At long last I arrived in Africa just under 2 days ago. After 2 really long flight and very little sleep, Jason and I arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday night. The weather was absolutely perfect, just a little overcast with a slight drizzle. It was already after dark, so we went straight to the hotel, which was pretty decent. And the breakfast in the morning was wonderful: Maize porridge and fresh fruit. After a day on airplanes where pretty much all the food had gluten in it it was really nice to able to sit down and enjoy an actual mea. For about 5 minutes. Our shuttle to Moshi (Tanzania) showed up 15 minutes early, so breakfast got cut short, but at least I got some food.

Yesterday was an excellent day considering most of it was spent on a bus. Traffic in Nairobi was...interesting. Right of way seemed mostly based on who didn't give up first. Outside of Nairobi it was just absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, I can't really describe it well and I don't have a digital camera here, so no pictures, at least not yet. Everything was very rural. The road was basically just 2 lanes, one going each way and off of the road just grass and trees and anthills. There were also occasionally small villages and I saw a couple that were traditional ones. We also saw a lot of Masaai on the sides of road herding their cattle, sheep, goats, and mules. And women carrying baskets and buckets of water on their heads. Occasionally we'd pass by schoolkids and they would always wave to us. I just wish I could describe well what everything looked like...

The border crossing into Tanzania went by without a hitch. After we stopped in Arusha to drop people off, however, we got a real sense that we were in Africa. We had to switch busses to go to Moshi. So, all the luggage came down off the roof and they were going to put us in a van, except that there was no way all of us and our luggage were going to fit. There was a group on our shuttle with their guides and the guides arranged with the bus company to get us a bus instead of the van (there were about a dozen of us travelling on to Moshi). So we waited for the bus...the guides brought us all pepperoni, bananas, and water (only 4 of us weren't on the tour and they were nice enough to include us). And then the bus came and the luggage went on the roof. And we got on the bus. And the driver wasn't there. So we waited... And then they told us that the bus had mechanical problems. So we got out and the luggage came back down off the roof. And we waited. And waited. And eventually a bus showed up. No roof rack this time, so the luggage just went into the back and we all piled in (and just barely fit). About an hour later we were in Moshi, which is where our Kilimanjaro climb will start from.

A couple of impressions from Africa: All the people here are really friendly. Lots of people saying jambo (hello) and going out of their way to help us. And I've barely even had to carry my own pack (Jason hasn't been quite so lucky -- sometimes its good to be a woman). The food here is definitly less wheat based than at home -- I haven't had problems finding stuff to eat since I got here, which is VERY nice. I am also surprised by how much out of place we are here in Moshi. Most people leave for Kili from Moshi, so I thought that it would pretty much be a tourist town -- our at least that tourists wouldn't be so uncommon. But being white we are very much of a novelty here. Just after arriving three school girls that we were walking by came up to me and touched my arm...I think just to see if it would be the same as theirs. And whenever we go into a restaurant people seem really surprised that we are there. But everyone is friendly and we are having a good time.

Tomorrow we leave to climb Kilimanjaro, so hopefully I will be able to add another entry in about a week or so.