From our Airbnb, we have an amazing view of Mount Kilimanjaro. Mount Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano located in neighboring Tanzania. At 5,895 meters high, it is the highest mountain in Africa. Some locals jokingly call it “shy mountain” because the mountain often hides behind clouds and doesn’t easily reveal itself. We were lucky enough to have several chances of clear views of the mountain, one morning for a few hours and during dusk a few days later.
Although we didn’t have an actual plan, we figured there must be a place closer to the Tanzania border where we could for a short hike to get a better or different view of Mount Kilimanjaro. We brought up the idea with Jackson and Samuel, our local Maasai guide. Neither of them knew of a specific route or location but we decided to head to the town of Oloitokitok, the largest border town in the area.
The town seemed promising as a few locals pointed us in the same general direction, up a hill to Oloitokitok Boys Secondary School. They said that behind the school, we could cross the border on foot to Tanzania. The drive up the hill was treacherous with the dusty dirt road literally crumbling into a forested ravine. With expert driving, Jackson managed to get us up to the school safely.
The security guards at the school pointed in a direction and seemed to confirm that there was something interesting a ways off. We set off through a clearing and approached a forested area. Upon closer inspection, we noticed the forest was made of tree stumps in between trees that looked uniformly planted so we guessed it must be some kind of tree farm. We continued walking and encountered a lady coming in from the opposite direction, carrying long planks of wood on her head, followed by a man doing the same. They had to walk with a bouncy step in order to keep motion with the vibrating planks of wood. Samuel greeted the two in Swahili and chatted for a few moments. He told us that they were Tanzanians who cut the wood on the other side of the border and carry it over to Kenya to sell for a higher price. The wood would likely be used for building a house and it could fetch about KS 100 (US$ 0.7) for each piece. Her heavy load might bring in just over US$2.
Just beyond, there was a clearing with a row of concrete blocks painted white, that stretched into the distance. This was the divider that marked the border of Kenya and Tanzania. The border here was completely porous and there was nothing stopping us from walking straight into Tanzania.
We walked into Tanzania and came across a few wood and tin huts on the edge of the forest. A toddler began crying loudly as we approached. Samuel told us she probably had never seen foreigners like us before. A few young children were helping to transport water in large plastic jugs. The youngest who was probably 4 or 5 years old was struggling with the jug. A few older children seemed to manage the jugs well. We greeted the adults and smiled at the children. The families lived very simply and without much at all. Maize (corn) was drying on one of the tin roofs and there were a few chickens and goats wandering around. I turned to Samuel and commented that it looks like hard life. He said that they have everything they need. I asked him where they can get washing powder or other necessities. He said they can just walk a few hours to the nearby town to buy what they need. When Samuel was young, he was sent twice a month to the nearby town to buy the things his family needed. The young sons of a few families would organize the trip together and bring a donkey to carry the supplies back. They would usually buy maize flour, beans, sugar, oil and a few other things. The trip there and back would take 12 hours by foot.
By then, Samuel told us we had better head back into the forest. If any of the locals decided to report us to the Tanzania border police, we could be fined or even brought to jail for crossing the border. We meandered back into the forest and looped back to our starting point.
Although we didn’t seem any closer to Mount Kilimanjaro and didn’t manage to catch any special views during our short hike, it was fascinating to see how locals that live on the border between Kenya and Tanzania make a living.
After lunch, we headed back toward our Airbnb and Jackson suggested we go for a swim. He knew of a hotel closer to Amboseli and arranged for us to spend the afternoon there. The pool was far too cold for me but Leo and the kids went in, played some games and swam some laps. After their swim, the kids played in the playground with a new friend. Like Amber, Natisha is 10 years old. She lives in Naivasha and was visiting Amboseli with her parents. I love to see our children making friends wherever we go. With their new friends, they can only play together for a short time and there is never any expectation beyond that.
