Roaming Tales

I’m always nervous going through Immigration and Customs, particularly in the United States. As an Australian I don’t need a visa but there is nothing to stop an over-zealous border official deciding not to let me in. This is not simply paranoia on my part; I know people who have been deported from the US.

In 2004 I wrote an article for The Australian about a growing number of Australian journalists who had been deported from the US for not carrying the I-Visa, a special visa for journalists that no one had ever heard of until 2003 when the new secretary of homeland security decided to enforce it without warning. People who had travelled for innocent purposes (one guy was attending a video games conference and another woman was going to interview Olivia Newton John) were arrested at the border. They were strip searched, made to remove their boots, handcuffed and marched across the airport at gunpoint, thrown into a cell for several hours and then put on the next 13-hour flight back to Australia. They now have a permanent immigration record and will likely be pulled aside for further questioning every time they visit the US for the rest of their lives. I have since learned that this has also happened to British journalists, and no doubt citizens of other countries as well.

It’s not just journalists that have reported being treated badly by US border guards since the September 11 terrorist attacks. In August 2006 a 48-year-old British man was forced to remove medical thread to treat an anal infection and required treatment under general anaesthetic to replace it. There are numerous more tales of bad treatment at the border.

All this seems to have resulted in a decline in tourism. Visitors have been scared off, either from past experience or anecdotes from friends and tourism from Europe including Britain is down about 10 per cent. And that’s despite the weakness of the US dollar against the pound or Euro. So it’s not surprising that the authorities have decided it’s time to try to do something about it.

My experience this time could not be more different. Firstly, the immigration cards no longer ask for your occupation, which is a big relief. Since I am a private citizen on holiday I am not actually required to have the I-Visa but you can understand why I might be nervous specifying that my usual occupation is ‘journalist’, given the background I have just given. Naturally I would tell the truth but I certainly wouldn’t relax until I was safely out of the terminal building and in a cab downtown. The new immigration cards neatly sidestep this whole problem.

Secondly, the immigration officials were extremely polite and friendly. There were signs on the wall saying “we are the face of our nation” with a pledge to be courteous and friendly. And the friendly pills certainly seem to be working. The immigration official joked with us that he couldn’t let us in until January as that was next year and he couldn’t let us in for a whole year. He also asked us if you could say “g’day” in the evening. He did comment on the fact that I’d been to Africa a few times but it didn’t seem to be a problem. The customs official was cut from the same mould and said that we were fine to bring our chocolates in because they “only confiscate chocolate on Thursdays”. I do recall the immigration officials in Detroit, Michigan, a smaller airport  in the Mid West, were quite friendly, but I have also come across my share of dour border guards, especially in the large hubs like JFK in New York and LAX in Los Angeles. I was impressed to get such friendly treatment at JFK, one of the biggest airports in the world.

What’s been your experience with clearing US immigration by air, land or sea? How does this compare with other countries? Are you more or less likely to visit the US than before September 11? Why? What are your favourite places to go in the US?

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The New York Times has published a list of 53 hot destinations for 2008.

I have been to the following places on the list: Laos, Tunisia, Prague, Tuscany, Oslo, Lombok, San Francisco, Detroit, Kilimanjaro, London, Las Vegas, New York. There is only one Australian destination on the list - the Barossa Valley - and I haven’t been there.

Where have you been on the list? Where do you want to go? Do you agree with their selections? What do you think will be hot in 2008?

In the UK, there is a big trend toward holidaying closer to home - it’s not so much about what’s hot, but what’s green. Do environmental concerns affect your choice of holiday destination?

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Peru has always held an enormous fascination for me and climbing Machu Picchu has long been on my list of things to do. But archaeologists are warning that Peru’s Incan ruins, including Machu Picchu, are straining under a tourist boom.

For a long time, travelling to Peru was complicated by the continuing struggle with the Maoist Shining Path rebels. But now it’s become the hot new destination with everyone from Cameron Diaz to Princess Beatrice visiting in the past year. In 1992, just 9,000 people visited Machu Picchu; last year it was 700,000. A former culture ministry official has said: “If we open up Machu Picchu to more tourism, the place will be destroyed within 10 years.”

The authorities have tried to limit the numbers on the hiking trail but now that means that there is a huge increase in tourists going to other ancient sites, such as Choquequirao, the partially excavated sister city to Machu Picchu, and that’s also a problem.

It makes me so sad to hear about the damage caused to our priceless historical and wilderness treasures by irresponsible tourism. I believe litter is a big problem on the slopes of Mount Everest as well. And in the Arctic, I saw lots of bits of plastic, not from tourists but washed into the Arctic Ocean from the Atlantic coasts off Europe and North America.

This makes me think twice about going to Machu Picchu. If I ever do go, I’ll be sure to book with a reputable operator that ensures benefit for the local people and good environmental practices. A site such as Responsible Travel can help me find the right one. I would also consider a volunteer vacation to ensure I’m part of the solution, not the problem.

What do you think is the solution? Should tourists stop going to Peru’s Incan sites? Should the government heavily restrict it? Already Machu Picchu is closed to hikers in February while they clean up all the garbage discarded by hikers over the previous year. I think there needs to be a wider cultural change, not just a cap on numbers.

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I have lived in London for three and a half years but it’s almost become a tradition not to spend Christmas here. The first year we wanted a traditional, white Christmas, a prospect that seemed fairly unlikely in England, so we went to the the Austrian Alps to ensure we had our quota of white stuff and tradition. The second year we went home to see our families in Australia, for plenty of sunshine, fresh seafood, barbecues in the backyard and swimming in the ocean. Then last year we went to Tunisia and spent Christmas Day eating fresh dates and watching camel races in Douz, an oasis town in the Sahara desert.

This year we are heading abroad once again - across the Atlantic to New York. We are staying with friends in Brooklyn and the US dollar is at an all-time low so our pounds should stretch a fair way. We will be gone for two weeks and hopefully we should make it down to Washington DC for a few days as well.

