Tanzania: Part 1

Jambo from Tanzania! We have been really busy and having an amazing time in Tanzania so far. There's a lot to talk about so I think we'll do this in installments. Let me start by saying that I cannot think about this trip without a flood of superlatives coming to mind so prepare yourself to read about things that are the most, best, greatest, etc.

First, the flight to TZ. We got a good first-hand look at the security of the Burkina airport as we were leaving. We watched as every member of the flight crew set off the metal detector and kept walking without anyone so much as raising an eye. Then, all of the passengers are subjected to a very public patdown. When it was my turn, the lady grabs my money belt under my clothes and announces in two languages (in case anyone was confused) "money, ok": very discreet.

We had an overnight layover in Ethiopia and were pleasantly surprised to find that the airline had booked us at a local 4-star hotel where the employees were very eager to please and even more eager to apologize for anything. At one point, I had someone apologize to me as I was walking up the stairs. I am not sure what that was supposed to mean, perhaps it was "I am sorry that you are walking up these stairs instead of me carrying you." At any rate, it was more attention that we are used to or comfortable with.

We flew straight to Kilimanjaro airport, which was amazing because we got to fly right next to the summit on our way in. I was pretty intimidated by how huge it was; excited, but really intimidated. Our trekking company picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel in Moshi. It was pretty unbelievable that we were going to be picked up at 7am the next morning to start the climb. It felt like it was coming too fast. We spent the few hours left of the afternoon walking around Moshi, buying altitude sickness medicine, and staring at the mountain towering over us. Our first impressions of Tanzania, it is beautiful. It is so green here I can't believe it. I got really jealous walking through their fruit and vegetable market. It's been hard for us to adjust to everyone speaking English here. We keep answering people in French out of habit.

Coming up...the climb