Day 1. in Tanzania

Yesterday I got off the plane in Kilimanjaro National Airport at 7:00 pm, just in time for dinner. Jamie, Nicole, and I went to our hotel room to drop off our stuff and then we went off to dinner. There was a small traditional restaurant a block from our hotel that served really good smelling food. We decided to go there. We shared Pilau, a meat and rice dish with spices, and Ugali, a rather bland staple food which we ate with the sauce from the pilau. It was quite good, and we went to bed exhausted at around 10:00. We woke up with the sun at 6:00 and had a continental breakfast at the hotel restaurant. We met our guide, Cristian, at 8:00 and took his land rover to the bottom of mount Kilimanjaro. The top was shrouded in clouds but the size of the mountain we could see was still awe inspiring. We drove up as far as we could go and walked from then on. We followed Cristian up a windy, thin path for about two hours until lunch. We scarfed down the sandwiches we packed and hung out for around 30 minutes before heading down the mountain again. We were were 3/4 of the way down when it started to rain. It brought out so many good smells, like fresh dirt and flower scents. We were soaked but happy when we got to the Land Rover and went back to the hotel.