So what shall we do in New York? We have been to New York before so we won’t be taking a tick-box approach, though there are some things that simply must be done, such as drinking Manhattans in Manhattan, seeing a show on Broadway, and going back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We are there for Christmas and New Year so there’ll be giant Christmas trees, ice skating, fire works, and shopping in the post-Christmas sales.

This will be my first time in Brooklyn, rather than Manhattan, and I’ve heard lots of good things about it, so getting to know Brooklyn is top of the agenda. But we’ve got plenty of time and I’m open to suggestions. What are your must-dos and secret haunts? Any suggestions for Christmas Day itself, since our friends will be out of town?

And of course there’s our planned side trip to Washington DC… We’ve never been before so we’ll be doing the tourist thing and checking out the White House and the Capitol and so on. I’m told about three days should be ample and we plan to travel down by train. Any recommendations on hotels?

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Roaming Tales is finally out of development and ready to roll.

The blog will be updated regularly, with posts exploring the issues, ideas and events affecting the world of travel and travel writing. This is not about me talking at you - I want this to be a discussion and I welcome your comments. It’s easy to register and once you have your first comment approved, you will be able to comment automatically. (Any spam or abusive comments will be removed).

The blog will also let you know when new articles are published, as this is also a showcase for my professional travel writing. There are already nine articles online, so whether you fancy a virtual visit to Turkey or the Arctic, Shanghai, or Tunisia, you can find them all at the articles page. There are new articles being added all the time with pieces on Singapore, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to come online in the next few months.

Add me to your favourites, or click on the RSS link to the right if you want to subscribe to the site and be notified every time there is new content online.

If you want to know more about me or the site, visit the about page. For information about my non-travel writing journalism, please visit caitlinfitzsimmons.com.

All text and images on this site is copyright, with all rights reserved. Please contact me for permission to use any material on this site.

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By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

There are few places on earth more steeped in myth and romance than Kilimanjaro. In ancient times, the tribes living on the volcanic slopes below told stories of demons and evil spirits guarding fabulous treasure. One tale has an ancient chief Mawenzi sending his younger brother Kibo, both the names of two of Kilimanjaro’s peaks, to fetch fire to light his pipe – perhaps referring to volcanic activity in prehistoric times.

Today the snow-capped peaks of Africa’s highest mountain are famous the world over and hold a special allure for travellers who come in their thousands to trek to the summit. It is not for nothing that “Kibo!” is also an expression of surprise. The mountain is frequently hidden behind veils of cloud but when it reveals itself, the monolithic presence rises suddenly from the plains and dominates the landscape.

More than 15,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro every year. Although the route does not require technical mountaineering skills, many trekkers are thwarted by altitude sickness and most guides recommend taking at least five days, preferably six or seven, to minimise this risk. Kilimanjaro is home to the Chagga tribe and an important coffee growing region but most of the mountain is national park, brimming with wildlife such as monkeys, birds, elephant and buffalo. There are several paths up Kilimanjaro but all ascend through tropical rainforest, heath, moorland, alpine desert and glaciers. Most groups attempt the final ascent just after midnight, reaching the summit at dawn to watch the sunrise. “It’s magical,” says one tourist after arriving back at Marangu Gate on her descent. “It felt like we were on the rooftop of the world with the whole of Africa spread below us.”

Yet the mountain is not the only reason to visit the Kilimanjaro region. The region is renowned for its safari parks, including Arusha and Manyara to the south-west and the Tanzanian Serengeti further afield and north-west of Kilimanjaro. The closest is Arusha National Park, home to Mount Meru, another free-standing volcano and at 4,566 metres (14,990 feet) Africa’s fifth highest mountain. The park is relatively small, at 137 square kilometres (53 square miles), but the ecology is very diverse, especially since the climate changes rapidly with ascent of the mountain.

The roads meander through grassy meadows filled with buffalo, giraffe and zebra, and past the spectacular Momela lakes filled with thousands of pink flamingo and the occasional hippopotamus. A detour up Mount Meru heads deep into the cloudy rainforest with views of Kilimanjaro and the surrounding countryside and the chance to spot monkeys, baboons, deer, leopards and even elephants.

Slightly further afield but still possible as a day trip is Lake Manyara National Park, which is bigger and offers the tantalising possibility of seeing the legendary tree-climbing lion. Canoeing is available at Manyara depending on the time of year and the rainfall. The Kilimanjaro region, which has its own international airport, is also the perfect jumping off point for a safari to the world-famous Serengeti. This is the place to go for big cats, including lions and cheetahs, and is especially exciting during the annual migration when some six million zebra, gazelle and wildebeest traverse the plains in search of fresh grazing.

Mountain scenery and wildlife are not the only reasons to visit Kilimanjaro; there is also the human and cultural aspect. The grasslands stretching for hundreds of miles around Kilimanjaro are home to the fearsome Masai warriors. The Masai traditionally believe God appointed them guardian of cattle and their religious duty involves herding and taking care of the great “milk beasts”. They rarely eat the meat of the cattle but do drink their milk and blood and despite a diet that largely excludes vegetables, most Masai are healthy and strong.

Life is changing for the warrior tribe – they have greater contact with the market economy than ever before and most of their children now attend school and learn Swahili. Yet they still largely live as they have always done, on the grassy plains where they tend enormous herds of cattle and live in tribal groups in mud and grass huts. The sight of the Masai clad in their vividly coloured traditional dress and adorned with distinctive body piercings and jewellery is vividly memorable - and woe betide anyone who gets on the wrong side of a Masai spear.

Most Tanzanians who live in the Kilimanjaro region belong to the Chagga tribe and, in contrast to the stately Masai and their cattle, are traditionally farmers. The foothills of Kilimanjaro are the site of fertile farmsteads, brimming with food crops such as beans, maize and banana, and producing some of Africa’s best coffee. German missionaries first brought coffee to the area in the late 19th century and there are huge coffee trees surviving from this era and still bearing a healthy crop year after year.

