Simba Returns - 2. Sim Ret Chapter 2

On our fourth day in Paris, while we were eating breakfast, I informed the guys that we needed to pack up and check out, as we had a train to catch at 0930 hours. When they asked me where we were going now, I just smiled and ignored their question, much to their annoyance. After breakfast, we quickly packed up our luggage and checked out of the hotel, before catching a taxi to the main train station, and once there, I handed everyone their tickets.

“Hey, what does TGV mean?” Aaron asked me, “Oh wow, I know that question. We are going on the high-speed train, and by the looks of it, we will be travelling for just over three hours to Geneva. That’s in Switzerland isn’t it?” Chris responded, “Yes that is correct, and that is for a distance of just over 600 kilometres, and we will be travelling in style in first class,” I added. “That sounds awesome, but is there a need to go upmarket?” Will asked me.

“Well in standard, the seating layout is two and two, where first class is two and one seats, so there is plenty more room,” I explained. “Well, in that case, I won’t complain,” Will responded. “This will be my second time to Switzerland, as I travelled with my Uncle Nate, and climbed the Matterhorn,” I added. “You are so lucky to have climbed so many mountains, I wish I had the chance to do that,” Aaron replied.

“You have. Don’t forget that you did a one-day climb part of the way up Mount Kilimanjaro, and when we get back home, we will be doing two more trips up there. The first will be an overnight two-day trip a bit further up the mountain, so you can acclimatise to the heights, and the last one will be four days up to the very top,” I replied. “Wow? That will be so cool,” Aaron responded excitedly.

When we arrived in Geneva, we checked into the hotel, which was located in Nyon, which is 24 kilometres to the Northeast of the city, which is surrounded by France on three sides and is on the banks of Lake Geneva. We have a family room, two adjoining rooms, with twin beds, a private bathroom and a balcony. The hotel is located on the northern edge of town, overlooking the lake and a yacht marina. Once we had settled into the hotel, we headed to the restaurant for lunch, which has magnificent views of the lake and the marina “So, what are we going to do now that we are in Switzerland?” Chris asked me.

Over the next four days, we went on an overnight sailing cruise on the lake, went boarding and skiing just east of Montreaux, and visited several castles and chateaus, before travelling north to Bern, the capital city, where we checked out all of the amazing 13^th and 14^th century gothic buildings. From there we travelled to and spent two days in Lucerne, before continuing onwards north to Zurich, where we spent three days looking around the city and its surrounds.

After two wonderful weeks in France and Switzerland, we boarded an early morning flight to Amsterdam, where we had a 90-minute layover, before flying directly to Kilimanjaro Airport, arriving at 8 pm, where Jimbali was there to meet us and drive us back home. It was almost 11 pm before we finally arrived back at Marungu, and we were soon in bed and fast asleep.

It was just before lunchtime when Nanny Afya woke us all up, and feeling well-rested, we happily sat around the table chatting about our European holiday. “The adventures have not finished just yet my friends,” I announced to my mates. “Ok, what exactly do you have planned for us?” Chris asked me. “An African adventure of course, and it all starts in just three days, once we are all well-rested and have sorted out our clothes for this trip,” I responded smiling.

The first stage is to Arusha and nearby Mount Meru National Park, which is a three-hour drive from here, and we will spend two days exploring the area and the national park. From Arusha, we will continue Ngorongoro, which is another three-hour drive away, where we will travel to the top of the enormous crater, that includes a large lake and is home to a huge amount of wildlife.

After two nights there including the full day exploring all the wildlife inside the crate, we will continue travelling for another 65 kilometres where we pass through the main gate into the Serengeti National Park, where once again you will see plenty of wildlife, including ostriches, giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, hippos and rhinos.

We will be staying overnight at a tent camp just inside the National Park’s Ikoma gate, after a full day in the National Park. The next day we headed north-west for the town of Musoma, which is on the banks of the famous Lake Victoria, and we were booked to stay right on the beach at Matvilla.

After a two-day stay there, we now headed in a southerly direction, driving for a good seven hours, until we reached the town of Tabora, which is the location of the David Livingston Museum. The next day we continued southwards, to the town of Kasanga, which is on the banks of Lake Tanganyika, where we learnt that it was a German Colonial town in the late 1880’s.

