Arusha Morning

A good night’s sleep took me to morning. I had a view of Mt. Meru out my window. I wandered downstairs to find that we were in a beautiful hotel. The lobby had rich leather couches and chairs in small, interconnected sitting rooms. There were lush gardens outside. The breakfast buffet was impressive. It was also clear that we were not *really* in Arusha.

After breakfast we met Wilbert, the Tanzanian owner and manager of Kiliwarriors and also the lead guide on the trip. We also met Faraja and others who would be taking us on the trek. They came up to our rooms, inspected our equipment, and gave us instructions to be ready to leave at 7am the next day.

After lunch I wandered through the exquisite hotel gardens and soon met Raphael, the gardener, who was a Masai. He showed me around and told me his story. One interesting sight was the clock tower. The travel books all talked about it. It is halfway between Cairo and Capetown. He showed me the flowers he calls ‘yesterday, today and tomorrow’. They begin as purple, turn lighter, then go to white.