Arusha and Kiliminjaro

As I said in the last entry, we came back from the safari and stayed in Arusha, and woke up to stunning views of Mt. Mehru. Femke had to get to Nairobi to fly back to Holland and Maura and I were going to Moshe that afternoon, so we had a number of things to arrange before we left.

After buying bus tickets, checking email,… we visited the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda which is taking place right there in Arusha and open to people who want to observe. You have to go through a security check point and leave your passport. You then have a choice of which trial to listen to. We were advised that the 3 rd floor was a high profile person and would be most interesting, but when we got up there, it was closed to the public. We went downstairs where we were given a headset, and pointed to benches where you can sit an observe through one way mirrors. You could choose which language you wanted to listen to, but the attorney speaking was French. There were a number of people in the courtroom…the UN judges, interpreters, and I don’t know who all. You couldn’t see the man who was testifying as they were behind another one way mirror. The trial we sat in on was for 3 former Senior officials from the Interim government of Rwanda – Edouard Karemera, Mathieu Ngirumpatse, and Joseph Nzirorera. They are charged with seven counts including conspiracy to commit genocide, direct and public incitement to genocide, genocide, alternatively complicity in genocide, rape and extermination as crimes against humanity, and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions. All three pled not guilty.

The attorney was interviewing someone who had known one of the men before the genocide and was making the point that he had done good things and were these the actions of someone who could commit such crimes against humanity. I think that’s the whole point of the genocide though….people who had been good, who had been friends and neighbours and done good things, went crazy with racism and hatred.

Afterwards, we wandered around town as my friends wanted to do a bit more shopping. Then we went our separate ways, with Femke heading to Nairobi and Maura and I heading to Moshe, the town near Kiliminjaro.

Moshe is probably my favourite town in Africa so far. It’s fairly small, has a variety of shops such as your Indian shops, market stalls, craft shops… It has great Indian food restaurants for a low price. The guesthouse we stayed in was clean with crisp white sheets. You’re in the shadow of Kiliminjaro. Best of all, it’s a lovely cool fresh mountain air climate. Heaven for an Oregon girl stifled by the dusty heat of Africa!

There were some people offering tours around Kili for around $70 but we decided to strike out on our own the next day. Sure, we didn’t get the cute little boxed lunch or a guide to accompany us on the mini bus, but we saved $30 each. Just to get into the park you pay $30. All fees were due to double in the new year. Then you have to hire a guide for $20. We were just going to the first level which wasn’t too strenuous. Unfortunately, cloud cover which later gave way to rain, meant we saw less of the mountain than we saw from town. I had previously wanted to climb the whole mountain, but I’m glad I did a day trip first because it ended any desire to do it. It’s too expensive, it’s too populated, and the views going up don’t seem that remarkable. We met one young woman from the UK who had spent her $800 but got altitude sickness and had to give it up. She said she really hadn’t been prepared for the strenuous nature of the trek. Clearly other people also had little awareness of what they were doing because we saw people with inappropriate gear, porters who had to carry peoples large wheeled suitcases on their head because the hikers obviously didn’t realize that a backpack might be more appropriate for such a journey. When they get to the summit I guess they hike from like 4:30 in the morning. If they reach the top and it is cloudy, they still have to start down to keep to the schedule. Anyway, it’s something great to be able to say you did, but I think it’s one I’ll remove from my list of must do’s. I did enjoy the one day…enjoyed the forest, the mountain air, the singing birds, the unique plants and flowers. Then finishing it off with a nice hot curry in town…perfect!