"Moshi...in the shadow of Kilimanjaro" a Moshi Travel Page by JulesH

We landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport and were met in the arrivals hall by Reward from Tanganyika Tours. He drove us to our hotel in Moshi, some 45 minutes away by car (avoiding the many pot holes in the road, so a rather more circuitous route than necessary) and the small town of Moshi instantly felt like a friendly place to us. It was a little edgy in some places, and we were advised not to walk alone late at night...but that's true of anywhere, surely? Moshi was the kind of place which filled me with anticipation and excitement. Where I felt all the time that somehow I should be in danger, but I never truly was. The hotel looked shabby from the outside, but surprising wonders lay at the end of the thin and dismal looking corridor with a Masai warrior guarding the door. We came back to this hotel 3 times throughout our three week trip, and each time it felt like coming home. The street outside our window was noisy, but what a view we got from the balcony! Mount Kilimanjaro filled the horizon on a clear day...every evening, the clouds would drop away and leave a spectacular vista which you couldn't fault. And at first light, and at sunset, the haunting call to prayer echoed in the air from the mosque further down the street. A reminder of the cultural diversity of this strange land we found ourselves in. We even felt safe ensconced in the voluminous tent of mosquito net which covered our bed, despite the fact that it was full of holes a cat could get through. After all, that's what mosquito repellent is for.