Mount Kilimanjaro Weekend - Leah

So the clouds never cleared enough to see the 'Roof of Africa' but we had an amazing weekend!  James (our official tour guide, bus driver, chaeffeur, babysitter, big brother, coordinator) picked us up and first thing decided we needed lunch before hitting the road.  He took us to a really nice area in Arusha we hadn't seen yet.  He was very surprised that we hadn't been there.  I reminded him that honestly other than the grocery store and church twice that we had only been on the road to the office, then school then back home.  Lunch was wonderful.  It was a buffet type.  Had a lot of different African dishes and lots of fresh fruit.  Elizabeth did a great job of trying new things.  We had a lot of fun.

After lunch we headed to Moshi.  It is a direct shot down highway 002 to get  there but James made a turn off and took us to some beautiful areas.  I couldn't get over how much green there was.  He went way down into a valley and I was afraid that our car wouldn't make it back up.

When we got to Moshi we went to our hotel.  We stayed at the Uhuru Lutheren Conference Center.  It was beautiful.  Amazing green gardens, beautiful flowers, and very clean (that is something that is hard for me here, there is a lot of dirt and litter).  Our room had 2 beds, each with mosquito netting, a tv with an English station and a shower with HOT water!!!  It was a very luxurious win for us.  

E found a playground to play on.

Amazing flowers

E liked her mosquito netting!

Splits on the wall.

We wern't told that our room slept 3!

The view off our balcony - Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background but too cloudy to really see it.

Veg time on the balcony

Yes, that is a field of corn.  Lots of corn around here.

We went to dinner at the Bamboo BBQ.  It was great to eat something different.  I haven't posted much about food but dinner is pretty much the same thing most nights.  

One of the salads we had - so good!!!

Elizabeth and James

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Drinking Ginger tea (looks like beer, but it isn't)

The next morning we had a nice breakfast and went off exploring.  We found a guide that took us to one of the entrances to the Mountain and we walked to a waterfall. On the drive back form the waterfall we almost didn't make it up one of the hills.  

Walking a path to the falls.

At the water falls with our guide.

Information about the park, the tour guide cut the sign off.

At the entrance to the climb!

Bananas everywhere!

On the way home James drove us through Moshi proper.  It is a pretty big city.  He showed us the old train station and we go to see some of the sites.  We headed home after that and stopped along side the road for some fresh vegetables.  

All the vegetables are always arranged so nicely.

This weekend was just what the doctor ordered.  Was a great break from the day to day waiting and sitting around.  Can't wait for our next outing.