Lushoto, Tanzania

Back on the mainland! After we left Zanzibar, we headed back to Dar es Salaam for a day, then took a bus up to the mountains in Northern Tanzania. We ended up in a small town called Lushoto, in the Usambara mountain range.

We had read that there was a lot of good hiking in the Lushoto area, and that's why we went there. Thanks to being in the mountains, Lushoto enjoys a quite cool climate despite it's proximity to the equator. That makes it much more pleasant to be outside all day, and with the mountains, there are numerous winding footpaths between the villages.

Our first day there, we signed up for a one day guided hike to a rainforest, farm, and lookout point for the next day. I requested a woman guide, as I felt like so many of the people we meet in the tourism industry here (and especially the street touts) seem to be men. So, I thought this would be a good opportunity to speak to a local woman and ask a lot of questions about life in the area. There was one woman guide available, and she turned out to be absolutely fantastic. She was very talkative, honest, and intelligent. The tourism office was sending her to university to get a degree in business so they could make their office locally sustainable (it had started with the help of a Dutch NGO). And the best part is, the tourism office is non-profit and donates all of their proceeds back to the community. So anyways, we were very happy with the whole situation. The hike started off very nice. It winded through green mountain hills and we encountered lots of locals going about their day and even the occasional monkey. The forest held a lot of dense vegetation and involved a somewhat more intense uphill hike.
Andrej in the forest.

We made it to the top around noon and we were both very tired. We rested there for a while and got the chance to enjoy a great view of all the surrounding mountains.
A view from the top.

Andrej and our guide, Mwisho going down the mountain.

We continued on to the farm (followed by school kids most of the way) where we had a wonderful organic lunch. However, we were very tired and ended up going back to our hotel after lunch.
The rest of the week in Lushoto was very low key. We enjoyed staying in a nice, lodge style hotel because it was the low season and we could get a very cheap room there. We even had our own fireplace! A lot of time was spent reading, wandering around the market in town, and exploring the mountain paths on our own.
One of the paths I found.
A view of the town.

We also enjoyed some very cheap local meals. My favorite was the pilau. A staple here is called ugali. Its a rather tasteless food, which I believe to be pounded and moist white rice in a giant ball. You eat it with a sauce or veggies. Andrej ordered it one night- it was alright, but not our favorite.
We went on one more tour while in town, this time by car. We went to a nearby waterfall and this time made it to the view point near the farm. The view point had magnificent views from the edge of the mountain range looking over cliffs and the plains below.
Us at the waterfall.
At the viewpoint looking over the cliffs and plains below.

After a week there, we got on the bus again and headed to Arusha, the largest city in Northern Tanzania. More to come soon on Arusha!