We’d both played the song enough times to make anyone not part of our dynamic duo sick of Toto’s, “Africa”. But we thought we’d clarify a misstatement. Kilimanjaro cannot be seen from the Serengeti. In fact, though Arusha is just 74 km away from it’s base, it’s view is blocked by Mount Meru and can only be seen once reaching Moishi. So it was off to Moishi to get a glimpse of Kili, sample the famed coffee, and have a leisurely lunch.

We weren’t quite sure how to get there but headed to the main road and flagged down an approaching shuttle like vehicle. As luck would have it, it was heading to Moshi. Longer and slighly more comfortable than the daladalas, the ride took about an hour and a half. We stopped in at The Coffee Shop and had the first freshly brewed cup of coffee in weeks.

The town itself was much more our speed, quainter, less dust and a bit more charming, though still a fairly popular spot among tourists, which meant that requests for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro were pretty immediate though easily dissuaded from continuing with a polite, “we leave in a few hours.” The shop keepers weren’t quite so agreeable but we’re told tourism is very slow, so we try to be understanding but honestly it’s hard. The urge to tell someone to buzz off, despite our Zanzibarian experience is strong, but apart from one particular agressor things went fairly smoothly. We made a few purchases, had a fairly unremarkable lunch and headed back to the center in time for dining time prayers.