exploring and first impressions

Touching down on the runway of Dar es Salaam airport on Wednesday afternoon marked the 6th continent that I’ve visited. Last one on the to-do list is Antarctica. For now, my focus is on Africa. And wow; Dar Es Salaam airport definitely qualifies for full blown mayhem. Bags made it and I quickly navigated my way to the departure area to check in for my local flight on Tanzania’s low cost carrier, Fastjet. $50 for a one way flight to Kilimanjaro, not bad.

Upon arrival in Kilimanjaro airport we were greeted by a beautiful sunset with Mount Kilimanjaro in the background. Bizarre to be on the open African Savannah with a big mountain at almost 20,000 ft altitude covered in snow.

Met the owner of the tour company who spent a few minutes talking to us about the charities that she supports. Ranging from a fully supported orphanage, to a porters association, to a school. In the area where I will go on a safari next week she told us of an issue where the local kids stopped taking the long walk to school as several kids were attacked, and eaten, by lions en route to school. Our tour company has now successful opened a school in the local village. And here I have been complaining that as a kid I had to cross country ski to the school bus in the winter months in Denmark.

Thursday was spent relaxing after a 3 day journey here and also exploring the local market and town. I’m sure that the locals would be as mind blown as I was if they went to see what we would consider the market. But the town of Moshi definitely has an interesting market. Ate a local lunch and headed back to the hotel to pack gear for Friday’s start of the 7 day hike up Kilimanjaro. Also met the guide that will assist us in attempting to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro at 19,341 ft (5,895 m). Some of the hikers we’ve met so far have described freezing cold conditions at the top somewhere in the vicinity of -20 fahrenheit (-28 celsius) and windy.

Here’s to hitting the summit of the world’s highest free standing mountain and the peak of Africa. No updates for the next week. For now, enjoy some pictures from the local Moshi Town market.
Lala salama / Good night in Swahili