Defying gravity

After a few days of anxiously waiting for the planes to fly again because some volcano in Iceland decided to erupt, Kate arrived on schedule on Wednesday, April 21. The subsequent two weeks were spent traveling through northeastern Tanzania to Zanzibar. But first, of course, Kate had to learn all about coffee, since she is a barista traveling to an origin country. First stop on Thursday – Kahawa Shamba. It wasn’t much different from last time I was there – we even had the same guide – but we went to a different farm, brewed coffee through a sieve, and got to see a couple red cherries, though still not enough to pick and depulp. After returning from the farm tour, I showed Kate to KNCU and around town, stopping at the Coffee Shop and the market and running into many people I may or may not have known who wanted to talk to me. That night we made dinner and I introduced Kate to Konyagi (local gin) and Bitter Lemon, her new favorite soda.

Friday we headed out of Moshi (finally!) and into the Usambara Mountains. On the bus we sat next to a nice teacher from Lushoto, the town we were going to. In Lushoto we stayed at Muller’s Mountain Lodge, a nice German-run place where the only other guest was an American volunteer-teaching at the local university. We were very welcomed by the friendly staff. After dinner we played cards by the fire while our new friends Stephan and Ramadan watched curiously.


On Saturday we hiked to Irente Viewpoint, stopping en route at Irente Farm for a picnic lunch of farm-made cheese, quark, jam, and rye bread. Kate played with chameleons along the way. At the farm we read a bit about the history of coffee cultivation in the Usambaras. The Germans had tried to grow Coffea Liberica, without much luck, but there are still many coffee trees left in the area for me to have fun spotting and identifying. We spent another night at Muller’s.

On Sunday Mr. Muller dropped us off at the Cultural Tourism Office, where we arranged a guided overnight hike to Carter’s Point, where an American who liked paragliding had built a little cottage at a point at the edge of the mountains overlooking the plains and sisal plantations. After exploring the Lushoto market and eating lunch, we hiked out of town, through ridiculously steep farmland, and before long arrived at the point. After checking out the view, we napped, and then enjoyed a cup of tea on the porch of our hut as the sun set. After tea we enjoyed a warm shower in a place with no running water or electricity. Rustic luxury. Then we gazed at the stars while waiting for dinner. Unfortunately I was starting to feel ill, probably from something I ate at lunch or the tea water. Kate reports that the food on the top of the mountain was probably the best on the trip, but I only ate a few bites and then went to bed, while Kate stayed up talking to our guide and reading. I was sick in the night but by the morning I felt much better, though not completely. I managed to eat a chapati and drink some smokey water before we started our hike down the mountain. It had rained a bit in the night so the steep slopes we descended were slippery. I basically slid down the mountain. After hours of walking through beautiful farmland with friendly farmers we finally arrived in Mombo, the town on the main road where we’d be getting the bus. I’ve never been so grateful for flat land, or bottled water. Kate thought the hike was probably the highlight of the trip.