Over a century later, coffee is an important source of income for the region, epecially small farmers who grow it alongside food crops on family plots an acre or two in size. The climate and volcanic soils are perfect for coffee but the area under cultivation is limited by the park boundaries and the size of the mountain. As a consequence the quantities of true Kilimanjaro coffee are small and the product very exclusive - although many coffee farmers from surrounding areas try to cash in on the Kilimanjaro name.

One of the biggest coffee farms actually on Kilimanjaro itself is Lyamungo Coffee Estate, near the sleepy market town of Moshi. Lyamungo was originally three adjoining farms but is run by Mufindi Tea Company, Nespresso’s supplier in the region, as one estate, with 290 hectares under cultivation. Coffee grows best between temperatures of 12C and 30C and the climate at Lyamungo delivers exactly that, with two rainy seasons a year and rich, volcanic soils. Mufindi manages Lyamungo on behalf of the local farmer’s co-operative, ensuring jobs and a steady income for the local community.

Paul Bebbington, general manager of Mufindi’s Moshi branch, says the company pays $US33,000 annual rent plus a share of royalties and this money has funded the construction of a brand new high school near the farm. Lyasikika Secondary School currently has 210 pupils from first to third form and is expanding by one form every year, with hopes to offer an A-level programme (year 12 matriculation) within a few years. Bebbington says the farm has transformed the local economy with job creation the greatest benefit. There are about 300 permanent staff and casual work for up to 1000 people during harvest. “When we came here at the beginning of 1999 there were no shops around the farm and no real local economy going,” Bebbington recalls. “It’s changed so much and I get people coming to say ‘thank you, you’ve changed our lives’ – there are shops going again, their kids are going to school. All our workers live around the farm in walking distance.”

Half the coffee trees on the farm are traditional Kent and Bourbon varieties, while the other half are new hybrids, which are better adapted to the local conditions and require minimal use of chemicals. The farm is surrounded by forest and on a clear day the white peaks of Kilimanjaro loom dramatically over the rows of coffee.

This is a land blessed with more than its fair share of breathtaking natural beauty and fertile countryside. Although Kilimanjaro may not be inhabited by evil spirits, it seems the ancients were right about the fabulous treasure.

Special club: Oâ

When the colonial powers of Europe divided up east Africa in the 19th century, the new border separated Africa’s two highest mountains. Kilimanjaro, the continent’s highest mountain at 5,895m and the largest free-standing volcano in the world, fell in German-controlled Tanganyika, now known as Tanzania. Meanwhile, Mount Kenya, slightly smaller at 5,199m, lay within the British-ruled lands to the north in what is modern-day Kenya.

The border between Tanzania and Kenya is straight but for the detour around Kilimanjaro and the story is that the British monarch Queen Victoria gave the mountain to her grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, as a gift because “Wilhelm likes everything that is high and big”. Historians dispute this but whatever the reason, the two mountains share much in common.

Joined by the Great Rift Valley, both mountains are surrounded by national park and the summits lie shrouded in clouds, home to the gods in local legend. On the slopes of these now extinct volcanoes, the fierce heat of Africa yields to fresh mountain breezes and nourishing rain, with the perfect climate and soil for growing coffee.

This season’s special blend, Oâ, which is named for the Swahili word “to marry”, draws from this dual heritage with 60 per cent Arabica from Mount Kenya and 40 per cent from Kilimanjaro. Although Kilimanjaro coffee is the highest quality, the scarcity of farmland on the mountain means the production of coffee is small. Coffee produced in nearby areas often claim to be from Kilimanjaro but true Kilimanjaro coffee is exclusive and highly sought after.

The Kilimanjaro Arabica in Oâ comes exclusively from Lyamungo Coffee Estate on Kilimanjaro.
Mufindi Tea Company, which manages the Lyamungo farm on behalf of a local cooperative, has planted two classic varieties, Bourbon and Kent, and a hybrid. The ripe beans are picked by hand from April to November, and carefully washed and dried in Mufindi’s facilities in Moshi. This year (2006) Nespresso bought almost the entire crop from Lyamungo for use in the new season’s Special Club blend, around 300 tonnes of coffee.

When looking for a coffee to supplement and complement the Kilimanjaro beans, Mount Kenya was the obvious choice for Nespresso. The coffees are roasted separately to enhance the fruity and citrus character of the Kenyan coffee and the toasty after-taste notes and the mouth-feel texture of the Kilimanjaro coffee. The resulting blend is a juicy, acidic and soft coffee with fruity, tropical and citrus flavours and a medium to strong intensity.

An espresso serving of Oâ produces a thick crema and boasts a delicate flavour with sweet notes, reminiscent of ripe tropical fruits such as banana and pineapple.
The coffee is particularly good in a short ice-cold drink.

This article was first published in Nespresso’s customer magazine. Copyright held by Caitlin Fitzsimmons, with all rights reserved.

Guide to Kilimanjaro | What you need to know

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How to get there

Kilimanjaro International Airport is served by three international airlines: KLM, Ethiopian Airlines and Air Tanzania arriving from Amsterdam, Nairobi, Addis Ababa and Dar es Salaam. Visitors are advised to pack all essential items in their hand luggage since baggage delays are common.

Where to stay

Protea Hotel Aishi is ideally situated on the Machame ascent to the summit of Kilimanjaro and only 20 minutes from Moshi towards the airport. Accommodation is in African-style villas set in a beautiful garden with a swimming pool. There is a lovely terrace with a bar and restaurant and the hotel offers a range of touring services including Kilimanjaro treks, horse riding and safaris.
Email: proteaaishireservations@satconet.net; Telephone: +255 (0) 27 275 6948/6941

Arusha Coffee Lodge, near Mount Meru and Arusha National Park, is a luxury hotel in the middle of a working coffee plantation. The private chalets have balconies with stunning views of the mountain and a coffee grinder and in-room percolator to provide the true feel of the coffee estate. The adjoining restaurant, popular with both hotel guests and visitors, serves a mix of European and African cuisine, including Tanzanian specialties.

