Up into the mountains, to Lushoto

The next morning I was up at 5am to head to the bus station a little way out of town, and catch a bus up into the Usambara Mountains. Two guys from the hotel drove me to the bus station and helped me to find a bus... unfortunately we got there quite late and all of the tourist buses were full, so I ended up on a local bus. 

I say "unfortunately" but actually I was happy about it in the end. This place has been reminding me of India so it felt right that I should travel the same way I did there: in a dirty, smelly, beaten-up contraption, squashed in amongst the local people, but with a big smile on my face as I took it all in. The bus pulled over quite a few times and we were instantly surrounded by people banging on the windows thrusting various food products into our faces. This has happened in many countries I've visited but I don't think I've ever seen it quite like this - they were almost mauling the bus! Another sight was in the bus station, seeing women carrying big suitcases on their heads (no hands, of course)!

Finally after 8 hours we arrived in the little village of Lushoto, high up in the mountains. I was instantly taken with this place. It's a quaint little market town - very peaceful - and surrounded by beautiful countryside. And there were no other tourists in sight! Most people visit Tanzania to do a safari, and go to Zanzibar, and the Usambaras are just a little more off the beaten track. And I like that!

The village school in Lushoto

There's great hiking around these parts though, and as I got off the bus I was quickly surrounded by guides trying to tell me about their tour options. They were friendly and not too pushy though, so I didn't mind, and a couple of them walked me to my hotel. Later as I walked back into town to change some money, (no ATMs here so it was lucky I had a few US Dollars I could exchange!) I bumped into one of the guides again, Costantine. It turned out he worked for an agency which had been recommended to me by my French friends, Chloé and Jean-Sébastien (who I'd originally met in Ecuador and then met again in Australia and who had been in Tanzania a couple of weeks before I arrived!), so I decided to take him up on his offer of a guided hike the following morning. He also then offered to take me to a nice viewpoint just 5km away, for free, which I was happy to accept. On the way we crossed the football field where a match was on and many villagers had gathered to watch. Costantine told me that each team is made up of people who live on the same street and the prize for winning the tournament is one cow, which is shared by the families on that street!

Playing for a cow

As we walked out of the village and along the road I was again struck by how friendly the people were. Both women and men smiled warmly at me and said "Mambo?" as we passed. Children jumped up as they saw me coming and shouted "Jambo!" (hello!). There was one little boy in particular - he couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 years old. As I approached he called out "Jambo!" so I gave him a big smile and said "Jambo!" back. He instantly said "Jambo!" again as I walked past so I looked back at him and again replied "Jambo!". This was clearly a game to him as again he called out "Jambo!"... a little louder this time as we were getting further away. So I turned and waved at him and shouted "Jambo!". As I walked on and on I could still hear this little voice yelling "Jambo!" and of course I couldn't ignore it so I kept shouting "Jambo!" back as loudly as I could. About 10 minutes later the road looped around and I looked down and saw a tiny figure way below us, still jumping up and down and waving his arms in the air and I could hear this tiny voice calling out "JAMBO!". It really made me giggle and gave me a very warm feeling inside. 

When we got to the Irente Lookout the sun was setting and there was a beautiful view across the valley below. Costantine bought a banana beer for me to try... it tasted a bit like cider but was pretty strong! Then his cousin came and picked us up, so we didn't need to hike back in the dark! 

Sunset at the Irente Lookout

Costantine and the Banana Beer

The next morning I met up with Costantine again and after a quick cup of tea and a walk around the Lushoto Thursday morning market, we set off on our hike. I was made to feel very welcome again in the market, with everyone smiling and welcoming me, although many people weren't comfortable having their photo taken. 

Lushoto market

There was a minor incident when I inadvertently took a photo of the local police station as we walked past and a scary policeman came marching out and shouted at me to come inside and then started demanding to know why I was taking pictures of the police. I didn't feel too threatened really but it was still a relief when he eventually calmed down and let me go without trying to bribe or fine me!

Soon we were back on the trail! We walked up and up through little villages and beautiful farming country where they grow potatoes, beans, onions and fruits like avocado, mangoes and peaches. It was a really lovely walk. 

On the hike...

It was so green, with beautiful, colourful flowers everywhere

We (Costantine) also spotted two chameleons! 

Karma Chameleon

Eventually we left the farmland behind and walked up and through the Magamba rainforest, hoping to see some monkeys, but unfortunately they managed to elude us! 

In the Magamba rainforest

We stopped in the grounds of the local university for lunch and Costantine knocked up some delicious guacamole which we ate with fresh chapati from a small village we'd passed through. Then it was time to bid him farewell and hop onto another local bus...