Simba Returns - 1. Sim Ret Chapter 1

With just four days left before Mum and Dad had to return to Australia, as they had set dates for their flights, with Uncle Nate staying for an extra week, we set out to plan improvements to our current property, with four additional huts to be added to the backyard, to accommodate the extra demand for hikers preparing to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. Dad even suggested that we purchase some land very close to the property, where we could have some tenfold buildings installed as additional accommodation for hiking guests.

Just one day before Mum & Dad left, Nanny Afya informed us that the property next door which has just one house on the land, was up for sale, and quickly an offer was made to purchase the ½ acre block of land, which is mostly surrounded with trees with some lawn under the canopy, and a few tropical plants that can grow with limited direct sunlight.

We were given a tour of the property, which consisted of a four-bedroom, two-bathroom modern house, that has tiled floors throughout the building, making it a lot easier for cleaning, and the owners selling were desperate for a fast sale, as they were relocating to Johannesburg - South Africa for work, which suited our family perfectly. Uncle Nate would finalise the purchase of the property the day after my parents left, and a week later, just two days before Uncle Nate had to fly home.

With this new addition to the family property, we now have space to provide shared accommodation for an additional eight guests in twin shared rooms, with the majority of the previous owner's furniture remaining, so there was very little that needed doing, before having the first batch of guests staying there. On his last night at Marangu, as we sat down for dinner, Uncle Nate informed us that he had purchased some additional land, which is one acre of orchard and cropping land, located directly across the road from us.

I already knew that the property grew vegetables and bananas, as Afya, often buys their produce from there to feed the many guests that come to stay. The front section of the property has twelve rows of banana plantation, which hides most of the remaining farmland, which will remain as a horticulture property, to support local employment, and feed the local community at a very low cost to the customers, as it was more about supporting the community than gaining any profit from the business.

Jacky would also be returning home to Australia, as he was not wanting to remain away from home for any long period, which I understood. He would remain living in the house that we provide him and continue helping to run the Kuishi Project, along with Dad. Meanwhile, the remaining four of us would be staying here for the next three months, as that is as long as the visas last for Will, Aaron and Chris.

With Afya remaining as accommodation manager for all guest accommodation, as well as providing all the delicious meals for us and the guests, we would be working as accommodation cleaners, groundsmen and horticulture workers, to keep everything flowing well. We still live in the Bungalows out the back, to allow all the rooms in the main house available for guests, with the master suite remaining empty, and we – the staff use that space as a relaxation space, away from all the noise of the guests.

We have a total of 8 horticulture workers that we employ full time but with much-improved working conditions than what they had before. Now they work only 5.5 days a week and have a higher salary, plus they get paid annual holidays. Working out in the fields was quite an experience, as it is currently the rainy season in Marangu, which goes from December to April, where the temperatures are in the mid to high 20s with plenty of clouds, light winds, rain and thunder around most days, and I was glad in a way that was were only spending two days a week working in the fields.

With the additional accommodation that we have now, Jubali and I were taking turns to do the Airport run to collect our guests, as we now have a 5-seat Toyota Hi-Ace Van and a 7-seat Toyota Alphard, with an enclosed trailer for carting luggage from the airport, which is a 1 hour and 45-minute journey each way.

We had cancelled plans to build the additional huts because we now have the property next door providing additional accommodation, so we now have four twin share rooms in each building to accommodate 16 guests, plus camping space on the back lawn for guests who choose to camp outside. The third bungalow out the back, we have made into an additional living space, with kitchen & dining, bathroom and lounge space for those who choose to camp, we also have a barbeque and outdoor chairs and tables for outdoor living space.

Although we are partners, before we left Australia I had to point out that Tanzania has strict laws against gay activity of any kind, so although we shared bungalows, we did not share beds, as we didn’t want to end up in prison, which is a real possibility if caught, and this was a big concern for us.

