'All villages end in the mountain'

That's what a long time Moshi resident told me when I was asking about the geography of the region.

The Mountain, in a real sense, gives life to the town of Moshi and the region. It gives water to the town ie all the rain run off, regulates the local climate and helps the local economy with the steady stream of tourists and would be mountaineers. According to Maasai belief, Enkai (ie god) lives on Kilimanjaro where he dispenses wealth, rain and fine weather. I have yet to confirm this.

From a day to day perspective, the Mountain is 4/5 times shrouded in cloud and all you can usually see behind the town is a steadily rising green and brown patchwork of villages, farmland and cornfields slowly rising and ending hazily in cloud. But then occasionally you'll get the odd time (usually in the morning or night) when BAM suddenly there's this big brown/black brooding thing with a snow top hanging over the town. And you remember, 'oh yeah, cool, I live near Mount Kilimanjaro'.

This morning, was a quick breakfast, get on the bikes, feel tired, can't be bothered with it today sorta morning, then as we started coasting down the road to work BAM behind us was a beautiful clear view of the Mountain. It does raise the spirits to see it.

Wifey and I have paid a deposit on a 6 day assault on Kili on the Machame route, commencing December 20th. So that means Christmas on the roof of Africa! We had planned on hitting the summit for World AIDS Day for some publicity for our NGO but it was more expensive to do it then. I'm sure I can still do some public relations work on the summit with flags etc. Just hope Santa can find me...

The Machame route which starts on the south western side of the Mountain is one of the tougher routes but also one of the more scenic. I gather there is a rock wall here and there to clamber up vertically. I have plenty of time to train (ulp).


(Beware of strange mountains lurking outside properties and peering in)