OneBike

I spent two weeks in Moshi, the town at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. I did another kind of volunteer there, found on Workaway.

I was helping OneBike, a bike tour operator in the Kili region, with its communication, photos and videos. I was staying with Hillary, the founder of OneBike, a big fan of bicycles. In general, I would go to work in the morning, then I had the afternoon to discover Moshi and its surroundings. We also went on several bike trips to take some shots and have content to promote the agency.

One Saturday a month, One bike organizes « recycling tour» an event where volunteers gather to collect plastic waste by bike in and around the city of Moshi. Once the team has collected as much waste as possible, they drop everything off at a recycling center. I was part of that happy moment when like-minded people came together. And here's a little demonstration in the following link: https://youtu.be/MG7OweoM7dA

I had two days of rest a week. So I took the opportunity to experience an immersion in the culture of the Chagga people for one night. Under Hillary's recommendation, I was staying in a guest room run by Mama Stella (https://machameculturaltourism.com/). The Chaggas are a tribe living at the foot of Kilimanjaro. Their basic food is made up of bananas, which grows best in their humid and warm climate.

With Mama Stella, I learned to cook fried bananas, which I ate for breakfast. She showed me her small museum of chagga objects, like, for example, an old coffee mill, or wooden glasses in which they drank Mbege, the local banana beer. She took me for a walk in the village, and saw a beautiful waterfall. I also accompanied his son to collect milk from their community, because here all the inhabitants have at least one cow. Everyone was very welcoming and glad to be able to greet me.

In my last two days at OneBike, Hillary organized me a bike trip to the western part of the Kilimanjaro region. On the first day, we loaded our bikes into a daladala, a small local bus, to approach the starting point. Once we arrived, we pedaled on a beautiful new road, with a view of Mount Kilimanjaro on one side and Mount Meru on the other. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful.

We stopped for lunch at a small local restaurant by the road. I needed to regain strength because, for the second part of the course, there were three big climbs.

As they say «after the effort, comfort»: we spent the night in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, renovated in guest room, with a swimming pool and a splendid garden where a horse grazed, with a view of Mount Meru. A little paradise. I was able to swim quietly before going for a walk, accompanied by Hillary and the house dogs, for the sunset. The next day, we started very early to ride in the savannah and see animals. We managed to get closer to giraffes and zebras. It was very impressive to be in the middle of the wildlife.

We also visited villages of Maasai, a very famous tribe, which has the custom of living in the savannah with its cows. We met a family there who invited us to taste fresh milk.

The girl, who must have been a little younger than me, did well in English. We were able to discuss our lifestyles. She even tried my bicycle. This kind of adventure is exactly what I'm looking for in the trip: exchange, sharing, discovery. I love it!

In the end, we cycled 67km through the dusty savannah, under a bright sun. I outdid myself that day. This experience was one of the most beautiful in my life.

OneBike also organizes the annual Tour du Kili in August. It is a magnificent adventure that allows you to discover the whole Kilimanjaro region by surpassing yourself, accompanied by a good team and in an ecological way. For more information, I invite you to visit their web page: https://onebiketz.com/ .