From Arusha on our way to the Mount Meru camp  we caught our first views of Kilimanjaro – the top thankfully hidden from view by cloud cover.  Our two days at Mount Meru  included time sightseeing in Arusha National Park and further trip preparation – going through our equipment, trying  on sleeping bags, and, yes, some test hiking (FYI – hike is a four letter word) while we acclimated to 6200 feet above sea level and adapted to the 10 hour time difference.  When we first approached the camp on a dirt road surrounded by 9 foot tall grass, at one point the driver slowed and turned right into the tall grass.  After several minutes of driving through this “grass” – we came out at the camp. I often wondered how they found the place.  I wanted a photo of turning into the grass – but it was only my first couple of days in Africa and I wasn’t getting out of the jeep!

Our “hotel” for our days at Mount Meru was a tent, and it didn’t get better than this for another eight days. Dave and David are standing in front of theirs. We had to take off our shoes and bring them inside the tent each night so the monkeys didn’t walk off with them. We could hear the colobus monkeys talking all night outside our tent.  

Arusha National Park

The favorite part of the entire trip happened the first day at Mount Meru visiting Arusha National Park.  We were driving through the park, we were climbing (in a vehicle) a slight hill when over the top comes a troop of baboons.  The jeep stopped and we all entertained ourselves taking numerous photos of the baboon with our favorite being the babies clinging to their mommy’s backs.