Next Time, We Should Just Bring Our Helicopter

Day 30 (7/17):

Today, I have faced and dealt with two fears:

1) Being in a motor-vehicle that has tipped over
2) Heights

Let me back up. We woke up this morning around 8 because our bus for the planned water-hike was to arrive at 9:15. Breakfast was the same as always, except tourist high season in Africa has recently picked up, so our hotel is much more crowded than usual. We were all pretty excited for the day, despite the cloudy, rainy, chilly weather that we woke up to. We knew/hoped it would clear up as the day went on.

Godfrey (we thought his name was Geoffrey, and had been calling him that for weeks) picked us up in our usual bus at 9:15 on the dot. We headed out of Arusha and drove for 15-20 before turning off the main road onto a small village road. We squeezed through the village and turned yet again off the road onto a much less crowded but steep dirt road. It had rained the night before, but the ground was pretty solid. Our driver got us all the way out to the camel-safaris and back, so I was confident in his ability to get us up the mountain. We were going to hike around waterfalls that were deep in the forest on the slopes of Mt. Meru. On our way up the rural road that would take us to our hiking point, we were bumping along went all of a sudden the bus heaved to the right and tipped mostly over.

Remember those divots I wrote about that made me so anxious on the way to the camel-safari? Yeah, the front wheel of the bus got stuck in one of those divots, in the mud. EXACTLY the way I feared it would. We were lucky that the part of the road we got stuck on had a high piece of land/path next to it, which is what the bus rested on, otherwise it would have been completely on its side. We all got out and surveyed the damage. The impact of the collision with the road wall had mangled the front right corner of the bus a bit, and other than the back-left wheel being in the air and not on the ground at all, the bus was ok and so were we.

With the help of 14 girls, some village members, Godfrey, and our driver, we were able to get it out of the ditch, but we knew if we tried to continue with it, we would only have a similar problem the further up the road we got, and the more into rural villages we traveled, where the road would surely be less kept. First fear: met, dealt with, and conquered. Our guide, who had met us a little bit earlier, directed us to walk to rest of the way to the starting point. It took us about half an hour to get up to the village where we were intended to start. After feeling shaken up and a little lost, we all were in relatively good spirits by the time we got to our destination. We made a pit-stop for the bathroom at the church, before starting our official hike.

It was still pretty foggy when we started and the mist was sitting on the hills and slopes of Meru. Beautiful, but bad for pictures. We hiked down a slope and through a small bean farm, and continued until we were fully in the forest. It was a nice hike and soon we heard the sound of water. The slope started to get steeper and we knew we were close when we saw the top of the waterfall ahead, but what we didn’t realize was that we would be climbing down a very narrow, very steep path that wrapped around the hill. Our guide had several helpers who assisted us in getting down to the falls, but suffice to say there were many times when I was on my butt for fear of standing up and losing my balance. We all got safely down to the bottom of the falls, and let me tell you, it was worth it. It was only a 40-foot waterfall but beautiful all the same. We were able to climb on the rocks that went behind the falls and have our pictures taken of us behind the waterfall. We spent a lot of time there, taking pictures, and playing in the small pool that the waterfall fell into.

When we had had our fill, our guides directed us back up the hill, but while we were entertaining ourselves with pictures and playing in the water, one of the guys had created footholds in the path so that going up would be easier. And it was. We made it up in less than three minutes, whereas coming down had taken a full ten.

We hiked back to the church and continued on through the village to our second destination. I thought I was dealing with my fear of heights by hiking down the steep hill to the first waterfall. That was NOTHING compared our second hike. We walked along the dirt road for a while, at a relatively steep incline, but it was manageable since we were on the road. Once we turned off the road, however, things got interesting.

Going up the road had been steep and we felt like we were cresting a large hill, and we were pretty much correct. We turned off the road, and through what in the rainy season would have been a corn farm, set on the slopes of the mountain. The soil was very soft and made for comfortable downhill travel. After we got downhill a ways, the path flattened out and we continued on. We started to hear the sounds of water and knew we were getting close to our second location. We broke out of the trees and were treated to a beautiful vista. To the right of us, we saw the slope of the mountain drop sharply, and then rise again on the other side of the river. Ahead, there was a break in the hills and we could see beautiful plains and hills, further in the distance. I glanced ahead after taking several pictures to see where our path was going, and realized we were climbing down the mountain.

