During our spring break we finally got the chance to drive down to Moshi, Tanzania to connect with our friends Dusty and Marlaina Harper.  We have lived within 240 km of them for 2 years now so we were stoked to finally get a chance to visit.  We soon found out that this distance looks much shorter on the map.  It could be driven in a few hours, including time for border crossing paperwork, but the conditions of the roads made the journey much longer.  It took just over 7 hours but was well worth it in the end.  Moshi is a quaint town that sits at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  The majestic mountain looms over the town and serves as a gorgeous backdrop from any vantage point.  

Dusty and Marlaina are living in Moshi working with Ekklesia International Tanzania.  They have several humanitarian and sustainability projects in the area that they oversee.  We were able to tag along on a few visits and we were very encouraged to see the work that is taking place there.  We also got to meet Dusty and Marlaina’s amazing little boy, Imani.  They also took us up Kilimanjaro (around 8,000 ft, nowhere near the top) where we were able to hike to a beautiful waterfall.  We spent some time enjoying the view and swimming a bit, though it was possibly the coldest water we have ever been swimming in considering it’s source is the glaciers on top of the mountain. (Disclaimer: Jess didn’t swim because we have been told that massive temperature shifts are no good for Sophie….this would count as a major temperature shift!) 

It was a great few days of visiting and reconnecting and now that we have our TZ Visas (good for 1 year), we will have to make visiting a more regular occurrence.