Adventure Travel Stories – BootsnAll World Adventures - Tanzania

Advice for Climbing Kilimanjaro

suchi — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 14:03:14 -0600

Body

Macon Dunnagan, author of Sons of Kilimanjaro, gives his top advice for conquering Africaâ€™s highest mountain. Dunnagan says, â€œYou have to constantly reevaluate your goals while climbing the mountains. Use the momentum from getting to the top of Kilimanjaro to help you deal with the next challenges in life when you get off the mountain. Nobody makes it to the top without the help and guidance of somebody else.â€

Macon wrote the book "Sons of Kilimanjaro" to help climbers understand a little more about Kilimanjaro. He is attempting to climb Kilimanjaro for the fifth time soon.

1. Use positive thinking always. A positive attitude = positive outcome

2. Always listen to your guides. They know the mountains best.

3. In Swahili, â€œPole poleâ€ means slow. This is not a race. You only come this way once enjoy the
journey.

4. Make sure to drink plenty of water always.

5. Double check all your equipment works before you leave.

6. Take an extra pair of shoes to change into once you get to camp.

7. Eat just enough to be full, eating at 13,000 feet is different than eating at sea level.

8. Make sure to wear sun block on everything - your nose, lips, ears, scalp, back of legs and arms can all burn to a nice crispy red and then peel.

9. Have a poncho for rain gear. Standard rain gear makes you perspire because no air can circulate. If you perspire, then you dehydrate.

10. Take lots of pictures and as much video as your fellow climbers can stand.

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Teaser

About to climb Kilimanjaro for the fifth time, Macon Dunnagan, author of Sons of Kilimanjaro, gives his top advice for conquering Africa's highest mountain.

List of Do's and Don'ts in East Africa

suchi — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 13:54:20 -0600

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By Carrie O'Callaghan
Tanzania, East Africa

We thought we'd compile a top ten list of do's and don'ts based on our experience thus far living in Tanzania.

1. If you can't afford to pay for local transport your chances of getting a ride depend solely on your ability to run and jump onto a fast moving vehicle. Believe us, we've seen people (who should contend for Olympic medals) run and jump onto the back for a pick-up going 30 mph with 50 people in back.

2. There's no such thing as a full bus. Anything is possible, even a person sitting on top of a bus, holding both a baby and a basket of avocadoes.

3. Anything (and we mean anything) can be carried on your head, from a few coins to a bar of soap to a whole tree, people here can carry anything.

4. No matter what you ask people the answer is invariably ''yes''. Examples: ''How do we get to town today?'' Answer: ''yes.'' ''How much for the room?'' Answer: ''Yes.''

5. If you want something done- ask a woman. Men here spend the greater part (okay all) of the day drinking the local brew, Mbege, and staring into space (probably thinking about what their wife is going to cook for dinner). The women spend the day working relentlessly in the fields carting loads of firewood, grass and chicken feed up long steep roads.

6. If you're a homophobe don't come to this country. What we mean by this is you can be caught quite off guard by the number of times you see men (who are actually just good friends, not lovers) holding hands. At the same time it is completely socially unacceptable for men and women to display any type of public affection.

7. If you're a woman driving for the first time in the village don't stall the car in front of two hundred school children who are so bewildered to see a woman driving that they can't even move.

8. Blatantly staring at foreigners is completely socially acceptable, so is pointing and yelling the swahili equivalent of ''white person, white person, white person!'' (Although, it should be noted that we're not convinced you would get any different reaction from Americans in the back roads of the mid-west were you to place an African out there).

9. You can make money doing anything, even charging someone 50 cents to weigh himself or herself on a bathroom scale that's probably broken in the middle of the sidewalk.

10. The used clothes industry is big here, you could be out in the middle of the bush and there's someone wearing traditional African dress walking alongside someone who's smoking pot wearing a ''DARE: To Keep Kids Off Drugs'' T-shirt.

11. Prices here are open for debate and bargaining is a way of life- especially for Mzungus (white people). If you want to know the price an African paid for the same thing you want to buy just take the price quotes, take away 90% of that, divide that figure in half and you have the ''African Price'', too bad you'll never pay that little for anything. The difference is only pennies but it's the principle of the matter.

Something that goes inherently along with this topic is that Africans are never too proud when quoting prices. One guy looked us straight in the eye when he told us he would ''cut us a deal'' and let us rent his car for $2,000/month- how do you say ''yeah right'' in Kiswahili?

12. Learn to view power failures as romantic because it's guaranteed that the power never runs 24 hours straight.

13. When you're trying to say ''We want to meet your son'' don't confuse the swahili word for ''meet'' with the one for ''buy'' as Donovan did yesterday. ''Yes, sir, we'd like to BUY your son.'' What's even stranger is that he wasn't terribly apprehensive about our initial statement.

14. We figure the two English sayings school children learn here are ''Good morning teacher'' and ''give me money.''

And the most important survival tip we've learn so far is:

15. You've never known a really good day until you've had a solid poop.

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Carrie O'Callaghan gives her candid advice for traveling around East Africa.

Climbing Mt. Meru

suchi — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 13:50:12 -0600

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Climbing Mt. Meru
Arusha National Park, Tanzania
By Graydon Hazenberg

"I don't know if I like this," remarked Neil, my hiking partner. "I've never liked exposed heights. I don't know if I can make it." I sympathized with him. While our surroundings were awe-inspiring, they inspired a lot of fear as well. To our left, the soft black volcanic sand sloped away at an almost 45Â° angle until, many hundreds of metres below, it plummeted over a completely vertical cliff-face. To our right, the same steep open sand slope extended down to the tree line far, far below us. We were walking along a knife-edge ridge, as screaming winds threatened to blow us off our path down to the forest.

We - Neil and I, and our National Park guide Michael - were most of the way up Mt. Meru, the little-known, but second-highest peak in Tanzania. It is, of course, overshadowed in the consciousness of tourists by its neighbour Kilimanjaro, 80 kilometres to the east and the highest mountain in Africa.

However, although it's much less popular than Kilimanjaro, Meru has some distinct advantages over the higher mountain. For a start, Meru is much cheaper to climb.

Kilimanjaro is difficult to climb for under US$400, while Meru can be done for about US$170. The climb up Meru is more scenic and spectacular, and you are much less likely to suffer altitude sickness on 4,667-metre-high Mt. Meru than on 5,895 m Kilimanjaro. In fact, Meru makes an ideal high-altitude acclimatization warm-up climb before tackling Kili.

