Weekend Away

We just got home a few hours ago from a weekend away at Kili Lodge, about 2900 metres up Mount Kilimanjaro. A group of 16 of us went up on Friday afternoon. The view from there was spectacular. Banana plantations and small farms dot the mountainside, and small villages with lots of local colour line the road from Rau. The lodge itself was pretty basic, and being literally in the clouds, quite damp. We went on a hike through the rain forest in the rain on Saturday after breakfast. The path was very muddy, which made the uphill trip a lot more fun — uphill is a lot more fun when you go “pole pole” - slowly slowly! The trail was slippery in places, and in other places sticky deep muck that you’d lose your shoe in if you weren’t careful. A couple of people on the trip had very worn out running shoes on, which made for some good laughs watching them slip and slide. The forest reminded us of hikes around Vancouver. Amazing how similar it was - lots more vines than at home, but aside from that it all looked familiar. We hiked for about 4 hours and came back to a good hot lunch. Saturday afternoon and night was a good time with drumming, singing Swahili songs and drinking beer. We woke on Sunday to hear the most bizarre story from the night. A group of 5 girls staying in the same room had a late night visitor who had apparently been told by “the ancestors” to visit their room and warn them of the vampires. Freaked them all out, and really put a damper on the already damp weekend. The story is longer than that of course, but suffice it to say, the trip ended a little earlier than we had anticipated!

We’ve been back long enough for Chris to do some laundry and wash our shoes…what a good guy. Big week ahead. First week for me at the school without the volunteers that have been there for 8 weeks.

I don’t have anything else to report at the moment, so I’ll sign off now. Hoping that all is very good at home. Missing you all.

xoxo
Paula

August 05 2007 03:20 pm | Tanzania

One Response to “Weekend Away”

  1. Jane Kean Says:
    August 5th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

    Hi Paula:
    Just read your latest updates. I enjoy them tremendously - keep them coming. What an amazing experience you are both having. Keep well and safe.

    Love
    Jane

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