Moraivo Plantation

We have finally arrived in Kilimanjaro!  This humongous plane arrives at this tiny little airport. I was so

excited to finally be in Africa. There might’ve been a tear or two from being overwhelmed. Finally, a lifelong dream coming true.

 We arrived this morning at about 730.  The airport is very small, there’s a one large room, one bathroom and that’s it. When you arrive, you line up outside, they take your temperature and you move inside.  In the large room, it’s loud as everyone is talking- there’s a guard who asks to see your visa. He ruffles through your papers, hands them back to you and says “sign here date here”.  Afterwards you go in a line and wait to see the officer to get your passport stamped and your visa verified. 

Once that chaos was over, you moved onto the next step: the belt to hopefully get your luggage.  That was fairly easy as there’s one airplane, one belt. We were all very happy to see all our bags made it to Tanzania!. Once we had our bags, we had to move onto the next step, which was to place our bags on another belt to go through the security. Lord only knows why you would do this when you arrive in a country, but we did so and moved on outside.

We were met by Jerry, our guide for the climb. From there, they loaded our bags on the roof of the bus that was to carry us to our hotel. We climbed on the bus and off we went. Let’s just say that it was a very interesting 45 to 1 hour ride. First off, they drive on the wrong side of the road. I was sitting behind the driver so I could see everything that was going on ahead. There are motorcycles, buses, not many cars, people walking along the road there is people everywhere. Goats, chickens, cows, people, more people! We pass buses, we pass these little tuktuks, full of hay and every time it’s a bit of a harrowing experience.  We got a first good look at Tanzania: tin homes, “mud homes”, no doors on many home, only a curtain. 

Our “resort” is just lovely. It’s a coffee plantation.  there are about 30 little cabins and it’s just beautiful, our bed has a net around it to protect us from the mosquitoes. The grounds are absolutely breathtaking. Vegetation, birds, monkeys, bush, babies, beautiful flowers, beautiful plants, interesting insects as well. 

Remi and I went for a walk in the morning while everybody else went for a shower and a nap. Some people slept till 3 o’clock in the afternoon if you can believe it. We enjoyed a beautiful walk on the trails around the plantation we took our time, and saw so many beautiful things.

The day was just a lazy day of relaxation and enjoyment. Later in the afternoon, the owner of the resort, came to our group and asked to see Rémi Roy. A little worried and he says that’s me. The man proceeds to tell us his passport is at the airport!  Rémi didn’t even know he didn’t have it! We are not sure how this happened but we are very thankful that whoever found was honest and handed it in. That airport was so chaotic I’m surprised it was even found! 

A group member was arriving tonight, the aiport personnel let them bring the passport to us. Happy we didn’t have to do that interesting ride again… although I wouldn’t have minded much as that’s the best way to experience things. 

Lunch was between spaghetti or fish. We went with spaghetti. We had a lovely dinner- buffet style. There was soup, saffon rice, wedges, different massalas, chicken, desserts. It was delicious!  

So far, it’s a very friendly place and people.  Everyone seems genuinely happy to see you and want to to help you.  My best example is my search to find a monkey. Walking along one of the trails I saw a young man dressed in green. I’m told he was sort of like security.  I asked him if there were monkeys. He responded yeah yeah and off we went on a monkey search. We looked and looked and couldn’t find one but all of a sudden he found a bush baby. A bush baby is sort of like a flying squirrel except it’s bigger and it has humongous eyes. I was so excited to see this bush baby. Another fellow joined us, and we kept looking for monkeys but did not find any. One of the guys who was dressed in a beige outfit, took us with him to find monkeys and we did find a whole group of them, vervet monkeys. That has to be the highlight of today seeing these monkeys having so much fun up in the trees looking at you, right in your eyes, as it was eating. They are very curious! These little creatures just want to see you.  By the time I got back to my room, the monkeys had made their way to the bamboo behind it. These folks were just so happy to be able to help me find what I was looking for.

I can’t explain how blessed and lucky I feel to be here. I absolutely have white privilege. That is neither good or bad. As a white person, I can’t deny this simple fact. 

Weather: mostly cloudy, 20°C - sun came out at around 4pm and warmed us up. 

New food: baobab juice 

People: Jerry the guide, Sara the guide’s boss, Victor the monkey man

Something that scared me:

Something that surprised me:  it’s cold- locals are wearing jackets and hats. 

Birds  today: beautiful sunbird, peregrine falcon, other unknown birds

Wildlife: bush babies, vervet monkeys. 

Plants: poinsettia (who knew they grew in Africa)

Places: plantation 

Swahili words that I remember:

•  1- moja 
• hello - jambo
  
• Thank you - asante
• Very much- sana
• 8- nane
• You are welcome- caribou