Meru is a spectacular volcano. Once upon a very long time ago, it rose higher than Kilimanjaro; I've also heard this said about Mt. Kenya and the Ngorongoro Crater, so you may want to take this assertion with a grain of salt. However tall it once was, it certainly erupted sideways, rather like Mt. St. Helens, a few million years ago, leaving the northern, southern and western slopes intact, but obliterating the eastern slope of the volcanic cone. From above, Meru is now shaped like a horseshoe opening east, with a new tiny cinder cone forming in the bottom of the devastated crater, and huge cliffs extending up the crater walls almost to the summit. The crater floor and the lower slopes are densely forested, but the upper slopes are barren expanses of black volcanic ash and occasional massive boulders of lava.

Meru is just outside Arusha, the staging post for safaris to the Serengeti, yet despite this proximity - only 23 km by road - it is annoyingly difficult to get to the base of the mountain.

Various safari outfits offer a price of US$50 each way to hire a 4-wheel-drive for the trip; Arusha city taxis will offer as little as US$20, but their decrepit vehicles are unlikely to make it over the rough road. Neil and I took the local bus to the turnoff from the main road, and then waited several hours for a lift with an overloaded Land Rover full of local villagers returning from Arusha market. It was cheaper but agonizingly slow; having your own transport is infinitely better.

There is only one route officially open to the top, although unscrupulous safari touts in Arusha will offer illegal sorties directly up the western slope. Neil and I were nearly taken in by one of these offers, but prudently backed out at the last minute.

Assuming that you are proceeding legitimately, the only choice is whether to hurry to the first hut, Miriakamba, steeply but directly up the northern crater rim, or to detour more gently and scenically across the crater floor along a 4WD track. (Those with their own vehicles and little time could drive along the track almost to the first hut.) There seems little point in climbing directly to Miriakamba, since the Park Service's guides, whose services are mandatory, refuse to climb to the summit and back in less than three days and two nights.

Charging up to Miriakamba would just result in more time spent sitting at the hut, at the expense of bypassing some lovely scenery. The direct route can be better used for descending. My sister Audie (who once worked in Serengeti National Park) claims that the two-night minimum rule is her fault. She and a guide once charged from the base of the mountain to the summit and back again, in under 24 hours. Neither of them were in any shape to walk anywhere for several days after that, and the National Park Service got very annoyed at losing the services of a guide for that period, and insisted that guides take a more leisurely pace in the future.

The first day's walk, about six leisurely hours up into the relatively flat crater floor, is very pleasant. A huge fig tree forms a natural arch over the path that is large enough to accommodate a Land Rover. There is a stream for bathing and lunching beside, and later on, during the final climb up the crater wall to Miriakamba, there is a spectacular view across to forests and a high waterfall on the opposite (southern) inside rim of the crater. The dense forest is full of vervet monkeys and butterflies and, it is rumoured, leopards.

Near the hut, the track passes the remnants of old logging huts and sawmills from the colonial era, and the open grasslands left behind by their operations. Inside the spacious hut we filled up on a basic meal of soup and glutinous pasta, then went outside and admired the gorgeous canopy of stars overhead. We philosophized for while, then turned in for a somewhat restless, altitude-affected sleep, full of strange dreams and nocturnal bathroom breaks.

The climb from Miriakamba hut, at 2,500 metres, to Saddle hut, at 3,600 metres, is short, but steep and frequently muddy. In late June, when we were climbing, Meru was perpetually cloud-bound below 3,500 metres, and this second stage was through the clouds, making for a very wet, sweaty and physically demanding climb. Both Neil and I lost our footing a few times, slithering down the path on our backpacks for several metres before coming to rest against the trunk of a tree.

Just after bursting through the top of the clouds to hot, dry sunshine, some Spanish hikers passed us on the way down, the only climbers to have reached the summit that morning. Behind us by a couple of hours were two German women, the only others climbing on our schedule. A group of British hikers, whom we met on the last day, were the only other people we met on the mountain; in comparison to Kilimanjaro, Mt. Meru is practically deserted.

We reached Saddle hut around 11:30. We made lunch, dried our clothing - which had been soaked by our passage through the clouds - and considered our options. The traditional schedule dictates a pre-dawn start, to get to the summit for sunrise. On the other hand, we felt fairly fresh, it was still early and the summit, clearly visible from the hut, was bathed in sunlight - and there was no guarantee of clear weather the next morning. As well, I hate hiking in the middle of the night. In the end, we elected to climb to the top that afternoon.

From Saddle hut onwards, the forest was far less dense and lush, as we were above the usual cloud line. Forty minutes of hard climbing brought us to the edge of the tree line, near Rhinoceros Point.

This curious name arises from the discovery at this spot - some 3,800 metres above sea level - of the skeleton of what must have been a disoriented or highly eccentric rhino. Rhinos are not usually keen mountaineers.

From here, the path ran along the steep, spectacular knife-edge ridge on which, quite soon, Neil briefly lost his nerve.

Our first view down into the crater from Rhino Point was breathtaking. The summit, atop hundreds of metres of sheer grey cliffs, loomed vastly high above the crater floor far beneath us. On the western edge of the crater floor, huddled against the massive cliffs, was the tiny-looking new ash cone that has built up, very slowly, after the massive eruption that tore Meru apart long ago. Puffs of steam showed that the new cone was still active, although it seemed to produce far more steam than lava. To the east, the only feature rising above the sea of clouds that covered the earth, was the distant but still enormous square white peak of Kilimanjaro. We paused for photos and to don more clothing (it was colder, and very windy above the treeline) and then set off again.

The walking was less treacherous than it appeared. The volcanic ash, which has the consistency of sand, showed no tendency to slide, and it stopped us quickly if we strayed off the path. Progress was slower than we had expected, though, as at above 4,000 metres the effects of the thin air set in.

The fierce winds sweeping up the inside of the crater, over the knife-edge and down the outer slope of the volcano, created plumes of white cloud at the crater rim, a wind-tunnel-like effect that I tried unsuccessfully to capture on film. We paused frequently for breath, and the summit seemed not to get any closer, although we were making our way steadily counterclockwise around the crater rim.

