Another day in Moshi

After returning from our overnight at the coffee farm where we learned about how coffee is grown & sold in the context of some issues facing farmers on Kilimanjaro, we returned to town and took an exploratory walk a little farther off the "tourist trail." We visited the disused train station and walked down the tracks quite a ways to get some views of the outskirts of town. 

We made some friends along the way:

I don't have any photos of the last part of our walk as we went through busy streets crowded with vendors and things were a little too chaotic!

Kilimanjaro coffee country

Yesterday we visited the coffee and banana fields on the slopes of Kilimanjaro at a place called Kahawa Shamba, literally "coffee farm." 

Here is a photo story of our day:

Breaking news-fire at Nairobi, Kenya airport

Hi everyone, this morning we awoke to news of a major fire at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in neighboring Kenya. 

At this point the cause of the fire remains undetermined and there are no reports of casualties. The State Department has not created any new travel alerts for Tanzania but we are monitoring the situation closely.  Here is a recent link to news about the fire: http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-fire-nairobi-airport-20130806,0,6431754.story

We are going camping today relatively far from major transportation infrastructure so for those concerned that this fire may be associated with terrorism, we will not be anywhere near those types of facilities.

Our best thoughts go out to those affected by the fire and we wish a rapid recovery to Kenya's airport and tourism industry.

A day in Moshi

This morning most of us were awakened by the special call to prayer for Ramadan, which was broadcast over a loudspeaker from 3:00 AM until 4:00 AM...given our existing jetlag, many of us never fell back to sleep. 

There's nothing like brisk exercise to start resetting the biological clock, though, so we went for a walk through Rau Forest, some of the last remaining lowland tropical forest surrounding Kilimanjaro. We were fortunate to spot Colobus and blue monkeys.

As well as get a taste of rural agricultural life:

We spent the afternoon visiting some local markets in Moshi not far from our hotel:

Now we're off to dinner, hopefully longer and sounder sleep for all tonight!

Our first night in Tanzania

Everyone has arrived safely and we are now in our Moshi hotel. A couple of us were exhausted and have gone to bed--the rest of us are relaxing at the hotel restaurant and are probably soon to bed too!

On our way

Everyone who is supposed to be here is here, on time and waiting for our flight. We'll catch up with Rosemary and Ariane at Amsterdam Schiphol airport before continuing on our direct flight to Kilimanjaro International. It's an almost 10 hour and then 8-1/2 hour flight with a short layover in between, so we're traveling close to a full 24-hour day before arriving in Kilimanjaro; of course counting travel time door-to-door many of us will be facing upwards of 30 hours of travel!

A few of our group, still smiling at the beginning of the journey

My lovely family came to the airport to say goodbye--I'll miss them terribly and hats off to my amazing wife who will care for the kids by herself for three weeks!

Two weeks until departure!

We are just two weeks away from departure (August 4) and while that may sound like a long time to some it will be upon us before we know it!

One of the things I encourage students to do in preparation is to start packing now to avoid some of the headaches of last minute packing and shopping. Three weeks in Tanzania is intimidating to some but the bottom line is that we figure out a way to make things work no matter what we've forgotten.

It's also time to pack our second checked bags as we have a two-bag allowance. The second bags are full of items we're donating to Kilimanjaro Porters' Assistance Project (KPAP) and Make a Difference Now!

If you would like to donate some items we'd welcome your participation; please contact me for a detailed list of items we're seeking for Make a Difference Now. 

For KPAP, any outdoor clothing that is still functional is welcome to clothe porters on the mountain, from old ski hats and gloves to long underwear to jackets. 

I'll do my best to figure out a time & place to meet you to pick it up so we can take it to Tanzania with us and put it to great use!

Asante sana (many thanks),

Tim and the rest of the WWU Tanzanian Environments group