Hiking Irente

7/12
Lushoto is a town with cultural tourism, meaning you pay money to visit villages, hike to nearby peaks, go cheese tasting, or experience other "cultural immersion" programs. Nik and I thought we should take advantage of this economy during our visit, so we went into town to visit a cultural tourist center and bargain our way to a great deal on a cool hike. On our way into town, we discovered  that it was market day and the Lushoto market was way cooler than the Arusha market. The people did not yell at you and follow you around so you would buy their stuff, the prices were cheaper, and the merchandise was more traditional (think of the difference between villages and cities). After looking around, I bought a few kitenges, traditional fabric worn by the majority of women here.

After the market, Nik and I went to Cocafa, Community Care and Friendship Association, a group that donates part of the money they make towards rural villages in the Usambara Mountains. We spoke with one of the staff members there, and he told us of all the day trips we could do (hikes, visiting villages and learning more about their culture, cheese and wine tasting, etc). He asked us what we wanted for our trip. Nik said he wanted to hike, and I said I wanted to see monkeys. We decided on hiking through the Magambe Rainforest, with highlights that included seeing black and white colobus monkeys and vervet monkeys. The cost was supposed to be $35, but we only had Tanzanian shillings and were able to bargain the trip down to 25,000 TSH (around $18). We booked the trip for the weekend as a break from DHE work.


After leaving town, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Mike, the man we met at the hotel the night before, had told us of a great viewpoint hike he did with a guide in the area. Being the adventurers we are, Nik and I decided we could do the hike without a guide and set off in the general direction of Irente viewpoint. On our  3.5 mile walk to Irente, we got some great views of the area. We passed many villages with goats and chickens roaming the road, and sometimes children would run after us to hand us flowers. We passed a church and detoured to check out the inside (which was much more Westernized than I expected- though still cool). As we were leaving, the pastor was walking up the road to the church and greeted us. We talked a bit about the work he did at the orphanage, and he taught us how to say "God bless" in Swahili (mungu akubariki).

view of the valley

flowers given to us by children

Before reaching the viewpoint, we came across the Irente Biodiversity Farm and Reserve, a place dedicated to preserving the local Tanzanian plants. This place was definitely aimed towards tourists, but we got some great local yogurt (that tasted cheesy) for lunch. The Farm also sold jam and cheese that looked good but were sold in quantities larger than Nik and I could eat or carry back with us. 

mmm....cheesy yogurt!

After leaving the Biodiversity Reserve, we continued about 2 km to Irente Viewpoint, "where all the mzungus go". We paid the 2,000 shilling "entrance fee" (an illegitimate guy standing at the front demanding money), which was definitely worth it. The views were amazing! And, I am finally getting some time to upload videos so to see the views better, click here.

The view from Irente Viewpoint

On the walk back, children ran up to me and started putting flowers in my hair. I didn't take them out, so when locals walked by us they would laugh at the white girl with dead flowers in her hair. After trying some great street roasted corn and fried donuts, we got back to the hotel just before dusk and relaxed while watching Animal Planet.