At one point we asked Michael how long it would take to reach the top, and he told us that we still had two hours to go. We scoffed, but as our progress slowed and we started panting more and more heavily, it was indeed an hour and 40 minutes before we stumbled up the last, boulder-strewn, hundred metres, to reach the iron cross at the summit.

We all snapped trophy photos - even Michael. Although he climbs the mountain at least once a week, he had only recently acquired a camera, and this was his first roll of film. Kilimanjaro was the backdrop, with the ash cone, impossibly far below, sneaking into the bottom edge of the photos. We felt on top of the world, since even mighty Kilimanjaro appeared lower than we were.

Our exultation was short-lived: it was really cold, with gale-force winds, and we still had to descend to Summit hut. We ran and slid as quickly as we could, although Neil's vertigo slowed him down, but it was still quite dark by the time we hit Rhino Point. We cursed and blundered our way through the forest by the light of two flashlights with failing batteries. We got back to Saddle hut to find the German women and their guide anxiously awaiting our return. We had scarcely finished supper before we were asleep.

I briefly contemplated getting up with the Germans to climb to Rhino Point for the sunrise, but when I awoke I was too exhausted to walk anywhere. I did stagger out of bed in time to watch a spectacular sunrise directly over the cloud-enshrouded summit of Kilimanjaro, luckily visible from the porch of the hut.

The descent was rapid and easy, except for more dramatic slipping and sliding in the mud while passing back through the cloud layer. Using the direct route down from Miriakamba hut, we were down amidst the herds of giraffe, zebra and buffalo at the base of the mountain by one o'clock.

The animals are the reason why hikers need a game warden, armed with a rifle, as a guide; buffalo are aggressive, territorial animals, and it would be bad publicity to have tourists run over and gored on the way back to the park gate. Mt. Meru lies within Arusha National Park, and safari companies offer lots of game-watching safaris through the plains at the base of Meru. After another sardine-can ride to the main road and a local bus ride, we were back in Arusha by sundown, in time for a celebratory mixed grill at the New Safari Hotel.

In an odd postscript, my sister Audie returned to climb Meru a second time, this time with my father. Michael, who was their guide, took one look at my sister's mop of blonde curls, and promptly produced the photo of he and Neil and I at the summit six months earlier. Said Audie, "Scary! Do we look that much alike?" Apparently we do.

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Teaser

Mt. Meru lacks a lot of the things Kilimanjaro has in abundance: high price, altitude sickness, droves of tourists. No wonder, Graydon Hazenberg, thinks it's so worthwhile.

Altitude Sickness and Side Effects of Diamox

suchi — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 05:23:33 -0600

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By Courtney S. Ries

Travelers who take on popular treks like the Annapurna Circuit, Mt. Kilimanjaro and Machu Picchu/Inca Trail should be well versed in altitude sickness before their trip. Altitude sickness, also called mountain sickness, is the name given to the negative effects of altitude experienced by those at high elevation. Anyone can get altitude sickness, no matter the age or level of fitness. Trekkers should be on the lookout for symptoms anywhere above 8,000 feet. They can show up 8-36 hours after ascent and include:

Headache
Nausea or vomiting
Insomnia
Lack of appetite

At its mildest form, altitude sickness is referred to as acute altitude sickness. Symptoms of illness usually disappear after descending around 3000 feet. People who show signs of altitude sickness should NOT continue to climb. Further ascent can lead to HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) or HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema), both of which have been known to result in death.

Symptoms of HAPE and HACE include:

Difficulty breathing
Lethargy
Confusion
Unsteady gait

The best way to avoid altitude sickness is to take as much time as possible to allow yourself to acclimatize. According to this excellent article, when you climb above 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), your sleeping elevation should not increase any more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) per night. For every 3000 feet (1000 meters), spend a second night at the same elevation.

There are a few other things you can do to help your body cope with the lower levels of oxygen - avoid alcohol, drink plenty of water and make sure you are keeping your body properly fueled with light meals. Many trekkers also give themselves a boost with prescriptions such as Diamox.

Traditionally, Diamox has been prescribed to treat glaucoma, epilepsy, and fluid retention. However, researchers also discovered that it can be used to treat the symptoms of mountain sickness, especially for those with a rapid ascent. Because many climbers who attempt to summit Kili are doing so in as little time as possible, it is a common prescription on the mountain.

The medicine is usually taken twice a day, 12 hours apart. Prescribed treatment should start 24 to 48 hours before ascent, however, many people in my group did not start taking the medicine until they started to feel ill. If you decide to hold off on treatment, know that it requires time to get into your bloodstream, so you are taking a chance of not feeling well soon enough. I began taking Diamox 24 hours before the start of my climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro. My dosage was 500 mg. twice a day, although others were as low as 175 mg. Medical websites suggest 500-1,000 mg. a day when used for altitude sickness.

Please note that you cannot take high doses of aspirin with Diamox, and that you must descend if you experience symptoms of acute altitude sickness. Diamox does not ensure that you will be able to appropriately adjust to altitude - it is only an aid that allows your body to acclimatize faster.

Diamox has a number of side effects, the most common of which are listed below. Most issues occur within the first few days of taking the drug. I experienced most of them.

Diamox Side Effects

Frequent Urination: Like coffee, Diamox is a diuretic. As it is prescribed for those with fluid retention, it's no wonder that you have to go to the bathroom every 30 minutes.
Tingly hands/feet (parethesias): Occasionally, my hands would get the 'pins and needles' feeling. Even more disquieting were the 'hot spots' that I felt on my feet.
Loss of Appetite: I was always hungry, but others had an strong disinterest in food.
Taste Alteration: Sodas and other foods can taste differently due to Diamox. I did not experience this.
Internal Distress: This includes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These are also side effects of altitude sickness, so it can be difficult to pinpoint the culprit.
Drowsiness and Confusion: Perhaps the oddest side affect I experienced - on the first day of the climb, I felt, at points, as if I was hiking after having a few drinks. Things seemed out of place and it would have been very difficult to continue climbing had this side effect endured.

When climbing to high altitudes, the most important thing to remember is that no climb is worth compromising your life. Watch for signs of altitude sickness, ascend slowly and enjoy the trek!

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Teaser

Courtney S. Ries examines the signs of altitude sickness and looks at the side effects of a popular prescription used to avoid the illness.

