Usangi Favorites

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Favorite thing: To my surprise the tour was not finished yet. After more than an hour we reached the edge of the mountain range.

We now looked to the north over Jipe Lake at the plains of Kenya, and to the east at the Southern Pare Mountains and the Mkomazi game reserve.

We started to get down. I asked what was the special place that we were up to, considering the huge efforts in the burning sun. And finally we reached a steep rock that apparently had been in use for sacrifices to the Gods a century ago.

When a childs first teeth started to grow at the wrong side the baby had to be left on top of the rock and when he turned himself he would fell down some 10 meters and die. Hmm, very interesting tour...

When we returned we visited the small but very lively local market of Usangi to buy some juicy sweet mangos. Great finish! and...ready for Kili!

Fondest memory: The tours were not only about reaching the peaks, but also to show local life.

Besides a dozen encounters with local people at their homes (all acquaintances of my guide), we visited the secondary school, a pottery where women produce energy saving stoves, the local market and a sugarcane beer brewery.

Of course we had to taste the local alcohol at the brewery and to be honest -I thought it was less nice- but the locals loved it!

Favorite thing: The third day we did the Mt. Mangatu View Tour. So called because of the superb side views on the two peaks of Kilimanjaro during the hike.

The morning was a bit cloudy but the hike was very pleasant - not too strenuous.
It took us took us only 2,5 hours to the viewpoints and back down to town.

Favorite thing: The first tour was to Kindoroko peak at ca. 2100m.; although it’s not very high, it’s still 750 meters of altitude gain and therefore useful training.

Before we reached the moorland at the summit, we passed a beautiful forest reserve and met a lot of friendly people –mostly farmers-who were all acquaintances of my guide.

Also we visited on our way a pottery (they made energy saving stoves subsidized by profits of the Programme) and a traditional sugarcane beer brewery. From the top we could see far into Kenya (Lake Jipe) and the plains of Tanzania.