European Ladies are Tricksie

This weekend was set aside for a trip to Marangu, a small town at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We figured if we couldn’t climb it, we’d at least get a good first-hand look and have a few cold Kilimanjaro-brand beers at the base.
Before our departure, Hery and I headed to the hospital to attend the regular Friday 8am “continuing education” seminar. By 9am, only 5 other students were present. By 9:45am, they announced that the “quality improvement” seminar—hosted by the administration—was cancelled on account of the administration failing to arrive. The best quality improvement always comes from top down.

After two bus rides and a lengthy walk to the hostel (during which we were followed by hoards of school children carrying large sticks… maybe for crickett?), we got ourselves settled at the lovely Bismark. Mr. Moshi (think Mr. Miagi a la Karate Kid), the wonderful owner, took us around and fed us the beer that our journey was so desparately lacking.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Moshi’s son, Robin, joined us outside with our beers. He had recently decended the mountain with a tour group, and had apparantly been doing some beer consumption of his own before we met him. We listened for the better part of an hour as he explained his confusion with the “European ladies” who “make many trickes.” He could not reason why, at the top of Kilimanjaro, so many “European ladies want to make the sexi. It is so cold. You cannot make the sexi at 0 degrees.”

He’s probably right.

He similarly didn’t understand why the European ladies wouldn’t give him a new car. “I make you the baby, you buy me a landcruiser.” So if any of you ladies are looking for a baby and have a spare landcruiser, you know who to talk to.

Saturday was cloudy and, though we were at the base of the mountain, we could see nothing. The waterfall hikes, however, were amazing, and we did enjoy a delicious lunch of smashed-avocado-and-carrot-with-broken-crackers at the base of the biggest falls. The landscape was unbelievable—jungle and broad valleys littered with banana and coffee plantations. Which almost makes up for the fact that Kili is too expensive (and too long of a time commitment) to justify. Especially now that we know you can’t make sexi up there.

L