Lushoto

Tanzania is a beautiful country.  We have not seen all of it yet, but what we have seen has been stunning.  The town of Lushoto will take your breath away.  Literally.  With an elevation of 4800 ft, the huddle of homes is tucked away in the Usambara mountains.  Our travel from Korogwe to Lushoto took us up a winding mountain road past many waterfalls.  We took lunch at Irente Biological Reserve.  Lunch was fantastic!  Most all of the food is grown locally and sustainably.  We ate rye bread with homemade cheeses, homemade jam, cucumbers, tomatoes, and guacamole.  We were in American Food Heaven.  We most definitely bought some cheese and jam to bring home to share with our host family.  Irente is owned by the Lutheran Church, with a portion of the proceeds from lunch going to an orphanage, a school for the blind, and a school for the mentally disabled.  You can camp or stay in well-appointed huts at Irente.  The Usambaras are known for their great hiking, so Irente would be the perfect place to start your Tanzanian hiking adventure.  We hiked 2 km to a viewpoint overlooking the valley below and the sight was spectacular!  But the goodness of Lushoto does not stop at Irente.  After Irente we headed to Lawns, a guesti in Lushoto.  Free wi-fi and cold sodas made these two Peace Corps Trainees very happy.  Lawns was a haven of Western Civilization, which was wonderful to visit after a month in Tanzania.  I would definitely recommend a visit to Lushoto if you make it to Tanzania.  You can soak up the Tanzaian culture in town and still have a hot shower and a Western toilet waiting for you when you retire for the evening.   For now, Kwa heri!

The Usambaras

The view from Lushoto-if we live here, will you come visit us?

Jason on our hike to the viewpoint