El Rancho, just outside of Moshi, serves fantastic Indian food in an al fresco dining setting. Sit out on the terrace and enjoy drinks or a hot meal; anything from the barbeque is recommended and particularly tasty. The restaurant has recently added Chinese to its menu as well. Address: Lema Road, Shanty Town, Moshi ; Telephone: +255 (0) 27 275 5115

What to do

Climbing Kilimanjaro is the main attraction for most visitors coming to this part of Tanzania. No technical mountaineering skills are required but the trek is quite challenging, with altitude sickness the biggest obstacle for many tourists. For this reason it is worth taking about a week to climb the mountain to give your body the best chance at acclimatisation. The trek takes you through some of Africa’s most diverse and exciting landscapes with spectacular views from the top. There are numerous tour operators and private guides available - your hotel or travel agent can advise you or you can find a trip online. Try Responsible Travel or Go2Africa

Safari and Africa are synonymous for many people and while neighbouring Kenya attracts more visitors per year than Tanzania, that situation is changing as many believe Tanzania is safer and friendlier and offers better game viewing opportunities besides. Arusha National Park and Lake Manyara National Park are both in the Kilimanjaro region but perhaps the ideal safari destination is the world-renowned Serengeti, to the north-west of Kilimanjaro. Ask your travel agent or find a trip online.

Updated July 2006.

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By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Many hundreds of years ago the fearsome warriors of Uganda chewed on the coffee bean before going into battle. Coffee grew wild in the thick rainforest that blanketed the lands north of Lake Victoria and chewing the bean was believed to confer strength and invincibility. Today coffee is no less important for Uganda and its people.

This is farming country, striking for its lush, green landscape – a far cry from the dust and famine often associated with East Africa. Britain’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, inspired by the beauty of the countryside, called Uganda the “pearl of Africa”. Yet the country remains a little off the tourist track, overshadowed by its own history of civil war and the dramatic wildlife of neighbouring Kenya.

Small numbers of travellers visit every year to see the gorillas living in forest reserves in the west of the country near Congo – almost the only place in the world where the great apes survive in the wild. And for those in search of an adrenaline rush, there’s rafting on the whitewater rapids at the source of the Nile, east of Kampala. But to see the real Uganda, you have to visit the villages, where clusters of mud huts with thatched rooves nestle amid pockets of forest and small farms.

Everywhere you go, scores of children of all ages appear from the side of the road, crying “mzungu mzungu” - the local word for “white people” - with great excitement. This is the heart of Uganda’s coffee industry. Uganda is one of the top ten coffee producers in the world and the second biggest in Africa, yet this comes almost exclusively from small family holdings, from the shores of Lake Victoria to the foothills of the snow-capped Mountains of the Moon.

Just an acre or two of land will produce enough food for the family – frequently as many as eleven people – with staples such as maize, beans, cassava and bananas on the menu. No matter how small the farm, every farmer will have at least a couple of prized coffee trees. Coffee is one of the few cash crops that smallholders can grow and the income from selling ripe coffee cherries has to stretch a long way. Farmers sell coffee to pay for school fees, medical expenses, repairs to the house and domestic items such as cooking oil.

“Everything good you see in the villages is because of coffee,” says Lawrence Busuulwa, a senior field officer for coffee exporter Ibero. Busuulwa should know. He grew up in a big family on a small farm in eastern Uganda and coffee has played an important role in his life. “All of us went to school because of coffee,” he says. “My father would sell a bit and put it behind the bed. There were 13 of us and I went to university, two sisters went to teaching college, one boy did a higher diploma in engineering.”

In eastern Uganda, the mountainous part near Kenya, farmers grow Arabica coffee, highly prized for its refined flavour and use as a gourmet coffee. The steep slopes and cooler weather make perfect coffee growing country, while the dramatic rock faces and beautiful Sipi Falls attract travellers and hikers. In western and central Uganda, the land is gentler and the crop is largely Robusta. Coffee afficionados often scorn Robusta but the Uganda variety is something special.
Robusta is indigenous to Uganda so it is perfectly suited to the climate and soil of the land, resulting in a much deeper and richer flavour.

Alexis Rodriguez, green coffee manager at Nespresso, is excited by the possibility of introducing Ugandan Robusta to Special Club members. “The Robusta we’ve found in Uganda is quite interesting,” Rodriguez says. “This is linked to the environmental conditions, which is delivering a coffee different to the other countries.” The fact that Robusta is native is better for the environment because when grown in Uganda the crop generally does not require irrigation or pesticides. The rainfall patterns result in an almost continuous year-round crop and it is possible for there to be blossoms and ripe cherries on a single tree at the same time, meaning a steady income for farmers and farm workers.

It is not surprising that Nespresso is considering Ugandan Robusta for its AAA programme, which combines the AA quality standard with an additional requirement for sustainability. Nespresso is committed to ensuring that at least half its coffee meets stringent sustainability guidelines by 2010, and is hoping to make a five-year commitment to buy some of this from Uganda.

Much of this is likely to come from Kaweri Coffee Plantation, a large parcel of land in the Mubende district north west from Kampala, where there are 1834 hectares of coffee under cultivation. Frank Bibby, managing director of the plantation (now retired), explains that the land was bought by German coffee company Neumann Gruppe in 2001 with the long term goal to produce 5000 tonnes of coffee in a sustainable way. “There’s more and more demand from roasters for coffee that is respectful of the workers, the community, the environment and it’s very difficult to guarantee that coffee that is bought at auction or is bought just from middle men comes from producers that abide by the guidelines,” Bibby says. “The one way of guaranteeing it is to have control of the production.”