I will try to describe this hike as best as possible, but there is really no way to do it justice. Try to check my pictures on facebook for additional reference. Ok, so when I saw that we were climbing down and how high up we were, I started to freak out. I have a (small) fear of heights and am usually able to keep it in check. I make myself go on roller-coasters, I hike when I can, so it’s not a big deal. Not so much in the case. Part of the mountain jutted out over the small canyon, and then the path were taking curved sharply left. I can’t describe it as a path, only as natural footholds that existed on the face of the brush covered hill.

I eased my way down slowly, as was the only was my nerves could handle the experience, and eventually made it down to the river. Getting to the river wasn’t the end destination, we then had to walk upriver to get to the falls. Had the current not been so strong and the rocks so slippery, it would have been fun, but it was hard work and stressful. Most of us had already gotten our feet soaked from the first waterfall, climbing to get behind it, and then wading into the small pool to take pictures, so trying to navigate upriver with our feet completely submerged wasn’t an issue. It was a water-hike, after all.

We finally got to the second water-fall, and once again, totally worth the near-death experience I felt I’d been subjected to. Not only was there a beautiful waterfall that fell into a pool that began the river we’d hiked, but just above the water-fall, back farther in the mountain, was a second waterfall that fed the first. It was breathtaking. We spent a good amount of time there, taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Please, please look at the pictures I posted. They are amazing.

Once again, when we’d had our fill of pictures and waterfalls, we trekked back downriver. Once we crossed the river, we then had to climb back the almost sheer face of the mountain. Climbing up the mountain wasn’t nearly as bad as climbing down, for the simple fact that my line of focus was on the sheer, plant-covered face in front of me. I did, however, climb the mountain on my hands and knees, pulling myself up, with my body flat against the hill. It was stressful, but not being able to see all the empty space I could possibly fall into, and focusing on getting my body to the top helped. We made it to the top, and with the emotional exhaustion and my physical tiredness, I laid down and waited for the others. I caught my breath, and felt proud of myself for not letting my fear take over and restrict me from having an awesome experience like I’d just had.

We trekked back uphill, through the forest, through the corn-farm, and around the mountain back to a compound we hadn’t been to before. There was sat and had our lunch. They served us rice with some type of delicious meatsauce, ugali (the staple food for the region), carrots and green beans, and cooked plantains. After all the hiking we’d just done, and the calories we’d just burned, we were all glad to have a hot, carb-filled meal in front of us.

After lunch we all rested, since by that time it was almost 2:30pm. We were able to wash-up a little bit, but we knew we would all be taking nice hot showers once we got back.

We paid for our hike and for the guides, and then headed back down the road and through the village to get our bus. Apparently it had tried to meet us closer to the village and got stuck in mud again. When we found it, local village men were trying to maneuver it so it could turn around to go back. They were shoveling dry dirt under the tires as it moved. We eventually met it down the road a ways and were able to board it when it was in a position to go the right direction. The only mishap/stressful part of that was the two logging trucks that were also trying to fit down the road and also were just as unsteady in the mud. After many tense minutes, we finally made it to the highway and headed back to Arusha.

We are all exhausted and very ready for dinner and then bed. We have been laughing about our day since we got back and will probably continue to remember what an adventure we had for a good long time.

I know I talked a lot in this post about my stress and dealing with fear, and while I dealt with a lot of internal struggles today, I still had fun. The times I was not fearing for my life climbing down the side of a mountain, I was laughing, and making the best of it. I hope no one who reads this sees the analysis of what goes through my head as me not enjoying what’s happening. Part of enjoying myself and having an adventure is admitting when I’m scared and working through those fears and conquering them. I feel like that has been as very major part of this trip for me…is facing my fears and conquering them.

Shikamo – Maharaba

Love and miss you all,

Colleen