A recent road trip to Moshi city on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the highest in Africa and second in the world, was not only relaxing, but very refreshing. The snow-capped wonder of the world is visible on a clear day, from all over the city and beyond; even hundreds of kilometers on Tanzania’s Northern border with Kenya in Loitokitok town in Kajiado County.
For a first time visitor, like me, Moshi is a tourist town like its neighbour, Arusha, some 200 Km. westward, which attracts thousands of local and foreign tourists to the world-famous destinations like Mt Kilimanjaro, Serengeti National Park among others.
Before my maiden trip during the three-months of planning and fund raising, I had contacted some friends and relatives to come on board to give me travel tips and contacts to make my holiday and tour as seamless and enjoyable as possible. One of them was my late elder brother's widow. Her father is a Chaga while her late mother is a kikuyu from Nyeri County and was a cousin of Kenya's third President, the late Emilio Mwai Kibaki. My brother's father-in law is a Professor at Dar University and is an alumnus of University of Nairobi where he met the mother.
Roof of Africa
But my Moshi trip coincided with a funeral of her uncle held in Dar, so we did not meet. I was then forced to improvise. I opted to take a shuttle bus ride from Nairobi, Kenya, for the four-hour trip at Kshs. 2,000 through the Namanga border town where the customs and immigration officials welcomed us across the Kenya-Tanzania border with a smile and within one hour we were back on the road for the two-hour scenic route through the arid and semi-arid ride through the Maasai land, as they went about their daily chores herding their cattle, farming and other business.
Our driver was very professional and sensitive to our comfort and safety throughout the five hour trip as he slowed down at the road bumps as he observed the 80Kmh maximum speed limit in Kenya and the 50Kmh in Tanzania for all public service vehicles.
Uniformed Kenyan traffic police officers in dark blue were spread out every 20 Km. on the 140Km. Nairobi-Namanga route armed with their rifles as some of them waved motorists, especially matatus (mini buses) and trailers drivers whom they “shook hands with” before being allowed to proceed with their journey.
Once we crossed over to the Tanzanian side, the traffic police were inconspicuous and wore their light green uniform as they waved most vehicles to pass, but stopped the speeding ones and were seen issuing them with a ticket to pay a fine.
Cases of "handshake" according to regular commuters on the route are rare and frowned upon. The smooth ride to Arusha, 132 Km away, was breathtaking and relaxing passing through the forests, hills and valleys in the Mara region.
Arusha city is on the slopes of Mount Meru, another gem in the tourist circuit in this East African biggest country with a population of over 61 million people, and is a beehive of activities as the headquarters of the East Africa Community.
No ‘handshake’ with Tanzanian police
EAC has seven member-states; they are Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
I spent two nights in Arusha city and woke up early for the next bus ride to Moshi. The bus park was teeming with travelers, traders and bus crew and staff at the venue which was a beehive of activities as early as 5am, thanks to the night ban imposed on buses by the Tanzanian government for safety and security reasons.
I boarded one of the luxurious long-distance buses heading to Moshi and Dar-es-Salaam, the Tanzania business capital along the Indian Ocean coastline, some 490 Km. South-East.
The Arusha-Moshi two-hour ride cost Tshs5,000 on the pot-hole free highway with very few traffic police officers on site; it was uneventful as we traversed rolling hills and valleys covered with forests, flora and fauna with herders and farmers going about their business as most motorists including our bus driver strictly obeyed the 50Kmh speed limit.
The interior of the bus resembled a disco club with flashing colored lights and a powerful music system blaring Bongo flavour Tanzanian hit songs as the male and female musicians in the videos sang along as their dancers, dressed in skimpy skirts and hot pants, gyrated to the beat.
At one time it reminded me of the ban in Kenya of X-rated musical videos in matatus and buses by the so-called ‘Moral Police,’ Dr Ezekiel Mutua, when he served with zeal as the Director of Kenya Film and Licensing Board.
Moral police on the prowl
The move was mostly welcomed by religious leaders, parents and government officials, but was criticized by the youth, music producers and sellers, PSV operators and local artists who accused him of over stepping his mandate.
But Dr Mutua stuck to his guns and told them off despite the many insults and threats hurled at him. His tenured ended after his contract expired and it was a sigh of relief for his critics.
Back on the fully-loaded Arusha-Moshi bus; there was a lively moment halfway to our destination when a middle-aged pretty lady boarded, sat on the barrier set for the engine and the driver.
Suddenly she stood up like she was about to start preaching, the Kenyan style, and instead cleared her throat and introduced herself saying she was an herbal medicine sales executive with products to sale.
I felt sorry for my co-passengers whose dawn snooze was interrupted as they were trying to steal a few winks. She was polite and used her sweet voice and smile to apologise for interfering with their space and enjoyment of the journey.
The professional marketer then used the next 30-minutes of the trip to cash on the captive audience by selling them various products for ailments and scores of diseases including birth control, back, head, stomach and tooth aches, fertility challenges, crumps, high blood pressure, diabetes, ulcers among others.
She stood beside me as she went on and on uninterrupted in Kiswahili sanifu (pure). At the end during the feedback session, I confessed to her how convincing she was and admitted saying: "ukweli wa mambo, ulikuwa kama mtu ana imba kama Rose Muhando na Mbilia Bel. Siku kuelewa! Naomba uni saidie na dawa ya diabetes (I'll be honest with you; I didn't get what you were saying it's like you were singing like Rose Muhando and Mbilia Bel! What I need is medicine for my diabetes.
My Kenyan accent and Kiswahili exposed me as a foreigner and raised eyebrows and giggles from the sales lady and some of my seatmates and neighbour's. They seemed to have been tickled and amused by my Kenyan Kiswahili; she handed me a bottle of the concoction and told me to take two spoons a day one in the morning and another after dinner.
I parted with Tshs10,000 for the herbal syrup and waved at her as she dropped off at the next trading center with a broad smile on her face having apparently met her target for the day.
As I pocketed the herbs, I recalled Dr Dalmus Ogejo back in the days when we were growing up in Nairobi and our mother, Mary Aoko, used to take us to her uncle’s pediatrician and gynecologist dispensary at Makongeni Estate staff quarters for East African (later renamed Kenya Railways Corporation) staffers and their relatives.
Grandpa Ogejo's concoctions were very bitter, concentrated, strong and always worked. They had Dholuo names: awira, amadha, afita, aluoka gi anyama (for smearing, drinking, smelling and bathing) among others.
My older siblings and cousins nicknamed the herbs as “Ogejo-kwiny (Ogejo is vicious)!”
Once we landed in Moshi central bus park, we all alighted and I was helped by one of the attendants to walk to a nearby hotel overlooking the breath-taking snow-capped mountain.
As I enjoyed my walk in the crowded city centre later on after getting a room in a guest house and locking my bag there, I saw some foreign tourists shopping and preparing to hike the majestic mountain before returning to their respective destinations.
I opted to enjoy a sundowner Amarula drink at the three-star, Sky View Hotel, in the CBD, which had a sixth-floor balcony for guests to relax and take photos of the world's second highest mountain.
I opted to give the six-day mountain hike a wide berth this time around and planned to return to Nairobi and prepare myself for it financially, and psychologically later.
On the day of my departure, I was up an out by 6am. ready for another shuttle ride to Nairobi through Loitokitok border post in Kajiado County, as I used by cell phone camera to take gems of Mt Kilimanjaro along the way.
On arrival in Nairobi four hours later, I heaved a sigh of relief as I entered my house and took a warm shower before enjoying a snack and a nap to conclude the wonderful trip.
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