Mount Meru

So 5 of us decided to conquer Mount Meru - a 4-day climb from 1500m altitude to 4600m at the summit. This is us (from left to right: Joe, Andy, Peter, Arabella, Niall) on 'little Meru', a second peak of the volcano, at 3800m, with the rest of Meru in the background - and we're already above the clouds. We reached this on the second day - and at this height slight altitude-related headaches can already kick in.So early the next morning (1am) we start the 6-7 hour moonlight ascent to the peak from the Saddle hut (3500m) going over Rhino Point (another peak, 3800) then down and up to the big Meru, or 'Socialist Peak' as the sign states. This is my silhouette at sunrise, with Kilimanjaro in the background. The view is awesome!


And here we are at the top! At this height 3 steps and we were out of breath, and headaches were felt a little, but it was well worth it!
Another 6-7 hours downhill and we reached Mirikamba hut (2500m) where we got some sleep before saying hi to the local giraffes, buffaloes, Pumba's and baboons on the way down and then got back to Arusha.

Anyways. The rest of the group (Zoe, Simon, Chris) spent some time in Arusha while we were on the mountain. Tomorrow we go to Nairobi and the next day we take the flight home. So, that's it! The 6 weeks passed quickly.

Slightly more photos (I took 1800 so far) are to be seen later.

Joe

Still alive! ;)

Another two weeks have passed - so quickly! So what have we done and experienced?

Well, we, that is to say, the 8 St Andrews students, Joyce and Mapande from Mweka College (after staying with us for 3 weeks they have now left us), as well as Pendo and Gertrude, our local guides:

Andy tracking paths by GPS to add data to our map:

Evening work consisting of identifying butterflies (our method was to catch and photograph butterflies and then later identify them using butterfly books):

But now we are done with the fieldwork part of our project, so during the day we can now do other things, such as visiting a Maasai village (they show us one of their traditional singing/dancing):

Or going to the local market:

Or maybe use the african transport:

And when we get up early in the morning to go on a trek, this is the view from my room window:

Two days ago we decided to go visit Thornton waterfall (134.86 metres according to our measurements by rangefinder, inclinometer and trigonometry). It's high! This is what it looks like in the dry season - it has obviously more water in the wet season.

The plan for the near future will consist of a 3-day trek up the local highest peak (Shengena peak, 2466m), possibly a Safari in Mkomazi national park, maybe some work for the local community and then we will leave Tona lodge and then some of use will attempt to climb Mount Meru (4600m, second highest Mountain in Tanzania - similar experience to Kilimanjaro, but cheaper) and others will do a Safari in Tarangire National Park.

Note: the posts below now also finally has some pictures to go with the text. Enjoy and be jealous! ;)

Butterflies!

On the way to one of the butterfly catching areas:

Alenea picata (Lycaenidae family) :


Below is the Niallius anacardii oenone (Currieadae family). Quite large, carnivorous butterfly species. Luckily it's in the net!

Tona lodge

So... internet! Let's try and sum up the past 10 days:

Note: pictures may appear here later... internet here is not kind to us... :(

After some trekking enquiries in Moshi (some of us are hoping to do a 4-day
Mount Meru trek at the end of our stay in Tanzania - Kilimanjaro is too
expensive), we started our journey to Tona Lodge, joined by Mapande and Joyce
(two students who just graduated from the Wildlife College in Mweka).

Tona Lodge is awesome! It's beautifully located on the hillside with a view down
onto Mkomazi National Park and on clear days we can see Kenya in the distance.
This is the view from the balcony (where we meet for meals, discussions and
work):
Upon arrival, we were very warmly welcomed and even offered rooms with beds
instead of needing to use tents, which is very luxurious indeed.

After lunch we had a tour around the village and visited the lutheran Church and
a mansion of a german Missionary. Arabella and Zoe got to play with the local
pastor's child:
And since it was Arabella's birthday on the 5th July, we improvised a wee cake
(well, candles stuck onto potatoes, but that's beside the point) and had a
little party.

Team-bonding: Group waterfall showering:
This is our wee waterfall-shower only about 2 minutes walk from Tona Lodge. And
as you can see, showering as a group is the most fun! (And the group pressure
helps with stepping into the icy water, too).

During the first few days we ventured out to explore the area, led by two local
guides (Pendo and Gertrude). We found streams, waterfalls, caves, rocks that
speak, rocks that served for child sacrifices in the past, and many other
interesting things. And walking over the trails allowed us to gather data for
our map.

A few days ago we then started the butterfly-side of our project. Potentially
after we know which species exist here and where they appear (plant species,
altitude, etc), a local butterfly farm could be set up to collect and sell
butterflies from this region to the world, which could be an extra source of
income for this area. That's just an idea at the moment though.

Bye bye for now...

Joe

Food!

Grilled Sweetcorn for 200 Tanzanian shillings at the local market this morning, that's about 15 cents (1300 shillings = 1 dollar). That's, from left to right, Joe, Peter, Chris.

Zoe being sceptical about the 'samaki' (=fish).

After getting some photocopies and passport photos for our research permits this morning, we went off to the local market, where the "They call me Mr Cheaper" and their friends tried their best to sell us their items.

Yesterday: trip to the wildlife college

The photo above shows us at the wildlife college where we went yesterday to pick up some biology-related equipment (guidebooks etc), and it's also where the students that come with us studied.

Photos later.

We're currently unable to upload any photos, but maybe another computer in another interet cafe will be able to do that. Suffice to say, the sight of giraffes is great, and the view from our hotel roof restaurant on Mount Kilimanjaro is stunningly awesome! :)

Arrived in Moshi!

After safely arriving in Nairobi and spending a night there on the 1st of July, we took a 9-hour bus journey next to a tarred road (not on the tarred road!) with lots of bumps and much dust. But on the good side, we saw zebras, giraffes, cows, ostriches, antelopes and loads of birds. So we arrived hot and dusty and bumped, to find our hotel was not booked and full - so now we were forced to stay ever-so-slightly posher place (african 4 stars) with view on Mount Kilimanjaro! :)

Now we're in Moshi, took a tour to the African Wildlife College (elephan skulls, dead snake viewings, etc) , got a tour guide(Mapende - one of the students that will be staying with us for two weeks) and already met up with Elly Kimbwereza, the owner of the TONA lodge.

African food is big, tasty, and cheap!

African transport is *interesting*: fast, bumpy, dusty, with smoking brakes, and approximately 2,5 people per seat. Awesome! You get in really close contact with the locals that way (literally!)

We're all still healthy, fit and happy!

We're staying in moshi for another day before heading to TONA lodge in Manka-Mbaga.

Internet cafes are not all that available, so updates will happen infrequently and irregularly.

We're now off to enjoy Africa!

Last preparations

Niall and Chris trying out the tents in Arbella's garden. And trying out the blogging from a phone. Tomorrow we're off!

Packing...

Not too long and we are off to Tanzania! Preparations are running, and the packing has started. Our first challenge: fit everything into our bags. :)

Who we are - and where we're going.

Our route: Landing in Nairobi, travelling via Moshi to Tona Lodge in Manka-Mbaga, where we will do our projects.