Deforestation is a big problem in Uganda but at Kaweri, 20 per cent of the land has been preserved as corridors of indigenous forest and become a haven for colonies of black-and-white Colobus monkeys and a vast array of birdlife. There is minimal use of chemicals on the farm, most of the work is done manually to preserve the soil and the pulp and water from the coffee processing plants are recycled as natural fertiliser. The farm provides work for about 1000 people, with pay and conditions in the top bracket for rural labouring work in Uganda, and also hosts a medical clinic staffed by a qualified nurse. At a total of 2512 hectares Kaweri Plantation is by far the biggest coffee farm in Uganda and is thought to be the biggest Robusta plantation within a single boundary in the whole of Africa.

While its coffee is undoubtedly important to Nespresso’s plans to buy sustainable coffee from Uganda, the roaster is determined to include small farmers as well. Most Ugandan coffee is grown by subsistence farmers on half an acre to two acres of land and for Nespresso it would defeat the purpose of buying sustainable coffee if these farmers were locked out of the deal. “For us is critical that we have a representative sample of the growers in the region,” says Rodriguez. “We cannot do sustainability only on one big farm, the idea is to cover more and more the growers of the region.”

Nespresso has a big challenge ahead. Its sustainability guidelines were developed for Arabica growers in Latin America and Nespresso must not only adapt them to Robusta and Uganda but also find a way of ensuring that tens of thousands of small farmers abide by the rules and produce quality coffee in the process. Fortunately there are local partners already working on this goal.

Near Mityana, an hour or two from the plantation, the Kaweri Coffee Farmers Alliance is organising farmers to improve quality and sell their coffee collectively. The Alliance, which shares some principles with a co-operative but has a different legal structure, is funded by international donors including the European Union, which has committed €1.8 million over three years. Jason Green, project coordinator, says many farmers gave up on coffee after prices collapsed in the 1990s but the right incentives could rejuvenate coffee farming in the region. “Farmers know what to do. They’re traditional coffee farmers, they’ve been doing it for twenty years and their fathers did it before them, so they know how to produce quality coffee,” Green says. “We encourage them to do what they already know how to do and not only give the incentives but provide the structure so that quality can be rewarded.”

Traditionally farmers have sold their coffee to a middleman who pays the same price regardless of quality and farmers are often tempted to harvest the coffee before its ripe if they need cash quickly. The Alliance has about 6000 members so far with a long term aim of 20,000 and farmers have already noticed an improvement in income. Ignatius Mugerwa, the lead farmer for the Alliance in Kassanda, says the farmers really appreciate the training the group provides, not only on agricultural practices but also on market trends. As lead farmer, Mugerwa is trained by the Alliance and his role is to pass on his skills and knowledge to about 30 other farmers in the area. “I visit them and also they visit me and I show them what to do,” he says through a translator. “They like it. Training interests them to know what they should do properly.” Mugerwa, who is married with 13 children aged seven to 25, supports his family from three acres of land where he runs a herd of cattle and grows bananas, ascato, beans and maize, as well as tending his coffee trees.

Green says it would be a great boost for the farmers if Nespresso became involved on a long-term basis. “Improvements to farming and improvements sustainability take a long time,” he says. “Nespresso coming in and showing that the market is available to them and requesting quality improvements is a very good signal. The pricing is also important – the premium that Nespresso offers would be well appreciated and well used.”

Meanwhile, coffee exporter Ibero is working with aid organisations to achieve similar goals for 12,000 farmers in Masaka, Luwero and Kamuli in central Uganda. On the quality side, this means things like encouraging farmers to use pruning saws rather than machetes to trim the trees, to pick the coffee only when ripe and to dry coffee off the ground, such as on a tarpaulin. Another challenge is environmental preservation – trying to convince farmers to leave trees on their property rather than cut them down for firewood and to use natural fertiliser and mulch under the trees.

Possibly the biggest challenge is uplifting social standards in the villages. Stefan Cognigni, special projects manager for Ibero Uganda, says the biggest problem is not nutrition but education and access to clean drinking water and medical facilities. Many farmers are organic by default and Uganda is believed to have the lowest usage of agrichemicals in all of Africa. Yet when farmers do use chemicals such as fertilisers and herbicide they often keep them in the house, perhaps under the bed in reach of children, and reuse the containers for food and water. “I’ve often seen cooking oil in empty chemical containers, I’ve seen salt in empty chemical containers, I’ve seen once a girl taking it to school for a water bottle – a bottle of Roundup and there was water in there,” Cognigni says.

In response Ibero has built central storage buildings for chemicals and also run an empty chemical bottle collection where farmers can take their empty containers for safe disposal. Despite all the improvements, there is still a long way to go to reach the exacting standards of the AAA programme but Cognigni is excited by the possibility of working with Nespresso. “We would have to train the farmers on Nespresso’s requirements but these are all criteria and requirements that will greatly benefit farmers,” he says. “There is definitely an improvement from a sustainability point of view and from the economic viewpoint there are higher earnings.”

Since Robusta coffee has its roots in this part of the world, it would be fitting to see this ancient coffee kingdom revitalised. Once again farmers seem to be taking pride in producing a quality bean and excited by the possibility of working with a long-term partner like Nespresso. If Nespresso commits to the country, it will give Special Club members the opportunity to enjoy the unique taste of a gourmet Robusta, grown in perfect conditions in harmony with the culture and natural environment. Yet it won’t just be Nespresso customers who benefit – it will also provide real gains for some of Africa’s poorest farmers, reducing poverty and raising the standard of living for thousands of farmers and their families.

Special club: Ensibuko

The road from Mbale hugs the mountain, ascending rapidly through the brilliant green of banana palms into a land of sheer cliffs and native forests dotted with farmsteads. The translucent waters of the Sipi River spill down the mountain cascading through three dramatic waterfalls and nourishing the land.

It is here on the slopes of Mount Elgon, an ancient volcano on the border with Kenya believed to have once been the tallest mountain in Africa, that Bugisu coffee has its home. Named for the tribe that farms this mountain, Bugisu is one of the finest washed Arabica specialty coffees in the world and is the main ingredient in Ensibuko, this season’s Special Club offering.

