Moshi

We arrived yesterday afternoon in Moshi. Internet at our computer is slow and inconsistent, but I thought I'd get a quick blog out before we take off for the mountain. Moshi, which means smokey in Swahili lives up to its name. It is a town densely populated small town at the base of Kilimanjaro. Today we toured the city by foot to become familiar with some of the culture, but other than that we have mostly been busy trying to catch up on lost sleep from the flight, and adjusting to the time change. We went to several local markets and experienced the local cuisine with a cooked banana dish that was somewhat like potatoes. We depart tomorrow a.m. to begin our climb of Kilimanjaro via the Machame route. The climb will take 7 days so I won't be blogging for a while. We had a briefing tonight in which we met our guides and laid out some logistics of the climb. As far as Africa itself, it is a very lively place, with a very different culture, and is almost difficult to describe unless you are here living it. Intense I guess would be a good word for someone not so used to the culture yet. As with everywhere else I've traveled and experienced culture shock, I'm sure a little time immersed in the culture will cure all. I will hopefully have more time and pictures when we return.