Sign of life from Moshi

I am now reporting from beautiful Moshi - unfortunately, the journey here was not very enjoyable, even though Saskia and Mia were luckily with me.

I have been on many bus rides before - the worst ones from Braunschweig to Munich or Zagreb to Sarajevo. But never think it couldn't get worse. Everything started the day before departure. I got diarrhea and we had no running water - so no toilet flush either. Luckily, the neighboring property had a well, so we got some water for flushing. The other girls were feeling very good during the day and found it incredibly funny to amuse themselves about my situation, as we all knew that I would be getting on the bus the next day. In the afternoon, I was feeling great again and I managed to keep dinner down. So they had celebrated too early, especially when all three of them spent the night throwing up over the bowl. As they say, the one who laughs last laughs best :)

The next morning we left for the bus at 5:30 - the girls were completely exhausted and we all took Vomex and motion sickness tablets, so we slept almost continuously for the first 5 hours. After finally 7 hours, we had the first toilet break. I even managed to lock myself in the cabin and couldn't get the door open from the inside. Panic rose in me and I screamed for Saskia as loud as I could, who then came to rescue me. After 5 more hours and several dodging maneuvers to keep goats and cows alive, we arrived in Arusha. It was loud, extremely hot, and we were completely drained after 12 hours. Of course, we were not given any rest. Suddenly, people were shouting loudly, everyone stood up and left the bus. Great. And now what? We quickly packed our things, asked around, picked up our huge backpacks, and walked to another bus. When we arrived there, we were completely sweaty and exhausted. The bus didn't even sound good while driving - NOT and it was getting darker and darker.

After 14 hours on the bus (we had expected 16, so our joy was huge) we finally arrived. We took a taxi - which turned out not to be a taxi after I read in my travel guide the next day what a taxi should look like and how unlucky it would be to get into a car just like that - and drove to the hotel. Finally, our own bathroom and a beautiful bed that was not too short and had a blanket.

We took it easy on Saturday. We had a cozy breakfast and then read a bit before we went into town. It was very beautiful, although the reason for that was the many tourists who hike on Mount Kilimanjaro. It's incredibly clean and the people are very friendly. But not as exaggerated as in Iringa where you rarely see European people. In the afternoon, we lounged by the pool and enjoyed a nice gin tonic ;) Life can be pretty good to me too. I am really glad that I made this decision and I am very curious about what awaits me in the next few days.

On Sunday morning, the girls already left and I realized how much I missed the peace and quiet. When you live with at least one person in a room for 6 weeks and share a bathroom, being alone suddenly feels like paradise. I then took a really nice walk here and finally got to see Mount Kilimanjaro - which looked quite small somehow. But 5,800 meters of altitude don't lie and don't look small. I'll try to get closer to all of this in the coming days. In the afternoon, I went into town and just sat in a café for 2 hours and read. Peeeeeaaaaceeeeee

Thanks again to my husband and my parents for their support and all the kind messages I receive from YOU. You give me incredible strength and I feel your love every day!