Uganda is a place of beginnings – filled with lakes and wild forests, home to the source of the Nile and the birthplace of Robusta – and Ensibuko means ‘origin’ in the native language.
Bugisu washed Arabica accounts for nearly 90 per cent of the coffee, while a hint of high quality Ugandan Robusta adds complexity to the blend. The Arabica bean was introduced to the Mount Elgon region only in the early 20th century but by the 1960s Bugisu had already made a name for itself among coffee connoisseurs.

The climate is moderated by altitude and rainfall from both Lake Victoria and the Indian Ocean and the soil is loose and volcanic, ideal for producing the distinctive delicate flavour and fragrance of washed Arabica. Covering 3,670 farms, mostly small holdings from half an acre to two acres in size, the Bugisu area produces up to 9,000 tons of coffee per year.

The coffee is grown amongst banana, cassava and other crops and many families keep livestock - cows, goats, chickens and also rabbits – for both food and natural fertiliser. The mixed farming tradition protects the coffee crop from disease and insects and keeps the soil healthy, creating self-sustaining conditions with little need for chemicals. At harvest time, the whole family helps to pick the red cherries and dries them in the sun before transporting them for sale on donkeys, bicycles or baskets on the head.

The Bugisu coffee is graded and the AA quality is distinctive for its bright green appearance and uniformity of size. It produces a well-balanced, moderately bodied cup with a delicate background of fruitiness. To make Ensibuko, the Bugisu is mixed with a small amount of fine semi-washed Robusta to addcup strength and tones of puffed rise without increasing bitterness. The semi-washed process adds a hint of acidity and fruitiness and reduces the rubbery notes of some varieties of Robusta.

This is Robusta from the highest quality from Kaweri Plantation in western Uganda and also from small farmers nearby. Since Robusta coffee is native to the region, it grows naturally in harmony with the ecology of the area and produces a distinctive rich flavour.

This article was first published in Nespresso’s customer magazine in 2006. All rights reserved.

Update: Nespresso later decided not to commit to the five-year AAA project in Uganda. Ibero and the Kaweri Alliance continue their activities independently of Nespresso.

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By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

China’s growing economic clout has propelled Shanghai into the spotlight as a centre for international business. The good news for business travellers is that Shanghai is also a place that knows how to play.

The city, known in the 1920s and 1930s as the “Paris of the East”, fell into a dreary decline after the Communists took power in 1949 but is now recovering its sense of style and sophistication. The transformation since the early 1990s has been nothing short of astonishing with the skyscraper city on the eastern side of the river springing out of the rice paddies and more construction to come. Modern Shanghai is a bewitching blend of old and new and anyone who loves eating, shopping and/or culture is practically guaranteed a good time.

The best way to enter the city is on the futuristic Mag-Lev – or magnetic levitation train – from Shanghai Airport. Your company may offer to send a car but ask it to collect you from the other end – the Mag-Lev is an experience not to be missed and with speeds up to 500kmph it’s also faster.

24 hours in the city

New Shanghai is all about commerce and if you are in business you will want to take lessons from the masters, so head down to the Yu Gardens Bazaar for a spot of shopping. This is the beating heart of Shanghai’s commercial district and also very typically Chinese, with its peaked rooves, ponds with arched walking bridges and colourful signage. You can buy just about anything, from fake brand name watches to silk pyjamas and pashmina shawls, and unique curios such as an antique Go Set with jade pieces. You will almost certainly have the chance to hone your negotiation skills as bargaining is expected and, if you don’t speak Mandarin, passing an electronic calculator back and forth, accompanied by plentiful smiles and gestures, works just as well. Generally you can buy objects for less than a quarter of the original price and rest assured, those canny traders will still be making a profit.

If you need a breather pop into one of the numerous tea houses and dumpling restaurants in the area – you might be lucky enough to get a seat at the Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse in the middle of a pond in the bazaar, or you could head out of the market to Xing Hua Lou (343 Fu Zhou Road) near the Foreign Language Bookshop for Cantonese delicacies.

In the afternoon take a cab to the Jade Buddha Temple (170 An Yuan Road), also known as Yufo Si. It’s the perfect antidote to all that materialism - if you ignore the postcard touts and the hefty entry fee. As you dodge the devotees lighting joss sticks and praying, you can see statues such as Green Tara, the goddess of compassion, or a giant Buddha reclining on a mahogany couch. It costs a little extra to see the Jade Buddha but the statue is well worth a look; it stands two metres high and its milky white body emits a soft glow.

A weekend in the city

If you have a second day to spend in Shanghai, wander down to the Shanghai Museum in People’s Square. It’s not only considered one of the best museums in China, it’s worth visiting simply to check out the building itself. Constructed in 1994 at a reported cost of 570 million yuan, the museum is shaped to look like a giant bowl with vertical attached handles and is meant to represent an ancient Chinese ding vessel. Inside is an impressive collection of ancient coins, bronze work, ceramics, carved jade, paintings and calligraphy, furniture and regional ethnic clothing.

Next, head over to the old French Concession district, which still retains the feel of a residential neighbourhood with tree-lined streets and old two-storey terraces, although the area is shrinking every year with almost constant demolition and development. Here you can visit the former residence of Sun Yat-Sen (7 Xiangshan Road), the first president of China after the democratic revolution in 1911, who died in 1925. A two-storey European-style building, the house still retains the original furnishings and many possessions such as books and a pair of glasses owned by Sun Yat-Sen and his wife Soong Ching Ling. While in the area, you can browse the French Concession’s many boutiques and art galleries, such as nearby Feizi Gallery (55 Fuxing Xi Lu) with contemporary painting and sculpture from Chinese artists.

A visit to Shanghai wouldn’t be complete without plentiful food and drink and epicures are spoiled for choice, though you are best to avoid the overpriced and overrated restaurants on the Bund, Shanghai’s famous waterfront. One option for dinner is the Sea Palace (1 Dong Chang Road) sited on an attractive riverboat moored near the Oriental Pearl Tower. The restaurant specialises in all kinds of seafood and though you might not fancy the stewed turtle, there is plenty of mouth-watering fish and shellfish on the menu.

