Wed 7th. I thought it was going to be an easy morning getting to the dala stand to catch a dala to the airport for the 13:00 FlightLink to Arusha. But Mark told me his flight had been changed, then after a couple of phone calls I was told that mine had also been changed. It wasn’t too bad; we had time for the usual nice Aurelia breakfast and then caught a bajaj to the airport for the 11:00 (which left at 11:15) flight.
Great flight…only an hour and 5 minutes. Unfortunately too much cloud to see Kilimanjaro clearly. A snack of ice cream and energy bar for the 20 or so passengers. The luggage came out quickly at little Arusha airport. Mark decided to go straight through to Moshi by taxi, and I was dropped at the main road to catch a dala dala into Arusha City. It was a short walk to Williams Inn where I checked in for 25,000. Very basic breakfast at Williams, but filled a gap.
I contacted Terry and found him at Slope Bar. After a good catch up I went to Cold Pub….having a couple of samosas along the way…to meet up with Edgar. Only had one drink as Edgar wasn’t drinking and went back to meet Terry at Mrinas. He recounted an altercation earlier when he was he was head butted. Winnie came by and told Terry off big time for getting into an argument involving prostitutes. Terry and I went back to Slopes where I offered to buy the drinks. Winnie came by a bit later once she’d calmed down. I ended up buying a top for a young lady sitting opposite…not something I would normally do (maybe I was getting slightly drunk)…but she was very happy and it only cost me 4,000 (about £1.25). Then I went back to my room.
8th to 11th in Moshi. I had a good nights sleep. I saw Terry at breakfast. At 09:00 I left for the bus stand and by 09:30 I was on my way. It took just under 2 hours to Moshi in a big bus. The big buses like to get going again quickly if they happen to stop en route; unlike the dala dalas / coasters which are in no hurry. I walked straight to Kindoroko where Mark was still waiting for Stanley. I checked in and chose room 201, just for a change, instead of 204 overlooking the main road. 201 was a mistake as the fan wasn’t working and the bathroom was tiny.
We were on our way to Milan’s for masala chai, when Stanley caught up with us. A drink and a chat then I left them to go on a fact finding mission for Jennie in Auckland who’s coming to visit Tz / Ke in June. I wanted to see if a new and unfinished high rise block of flats really was directly in front of Kibo Palace hotel and blocking the view Kili…well not quite. And the place where Jennie said she was staying at instead…well, that was quite a long way from the town centre..30 mins walk. Those were my challenges for the day, and by the time I got to the Police Mess at 16:00 Mark was already waiting for me and I was feeling tired from my exertions. I went from there to Kaka’s and met my friends in the first floor bar before indulging in a delicious tandoori chicken. Had hoped to see some English football…which I couldn’t at Police Mess because of a big Tz match…but the good idea was thwarted by a power cut. We had a nightcap just before retiring to Kindoroko.
9th. After breakfast we went to find the old Greek Church which is now Baptist. From there we went to Aroma Coffee. Mark booked his ticket to Singida for Monday. I was transferred to room 102 which is fantastic. And the fact that it’s on the 1st floor means it has internet access. Later we stopped at the Police Mess before going on to Kaka’s.
10th. Good views of Kili again; nice and clear in the morning. Although, it was fairly clear throughout the day. Drew money out of the ATM at the second attempt. Had a coffee at Fresh and a chai with Mark at Milan’s. Very heavy downpour at about 15:00, but at least that was after I washed my shirt and got it virtually dry in the hot sun. I went to the Police Mess for drinks that Catherine kindly bought for me, and then went to Kaka’s for a combination of football and tandoori. Mark ate dinner near Kindoroko as he was too tired for the walk to Kaka’s. We still had a nightcap just around the corner from the hotel.
11th. Good Kili morning view. After breakfast we walked in the opposite direction to usual along what would normally be very busy streets, but as it was Sunday it was a bit quieter and more relaxing. I took some nice photos. We then walked the slightly downhill towards the Centre and stopped for a nice coffee at Fresh restaurant.
Mark was due to meet more friends so I went on a walkabout. I researched the 3 supermarkets by the Kilimanjaro roundabout for chevda, sun tan lotion and toothpaste. The newest supermarket was very smart; a bit like a Naivas. The second one hadn’t improved at all. The third one..Kilimanjaro was just the same as before…crammed with everything you might need. Was going to buy chevda from the latter at the price the assistant told me of 5,000, but when I went to the till it was 6,000…so I refused and walked out !! Even 5,000 was a bit much. Nobody had any sun tan lotion.
I checked where the Moshi Express left from, and the cost to Taveta. I utilised my wonderful shower in the room then went to Aroma. From there to Police Mess to meet Mark. And on to Kaka’s. Even Mark had to admit the tandoori is excellent, and the chicken so much better than that which he had a couple of nights previously. If I was staying in Moshi for a longer period of time I would probably try different eating venues, just to mix things up a bit.
Well, that was it for Moshi …our last night. Very enjoyable as usual.
The usual nightcap then to our rooms as Mark needed to be awake relatively early…before me…but I said I would accompany him to the bus stand.