(click on a photo to enlarge)
Ngorongoro Crater was also spectacular. It's a volcanic crater that has grasslands around the outside, cloudforest along the rim and several different micro-ecosystems in the crater itself. Most of the animals found in the Serengeti can be seen here as well. Camping in these parks was quite an interesting experience...in the Serengeti I heard a lion hunting some unfortunate creature during the night, and in Ngorongoro Crater I woke to find zebras grazing right outside my bivy sack. Later, a hyena walked off with my drybag and bit a hole through it searching for food. Fortunately there was none in there, and I was able to get all of the contents back after finding the bag in the forest some distance from the campsite. In addition to replacing my drybag with a cheap backpack, I had my metalsmithing skills tested when a certain sleazy budget safari company was "unable" to return the Camelback hydration system that I had fixed to the front of my bike. After some time spent shopping around and tinkering I was able to rig a new water carrying system made of chicken wire and regular wire.
From Arusha I rode on to Moshi, at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. After much deliberation I decided not to climb Kilimanjaro. To create jobs (and supposedly to protect the mountain, although I have my doubts about whether the influence of guides and porters on the overall state of cleanliness on the mountain is positive or negative), the government has made a rule that all climbers must be accompanied by a guide. Furthermore, the climbing fee that goes to the park authority is approximately $400. Given the state of public goods and services in Tanzania I have no idea what this money is actually doing for the country. Anyway, all of this means that I have been priced out of Kilimanjaro - when I think of all the things I could do in Africa with the total price of around $650 for a Kili trip it made no sense to pay someone that much to walk me up a mountain that I could easily walk up myself. Kilimanjaro does look spectacular from Moshi, however, and I enjoyed the views. I also enjoyed the food, as eating at a restaurant is often cheaper than buying packaged food to cook for myself in Tanzania. A good local meal costs about $1, and a good Indian meal costs about $3, so I've been treating myself each time I ride through a city. Many of the cities in Tanzania have large populations of Arabs and Indians in addition to people of African descent, so you can find a Christian church, a mosque and a Hindu temple all on the same street here!
Leaving Kilimanjaro behind, I cycled to the coastal city of Tanga. The first two days were very hot and dry, and the last day was through gorgeous tropical rainforest. Tanga is a very relaxed place and was a great place to spend a couple of days doing nothing but swimming in the Indian Ocean, watching the dhows (local sailboats) drift by, stocking up on produce from the local market and catching up on my website.