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro Tips

suchi — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 02:44:14 -0600

Body

Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
By Courtney S. Ries

Along with a motley crew of BootsnAll members, I climbed the Machame route of Mt. Kilimanjaro, summiting on New Year's Day, 2006. Climbing Kili was one of the most difficult things I've ever done, but along the trek, I picked up a few things that wanna-be mountaineers might find helpful.

When the guides say '7 hours', they mean, it will take 7 hours: It's hard to believe that it will take you 7 hours to go 7 miles, when you can run that in 60 minutes at home. However, with altitude, stopping for breaks, meals, etc. it's amazing how slow you actually move.

Smaller the tent, the better: Sure, when you're camping at home, you take the four man tent for two people. However, on Kili, if you're two people, take the two man tent. The body warmth and extra degrees that you get from snuggling with all your gear will be worth it.

Tent placement is everything: Good tent placement can mean the difference between a solid night of sleep and 8 hours of misery. The flatter, the better, and if you're at the bottom of a slope, make sure you have a small trench dug around your tent so you won't float away in the middle of the night. Also, look for an area near some well-placed rocks or bushes. The bathrooms are scary, scary things.

Earplugs are a godsend: Even if no one snores in your group, the 40-year-old beer-swigging men in another camp don't promise to be as quiet. Earplugs will also help you block out the sounds of people making breakfast, or cleaning up dinner. Get wax earplugs, as they work better and are more comfortable - just bring two pairs, as they get pretty grimy.

All soups taste the same: Well, maybe not all, but most. They're vegetarian but tend to taste suspiciously like chicken stock...and not much else.

Rocks and bushes are your friends: Nature is a vast improvement over the bathrooms, which are only available in camp. After the first few days, modesty tends to decrease, which is good, since so do the size of the boulders.

Toilet paper takes too much effort: When you're peeing behind a rock, at altitude, every 30 minutes, some things just aren't worth it.

You can never have too many plastic bags: Bring lots of extras. They're good for keeping clothes dry, or the gag-inducing shirts from the merely stinky ones. You'll also want them for muddy sandals, wet clothes, or disgusting boots.

Let the porters pass you: They're carrying your stuff, and going faster than you - why shouldn't you let them go ahead? Or, to put it another way, if they don't to camp first, they can't set up your tents or prepare food. Step aside, slow poke.

Altitude can be blamed for all your ills: Headache, stomachache, gas, lack of hunger, etc. You name it, altitude is probably the culprit. Know the difference between mild altitude sickness and potentially deadly symptoms.

Love your wet-wipes: Although we got water for washing at almost every meal, wet-wipes were still great for getting off the grime, especially after the gritty descent from the summit.

Big groups move waaaay slower than smaller ones: The larger the group, the slower you are going to go. Waiting for meals, people to catch up on breaks, etc. can be frustrating. Smaller groups with similar athletic abilities are more harmonious.

Ask for help: Don't be afraid to ask for something you've forgotten, especially medicines. Guides and other climbers tend to be very helpful.

Reaching the summit is difficult and not everyone is going to make it: Understand that most people that climb Kili don't reach the top, and no matter how fit you are, you might be one of those people. Altitude, adjustments to foreign foods, how you sleep, etc. all affect your ability to reach the top. Don't jeopardize your health to reach the top.

Guides are flirts: Guides lavish attention on their female guests.

Going downhill can suck even more than going up: Once you get to the top, it's a scramble to get back down again, and into better air. It can be very rough on your knees and if you wear contacts, make sure to keep some solution handy - or your glasses - as you'll kick up lots of dust and dirt.

Don't rely on hand warmers: Apparently, hand warmers stop working at a certain temperatures. No joke. They started warming up again when we got to lower elevations and toastier temps. Gee, thanks.

Even insulated bottles freeze: The insulated CamelBaks worked for about 2 hours, and then promptly froze, as did nalgenes, plastic bottles, etc. Hard alcohol, however, did not. You will be desperate for water on your descent from the summit - make sure you have some wrapped up inside of your bag, and maybe mix in a little scotch to help keep it from freezing?

Everyone becomes human again after a good shower: No matter how miserable, dirty or gross you feel at the end of your climb, a shower makes everything better.

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Teaser

Courtney S. Ries shares her tips for climbing Africa's highest mountain.

The Wonder of Lake Eyasi in Tanzania

suchi — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:33:12 -0500

Body

Harold HedinAdventure Traveller

Age: 49
Nationality: USA
Where was your adventure?: Tanzania
How many days was it?: 8
What type of adventure?: Cultural Tours
Give us a general overview of your adventure:I have visited Tanzania, four times, over the past 10 years. My first
visit to the Lake Eyasi region was back in July 2004, and I stayed at a campsite operated by one of the locals. His name is Momoya Muhindoi. Momoya has a very good reputation with other tour guides and is used often, because of his knowledge of the region, the people, and he speaks the local dialect/language that most guides do not speak.

My first visit to East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania) got me hooked. This was back in Novemeber 1995. Both countries are educational, exciting, and adventureous. I enjoy meeting and learning about the
different remote tribes. It is a humble and rewarding experience that everyone should experience. Learning about different cultures and the people is a blessing that is hard to explain. It is a gift that mankind should embrace.

My tour guide introduced me to Momoya and we set off to explore a little of this remote and beautiful piece of real estate in Tanzania. I had the opportunity to go on a hunting trip with a group of the Hadzabe tribe. This tribe has had many hardships over the past several decades, but they are great people. They live off the land and hunt for their food as their ancestors have done hundreds of years ago. The children do not attend any school and everything they need is given to them by their knowledge of the land and the game. There are only approximately 200 of these nomads left. They do not mind tourists visiting them. All they ask is for respect and that their dignity and lifestyle will be perserved.

The other interesting tribe was the Datogas. They are great and friendly people which ask for their lifestyle to be appreciated and not destroyed by Western influence. Momoya is part Datoga, so you can see why he comes in handy. His e-mail address is: momoyaeyasi@yahoo.com. He can also be regular mailed to at: P.O. Box 120 Karatu via Arusha, Tanzania.