After an overnight stop there, we headed south and west to the border town of Tunduma, located right on the border to Zambia. From there it was a three-day drive north to get back to Marangu, with overnight stops at Makambako and Kilosa, staying in fairly basic accommodation for most of the trip since leaving Musoma.

Although there was a lot of travelling during this trip, we did see a heck of a lot of Tanzania, including some very remote rural regions, where housing is fairly basic, and often does not have the basics like indoor plumbing and limited water supplies and power, which was quite a surprise to the lads.

After over a week of being away, we all looked forward to Afya’s home cooking and the comforts of our family home, although the relaxing didn’t last for long, as we had jobs to help with, across the road on the farm, as well as at the house, cleaning the rooms after guests have stayed.

It was nearly a week after we arrived back from our long road trip, that I announced to the lads, that it was time to head home to South Australia, and both Chris and Will said that although it had been an awesome adventure, they agreed that it was time to head home, but I had one last adventure for them to experience first, to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

That evening during dinner, Will asked when are we heading home to Australia, and I responded that it would be in a week, but first, we had one last adventure to complete, which had both lads groan, and I just chuckled at this response. “Cheer up lads, this is one adventure that you will never forget,” I responded. “Where to now?” Chris asked me.

“To the top of the African world of course,” I replied, and it took a moment for both lads to realise what I was talking about. “You are serious? You want us to climb Kilimanjaro?” Will asked me, “Yes. You have been looking at it from afar for quite some time and even climbed a little way up here, now it is time to climb the rest of the way up,” I said to my two mates.

After dinner, I briefed the guys on what to expect during the climb, which would take us three to four days to reach, and another three days to climb back down afterwards, and I instructed them on what they needed to pack into their climbing backpacks for this climb, and said that we would have two guides travelling with us, with my local brother Jimbali being one of them.

We would be going on a day that three organised tour groups do not leave Marangu gate, so hopefully we would have the huts all to ourselves for part of the journey and like we had done before on our last day before reaching the summit, we would leave the hut in the late morning, so to reach the summit mid-afternoon, where we would be camping

On the day of departure, because we were so close to the gate, we just walked that short distance, stopping to chat with several of the locals, of whom I knew a few of them, whom I hadn't seen since I was last in Tanzania. At the Marangu Gate, we stopped to take a few pictures, before setting off on our climbing adventure.

Jimbali and his friend Arubani would chatter away in either Bantu, which I only knew a little of that language or Swahili, I would occasionally join the conversation, and they would joke about my terrible accent, which I just laughed at. What are you lot chatting about, and what language is that?” Will asked me later in the day.

“It is Bantu, a regional minor language, and they are teasing me about my unusual accent,” I replied, and this had Jimbali saying in Swahili that I needed to wash my mouth out with soap for not telling the full truth, for which I just grinned and shrugged my shoulders.

We took our time climbing, knowing that William and Chris had very little climbing experience, and we reached the overnight hut just at dusk, where we found it to be empty, which was what we were hoping would happen for the first two nights of our trip. On our third night, we had the return hikers already at the hut when we arrived, and with limited bunks available, our two guides elected to camp outdoors in their tents.

The following morning after an enjoyable sleep-in, which allowed us to rest our aching muscles a bit longer. It was 11 am before we set off, for the last three hours of the hike, stopping for half an hour for a late lunch, and arriving at the peak an hour later, where we took photos, to mark our achievement, but for me, it was just another visit to the peak, which I had a feeling may be my last time.

After an hour of enjoying the remarkable view of the surrounding environment, I was sitting away from the rest of the group, just contemplating how my future would look from now on when there was a rustle of branches, and the distinct sound of heavy footprints, which I instantly recognised.

“Guys stay dead still, do not say a word and do not move, as it could result in serious injury if you do,” I said to Chris and William in a loud whisper. “Do as he says, do not move, we have some large visitors,” Jimbali said to the lads, who were sitting close to them with all the backpacks lying on the ground in a heap, while I was a good twenty to thirty metres away, and carefully I watched the approaching single male elephant.

For some reason, I was not feeling at all concerned, as I remained calm and relaxed while turning my head slightly and slowly to get a better view of the approaching elephant, which came charging towards me instead of the rest of the group, stopping a few feet away, and blowing air out of his trunk, before resting his trunk on my shoulder for a moment, then smelling my head, shoulders and chest, before taking a step closer.