Vegetarians are also catered for in Shanghai – Gongdelin (445 Nanjing West Road) was founded by a Buddhist monk over 50 years ago and still offers fantastic vegetarian food. The imitations of meat, fish and fowl cleverly made from tofu and soy must be seen and tasted to be believed.

If you fancy a nightcap, head to the Cloud 9 bar on the 87th floor of the Grand Hyatt (Jin Mao Tower, 88 Century Boulevard). The cocktail range is excellent – the peach bellini comes highly recommended – and you can enjoy the spectacular 360-degree view in the most sumptuous of surroundings. Another option is Tou Ming Si Kao, or TMSK, (Unit 2, House 11, North Lane Xintiandi, Lane 181, Tai Lang Lu) with a bar made out of coloured glass and frosted martini and wine glasses in different shapes and colours. Or in summer, you could head to FACE (Building 4, Ruijin Guest House Gardens, 118 Ruijin Er Lu), a huge country mansion located incongruously in the heart of the city. Here you can sip gin and tonic on the sprawling lawns or recline on the wooden verandas, and there is also a Thai and Indian restaurant inside.

One hour in the city

If you have just one hour free in Shanghai, make like a 1920s ‘taipan’ and promenade along the Bund, where the glamour and grandeur of old Shanghai meets the 21st century. Rhyming with ‘fund’ and meaning Embankment, the Bund has a raised marble walkway for pedestrians and runs for over a kilometre.

The area served as Shanghai’s Wall Street before the Communist era and the strip is lined with classic buildings from the 1920s and 1930s. Many parts of Shanghai have been transformed beyond recognition but the Bund’s collection of art-deco, moderne and Chicago-gothic buildings is protected by building height restrictions and vast sums of money have gone into restoration and renovation.

Start at the south end of the Bund and walk towards the green-peaked roof of the Peace Hotel (20 The Bund), built by opium and weapons trader Vidal Sassoon in 1929 and host to famous guests such as Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw and Noel Coward. The Peace Hotel is currently closed for renovation, due to reopen in 2009, but you can pop inside the HSBC building (12 The Bund) and admire the stunning ceiling mosaics from the entrance lobby.

Across the river is a very different view - the ultra-modern skyline of new Shanghai, with the space-age styled pink spheres and spire of the Oriental Pearl Tower as the centrepiece. This skyscraper city is known as Pudong and is where most business visitors will stay and work. Lovers of kitsch could always go home to Pudong via the Bund Tourist Tunnel, inside a capsule-like single-carriage train that whizzes under the river accompanied by psychedelic light and sound effects. At the northern end of the Bund, a statue of Mao Tse-Tung is perhaps the most potent symbol of how Shanghai has changed; the great revolutionary looms against a city skyline flashing with neon signage for Western capitalist brands such as L’Oreal.

An edited version of this article was first published on The Guardian’s Been There on Business site. Copyright is held by Caitlin Fitzsimmons, with all rights reserved.

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By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

The fresco in the ancient church puzzled us: what was the patron saint of England doing in Turkey?

It was definitely St George. The painting showed a knight on horseback fighting an evil dragon, his shield with the distinctive red-on-white cross clearly visible.

Of course, it turns out that St George was a local; just the first of many surprises in store for us in Cappadocia, a land of fairy chimneys and underground cities on the Anatolian plateau in Turkey. The alien landscape, shaped first by volcanic eruptions and then erosion, is honeycombed with caves and tunnels.

The region was an early centre of Christian learning and the birthplace of St George of Cappadocia, a fourth-century martyr believed to have been burned alive by the Romans. St George spent part of his life in Palestine but certainly never made it as far as England, at least not while he was alive. He was adopted by the English in the Middle Ages after he reportedly appeared in visions to Crusaders, and popularised by Shakespeare in Henry with the immortal line “Cry God for Harry, England, and Saint George!”.

Cappadocia is plateau country rift with steep gorges and dotted with strange rock formations, from the characteristic clusters of ‘fairy chimneys’ with their little protective caps to a large outcrop in the shape of a large camel. A long time ago the volcanoes of Mount Erciyes and Mount Hasan covered the region in ash, which set into rock and then eroded with wind and rain. Over the centuries, the inhabitants have dug into the soft rock, building everything from pigeon houses to secret churches and vast underground cities. The views as you drive or hike through the area are spectacular, but earthbound. To appreciate the scale and grandeur of Cappadocia, you must go high in the air; to discover its secrets, you must go underground.

The fragile landscape means Cappadocia is a no-fly zone for aeroplanes but there are a number of companies offering hot-air ballooning. We went with Kapadokya Balloons in Goreme, run by an Englishwoman Kaili and her Swedish husband Lars. The couple live in Cappadocia for nine months of the year, drawn there by what they describe as the best ballooning in Europe. We booked our flight for our first morning in Cappadocia, a precautionary measure in case the weather conditions were unfavourable and our flight cancelled.

The wake-up call came around 4am and by dawn we were standing in a field some miles away, our excitement mounting as the men spread the balloons on the ground and the delicate fabric began to billow with hot air. We stood 12 deep in the basket with our pilot, Kaili. I could see the roar of flames that signified take-off and hear the whoosh of air filling the balloon, yet I scarcely felt us move. I was surprised to look down and see how the ground had shrank and expanded into a vista. Because we travelled with the air currents, we floated gently without feeling the breeze or sensing our speed. Lars was pilot for a second group and the two balloons spent the morning in a balletic courtship, almost touching several times as they traversed the sky.

Balloon rides usually go up and along and then down but Kaili and Lars took us for a thrill ride, guiding the ballons down into the gorges and past rocky outcrops with just metres to spare. It felt almost as if we could reach out and grab the rocks. Secretly, I feared we would hit the ground, until it was made clear that the balloon and its shadow were nowhere near touching. At one point, Kaili pointed to a mound of rocks, riddled with holes for pigeon nests, and told us it was a church; I thought she was joking but we later found out it was true.

