Usambara Mountains

Photos from the trip so far

Treehouse that we watched the sunset from 

Maasai Herbal Tea 

Elephants super close to our tents!

Safari Advetures

Baobab Tree at Sunset

Sleeping leopard

Elephants at the Swamp

Lion Pride

Pool day!

Maasai Medicine Man

People carry everything on their heads here

Last Sunday we made our way to the Usambara Mountains and after arriving at the bottom, it took us over 2.5 hours to drive the 1.5 miles to the top. The Usambaras are not common travel sites, so Mamas, Babas, Grandparents, and children all were extremely excited to see us. On Monday we were set loose into the mountains for our “say hello to the forest” activity. We all split up and left behind our watches, cameras and electronics and walked into the woods.  I spent time splashing around and following streams, climbing trees and looking around, swinging from vines, getting ripped apart by thorns and sitting on the rocks of a waterfall. It was unbelievable being alone in such raw nature and exploring places that very few people have ever even been. After a few hours I trekked in the direction that I hoped was home, found myself on the edge of the forest and leapt out of the woods, over a stream and 6 feet down to the other bank, when I noticed an elderly farmer frozen staring at me. I spoke a little Swahili and didn’t understand why he wouldn’t respond. Later that day Baba Jack informed us that the locals strongly believe that all whites are vampires, so jumping out of the woods was probably pretty horrifying!

The Usambaras were amazing and because we were so close to the equator, the temperatures were very drastic.  During the day it would get extremely hot and at night it was so cold that you could see your breathe in the air. But the moon was extremely bright. I could get ready for bed without my headlamp because the moon was so bright that I could see everything clearly in my tent.

Our multiple hikes directly up and down the mountain helped me perfect a graceful butt slide. They also amazed me as I learned more about the plants and animals in the tropical forest. It was a pretty relaxed week overall, so we had a lot of time to spend chameleon hunting, working out at Baba Jack’s boot camp, and coming up with ISP (independent study project) ideas for the end of the semester. I narrowed mine down to researching and observing orphans within a Maasai tribe and how that affects their daily lives, schooling, and right of passage as a Maasai. Although we have a month until our ISP prep week, I am very excited to meet the kids and to start my study!