Don't go chasin' waterfalls...

The week before Mama Ju and I escaped to Zanzibar, Annemart and I took a day trip to Moshi. We set off on a local bus, crammed in with too many people for a two hour trip to what proved to be possibly the most boring town on Earth.

The point of the expedition was to visit a hospital with a view to finding Annemart another volunteer job. The hospital was a series of huts, with hundreds of people waiting in the sun to be seen to. we left shortly after our arrival, as the matron informed us that we were not welcome without a letter of introduction.

After the hospital we considered visiting a shanty town - but were told that it was ONCE a shanty town, but it has now been yuppified. We spent an hour on the internet (there was seriously NOTHING TO DO!!!), ate lunch in a local restaurant and had a soda outside a grocery store. Just as I was proposing that we leave before I died of boredom, we were greeted by a man Annemart had once spoken to in Arusha. Apparently he was also at the go-carting, but I didn't recognise him. Joe offered to take us to see a beautiful waterfall about 20 minutes drive out of town. All he asked of us was that we pay for the petrol.

All my alarms went off. Last time I visited an African waterfall my mother and I were mugged by 2 men wielding a shotgun and a machete. Not to mention that Annemart didn't even remember this guy's NAME, and we had never heard of the bloody waterfall that he spoke of. I told Annemart I wasn't too keen to go with him and his mate, Phil, but she goaded me on and said that I may as well stay in bed all day if I'm going to be such a terminal bore, and that besides, we didn't spend 2 hours on a bus just to sit around drinking soda.

Chastened, I reluctantly agreed to go along. Driving off into the countryside, I cursed myself for: a.) not bringing my Combivir (emergency anti-HIV medication in the unlikely event of a sexual assault) b.) not having the guts to stand up to a 20 year old Dutch monkey, and c.) being such a bore in the first place.

2 hours later, and approaching sunset (not 20 minutes as promised!) we were driving along a dusty mountain path that was barely wide enough to accommodate the Suzuki we were in - with a cliff wall on one side and a steep drop down a mountain ravine on the other. All this with loud hardcore rap music blaring in the background, to which my Dutch monkey was bopping along without a care in the world.

Epic story cut slightly shorter, we made it safely to the waterfall. And yes, it was stunning, complete with rainbows. We also survived free of rape, robbery and death by ravine. I didn't take any photos of the stupid thing, because I told our guides I didn't have a camera (lest they steal it from me - YES... I AM A BIG WUSS!!!!!) and insisted that we leave after 10 minutes, because I knew that we had a treacherous return journey back to Moshi, and I didn't want to tackle the cliff face after dark.

Joe and Phil turned out to be lovely, and yes, I'd hang out with them again. But that day I learned several valuable lessons:

- Say no to peer pressure, it's not worth 4 hours of nail biting panic, and sometimes even the most beautiful destinations are not worth the journey!!
- I AM a boring sod, and happy to remain that way, if it means listening to my instincts (no, we didn't come to harm...but I took an unnecessary risk against my better judgement, and I am very mad with myself about that!).