I revisited this remote region back in May 2005. The second visit was just as remarkable as the first. I spent a little more time with the Datogas and got an education that will last a lifetime. When visiting any tribe please be respectful and do not critize their lifestyle or beliefs. They are Humans, just like you and me. Learn from each other. If you decide to assist them to perserve their lifestyle do so honestly and openly. Do not be a wolf in sheep clothing. In other words, do not force them to be a Westerner with Western ideology, because if they do not you will not be willing to help them. Let
them decide on what changes they want to make to their lifestyle/traditions.
Was it difficult?: noWhy or why not?
Would you recommend this adventure trip to someone else? Why or Why Not?I would highly recommend to everyone visiting Lake Eyasi. Try to spend a few days
or a couple of weeks. You will not be disappointed.
What do you wish you would have done differently?The only thing I would have done different is spend more time.
What kind of advice can you give to other travellers going on this adventure?Be respectful of the people and their religions, and traditions. Do not critcize the way others live. You are visting their homes, they are not visiting yours. Learn from each other. Do not rush in and out when visiting the tribes. You never know if you will get a chance for another visit.
What type of gear did you bring?When I booked my tour all the gear
(camping equipment and food) was taken care of. When I travel, especially to Africa,
I travel light. One suitcase, my camera, and a small handbag.
Where is your next big adventure? Why?My next adventure is back to
Tanzania, next year. I met two lovely sisters, last year, and we have been e-mailing each other
for the past year. I started sending one of the sisters to two different schools. My sponsor student is Matron, and she worked at this remote lodge and did many duties. I got to know her and
decided that she was worth assisting. All she needed was a chance to prove herself and some education. Hopefully she will graduate, both schools, in a couple of years and fulfill her dream.
Did you travel before or after your adventure? If so, where?I did not travel before or after my African adventure.
On your adventure, what person did you most identify with?Indiana Jones

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Teaser

After four visits to Tanzania, Harold Hedin still find his heart in East Africa.

Enjoy the Ride

suchi — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:58:08 -0500

Body

Sinead MurtaghAdventure Traveller

Age: 23
Nationality: USA
Where was your adventure?: Tanzania
How many days was it?: 20
What type of adventure?: Safari
Give us a general overview of your adventure:I flew into Dar es Salaam on August 5th and met up with my three friends from college in Ireland. They picked me up early in the morning and we immediately got the bus to Arusha - the base where many of the safaris begin - to start our safari the next morning. We did a four day, three night safari with a company called Bush 2 Beach that took us to Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. We were doing it on "backpacker" budget so we opted for the camping safari.
After the safari we went back to Arusha and did a cultural tour of a nearby town before heading back to Dar es Salaam and catching a quick flight to Zanzibar. We spent a week in Zanzibar between Nungwi Beach up north and Stone Town. We headed back to Dar Es Salaam for one of our friend's last nights in Tanzania, which we celebrated in Oyster Bay after visiting Moengay for some wood carvings. Then we headed back to the airport and caught a flight to Tanga, a small town in Tanzania near the Kenya border, to get us as close to the Kenyan border as possible to continue onto Mombasa.
Was it difficult?: noWhy or why not?I really underestimated Tanzania. Having never been to Africa before in my life, I was quite nervous, especially since I was traveling there on my own and hoping I would catch up with my friends in a country where telecommunication and mass transportation cannot be trusted.
When I arrived and got over the initial culture shock I found Tanzania to be a very easy and safe place to travel, so long as you stand your ground against the many tourist touts that literally bombard you the second they see you. Safari was amazing - a real treat. Many people (even older people who had more of a budget than we) opted for camping we found as there is literally nothing like falling asleep with the sounds of all these bizarre creatures around you. It was very fun.
Would you recommend this adventure trip to someone else? Why or Why Not?I would 100 percent recommend safari - without a doubt - but would not recommend the company that we went with. Be very careful when booking a safari and ask them what their refund policy is. Remember that capitalism and business as we know it does not exist in these countries. We got the gate of the decent into Ngorongoro Crater 15 minutes after it closed and therefore missed a game drive. It was very difficult for us to get compensation for this little snafu when back in Arusha.
What do you wish you would have done differently?As far as safari, I wish it was a little bit more organized and that our driver spoke better English so as to perhaps explain various animal behaviours to us, instead of trying to just hunt the big five down. But in saying that we got to see the big 5 in three days which is rare. We had a really gifted driver who placed us in great locations, so we were delighted! Apart from safari I wish I got to stay a day longer in Arusha to listen in on the Rwandan war trials taking place at the UN.
What kind of advice can you give to other travellers going on this adventure?Plan well in advance if you can. Take the deet and malaria thing seriously. The mosquitos have fangs in this part of the world it seems! Try and befriend a few locals - they are very chill people who just want to get through the day like anyone else. Let go and have fun.
What type of gear did you bring?Wicking material, zip up hoodie, wicking socks, sleeveless vest, pants that can cut-off into shorts if necessary, socks, sunglasses (SOOO dusty!), headband, flip-flops, sleep sheet...
Where is your next big adventure? Why?I was on a round the world trip, so I was white water rafting in Uganda, trekking in Thailand and doing some diving in Bali and a few other things in Australasia before off home..
Did you travel before or after your adventure? If so, where?Before it was mainly Europe. After Tanzania, it was Kenya and Uganda, then, Dubai, Thailand, Singapore, Bali, New Zealand, Australia
On your adventure, what person did you most identify with?Rick Steeves

Location ID Click Me

Teaser

Sinead Murtagh underestimated Tanzania. She learned to let go and have some fun.

Never Be Complete

suchi — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 09:14:17 -0500

Body

Daniel DemoleAdventure Traveller

Age: 26
Nationality: USA
Where was your adventure?: Tanzania
How many days was it?: 14
What type of adventure?: Trekking
Give us a general overview of your adventure:I've been traveling for 7 months or so on an around the world trip and stopped off in Tanzania for a month. While there I wanted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. I basically showed up in Moshi with only the 'want' and nothing more. I contacted Donovan at Bootsnall and told him what my price range was, what I wanted to do, and then within a couple days, it was setup. Kilimanjaro was something I have always wanted to "conquer" as long as I can remember; something about being on top of the mythical Snows of Kilimanjaro (while they're still there). I will document the 7 day trip on my website - Never Be Complete for more information about the actual route.
Was it difficult?: yesWhy or why not?It was the most difficult physical, mental, and emotional experience I've ever gone through. It was harder than I expected; I wasn't prepared for it I don't think - though I don't know if you really can be completely prepared unless you've climbed high altitude mountains before.
Would you recommend this adventure trip to someone else? Why or Why Not?Definitely, it was one of the greatest accomplishments for me personally. The experience is one I will never forget.
What do you wish you would have done differently?I wish my friend could have made the trip out there to do it with me.
What kind of advice can you give to other travellers going on this adventure?If possible, do some high altitude climbing beforehand to be sure you will reach the summit.
What type of gear did you bring?I didn't have much since I was on a larger trip and had to rent most of my gear through the agency - again this was great.
Where is your next big adventure? Why?I'm heading to Asia in the coming months to surf Indonesia and do some more climbing in Nepal.
Did you travel before or after your adventure? If so, where?Yes - I was in Costa Rica, Italy, Czech, Holland, Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Zambia
On your adventure, what person did you most identify with?Jesus

