August 3, 2004 – Lemosho Team Arrives in Arusha

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Welcome to Tanzania

It’s the 23rd of August and I’m calling you from Arusha Tanzania and we are underway.  Last night Alex, Julie and Jim arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport.  Nicholas and his wife Angel met them and brought them into town.

TLocal market in Arushahis morning over breakfast we discussed our gear a bit and made some plans for packing but then we were too anxious to hit the streets of Arusha to spend much time organizing.  You know that we are at 4,500 feet (1,371m) above sea level here and we are on the slopes of Mount Meru which is 15,000 feet (4,570m) above sea level. Arusha is a fascinating mix of modern and traditional, there are modern buildings, busy traffic about town but also if you walk just a short distance away from any of the streets especially up towards Mount Meru you are in very traditional farming country [where] people live as they have always lived.

Visiting a traditional Arusha homeWe started by visiting some local markets and then we hiked up into the Mount Meru foothills through villages and visited farms.  We hiked on dusty trails, everyone felt happy to stretch their legs and by late morning we were at a high point above town where we had beautiful views back down to the city of Arusha and we also visited a traditional home of Arusha people who are native to this area.

Now we are back at the hotel relaxing and tomorrow morning we are off to begin our climb. We’ll report to you each day at a time, send back photos when we can.  Some days we’ll probably be sending voice dispatches and the photos will come a bit behind.  But we are very happy about being underway of our Lemosho traverse of Kilimanjaro.

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