I fell in love with the Usambara Mountains

View downwards from Irente Point. It was too foggy to get a good picture of the landscape.
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Tuesday night we stayed at the same hostel where I met some Spaniards! Woohoo! I could finally speak Spanish and not German or Swahili. We have plans to meet up in a week or so to do some more travel. After some chaotic and somewhat aggressive negotiations we found a bus to take us the 5 hours to Mombo for 12,000Tsh each. From there we got a dala dala (at a discount because there were so many people) to take us the rest of the way to Lushoto in the Usambara Mountains. It took a total of 10 minutes for me to decide that this is my favorite place so far. It's a small town located in a valley. We were rarely hassled and most people were very nice although I get the feeling most of them have never met an American because few believed me when i told them I am from the United States. I was a bit of a celebrity... We had an excellent dinner complete with guacamole to start and ice cream to finish!

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We also met more Germans... always more Germans. Although, i have to admit I'm picking up more and more of the language. Two of the girls had just finished an internship at rural clinic in the Lake Victoria region. They had many positive things to say about interaction with people and patients and making friends with non-muzungos. I got the doctors contact info to see if I can't go there for some time near the end of my stay. I would really like the chance to learn more about the culture and the people and to see the countryside and there just doesn't seem to be an opportunity to do that around Dar es Salaam. The five of us went out to a bar in the Friend's Quarter and played some pool. This was the first time we were able to have conversations with actual Tanzanians and not feel like they just wanted our money. People got really excited to hear I was from the US and several would stop by and talk politics with me...

The kids started taking pictures of me when they found out I was an American so I asked them to pose with me instead. It was pretty cute.
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For Thursday's activities we hired a guide we had met the night before to take us on a walk through the forests and show us some of the highlights of the area. We first trekked through the Magambe Rain Forest and then on to Irente Farm. The farm was originally settled by Germans who imparted the knowledge of bread and cheese making. This is also the first place we found real butter and real jam! it was a nice change from the "jam" we usually have with the ingredients "sugar, fruit, and lemon." We also had very dense and very good rye bread - again, a welcomed change from flimsy white bread filled with holes... After that we continued on to the Irente View Point. From there we could see most of the region including the town of Lushoto (where we stayed at night) and the one main road that runs from Dar to Moshi and Arusha.

Boys in their uniforms
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By the time we started walking back I was getting cranky and very tired of defending my American-ness and my whiteness. Apparently, I can't be American because I have black hair. In fact, the guide repeatedly asked me if one of my parents is African. I assured him I am not half African and tried to point to my pasty white skin and freckles but all that seemed to matter was the color of my hair. He was so insistent that I finally conceded that one of my parents must be black. Sorry Dad... I guess mom has been keeping this from you for many years now.