Location ID Click Me

Teaser

BootsnAll Daniel Demole tackels the mythical snows of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Ascent of Uhuru Peak

suchi — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:59:19 -0500

Body

By Ian Kutschke
Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Day 1 "Pole Pole"
I awoke to the roar of a truck engine rumbling down the street. It was 5:45 AM It would be a while before the alarms Lizzy and I had set would go off. My beautiful wife lay restfully in her bed. The day before she had magnanimously offered to pay for half of my ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. The cost was too high for one of us to go let alone both of us, but she knew that hiking up Mount "Kili" was a goal of mine ever since I read a hiking magazine that my brother sent me two years ago. Mount Kilimanjaro is a "walk up", no rock climbing gear necessary. I love hiking and though I have done a bit of indoor wall climbing, with all the gear and some outdoor rock climbing, walking in the bush and over mountains was more in my element. With the loosey goosey run-around-town-style of organizing that is characteristic of lots of tour organizations in Africa, our tour operator had me trying on boots and gear every half an hour and then Lizzy and I running to the bank finding US$ to pay for park fees. Now it was morning and we had to get the day started, as we were to meet with our tour organizer at 9:00 AM.

I was worried to be leaving Lizzy behind. A few months back while in Namibia, Lizzy and I had parted ways for a couple of hours. I went into town to email, and Lizzy to take groceries that we had just bought, back to the house, a 15-minute walk away. On the way home, Lizzy got mugged and we have stuck together like glue ever since. I prayed over and over that Lizzy would be alright and that I would see her happy and well again at the end of the trip. But that wasn't the end of my worries.

I had second thoughts about the organization that we fiscally committed to. First, there was the questions of "Did we pay too much?" which happens to a lot of tourists, and secondly, "Would they follow through on their proposed services?" Lizzy perceptive as always could read my anguish. With the look and reassurance that only a woman who loves you can give you, she told me not to worry. We got up, packed, ate and set off to meet the tour operator named "Paradise" at the prearranged time. After waiting for 15 minutes, I began to worry that they would not show up. Also, I hadn't yet met the other three hikers that I would be traveling with, so I began to wonder if they even existed at all. I got the feeling that I was being kept from them as long as possible. With visions of my trekking organizer laughing all the way to the bank and never seeing my money again, I gave Paradise a call. Paradise told me that they would be 45 minutes late. No surprise there, but wondered why they were not organized by this time of the day. I then looked around for my fellow trekkers and located them in the restaurant lobby. Toby and Lisa from England and Meredith from U.S.A. sat excitedly anticipating their adventure. Finally, our tour operators arrived and we repacked and rechecked our equipment. A minibus arrived and our driver, decked in dark sunglasses, gold chains and watch, silk shirt, cashmere pants and leather sandals greeted us. But, money matters still needed to be sorted with my fellow trekkers and it wasn't until 11:30 and a hasty goodbye from Lizzy that we departed for Machame gate, the start of our ascent of the tallest free standing mountain in the world.

Forty minutes out of Moshi, we turned onto a dirt road and began to climb up the slope toward Machame gate. The bus driver deftly maneuvered the rear wheel drive minibus up the slick, brown muddy and bumpy road to an elevation of 1800 metres at Machame gate. Immediately, porters, cooks and guides began unloading our equipment. Elli, a porter, grabbed my yellow Jack Wolfskin backpack and claimed it as his bag to carry for the duration of the trip. We signed the guest register book while all of our guides, porters and cooks filled out the necessary paper work. The amount of climbing crew to assist the tourists up the mountain is astonishing as it created a long line up and it took some, more than an hour to fill out the paperwork. All porters had to officially weigh all the gear and bags that they were carrying before departing. A porter carries a maximum of 20 kg, 25kg including his own clothes needed for the climb. For our group of four tourists, including me, we had a crew of 12. Two cooks who carry food and cooking equipment, eight porters, one assistant guide and one head guide. On the day that we departed, there was about 125 to 150 people altogether, aiming for that first campsite at 3000 metres.

At 1:05 PM we finally started hiking. The whole way to the first campsite is rain forest. Everywhere you look, it's green. The lush, rich forest grows everywhere on everything. Even the brown, grey bark is covered with green moss. Ferns grow on fallen old trees, while vines snake their way up their host's trunks and limbs. Every leaf aims for the little spot of sunlight that pokes through the swirling mist. The forest is alive and yet it is decaying at the same time. Everywhere, water drips from the higher leaves of the trees and ferns. Molecules of water collect into a single drop at the end of a stringy piece of moss clinging to a vine. Cobwebs glisten with droplets of water, outlining their magnificent angular shape. I love it. The path is well groomed and I don't even notice it change from a drivable size to a sidewalk size path. A little muddy, but there is a solid base of gravel underneath. "Pole, Pole", our porter says, (pronounced polay-polay) using the Swahili term for "slowdown" or "slowly, slowly". This rhythm of walking is one key to a successful attempt of Kilimanjaro. Elli, the porter, walks with us, getting us used to the agonizingly slow rhythm of walking, while the guides and other porters are still busy filling out the paperwork at the main gate. I pride myself sometimes on how fast I can complete a section of trail. For example, when hiking the Alps in New Zealand I would motor up a mountain (They were shorter than Kili), pass people, especially on the steep parts and get from A to B in a short amount of time, all the while taking the time to take pictures, sit and enjoy the scenery. Sometimes other hikers would marvel at my speed and complement my swiftness and of course, this would stroke my competitive ego. Now, I had to recondition myself to walk at a pace fit for walking in a museum. I asked Elli, how many times he had climbed Kilimanjaro and he replied, 'In one season?' Stunned, I said, 'Yeah, how many times in one season'. 'About twenty.' was the reply I got. I needn't really have asked. The answer was clearly marked by his rippling muscles in his legs and his slender, svelte build. Along the way, we come across a curious oddity quietly maiking it's way across the footpath. It was a crab! In the rainforest! I wondered what other curious things Kilimanjaro would have to offer us in our journey up and down her slopes.

