The capital of the Kilimanjaro region, Moshi is named for the smoke that used to come from the volcanic Kilimanjaro. It is one of the main tourist hubs of Tanzania with a variety of hotels and lodges catering for toursits coming for Kilimanjaro, safaris or both.

Mount Kilimanjaro

From all around Moshi you can see Kilimanjaro standing tall and alone.

Stella Maris Executive Lodge

Stella Maris shares its grounds with a School, and photos of the children are scattered through the foyer. Profits from the hotel are funneled into the school to offer the children as much as possible. The hotel isn’t fancy but the staff are incredibly friendly and helpful, the rooms are clean and spacious and the showers when you get back from the mountain are incredible. The second floor tends to be for groups soon departing for the mountain and the first for those who’f returned. You’ll appreciate that reduction in stairs. Believe me. The showers are also much better on the second floor.

The top floor has a great bar area, it was opened up for us as there were quite a few of us on the final night and the tropical lounge vibe and some coctails combined really well. From the windows you can see Kilimanjaro as long as the clouds are cooperative.

Kijiji The Village

After leaving Mweke Gate we headed to Kijiji for lunch, a pristine bathroom and some souvenirs. The location is an art gallery, a restaurant and a souvenir shop all rolled into one, a smart combination for a venue to bring tired buy enthusiastic hikers to. The setup has a Mediterranean vibe with a central courtyard surrounded by a covered corridors of seating.

I picked up some lip balm, which was perhaps the best $6 I’ve ever spent as they had cracked significaiintly on the climb. The items for sale, whilst billed as locally made we’re startlingly familiar. I found items identical to ones my family had bought in West Africa two decades before. Outside two artists sat painting, but one eagle eyed member of our group noticed there was no paint on their brushes, they were miming.

Moshi Mammas

Climbing Ceremony

Once we’d arrived and and showered, the Moshi Mama’s presided over a ceremony to give us our certificates for climbing Kilimanjaro. Each one is stamped by the government, signed by the CEO and individually numbered. I was surprised at how formal it was. The Mamas also gave us each a Kilimanjaro braclet from their store.

Moshi Mamas Store

In Moshi itself, the Moshi Mama’s have a store. Sponsored by G Adventures Planetera the Moshi Mamas are a group dedicated to providing business skills, training and support to women, particularlty single mothers and widows who’s education had been cut short. We were taken through the often frustration process of creating bead braclets and heard about the good work they all had been doing.

Having lost my cap on the bus, I picked up a very touristy, but very practical safari hat, with Kilimanjaro emblazoned on the front.

Massage

Highlighted by G in the booking process, the end of hike massage offered by Stella Maris was an enterprise done by one of the graduates of the Moshi Mamas. reading the description you are expecting a gentle, soothing experience. Instead it is much closer to a deep tissue or sports massage. It was excrutiating adn the massuse was apologetic about how much my tight muscles were causing me pain, but after a solid half hour of this, my body was in a much better state than if I’d not done it.

Recommended but not for the faint of heart.

Kilimanjaro Hike

The hub for climbing Kilimanjaro, Moshi is where most travellers start and stay the day before starting.