In the time that we remained in Marangu, we kept ourselves busy, and at the end of January, after six weeks in Tanzania, I had arranged for the four of us to fly from Kilimanjaro to the capital city – Dar Es Salaam which is a fifty-minute flight, followed by international flight to Paris, France, with a three-hour stopover in Nairobi, Kenya. I had planned this well ahead, letting Afya know what I was planning.

When I told the guys that we were going on a holiday to the capital, I suggested bringing their passports, as their form of identification to stay at the hotel. They had no idea that we would not be staying overnight at the capital, but instead flying north to Europe for a week's holiday.

I had also informed Mum and Dad of my plans, and they were supportive of the idea since we had to be so well-behaved in Tanzania, so as not to get into trouble with the law. I told Will, Chris and Aaron that that they would need a week's worth of good clothes, including some smart clothes for going out to dinner, and sightseeing.

When the day arrived for us to start our holiday, Jubali drove us to the airport, and wished us a happy holiday, as we boarded our first flight for the day. When we arrived at the local airport, we checked in our luggage, without the guys finding out where we were going, before we headed to a café to get some food to eat, before heading for Customs to get through the international travel side of things.

When I asked where we were heading, I replied Nairobi, Kenya, which caught everyone's attention. “We are going on a holiday to Kenya?” Will asked me, “We are passing through there, yes,” I replied, without giving any more information, and the Customs official could see that I was having fun with my friends not knowing where we were going, handing over all the airline tickets to him, and then pointing out each person listed on the tickets.

Once through customs, we headed to the departure lounge, to await our flight, which was coming from the capital Dar Es Salaam. “Can you please tell us where we are going for this holiday? My cousin Aaron pleaded with me, and I just shrugged my shoulders, “So not fair, that we don’t know where we are going,” Aaron grumbled. When we boarded our Air Precision flight to Nairobi, it was only a 90-minute flight, before landing at the international airport of Nairobi, Kenya.

Our luggage would be automatically transferred to our next flight, so all we had to do was go through to the transfer lounge to await our new flight, with a 3 ¼ layover, and we once again headed to the café for some snacks to eat, as well as using the bathrooms. Once we had done that, and sat down as a group again, I casually handed out the tickets to Will, Aaron and Chris, and waited for their reactions.

“Paris… we are going to Paris, France… Wow!” Aaron said excitedly, and I just smiled at his enthusiasm for where we were going. “Really? We are going to France?” Will asked me, still not convinced that we were going to Europe. “Yes, we are heading to France, as part of our two-week holiday,” I replied. “Wow, this is so awesome, thanks for this Jacob, this will be awesome,” Chris replied.

“It's fine, I just wanted you guys to experience a bit more travel. As you know I have been to many places around the world, and I thought it would be a nice treat for your guys since you have all been working so hard at Marangu for the past six weeks,” I replied. “So where exactly are we going for this holiday, apart from Paris?” Will asked me.

“Well, we have an over three-hour layover here, before we board our flight to Paris, which is an 8 ½ hour flight, arriving at 0630 local time. Once we had cleared customs and border control and collected our luggage, we had a thirty-kilometre journey into the city, which took us 90 minutes, where we checked into our hotel, which has wonderful views of a small canal, we did a bit of sightseeing around the city before we will return to the hotel for a bit of a rest and some lunch,” I informed the guys.

“What about in the afternoon?” Aaron asked me, “Well, we may need to do some shopping, as it is still fairly cold here, and we have two weeks in Europe, where it is still winter here,” I responded, “You don’t say. You never said anything about travelling north to where it is flaming cold as here,” Chris grumbled.

We spent a full day looking around Paris, which included buying some warmer clothing, and we checked out several roadside cafés to experience real Parisian food, which was excellent. The following day, we went and checked out all of the famous features of Paris, including the Louvre Pyramid, the Arc de Triomphe, the Grande Palace Museum and the neighbouring Art Gallery.

Also, we checked out the Notre Dame Cathedral which is still being rebuilt, the Parthenon, went up the Eiffel Tower, visited the St Louis Cathedral, which contains the Tomb of Nepolean Bonepart, and many more museums, with regular stops at cafés for refreshments.