Back Home in Utah!!!

I came back a few weeks early and surprised my family and good friends! Well I at least surprised my folks and one friend, understandably no one else could quite remember when I was coming back. I am home early because I was ready for the comforts of America: actual breakfast bacon, family, my own transportation, good friends, having products that are well manufactured at my fingertips or at the click of a button online, cold weather in Utah, and the Utah Jazz. I checked everything off my Africa list: scuba diving, game reserve, beaches, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and traveling solo, so I changed my flight and came back early.

For those of you that are interested I am currently going through the 3500 photos I took, an average of over 30 photos per day while I traveled. I have got them down to about half the original amount but want to really get them fine tuned for your viewing pleasure before I post them. I will let you know when this happens and will send you a link to them as they will be on another website.

So what happens now for me? I continue to integrate back into the American society through eating huge meal portions, driving to the store that is less than 3 blocks away, and begging for a job in this wonderful economy. (Any job leads please let me know, plarkin9@hotmail.com)

Just hanging out

I finally made it and have met up with Chase and Jamie here in Mozambique. It has been a ton of fun to be with my good friends. We will be at Chase's site for the next few weeks where I will not have internet access.

It is super hot here, to be contrasted to the freezing temperatures back home in Utah with snow on the ground. Hopefully we'll get to the beach for some nice relaxing!

Back in Mozambique

I am back in Mozambique and will be going to Chase's site today. It was a long journey, 5 straight days of 10 hours of traveling per day, to get from Dodoma, Tanzania to Massinga, Mozambique. I stayed with Patrick in Massinga for the past few days, it was great to be with one of my good friends out here again!

Now I am trying to figure out my traveling visa which expires soon. I may have to cross the border again unfortunately. No one will give me a straight answer about getting a new visa, it gets annoying but that is life out here. So I will be at Chase's site for tonight and may cruise down south to cross the border into Swaziland and renew my visa sometime over the next few days.

All is well and I am very happy to be back in Mozambique and see my good friend Jamie, who doubles as Chase's girlfriend, here in the next few days!!!

Traveling South

I haven't updated in a while. I am traveling south, back to Mozambique. I am in Blantyre, Malawi and will cross over to Mozambique over the next few days. Then it's at least two more days on buses down to see my American friends.

It has been an interesting time traveling solo, many stories to tell. But I will save those for a later time.

Some Tanzania Photos

Below are some photos I took during the last week. I am staying in Lushoto again for a few days and then will probably make my way down to southern Tanzania.

A typical small town street in Tanzania.


It is so green here.

Sky high!

African boys love to play fight, and be photographed!

Me and some cabbage.

Another African sunset.

Small Mountain Villages in Tanzania

New Years Eve was spent in Lushoto with Yuko, Mr. Lim, some new Swedes (I can't get away from them), and a local Tanzanian. There was nothing going on so we were just at a bar, nothing too exciting. We heard that the whole town, including the Muslims, would be at the Christian Church at midnight but we never saw anyone at the church the whole night. Maybe because in Tanzania the day starts at 6am, when the sun rises, so they are 6 hours behind international time. For example, 3pm is 9am in Tanzania time.


I got to go on a few hikes around Lushoto, there are some great views out here.

Then on New Years Day Yuko, a friend from Japan I met that is volunteering in Tanzania, and I were walking around town and she went into an appliance shop. I followed her and we met a volunteer for the US Peace Corps here in Tanzania, Leigh. I had wanted to meet a Peace Corps volunteer to be linked into their network and see if anyone is interesting is a visitor. Leigh was willing to host Yuko and I for the last three nights in her house in Mbelei, it was great!

So now I take a bus to another Peace Corps volunteer named Theresa. She lives in a small village about 3 hours north of Lushoto called Sunga. I think I'll stay in Tanzania until the first of February and then head back to Mozambique for the last month of my trip.

One of the amazing views from the road I walked down to get to some fresh cheese.

A chameleon, a photo for my Mother who volunteers at the local zoo in Salt Lake City, Utah.


I finally made it to the cheese, black pepper cheese that is.

The sunrise through some trees on another hike.

Stairs from the road down to some houses.

Irente View Point.

Following the local boys up to the higher view point.

Just like the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

So you can see the local houses made out of mud and sticks.

Another local house.

The Tanzanian dollar menu, not too shabby.

New Years Eve with Yuko and a girl from Sweden.

Cooking chapati, similar to tortillas, over the charcoal with US Peace Corps volunteer Leigh. She cooks every meal with charcoal like the locals.

Yuko and Leigh with some of the local school girls.

