Our Kili Attempt

The attempt here was to SEE the mountain. It has been completely encased in clouds since our arrival. We did see the snow capped summit peaking out from behind Mt Meru on our return home from the safari last week, but that is as close as we have come. So, we decided to take the local buses to one of the park entrances and hike around, ideally with the mtn in full view, but it remained illusive and we didn't see it all! However, we did get to hike to some lovely water falls and the whole valley surrounding Kili is gorgeous- verdant and we had perfect weather. And along the way we saw a couple of very cool chameleons.
The biggest adventure that day was riding the buses. Thank goodness Emmanuel and Adam were with us! I have ridden buses in Mexico and Central and South America without problem, but that is b/c I speak Spanish. It is a lot more challenging to navigate the system when the extent of your language base involves knowing how to say thank you very much, greet people, ask how they are, tell them you are well, thanks for asking, say sorry, go slowly, no problem, and that you appreciate being welcomed to Tanzania, none of which would have found us our bus or bus station. The bus station comprised of some large buses and alot of large minivan type buses (dhalla dhallas) parked in one location and a lot of smiling, shouting, and banging on bus roofs. So, Emmanuel led us to a crowded small bus and we were off! They kept piling people in at various stops- at points people were sticking their upper halfs out the window b/c there was no room and it was hard to close the door. We were greeted warmly by those around us and told that we were most welcome in Tanzania. Again, we have been so touched by the warmth here. In any case, we had a transfer to a smaller bus and just when we would think "They cannot possibly put another person on this bus," another would be sqeezed in along with their bag of fish, bag of charcoal, and full banana stock. This was a three hour adventure one way and we had no sensation in our feet or backsides upon arrival, but it was fun.
One of the aspects to the bus ride I found most fascinating, was the role of the person who collected the money, he would stick his upper half out the window and whistle and yell as we drove by people, telling them where we were going, and then bang on the roof or the side of the bus to tell the driver to stop. I noticed that if a young man got off of the bus, the driver would only slow down, not stop, and the men would jump off and run a bit to prevent from falling over! Fortunately, this did not apply to women or small children, so we were spared. The drivers go as fast as possible and cram as many people on as possible to make the most money. On the way back, our bus was so full that people were hanging out the door as we went about 50 MPH down the highway. We were really glad to have had this experience and were completely bone tired upon our return. It was fun and it pushed the edges of my American value of a large radius of personal space :)