Tansania - Usambara Mountains

 My original plan to stick with Erik for the next days, which would have involved festive gatherings, celebrations and driving out in the Masai Mara Plains got canceled within the last second. Unfortunately there weren’t enough seats in the car for trip and I spontaneously decided to call Josef in the middle of the night to arrange a two day hiking trip to the western Usambara Mountains. I told Josef that I want to hike as much as possible with as much elevation changes as along the way.

The next morning we left at 9 a.m. for our hiking adventure. 

Josef the cameleon

What fascinated me the most right from the beginning to the end was the fact that all the trails were not quite frequented. The villagers use them mostly and I didn’t see one tourist for two days. The trails were mostly covered by thickets and bushes which made the whole experience more adventurous.

they always seem grumpy

After passing some amazing viewpoints along the way we reached some villages. At every village we immediately became the main attraction. The kids greeted us with a lot of “Jambo” (Hi in swaheli), often followed us until we left the village but mostly were to shy to engage with us. When we took a short break in the center of one village some of the kids summoned the courage to speak to us. In some villages close to bigger villages the kids often ask for sweets or your greeted by “picture picture”. It was quite different with those kids. They asked Josef why I traveled so far and couldn’t believe that I took an airplane to fly to their country.

Leaving the villages behind we entered the Magamba rain forest as our last part of day one. Despite we were followed quite a while by some farmers who wanted to show us their farms nothing much happened along the way. Usually right before sunset you can spot some of the famous black and white monkeys, which we were only able to see from the far.

the locals use the fruit of this plant for abortions

Buh

After walking for nearly 9 hours we finally reached Lusoki. In the only lodge in town they were obviously used of getting a lot of visitors and prepared an insane meal for the two of us. The place itself was a bit worn down but the hospitality was amazing.

The next day the police prepared some surprises along the roads and we had to take a moto-taxi to get close to Lushoto again. Our young, severe in love driver had a fable for the backstreet boys and we listened to “As long as you love me” in an endless loop until Josef put a stop to it after 20 minutes. Afterwards it was Mariah Carey for the rest of the drive.

Lukosi

As long as you love me ...

The second day was not as much fun as the first day due to the lack of adventure. The Kiasa waterfalls weren’t that impressive to me. I still have this overflow of waterfalls from the time I spend in New Zealand.

Farms to the left

Kiasa waterfalls

Close to Irente village we passed the third wedding that day. Whilst they were still in preparations at the other locations we finally passed an ongoing wedding. All the surrounding villagers were invited and the local DJ was warming up. With a lot of joy we were welcomed and invited to join. Everybody was dressed up in festive gowns, it was a huge gathering itself. I tried to blend in but this was literally impossible. I got some much attention that I decided that it would be best to continue our quest. This should be the day of the marrying couple and not of a random backpacker.

a small peak inside the wedding

We were already quite close to Irente village once again and after another amazing viewpoint Josef introduced me to his village on the way back.

As usual this one is for my Mum

Dog-face-viewpoint

 His wife Sara and Josef are the same age as I but our lives couldn’t be more different. His four year old daughter served us hot ginger tea and after we talked for a little while I went back to my the “Irente lodge” to pack my stuff. Josef was an amazing tour guide and we had a lot of fun together. I recommended him to a dutch travel mate I met on my safari who already send me greetings from the Usambara Mountains.

At the moment I am sitting in Sansibar and have only two days left before I take my return flight to Vienna. In my next posts I will write about my Safari experiences (Tarangire, Serengeti and Ungorogoro), my 6 day track to the Kilimanjaro and finally about Sansibar.

Until then, Quaheli

Vince