A Cultural Visit On Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
A Cultural Visit On Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania By Ian Williamson
This Village on Mount Kilimanjaro is not for tourists. This isfor your hardened traveler. Someone who wants to see a placeuntouched by commercialization; unspoiled and clean; a placethat has magic and something to share. Tourist by definitiontend to rush from one place to the next not really experiencinganything; not seeing anything. One destination blurring into thenext; everything beginning to look the same, yesterday the sameas today which will be the same as tomorrow.
This village in Northern Tanzania it is a place where you haveto walk to experience the life of the community. No safarivehicles here.
Only half an hour from Moshi Town in northern Tanzania is thisspecial place where coffee and bananas are grown to sustainlife. People here are poor and life is hard. We as visitors cannever appreciate how hard that life can be.
The best way to reach this place by local bus from the centreof Moshi Town. As you wind your way up this ratherunfashionable side of Mount Kilimanjaro, the bus shudderingevery inch of the way; ever upward; you will notice how greenand fertile the surroundings have become. Anything will growhere on this fertile land. It rains often on the mountain andthe green of the scenery is a sharp contrast to the dustybrowns left behind in Moshi Town.
When the bus finally gives up the journey begins with a 15 to20 minute walk ever upwards. There are some spectacular viewsto be glimpsed through the trees of Moshi Town far far bellow.It is cooler up here and so very quiet. I love to visit thisplace where there are no tourists at all.
Everyone is so friendly and you really feel you areexperiencing something special; something that not manytourists get to see. There are still some large traditionalhouses here, made from dried banana leaves – no windows, onedoor only and a chimney up through the centre of the roof.
It is hard to take it all in; African mountains are just sovery special. Be careful to look where you walk and where youstand as the lines of large ants cross the paths and should youinadvertently stand on one of these lines - the ants [largeants] will climb up your legs and begin to chew.
This village is an ideal place to spend a day with a localfamily and even sleep for the night. This is a cultural tour, areal cultural experience, not the pseudo-cultural tour offeredby many tour operators. If you have the time add a week or two[or longer] onto your safari and spend time working in thelocal clinic – a new addition to the village - or at the localprimary school. To do this you are giving something to thevillage they will learn from you; as you will learn from them.You will learn a lot about yourself as you spend time in thischagga culture high above the bustling town bellow.
If you want to see and experience African Culture then thisvillage is an ideal place. Set on Kilimanjaro and close to thetourist area; yet set apart and untouched as yet from thethrong of commercialization.
About the Author: Bethel Adventures is a non-profit makingcharity who work in the communities of Northern Tanzania.http://www.betheladventure.co.uk we use tourism to changelives. A photograph of a house made from banana leaves in Uruvillage is on our website
This Village on Mount Kilimanjaro is not for tourists. This isfor your hardened traveler. Someone who wants to see a placeuntouched by commercialization; unspoiled and clean; a placethat has magic and something to share. Tourist by definitiontend to rush from one place to the next not really experiencinganything; not seeing anything. One destination blurring into thenext; everything beginning to look the same, yesterday the sameas today which will be the same as tomorrow.
This village in Northern Tanzania it is a place where you haveto walk to experience the life of the community. No safarivehicles here.
Only half an hour from Moshi Town in northern Tanzania is thisspecial place where coffee and bananas are grown to sustainlife. People here are poor and life is hard. We as visitors cannever appreciate how hard that life can be.
The best way to reach this place by local bus from the centreof Moshi Town. As you wind your way up this ratherunfashionable side of Mount Kilimanjaro, the bus shudderingevery inch of the way; ever upward; you will notice how greenand fertile the surroundings have become. Anything will growhere on this fertile land. It rains often on the mountain andthe green of the scenery is a sharp contrast to the dustybrowns left behind in Moshi Town.
When the bus finally gives up the journey begins with a 15 to20 minute walk ever upwards. There are some spectacular viewsto be glimpsed through the trees of Moshi Town far far bellow.It is cooler up here and so very quiet. I love to visit thisplace where there are no tourists at all.
Everyone is so friendly and you really feel you areexperiencing something special; something that not manytourists get to see. There are still some large traditionalhouses here, made from dried banana leaves – no windows, onedoor only and a chimney up through the centre of the roof.
It is hard to take it all in; African mountains are just sovery special. Be careful to look where you walk and where youstand as the lines of large ants cross the paths and should youinadvertently stand on one of these lines - the ants [largeants] will climb up your legs and begin to chew.
This village is an ideal place to spend a day with a localfamily and even sleep for the night. This is a cultural tour, areal cultural experience, not the pseudo-cultural tour offeredby many tour operators. If you have the time add a week or two[or longer] onto your safari and spend time working in thelocal clinic – a new addition to the village - or at the localprimary school. To do this you are giving something to thevillage they will learn from you; as you will learn from them.You will learn a lot about yourself as you spend time in thischagga culture high above the bustling town bellow.
If you want to see and experience African Culture then thisvillage is an ideal place. Set on Kilimanjaro and close to thetourist area; yet set apart and untouched as yet from thethrong of commercialization.
About the Author: Bethel Adventures is a non-profit makingcharity who work in the communities of Northern Tanzania.http://www.betheladventure.co.uk we use tourism to changelives. A photograph of a house made from banana leaves in Uruvillage is on our website
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