Polepole

"Through muddy trails to a beautiful waterfall, fresh coffee and glimpses of Kilimanjaro."

We woke up before the alarm this morning despite it being a bit warm and me being pretty vigilant for any insects that might or might not be on the inside of the mosquito net. After a hot shower we make our way to breakfast where we are welcomed by 2 adorable kittens.

After breakfast, we leave at 8:30 with Jabiri for a drive of about 45 minutes. Now that it is no longer dark, we can really see what beautiful surroundings we arrived in the day before. Lots of forests, lots of greenery, overlooking a valley where the cities seem to be getting smaller and smaller. At the end of our drive, Benson joins us in the jeep. Benson lives in Materuni, the village we are driving to. He is our local guide for today. We drive toward a registration point, we are offered cap boots because it can be a little slippery. I was still thinking 'on my sneakers I'll probably have more grip'. Little did I know. 

Mud, and banana wine

We start almost immediately with a small ascent where it soon becomes clear: it is not only slippery, there is mud everywhere. And sneakers might be handy for more grip, but you sink so deep with your shoes that eventually my boots are covered to the brim.

Benson and Jabiri help us stay upright as best they can, shouting "polepole" at us almost the entire walk. Polepole means something like "slowly. But yes once you slip and slide, you slide right away,

We walk across all kinds of narrow paths, home-made bridges and pass several stores that are displayed as we walk toward the waterfall. A friendly gentleman wants us to taste banana wine. It is not yet 10 a.m. so this is a bit much even for me. While the man lifts up his bottle, it turns out that gravity does its work here as well. The table with cups made of banana leaf stands out and they roll past our feet. We help the man gather his things and continue on our way.

Materuni waterfall

On the way we often look to the left, there is Kilimanjaro. Unfortunately, today it is cloudy. Jeroen has since had a walking stick from a gentleman along the side and not much later Benson finds one for me as well. Everything I need will find me. Yes, I read "The Alchemist" on the plane, among other things. After an hour of hiking and many "polepoles" later, we arrive at the waterfall. Beautiful, grand and immediately provides us with a refreshing shower. It is not hot at all by African standards, but for us it is a welcome refreshment.

We stand by the waterfall for a while watching as the sun slowly breaks through and shines over it. Beautiful to see the top of the waterfall turn golden while the rest is icy blue.

Jabiri in front of the waterfall

Kilimanjaro briefly shows itself

We start back on the trail. Because the sun has briefly broken through, much of the path is now dry. We have to pay extra attention to the parts where it is still slippery, but we get off unscathed.

Jabiri buys us a mega avocado to taste later. Not much later, he stops by two ladies where we are served fruit. We taste a Tamarillo, an orange tomato that at first tastes like tomato, but then also looks like passion fruit. In any case, it is very tasty. Then we taste a passion fruit: also delicious. It is remarkable that fruit in other countries has such a fuller taste and smell.

We walk on for a while and I ask on which side Kilimanjaro should be visible. Benson and Jabiri shake their heads and indicate that it is too cloudy today to see the mountain. Maybe we'll get lucky and see it in the late afternoon, when it should clear up they indicate. And then about 2 minutes later Benson turns around to guide me over a slippery section and starts laughing, 'Ahhh you're lucky. There it is'. 

It takes a while to search, but above the clouds rise the peaks of snow-capped Kilimanjaro. We stand for a moment enjoying the view and the clouds continue to open up. A good deal of cloud remains around Kilimanjaro, but I am glad I got to enjoy the beautiful view.

Lunch and Coffee

After our walk, we go for lunch. Five large bowls are placed on the table and the coffee teacher, as he is called, explains to us that the intention is to put Kilimanjaro on our plate. That seems a bit much, but the brown rice, spinach salad, avocado and beans (yes even I loved the beans) tasted good. We were given bananas, orange and watermelon to finish the meal and then the coffee tour began.

The teacher began with theory and indicated that only upon passing your exam will you be allowed to taste coffee afterwards, we are going to see. All in all, it is an extraordinary process. Beans are picked from the coffee tree as soon as they turn from green to red, after about 3 to 4 weeks of drying they go into a large hollowed-out tree trunk and the husks are pounded off. A natural grinder. The beans go on a fire and then back into the grinder. Before you know it you have coffee powder and it can go into a big teapot.

Bakkie?

The coffee is incredibly hot, but what a wonderful aroma comes from it. It is a medium roast and we are really dark roast drinkers, but we really enjoy the smell and taste of this coffee. We buy some more souvenirs, Jeroen takes another 'bakkie' and then we say goodbye and go back in the jeep for about an hour, to Chanya lodge. There we now sit in a beautiful garden, in the sun enjoying the avocado we were given earlier in the day.