WED. MAR. 8 DAY 3 MOSHI

A good night's sleep followed by a nice breakfast does wonders for the soul. After breakfast, we met our guides, Elly and Stanford, and a driver called Frank. All are good guys, friendly and good-humoured, but completely serious about the job. A million questions about life in general and bowel movements in particular led to a growing sense of anxiety. This is going to be a test!

We then walked around central Moshi. This is a "typical" backpacker town. Active, bustling, noisy and dusty, but also quite clean and friendly. The drivers here are active but not frantic as you would find in, say, India. We changed some money, took in the all-encompassing markets, had a good lunch and enjoyed the good vibe. But all the while, we had the sense that Elly and Stanford were watching, assessing, judging: they talked to each other constantly in Swahili, a cool language to listen to. At the end, we asked them how we did and they smiled and said "good." Well, I felt better after THAT praise !

The heat and jet lag caught up to us and we slept the afternoon away. We awoke, tried to relax and talked through some concerns, then were picked up by Frank for a surprise dinner at an Indian-Italian restaurant. Excellent food, but I'm starting to feel bloated after constant eating and little exercise. That will all change, of course, in the days ahead. The evening was spent packing, farting, re-packing, chatting, more re-packing and sweating. I'm ready for a good night's sleep.






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