Where clouds touch Earth

Finally it was weekend! Although the week has not really been tiring because we barely worked for two days I am always looking forward tot he weekends to have time to do my washing or to go on excursions. After we got up really early on Saturday morning we went to the local University to watch a football game. Thomas was playing and he had invited us to come. Because it gets very hot during the day most sport events take place either in the early hours or later in the afternoon. In Africa football plays a great role. Everyone watches the football league, knows about the famous players and whenever there is a game on TV the small stalls are being closed and on the streets of town is total chaos. Although this was only a small game and for the students only the guys were extremely enthusiastic about it. A small truck drove down the dusty and bumpy path with huge speakers on the back. The speakers were put on full blast so surely the neighbours in a radius of 100 miles must have heard the groovy beats. Most of the players did not even have proper sports gear. They did not have any shoes or trousers or even the same shirts. How they were able to tell who was of which team I really do not know. But this did not matter for the energetic guys. In a big cloud of dust the men ran after the ball without a visible system to play and vuvuzelas tooted noisily from the stands. After 90 minutes the sweaty guys collpased by the stand. After a short pause they all set of to the cafeteria while following the music truck. For the rest of the day we stayed in our hotel to do odd jobs.

On Sunday we wanted to do some sportive activities. And what else is there to do apart from hiking the Uluguru Mountains? Of course we did not just want to go wandering around the hills so we phoned a guide to accompany us. Ramangoma lives in the mountains and goes on tours regurlarly. He knows every tree and every stone because he grew up in the mountains and climbed them since he was a small boy. We planned something big today. The normal route was boring we wanted to do the tough route to the top! Determined, we hiked up the hill in our big hiking shoes. It did not take us long to get hot and sweaty in this kind of weather. After half an hour we had to do a break already. We relaxed for a few minutes and had a drink of water. Some paths were very steep and rough. After some time and after some more breaks the paths got very narrow and could be called dirt tracks trough bushes and shrubs. Nevertheless, there were still some small houses which belonged to self-supporting families and sometimes there were children greeting us happy to see us. I have never sweated that much. The sweat was even dripping down my hands and nose. It was truly disgusting. After it got very humid like in a tropical greenhouse we found a beautiful waterfall behind some bushes. The water ran over some even rocks so we were able to cool ourselves with the icy water. We made ourselves comfortable and savoured the view over Morogoro. In front of us the stream of water flowed down the slope and behind that was the landscape of Morogoro. Of course we could not stay seated all day long as we had to get tot he top oft he mountain. We went tot wo more waterfalls and one of themwas purely magnificient. The waterfall was located at a forest glade and the sun shone through the leafes oft he trees. The waterfall was quite high and the drizzle was very pleasant.

We crawled slippery clay paths and climb alongside some rocks to get back to our trekking path. From there on we went further and even further. The higher we got the more tired our legs got. Halfway through we had a break at Ramangoma´s house where we were served strawberries and bananasfrom his own garden. After we nearly ate everything we could get hold of wes et of fort he rest of our journey. The last few meters up the mountain were the worst. Every other minute weh ad to stop to catch our breath and then we stumbled further. Finally, we were there. We sat down on the edge of the mountain. The view weh ad was really breathtaking as you were able to see for miles. For people who are used to the cities and landscapes in Europe it is unbelievable to see such an enormous expanse of landscape. There were all different kinds of spots: banana plantations, dry grass areas, tropical forrests and further away the steppe. Tanzania has so many variations in landscapes. After weh ad regained soem strenght and absorbed the view we began to climb down again. It already took us 7 hours to get up the mountain and at 6 o´clock it got dark. With legs like pudding we slid down the paths and after 9 hours in total we were back home. The adventour was definitively worth it, But for today we were exhausted. After we had a shower and some dinner we all went to bed very early.