Meredith, Lisa, Toby and I hiked our way with Elli rather easily to Machame camp (3000m). We were quite surprised to see our tents set up already and that Toby and I got a tent to ourselves, which we hadn't asked or planned for. The K-Way expedition series tent is huge when you are only one person sleeping in it. Elli gave us hot tea, coffee with snacks served up in Toby's tent. We registered our names with the park ranger and wandered around our misty campsite. The campsite was full. The vegetation had changed since we started. It was still rain forest but the trees were much shorter and thinner with strands of light green colored moss hanging from them. We had walked the whole time with varying degrees of mist and, at this point of the early evening, we didn't get much of a view of the surrounding scenery. Dinner was served up in my tent. As it was for the rest of the trip, dinner started with soup, then with a main meal of vegetables on either rice or pasta, some kind of bread and finished off with some fruit for dessert. Another new consistency was that for the remainder of the trip all snacks and meals would be served up in my tent. I guess there was less stuff to move around in my tent. I didn't mind at all really, I just had to make the tent presentable. The four of us munched hungrily on our dinner and hit the sack. It felt odd sleeping in a tent without Lizzy. It was the first time during our trip through Africa that we wouldn't be sleeping in the same room. I fell asleep wondering how Lizzy was doing and why my tent had been placed at such an odd angle. I pulled on my balaclava to keep my head warm during the night and would continue to do so for the duration of the trip. It was one of the most important items that I used daily on the trip.

Day 2 Mountain Cheetah
I woke up at 6:30. I didn't sleep well last night. Originally I had my sleeping bag positioned with my feet pointing down the slope but it was too much of an incline. I felt as if I was sliding down while the part of my body that was in contact with the mat was stuck there. Not comfortable. I eventually rotated 90 degrees and propped myself against my backpack. Got a few hours of sleep. We had breakfast at 7:30 AM. Eli, the porter and waiter for the duration of the trip, brought us drinks toast, eggs, sausages and a packed lunch. Well fed, we left for the next campsite, Shira camp, at 8:35 AM. We had to gain another 800 metres in elevation and hike about 9 kilometers. I quite liked this route as I learned that it allows some time for acclimatization as opposed to the Marangu (Coca-Cola) route, which has a steeper elevation gain per day. We left the porters to pick up the rest of the gear and wound our way through the rest of the campsite and upwards toward the sub alpine terrain. Today was actually the first day walking with our official guide. I had met Yussuph Omary last night but only briefly. I learned that Yussuph goes by another name, "Mountain Cheetah." Mountain Cheetah stands about four feet, ten inches. He had the appearance of being quick and catlike. I asked him where he got his nickname. As his tale unfolded, I found myself marveling at his words and as it ended, I was left in awe of his fitness, character and spirit. A couple of years ago, two Aussies approached Mount Kilimanjaro Park with the challenge of hiking/running up Kilimanjaro in the fastest time. The paperwork was sorted out, arrangements made and it was agreed that two Aussies and three guides would attempt the peak via the Mweka route. Only two people made it from that challenge. The Aussie, Mark Robinson and Yussuph, a.ka. Mountain Cheetah. Yussuph came in with a slick time of 18 hours up and down. Battling altitude sickness and fatigue, it took him ten hours to go up to the summit and grab the marker for second place. Though the Australian came in first, Yussuph prides himself on the fact that he did not use a walking stick which helps for stability and sometime for pulling yourself up over obstacles. To put this gargantuan feat in perspective, we as a group are going to ascend to the mountain summit in five days with the sixth day left for the remaining descent. Others, in a training program to become a special kind of tour operator for example, have climbed to the top in 3 days! Mountain Cheetah indeed. They will be taking part again this August. For more info. Click. www.teamkilimanjaro.com

We stopped to eat our packed lunch at 11:06 AM. As with the breakfasts, lunch was more than enough to eat. We had chicken, juice, fruit, sandwiches and a muffin. We had an ephemeral view for lunch. We had crossed the cloud layer that obscures everything below 3000 metres but there was still plenty of cloud activity at this height. Despite being able to see parts of the mountain higher up, the entire scene would vanish under the veil of grey cloud in a matter of minutes. We continued walking at 11:52 AM and reached our campsite around 1:00 PM. I was feeling a bit dizzy so I decided to take a nap after tea. I felt better after an hour or so and chatted with Yussuph for a bit. The rest of the day was spent writing, taking pictures, chewing the fat with Toby, Lisa and Meredith and just hanging out. From Shira camp (3800 m) we could see the crater wall and the glaciers on it. We later learned that we would not be able to see the summit until we attempted it on day five. The terrain at our campsite now only consisted of a few small plants, grasses and boulders strewn across the ground. I went to bed at 7:00 PM but I couldn't sleep due to sore muscles and later, the cold. I got up and for 30 minutes I stretched and mentally visualized climbing to the top. I used every positive affirmation, thought and mantra I could think of to motivate me to make it to the top and down again. I put six layers on my torso, wore my balaclava, two sleeping bags and had three pairs of socks on. Only then was I warm. And then I had to go to the bathroom. I felt like I was walking on the moon. The rocks lightly reflected the bright light coming from the stars. I marveled at the clarity of the sky and jewels of the night. It was so cold outside (or perhaps I was so cold) that my teeth were chattering. I scurried back into my tent, wriggled myself into my sleeping bags and popped two panadols for my aching muscles. I finally drifted off to sleep at about 8:00 PM

Day 3 Wind 'n' toilets
Didn't sleep that well. Slept on and off all night. Breakfast was late because the stove froze apparently. We ate and just before departing, I decided to breakdown and actually use the long drop toilets.

