[photos] Tanga/Lushoto Trip May 30 - Jun. 4 2009 Pt.2

The view suddenly opened up after an hour and half of walking in the forest.

This is the edge of the Usambara mountains. You can see how it dramatically rises up from the Maasai plain.

Here I am, at the Irente view point! (or more like edge of the cliff.) I was scared to go near the edge for a while after arriving. There was no handle bars or any other measures to prevent you from falling down.

The view was just spectacular though!

I finally got a courage to crawl over to the edge and look down below. There was nothing there to catch you for at least 500m below.

Again, they asked me to take a photo of them, so I did.

The end.

[photos] Tanga/Lushoto Trip May 30 - Jun. 4 2009 Pt.1

The school was off again for a week, so I headed out to the mainland again, this time to go visit a volunteer friend of mine in the city of Tanga on the northeast coast and the town of Lushoto perched in the middle of Usambara mountains for its cool mountain climate and short hiking.


This photo was taken at Tanga train station. Tanga is one of the few cities in Tanzania with irregular fleet train service. Too bad they don't take passengers any more.

Having a drink on a lawn at Mkonge Hotel, the nicest hotel in the city.

Another photo of the lawn, facing the Indian ocean.

After a day and half in Tanga, I left for Lushoto, which was four-hour daladala ride away from the city.

Overview of the leafy town of Lushoto. Cool climate due to its location on the altitude of 1200m in the Usambara mountains makes it a good base for hiking.

The morning after arriving in Lushoto, I decided to go hike up to the Irente viewpoint where you could havev a splendid view the Maasai plain down below.

Leaving the town in the morning.

Lushoto and villeges in the surrounding area are connected by well-worn foot paths like this one on the photo.

It was about 7:30 in the morning and the kids were going to school.
I usually don't take photos of people unless they ask me to because I think it's rude of me to suddenly whip out my camera and go crazy. But this time, they asked me to so I didn't hesitate.

Just as I walked on the path, I realized how much I miss the mountains while living in flat Zanzibar. The ocean is right there of course, but I could go for days without seeing it when I shuttle back and forth between my place and work.

Because the Lushoto area has a high population density, much of the hills are cultivated as seen on the photo.

To be continued on Part 2...