In November Avril and I impulsively decided to strike out for the Kilimanjaro foothills and see some more of the country that feels so much like home. Another opportunity to enjoy Jehovah’s creation was nigh.
We took our tiny new tent which we were given by Graham White last year and our little stove and off we went, first to Moshi then on a little bus up into the hills. We were headed for Lake Chala, an isolated volcanic caldera filled by underground springs from Kilimanjaro herself. The lake lies astride the border of Tanzania and Kenya.
Uplink to the mothership
Did you see what he’s got?
It’s supposedly really really deep.
Kilimanjaro is hiding in those clouds in the background.
What struck us as extraordinary was the sheer biomass of insects that inhabited the area. When I say ‘biomass’ I choose my word carefully – the insects were both numerous and large! Not a camping trip for the insect-wary, it nearly drove us crazy on the first night. Safe inside the tent, we kept wondering if it was raining; the pitter-patter was actually and endless succession of different insects impacting with the outer wall of the tent.
The scenery was marvellous, though, and the lake beautifully clear and lovely to swim in. We were warned to keep an eye out for crocs though – a tourist was apparently lunch for one a couple of years back.
We also spent many hours looking for Bush Elephants that roam free around these parts. It seems that they had decided on a last minute package holiday and were nowhere to be found. They’d left plenty of poo though – no doubt they were crouching just around the next bush.
We stayed five nights in the end, and had a picnic with our buddy Rebeka Jameson from Moshi and her mate Katie on our final day.
Then, on our way back to Moshi, we got hopelessly stuck in the mud in Rebeka’s car – our efforts to extricate the vehicle only got us filthy with bright red mud. We ended up staying over at Rebeka’s place and finally made it back on the following day.
Great pictures although I think I would be rather disappointed to find a Steve at the end of my rainbow instead of the supposed pot of gold.
ReplyDeleteThank, and great photo of the rainbow. By the way, the crocs were disposed of some time ago. That girl was taken about ten years ago on the kenyan side. Some were shot, on both TZ and Kenyan sides, and the local fishermen say they also poisoned any remaining ones.
ReplyDeleteThe lake waters are in Africa, so care should always be taken, but.. one thing intrigues me. These crocs weren't there naturally, they were introduced, supposedly by an eccentric guy called Grogan (Grogan's castle in Kenya) At that time they made a sand beach on the Kenyan side. Looking at the lake shore, I cannot feel this rough and rugged, volcanic, boulder strewn shore is a suitable breeding ground for crocs, who need sand to make their nests in. So let's look at it from this point of view, there are certainly no new crocs in Chala. No rivers run into the lake, as all the water comes from underground off the flanks of Kilimanjaro. No one has ever seen a croc in the small rivers when they are in flood, and most of the year they are dry. Over this last year since the Chala camp started, hundreds of people have been swimming in Chala. I feel that that by this time any remaining croc would have been attracted to so many dainty morsels on this side! Oh, and the insects, well they depend on the time of year!! So glad you had a good time there, and karibu tena.
I like your blog. I miss your writing.
ReplyDelete