Last weekend here

sad to see our last weekend come and go. Saturday we drove to Mount Kilimanjaro. Very beautiful over there but farther than I thought (like 2.5 hours). We could see the mountain from the distance but  later it disappeared into the clouds. We first toured a cave- very cool history. In the 1700s the chagga ( mountain people) and Maasai were constantly battling over land bc of a drought. So there was a lot of war and killing. The Chagga built elaborate cave systems to hide... With interesting methods to trick the Maasai . They also would hide and use a long stick "skull crusher" to kill them when they came in ( side note I saw this European girl carrying one as she walked in the street the other day...guess no one will mug her). The Maasai would try to smoke them out w chili oil but the chagga would block it w cow hides. The Maasai would drop rocks in their vent holes to locate the caves; the Chaggas would hold water buckets under so they falsely thought it was just a well.

After that we walked down lots of stairs to a beautiful waterfall. Matt and Bryson crossed the river and were gone a long time. Turns out Matt was like bouldering up to get near the waterfall. He said it was really hard and slippery. I tried but didn't get far. It was pretty strenuous and dangerous. I fell and   Almost broke something haha. The climb back up the the stairs was brutal. After that we went to Kilimanjaro and saw people coming back from climbs and saw the start point etc. I had total FOMO ( fear of missing out). Climbing mount kili has always been on my bucket list. Soon I hope! Some  old man lead us through a field telling us we'd have a good view of the mountain. Turns out he was wrong. We did see a liver  in a glass box outside a  house (??). When people say " this is Africa " I now know they mean you'll never know what you'll see. Like a lady wrapping a live chicken in a shawl and carrying it in her purse, the goat emerging from a car trunk, or the flamingo just chilling waiting for the bus w the locals.

Yesterday was probably the only free lazy day we will have on this journey. We left for town around 1030 am then walked for lunch at Fifis. I had couscous salad and some beet juice it felt so good. Over here you can pay a pool fee at fancy hotels so we walked to mount meru hotel I heard they had a good pool. Which they did although some big Dutch group was taking all the chairs. So we laid on towels in the grass, had a cocktail and as soon as they left I grabbed the chairs ( so competitive). At one point I felt like the " pool bouncer " let a ton of locals in probably for a kickback which was annoying as they were very rowdy haha. I like my pools to be tranquil ( this seems to never happen between kids and drunks) . Of course then it looked like rain so we taxied back to the main restaurant area and had some chips and dip while we waited to get the dala home. Then later Matt watched the Chelsea game ( big fans thank gosh in our house including the "mama"/cook)

Later that night we had some excitement. Part of the fun of this trip is experiencing new things w my partner aka Matt and this trip I learned his insane fear/disgust of cockroaches or as we call them, "papa roaches". There is a nasty bathroom in the room where we keep our clothes and Matt is fixated on it because he saw some there. He literally checks on them every day with his flashlight and tries to block the door so they can't come in. I personally would rather not think about it. But he loves talking about what they are doing. Sometimes I tell him fake facts like if you step on them their eggs will pop out and make tons of babies. His eyes get real wide haha. He even used my suitcase to try to barricade our bedroom! Well last night as we  were getting ready for bed he started screaming " there's one on the wall"!! Sure enough there was and it flew towards his bed ("they can fly?!" he screamed.). I don't think I've ever seen him this unraveled. So I guess
I was then in charge of killing it ( I felt bad but not bad enough) even though they give me the heebies too. Amid Matt's pleas of he'll give me anything I want if I kill it haha ( should have taken time to think about what to ask for I really think he would have given me anything at this point- free pass on clothes shopping?) I kept trying to get it but it was hiding and flying and I was screaming and almost fell off the bunk bed ... But it finally sucombed. And we still didn't sleep well. I keep hearing noises like little scurrying ( not to mention all the weird noises outside of animals I can't place). And the other night as I sat outside feeding the cat bats were like dive bombing my head so I had to go in. This AM I brought my plate to the kitchen and a black mouse rat popped his head over from behind the counter ( I have to admit he was cute). And on our walk a dead hedgehog roadkill. I think I might have had enough of nature at this point and am ready for a hotel!