Trip to Moshi

Thurs 8/16 as part of our perspectives programming with CCS, we took a trip to Moshi which is nearer to Mt. Kilimanjaro. We hiked down a mountainside to a beautiful waterfall. We each got a walking stick for the hike which most of us found a little awkward, but they helped more with the very steep steps on the way back up. From there, we went to see a traditional Chaga house. Chaga is a tribe from around the Kilimanjaro area. The house was somewhat similar to a Maasai boma in material (at least through western eyes) but larger and with a higher, bigger roof. Mothers, children, cows, and goats all live in one, and the father and boys over 7 live in another. The cows were so loud they sounded like they were in stereo and from outside we thought it was a recording. Not as many Chaga live in these traditional houses today, such as Zik, whose family lived in them until he was 10 years old.

Zik is, by far, the best English speaker I've met in Africa. He is very knowledgeable about a host of subjects and says he reads up to 70 books a year (in English). This coupled with his funny and blunt personality makes him popular amongst volunteers. When I first met him and complimented his English, he told me a funny story about when he first started school and asked where the toilet was. Having been directed to it, he found this clean, white porcelain bowl with clean water in it. He was sure it was a trick and that someone was trying to get him in trouble.

We also visited some tunnels which had been dug by the Chaga years before. For Maasai, cattle are their livelihood and most prized possession. They traditionally believe that cattle came from God exclusively for them, so they've been known to be cattle raiders, taking back what they believe is rightfully theirs. When this was more common, the Chaga dug tunnels to hide from the Maasai - them, their families, and their cattle. We got a chance to crawl inside a rare one that has been found. Not everyone was up for it as they were very small, dark, and claustrophobia-inducing. I did go the short distance the guide took us and it was very tight, hands and knees or squatting necessary. There were a couple "sitting areas" where you could stand a little.

After the tunnels was lunch at a place where we had called ahead so that they would expect us. However they'd had a fair amount of other unexpected customers that day and ran out of food. So those of us at the back of the line had to ration. After lunch came the inevitable shopping stops that we'd all come to expect by then. We stopped at a small market and a batik maker. These stops got quite old after a while (likely often CCS staff friends, etc), but of course people end up spending and so the stops will probably always be a part of it all. Not that I was not one who made some purchases...