Jun 12, 2012 | Written by Patricia Murphy

Day 5: Rest Day at DikDik

Our fifth day of the trip, our second day in Africa, started with breakfast on the porch of the DikDik hotel overlooking the beautiful grounds and swimming pool, and watching velvet monkeys hop in the trees. I was grateful for a “rest day” and I did have a brief nap, but I would soon get a taste of what I was really in for on this trip: the powerful pull and unprecedented energy of Kapanya Kitaba. It’s best to learn right away that Kapanya is more than a mountain guide. He is a true teacher and leader. So here’s how it went.

First Kapanya came to the hotel to give us a briefing on the climb. We sat for about 2 hours grilling him with questions and pouring over maps. This would be Kapanya’s 159th summit of Kilimanjaro. I was thinking he must have answered these questions so many times, and yet he was patient with us, and funny too. And were were obsessing over every last detail.

Then Kapanya said, “Let’s go for a walk.” We must have seemed like silly Mazungas as we sifted through our mounds of gear trying to find the “perfect” clothing and equipment and anything we might need for our stroll.

We walked down the driveway of the hotel while gaping at the monkeys and taking 50% more pictures than the scene called for. But Kapanya was patient and made sure we got the best shots. He answered all of our questions and pointed out better angles for viewing and taking photos. He would not move the group forward until we had all taken the photos we wanted.

Soon we passed through the hotel gate where a tall, thin Maasai man in traditional garb would greet us with a big smile and “Jambo!” whenever we would come and go. This was the first of many of Kapanya’s “friends” we would meet. And when I say friend, what I really mean is “person whose life has been touched by Kapanya.” We would soon learn more about his influence in the community.

After a walk down a busy dirt road and many more “Jambo!’s” we entered Usa River Village. Kapanya walked us slowly past the crude structures that passed for homes, explaining to us that the buildings start with dirt and straw, and as a family gains wealth they add materials like tin to the roof. We walked through the narrow lanes as a group of ladies passed Kapanya and gave him a stern message. When we asked what they had said Kapanya told us they asked him why he was showing us this dirty part of the town.

Later we discussed it and we decided that Kapanya knew us well, and knew that we wanted to experience his village not as clean tourists through car windows, but face to face and hand to hand.