Dashir Lodge and Day Trips

 

Our time at Safari House came to an end and we shifted down the road 6km – as the crow flies, along a power line right of way.  By roadway, it's an hour’s drive.

Musa came to collect us and take us to Dashir Lodge. We were warmly welcomed, especially with the wonderful Canadian accents of Darryl and Shirley Peters, the owners of the lodge. We got settled and were served North American food – chicken Caesar salad.

At the moment we were the only ones around and as there was no excursion planned for us, we wandered around on the 30 acre property, swam in the pool, and relaxed. Later, we got a proper tour. Darryl and Shirley and their staff have done so much to develop the place. They have about half a dozen little cottages, and housing for staff. They raise cows and chickens, and have an immense garden growing a lot of the vegetables that were served at meal time. This garden was exactly the style of gardening that Dave was trying to teach the women – to cover the ground with compost and decaying plant material (God’s blanket), to inter-plant with shade plants to protect other plants, and to create their own compost. We immediately wanted to invite Boaz and Veneranda to come and see this garden!

The place got livelier in the evening as other groups returned. Over our time there we met other Canadians (most from Winnipeg) who’d climbed Kilimanjaro, gone on or were going on safari to the three main parks in the area or were on their way to Zanzibar. In between these major excursions, people went on day trips off in all directions. Because we’d only added a few days to our schedule, we chose only to go on day trips.

our room was on the right.

COFFEE FARM TOUR

Our first day trip was to the village of  Nkoaranga on the slopes of Mt. Meru.  Our guide, Samuel, took us on a walking tour of his village, telling stories of the people and culture as we made our way to his coffee farm.  

Coffee plants grow in the shade of the banana plants on the mountainside.

Coffee cherries are ripe when red.  They are hand-picked.  

It's quite easy to pop a cherry and inside are two beans.  They're edible raw, but don't taste like much. 

Samuel's coffee farmyard.

This machine removes the outer hull and pulp of the cherry. It's electrical and, well, there are power outages. 

Once the pulp has been removed, the beans are dried in the sun and the damaged beans are sorted out. 

Once dried, the beans are ready to be shipped and sold to fair trade companies.

Before the coffee tasting at the roastery, we were treated to a delicious lunch of fruit and Tanzanian traditional food: ugali, goat stew and greens.  These are the guide and driver.

These are our new friends and fellow travellers from Dashir Lodge. We had a wonderful time together.

MOUNT KILIMANJARO 

We were going to go see Mt. Kilimanjaro as closely as possible, without actually climbing it.  It sits at 5,895 m or 19,340 ft and is rather shy.  Would we get to see it?  Mt. Meru was a beautiful sight as we headed east, so it looked promising. 

Mt. Meru - 4,566 m or 14,980 ft.

We were not disappointed.  What a beautiful day. We drove up to 1800 m elevation to the park gate. 

Beyond this point is where the Kilimanjaro trek begins.  It's a beehive of activity as porters and guides and trekkers are unloading the busses, getting the gear sorted and packed up for the adventure of a lifetime.  For every trekker group there's a guide, an assistant guide and 3-5 porters per person to haul the tents, food, cooking utensils and other gear.  What an organized chaos.  We enjoyed the photo op and continued on our way down.  

Just a short drive down the mountainside we stopped at the Machame Nkweshoo cultural centre.  This is a small museum and cultural interpretive centre run by a group of women to introduce travelers to the Chagga people and their history.

Traditionally, the people lived in banana leaf huts. 
As a tourist, you can book a night in this one!

Drink up - you can't set this cup down!

Stella, the director of  the cultural centre, took us on a little hike.  This area is also a coffee growing area and we walked past banana and coffee fields on our way to a beautiful waterfall. 

It was almost like a hidden pathway.
In the distant trees we saw some monkeys.

I wasn't that successful at carrying a head-load!

Before we headed back to the lodge, our driver, Simon, had one more surprise for us.  But first, we had to make it through the road construction.

We stopped at Kaliwa Lodge for a coffee on the deck overlooking a river, and in the distance, Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Unfortunately, the clouds had rolled in and we couldn't see the top.  Nevertheless, it was a beautiful view to end our day trip before descending back into the dry valley, back to Dashir Lodge.

MAASAI DANCING

All the guards employed by Dashir Lodge are Maasai.  As a treat for the guests, they put on a dance performance in the early evening.  It is a high energy performance with their unique throat-singing and jumping. It was incredible.  

A group photo with all the guests and Maasai guards/dancers.

VILLAGE WALK

On the last day, we had a tour of the health clinic that has been built by Dashir Cares.  It's been a labour of love, giving back to the community.  They have plans to expand to include a maternal health centre as well. 

I also had a chance to take a walk around the village of Kikwe with Eliasante.  He's on staff at Dashir Lodge and lives in the village.  In fact, many of the staff are local, other than the Maasai guards who are a long ways from home.

A termite mound along the side of the pathway.

Yes, there are proper roads into the village, but this one is only passable on foot or with boda boda (motorcycle).

Met Mary, a beautiful seamstress.

Eliasante posing in front of his new house. 

Primary school

First grade

secondary school students

And just like that, our time in Tanzania came to an end.  As a final farewell, the pilot circled Mt. Kilimanjaro as we climbed up to cruising altitude.  Good-bye Tanzania.  It was a wonderful experience.