The view from their school.


Yuko taught the girls some self defence moves.

They caught on quickly.

Here in Tanzania the girls have weapons for self defense!

The ultimate test, balancing a heavy uneven load on top of your head. I uploaded the wrong photo, I have one with no hands I swear.

Leigh and I making some of the local corn flour meal Ugali to go with our vegtables for dinner.

Mt. Kilimajaro Tips

I am writing this in response to a request from a friend, Hillary, who will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with her father Mitch and friends in January 2009. I thought some of you may find it interesting. Our guide service was Kessy Brothers, we did the Machame Route. Their website is linked below. With the 6 of us we were able to pay only $816 each to get up the mountain. This did not include tips. http://www.kessybrotherstours.com/kilimanjaro_routes.htm The Kessy Brothers was a middle of the road guide service, no frills, but enough to get you up the mountain. The best guide service I heard about and saw on the mountain was Tusker, http://www.tusker.com/. I'm sure they cost more but your trip is sure to be more comfortable. Things to consider: -The 6 day 5 night Machame Route was great, very scenic, I highly recommend it. If you have time and money you should strongly consider adding one more acclimatization day, it will only help. When you go up the Machame Route you go down the Mweka Route, a route only for descending. -Kilimanjaro Porter's Association Tipping Recommendations (http://www.kiliporters.org/tipping_recommendations.php). We tipped lower than recommended and it was awkward because we gave the tip the morning of the last day on the mountain. We tipped lower because we didn't have the money to tip more, our service was fine, but the US Peace Corps volunteers I trekked with don't make much money. The main guide argued with us for a long time and it made the hike down unpleasant. I recommend giving the tip at the office to the guides so that if they want to argue the company representative is present. Or just give big tips and then you shouldn't have any worries. Main Items to Bring: -Tent (if you go with a reputable company they may have tents you can use, we had our own tents and the porter set the up for us in a rough manner, broken tent stakes, if the company has tents it could be worth using theirs) -Sleeping Bag (bring a 10 degrees Fahrenheit bag, it gets really cold up there) -Sleeping Pad (you don't want to be directly on the frozen ground) -Hiking Boots (waterproof or all leather are recommended, I climbed the mountain in flip-flops and trainers) -Sandals (light weight, to wear around camp and let your feet air out) -Gaiters (to keep out rocks and dirt on the climb down) -Socks (you will want to wear 2 pair on the summit day) -Thermal Pants -Fleece Pants -Convertible Pants (or shorts and pants) -Rain Pants (these are necessary for the rain and the wind) -Short Sleeved Shirt -Thermal Shirt -Fleece Top (a full zippered with pit zips for ventilation would be nice) -Down Jacket (or something really warm) -Rain Coat (with hood) -Scarf (this was a clutch item for me blocking the wind from my face on summit day) -Balaclava (I did not have one but it would have been nice to use on summit day) -Warm Hat -Sun Hat -Gloves (light weight) -Warm Mittens (for summit and cold days) -Sun Glasses (with Chums) -Sun Screen -Chap stick (for your mouth, I also used on my nose as it will get chapped from wiping) -Trekking Poles (they are great for the way down, save your knees, I used them the whole time up and down) -Day Pack (you will hike with it, pack up 3 liters of water, extra clothes, rain gear, etc.) -Pack Rain Cover (for your day pack) -3 liters worth of water containers (I used one water bottle and a bladder, to help your bladder hose from freezing after you drink blow air into the hose) -Water Treatment Drops (I used Aerobic O7, you may order it at http://store.agoodvitamin.com/aerobico71floz.html, 2 drops per liter for water treatment, got the idea from the wilderness therapeutic camp I worked at) -Large back pack for porters to carry (will have your tent, sleeping bag, and other belongings in it, you may want to bring a large plastic sack to put your items in to keep them dry as you will not be hiking near your large pack) -Head Lamp (with new batteries, bring at least one set of extra new batteries for summit day, you start hiking at midnight) -Travel Pillow (guide services may have or you can just use extra clothes) -Bandanna (use as a sweat/snot rag, you nose will be running a lot and cloth is nice on it) -Snacks/Treats (we had plenty of food from our guide at camp, but snacks like peanuts or dried fruit during the day for you keep in your day pack are nice) -Journal and Pen -Reading Book (optional) -Cards (optional) -Camera (fully charge the battery and make sure you have enough memory) These are a few of the things I was thinking about for Mt. Kilimanjaro. For me it was a lot more physically challenging than I thought it would be, especially summit day. Good luck Hillary and Mitch!!