The volcanic rock, or tuff, is soft when first mined and hardens with exposure to the air, making it perfect for digging caves. The locals have exploited this in every conceivable way, most famously with the underground cities of the early Christian era. Today, every village home backs on to a cave and the soil, which appears to be barren, is actually quite rich because the villagers dig small caves for pigeons in the hills and collect the guano to fertilise the fields. It is possible to get around by mini-bus but we opted for the luxury of our own hire car. The local maps are not very detailed, although the roads are mostly decent and well sign-posted. We decided to take a guide for the first day of touring and visit the nearby places on our own the following day.

Our tour guide, Izmit, was a local with good English who leads mountain expeditions in the summer. He has climbed Mount Ararat numerous times, helping an archaeological team hunt for evidence of Noah’s Ark. Izmit explained that Cappadocia, which is now predominantly Muslim, had quite a large Christian population until 1923 when hundreds of thousands of Christians emigrated under the Population Exchange Treaty with Greece. There were still a few Christian families in the area when Izmit was at school 30-40 years ago but most had moved to Istanbul since then. Izmit showed us Ayo Stefonos (St Stephen’s) and Ayo Nikalos (St Nicholas’s), two of the many crumbling churches hidden among the rocks. Ayo Nikalos, which we recognised as the rocky mound from the balloon, was abandoned in the early 20th century when a new church was built in town.

Christianity in the region dates to the time of St Paul, who settled in the area to hide from the Romans and established the first Christian colony. Vulnerable to marauding parties, the fledgling Christian communities built enormous underground cities where they could hide the entire population of the village and its livestock. There are dozens of such cities in Cappadocia but only a few are accessible to the public. One of the biggest is Derinkuyu, which is believed to be 18-20 storeys deep and have housed up to 20,000 people.

We explored the smaller site at Kaymakli, which has at least four levels and could house up to 4000-5000 people. There could be as many as seven or eight levels in total but cave-ins have stymied the full exploration of the city. These days there is electric lighting to guide the way through the curved stone corridors but it is still dimly lit and atmospheric. Despite being only a makeshift home in times of danger, the priorities of the city founders were clear: not only was there a church; there was a winery to make wine for the sacrament. There were also stables, a communal kitchen, a drinking well, multiple storage rooms and sleeping quarters. I was impressed by the quality of the engineering: there were clever ventilation systems to disperse the smoke from cooking without betraying the location of the city; and the discrete levels could be securely sealed by rolling a large rock between the entrance and a wall.

After Christianity became the official state religion, the area flourished and the town of Goreme became one of the great centres of Christian learning. From the outside, the remarkable Open Air Museum at Goreme looks like a couple of rocky hills dotted with motley cave dwellings, but within there is a World Heritage-listed collection of medieval churches and religious buildings. There was a large monastery and the religious community also supported a number of hermits who lived in the hills. The churches themselves are notable for their exquisite religious frescoes. Most depict biblical scenes, but on the wall of the Snake Church you will St George and the dragon. The best frescoes are in the Dark Church, which is worth the extra admission cost because the lack of natural light has preserved the vibrancy and colour of the art. Nearly all the frescoes bear the marks of religious vandals, namely the iconoclasts who considered representational art to be sacreligious. Fortunately, they concentrated on faces and those images that were easy to reach, leaving plenty to see, particularly on the ceilings.

The traditional lifestyle is alive and thriving in Cappadocia but basic services are good. Many people still live in villages, raising sheep and cattle and growing apples, crops and vegetables. We visited the village of Sagonli, in the Valley of the Dolls, where the women supplement their income by making and selling dolls through a cooperative. The village was built into a hillside and, while there was electricity and plumbing - and a number of television satellite dishes - most people lived in basic cave dwellings. We stopped for lunch at the village restaurant and ate on outdoor tables under the blossom trees. The menu offered classic Turkish fare, such as lentil soup and lamb kebabs, and the food was delicious, plentiful and cheap. This was the only occasion that we encountered Turkish bread in Turkey. It is known there as ‘village bread’ and the bread elsewhere, while very good, is much more western in style.

The villages of Uchisar, Urgup and Goreme all make good vantage points for exploring this region and each has its own charm. Urgup is home to most of the mass-market hotels, Uchisar is smaller with boutique luxury hotels, while Goreme appeals to the backpackers. There are direct buses from all main cities to Goreme and the nearest airport is in Kayseri, about one hour away. It is a 10 hour drive from Pamukkale, near the Aegean Coast, or four hours from Ankara.

Museum Hotel

Building hotels over old cave systems is all the rage in Cappadocia these days but I doubt you find a more tasteful and luxurious conversion than the Museum Hotel in Uchisar. The hotel is set high on a hillside with spectacular views from the rooms and balcony bar, particularly at sunset when the rocky landscape is infused with colour. Most of the rooms are caves, which are elegant and luxurious with arched doorways and windows and traditional Turkish furnishings. Woven carpets and registered historical artifacts are on display throughout the hotel, including the rooms. There is a lovely outdoor pool for the summer months, or you can enjoy a glass of wine while soaking in a long, hot bath – with spa jets if you are staying in a luxury room. The hotel is small and friendly, with about 17 guest rooms and obliging staff who go to great lengths to ensure your wellbeing. It is worth negotiating a room rate that includes at least some meals, as the hotel has an excellent restaurant with indoor and outdoor dining. Breakfast is a buffet with Turkish delicacies alongside continental options, plus hot omelettes and freshly squeezed orange juice. For dinner, you can order a la carte or enjoy a superb three-course meal from a set menu that varies daily. The rooms range from $US80 to about $US150-190 for the luxury rooms, including the lovely Honeymoon Suite. (Prices correct at the time of writing).

This article was first published in The Australian’s Travel & Indulgences section in August 2004. Copyright is held by Caitlin Fitzsimmons with all rights reserved.

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