We got caught... but we still had a good day!

We tried to get an earlier start on Wednesday and managed to get out of the house by about 9:30am. The real heat of the day seems to peak at about 2:00pm, so we were trying to get home before then. 

We were headed towards another trail that I had found on my maps.me app and it had mentioned both a cave and a viewpoint. Uphill every step of the way, but it was a fairly gradual incline until right at the end when there was a short steep section.

The day was starting out beautifully... sunny, not that hazy, and calling for an afternoon high of 27C (81F).

We are headed up there.

It sure is a beautiful area.

Lots of these wldflowers.

This guy has a nice view.

The path ended up at a private property, but my map showed the trail going right through the property. A guy going the opposite way asked where we going, so I showed him. He said he was a "ranger" and led us through the private property to the other side where the trail continued. He got us to a point where he then said we should have no problem following the trail.

We ended up entering the Magamba Nature Forest Reserve.

I had read about the Magamba Forest when doing my research of the area. I had also read of the ridiculous entry fees for foreigners, similar to the Tanzanian National Parks. So we never planned on visiting. But here we were, 3/4 of the way to where we had planned on going. So we continued on, and would just play it by ear.

Scenery along the way.

Eventually, we came to this sign...

Entrance fees to the reserve.

To give you an idea of the ridiculous discrepancy in fees, locals pay 2,000 shillings ($1.10 CAD, $0.86 USD) to enter for the day.

Visitors pay $10 USD ($12.75 CAD, 23,000 shillings)... more than ten times as much as locals.

I don't like being taken advantage of as a visitor, but of course it is our choice as to whether or not we enter the park. And we chose to enter.

There was the sign... but there was no entrance booth, or anybody around at all... just the sign. We figured we would carry on to the top, and we simply assumed that there would be nobody around there either. After all, there aren't many tourists in town, and we just figured we would be the only ones there.

But we were wrong.

Me, in the forest.

Ruth, heading higher.

We made it to the top, and there was a guy there (no uniform or anything) who congratulated us on making it to the top. His English was quite good. We made some small talk, and no mention was made about paying. It turns out that he is a park ranger.

Then I saw this sign...

"Fine applies when found in the reserve missing government receipts"

Hmm.

So I asked the guy what happens when someone doesn't have the money to pay the fee.

"Well, that's a challenge" he says. "It's funny, but we have found that when we bring someone to the police station, they end up paying the fine as well as the fee. So most people just tend to find a way to pay the fee".

Needless to say, we ended up forking over $20 USD. I thought it was funny that he had a cellular wireless credit card machine up there!

Beautiful views from the top!

On our way down the other side.

Looking back at the shelter at the top.

Next stop was the cave. Not much of a cave... it's simply a tunnel that was dug by some Germans around World War l...

Ruth, venturing inside.

Not much to see other than a few bats!

This butterfly was really pretty, but it wouldn't open it's wings for us!

Things sure are green!

We just love the scenery around here!

Enjoying the view.

We made it back to town at around 1:30pm, and had done 12 kms (7.5 miles).

We needed some food.

While we are enjoying the scenery, we are not so much enjoying the food. This is definitely not Mexico in that regard!

Here's the thing... if you want to eat like you do back home, it will be very expensive, and that's if you can find the food you want to begin with. Here in Lushoto, we have only been able to find very tough beef, or very skinny chicken. Many people are Muslim, and pork doesn't appear to be a thing here. You can buy some whole fish if you want to prepare it. There is bread, but of course nothing gluten free. And while we were able to find cassava flour in Arusha, we can't find any here. The only things in ready supply that we like are eggs, and fruits and veggies. Watermelon and mangos are the cheapest. Apples are imported from South Africa, so they are expensive. It's even difficult to buy snacks! Haven't been able to find any decent peanuts yet.

There are a few restaurants around, and we've been trying them with varying amounts of success. The local one by the bus station that gives you a big plate of basic food for 2,000 shillings has actually been one of the best, if you can put up with the flies.

Yesterday for lunch we tried another one. We each ordered the curry... I ordered the beef, and Ruth ordered the chicken.

Beef curry with rice and spinach.

Chicken curry with rice and spinach.

The chicken in Ruth's curry was all still on the bone, so she had to sort through it to get to the meat. My beef was chewable, but just barely. Fortunately, the sauce itself was delicious, and we walked away with full stomachs for a total including tip of 18,000 shillings ($9.80 CAD, $7.80 USD) for the two of us and we each had a soft drink.

We are surviving, but it's not ideal. Tanzania is certainly an interesting country to visit and overall we are enjoying ourselves, but we've already decided that it's not a country we would return to. 

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