Last post I mentioned that while I volunteered in Tanzania I had the opportunity to take “weekend” trips.  The first two, climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and going on Safari, already have their own posts.  The final trip I have to describe is the Moshi weekend, which was the only trip that truly only took a weekend.

Saturday morning a group of volunteers and I piled in a van to Moshi from our volunteer house in Arusha.  Moshi is the town at the base of Kilimanjaro, so I had been in town a few times before.  This time, though, I got to see the attractions around the town.  That first day we spent at the Hot Springs.  This was the attraction I was most excited to see.  Before going to Tanzania I had seen pictures of it and couldn’t believe it was real  between the bright blue waters and the lush green canopy over it.  In person, the Hot Springs blew me away even more.  We swam there all day.  The “hot” springs actually wasn’t very hot, but surprisingly comfortable.  In the water we felt little fish nibble at the dead skin on our feet if we sat still too long.  We explored the adjacent pool by swimming upstream in the creek that connected the two.  Above the creek in the dense branches and palm leaves we saw little bats hanging and watching us.  We took turns exploring the underwater caves, being careful not to venture too deep and run out of oxygen.  From the side of the pool, we swung by the rope swing and plunged into the clear water below.  Quote from my travel journal: “beautiful in a way [that] it’s hard to believe such a place exists.”

Me swinging into the Hot Springs.

Sunday was a blur of activity.  We toured an entrance to a Kilimanjaro hiking route, toured a coffee “plantation” where we made fresh coffee from the beans, hiked down to the Moshi Waterfalls and swam beneath them, and explored the underground caves of the Chagga tribe.  Touring the Kili entrance wasn’t too exciting since I had already summited the mountain a few weeks before.  The process of making our own coffee was very interesting, but I definitely wouldn’t say that we visited a plantation.  I think they must have mistakenly translated plant as plantation, as the “plantation” we saw had literally one coffee plant.   Hiking to and swimming below the waterfall was definitely my favorite part of the day.  The long hike to the falls followed a steep and narrow path that winded its way down the hill.  Between the hot and humid air and the dense green forest around us, it felt like we were exploring a remote rainforest.  Part of me expected to see a gorilla or jaguar or Tarzan jump out from the brush.  Once we reached the bottom we saw the falls towering above us.  The water was cold and the stoney ground underwater hurt to walk across so we mostly admired the view from dry land.  After climbing the steep trail back up from the waterfalls and we drove to the ancient Chagga Caves.  Years ago the Chagga tribe created secret networks of underground tunnels to escape from the warrior tribe, the Maasai.  We went underground and saw the caves that these people would live in for days at a time.  The tunnels were only tall enough to crawl through on your hands and knees, and every couple meters the tunnel would open up to a small cavity large enough for a few adults to squat in.  Despite how impressive the tunnels were, I couldn’t imagine staying down there any longer than an hour.

The waterfalls at Moshi. (Tasha Davies)

Moshi weekend provided a fun break from the daily routine of volunteering.  I appreciated the simple activities and the beauty of the places we got to see.  Though it is not nearly the most famous tourist attraction in Tanzania, the town of Moshi should not be overlooked.

Sources:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/tanzania/mount-kilimanjaro/moshi#tours

http://www.tanzaniatourism.com/en/destination/rundugai-hot-water-springs

http://www.tanzaniatourism.com/en/destination/materuni-and-kuringe-waterfalls