Let's just say they're not The Ritz. Despite digging a hole and throwing a loosely constructed outhouse over it, it's an experience all too intimate for me. They are never consistent with their sizes, from the hole in the ground to the walls surrounding you. Some have doors that don't lock and others have locks but no doors. Just kidding, the latter has no door but a wall separating you from the outside. It's like walking in straight and then you turn around a corner 180 degrees like you are doing a u-turn and there is that wonderful black hole of filth and poor aim staring right back up at you. The problem sometimes is that when you squat down, you can almost, and sometimes can, peer around the corner of the dividing wall and tell anyone approaching that you are busy (in case they didn't notice). Another issue is the hole. Sometimes they are big, sometime they are small and I found myself adjusting by a couple of inches each time I used one to make sure everything fell into place. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I wish people were as conscience as me about that particular junction of the gastrointestinal journey. On top of this issue, if you had the misfortune of choosing a long drop toilet with huge spaces in between the wallboards, you can swap climbing stories and compare dinner menus with your neighbour while dealing with matters of human nature. To deliver the game winning home run, Toby stepped up to bat and delivered this horrifying thought, 'What if you fell through the floor boards?'. The image was quickly scuttled to the back of the deep dark recesses of our minds, hopefully never to return. After a few minutes of sheer bliss, I returned to camp and we started our hike at 8:56 AM.

I was miserable the whole morning. The wind blew all the time and if it wasn't for our windbreakers, it would've cut through and chilled us to the bone. Despite wearing them, I was hoping it would die down soon. It didn't. After an hour of walking, I stopped, found shelter behind a rock from the wind and stripped off my bottom two shirts because they were wet from sweating and it was making me cold when the wind hit. With dry clothes back on and a few gulps of water, we were off again. As the day progressed, we came closer and closer to the crater with its glacier clinging to the rim. Walking among large boulders strewn across this desert, we stopped frequently, sometimes behind boulders for water breaks and snacks. Eventually the highest pointy of our hike for the day was reached; 4250 metres above sea level. Lunch soon followed at 12:18 PM. Our assistant guide, Rich, chose a large group of boulders to find shelter in and we managed to wedge ourselves in and amongst the outcrops. Despite our efforts, I was frustrated to find the wind blowing at us from several directions. You just couldn't get away from it. At 1:00 PM we continued on toward camp. After having gone in one direction all morning, UP, I was delighted to see us hike over a couple of ridges and then down to Barranco camp at 3950 m. It was not only a welcome change in direction but also gave us a break from that bloody wind! After 14 kilometers and an ascent to 4250 m for acclimatization and then descending to 3950m, I felt great walking into camp at 3:35 PM. With all the tents set up for us, I plopped down into mine for a bit of a rest and then some tea. We were blessed with a spectacular view that reminded me of my days in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. On one side of a valley that spilled into the clouds below, we had a low ridge, dotted with rocks. On the other side, a mountain of a crater that went straight up into the sky with glistening glaciers on the top. I felt as if I was under it all we were so close. That view would change with the clouds passing by. Now you see it, now you don't. With it's craggy rocks, the sunlight striking it's iron rich flank and white bits of snow and receding glacier draped over the top, it made for a peaceful yet majestic view for the afternoon. The significance of the fact that current estimates of the glaciers that rest on the tallest mountain in Africa would be gone in about twenty years due to global warming was not lost on me.

Curious was the feeling of fatigue from just walking from the bathroom back to the tent (No, it had nothing to do with the toilet experience). All of us felt it. Despite being only a hundred metres higher than the night before, to do simple things like walking to the bathroom and back brought about feelings of fatigue and slight dizziness as if we had done some huge feat. By dinner time, 6:00PM, I got a headache and Toby felt just miserable from aching all over. I never really got a full on headache type of feeling during the trip, only a dull throbbing at the base, or back, of my skull. After an hour or so my headache went away and I got ready for bed. I stretched for half an hour, went to the loo, loaded on the clothing in anticipation of another cold night and lay awake thinking about my wife. I really missed her.

Day 4 Porters
I took me a little while to fall asleep, as I was too hot at first. I couldn't believe how toasty I was, as I had to unzip my sleeping bags and take off a few layers. I felt great when I woke up and was pleased to have had the most restful sleep on the trip thus far. We left at 8:50 AM and encountered the best part of the hike. The night before Yussuph briefed us on the next couple of days and it left at least Lisa and I a little nervous. But with the day starting and with excellent views of the crater, we forgot our nervousness as this section of trail was always changing giving us breaks from just going in one single direction like up or down. One section had us climbing rock ledges; hand over foot for an hour. Awesome!

During the course of each day's hike, there were times where we had to step aside and let the porters go past us. From the moment I saw them on Day 1, I had respect for them. With loads of camping and cooking gear piled high on their head and backs, they would motor past us up the mountain to the next campsite, sometimes wearing appalling gear, or lack there of. As a rule, all tourists who climb the mountain must have guides and porters, as you are not allowed do it alone. You can make special arrangements to carry some of your gear to reduce your trekking fees but there will still be porters and guides going up with you, just not as many porters. So, as the deal was explained to me in Arusha town, the tourist walks with his day pack and one head guide and one assistant guide. The porters, including those who double as camp crew, waiter, cook, assistant cook and dishwasher, pack up the gear including their own and hoof it up to the next campsite to set it up and have it ready by the time the weary legged tourist trudges in. Considering that they do most of the grunt work, I was shocked to hear that they get paid the least. A paltry sum of 7000 Tanzanian shillings (Tsh), about 7 dollars US a day. Some of the clothing they wear is good climbing gear that has been donated to them by the clients after their trek, donated for temporary use by a porter association or bought locally. But a lot are lacking what is necessary for their comfort sand safety. My eyes bugged out when I saw porters wearing sandals or sneakers, otherwise known as a twisted ankle or bad fall waiting to happen. Others, sweating under the exertion of their load were poorly protected from the elements. A lot of them wore trousers or jeans and a T-shirt or thin long sleeve shirt. That is OK for the lower part of the mountain but just plain wrong for the upper part of the mountain. Despite "government intervention" (pressured by activists risking their personal safety) to regulate the amount of weight a porter carries, little else is done by the government or the industry to support and protect them. The same goes for the guides. According to our guide (read: unofficial), 6 or 7, possibly more, porters die a year. On the fifth day of our climb, we came across a memorial marking the site where a porter had passed away while being transported back down the mountain to the nearest stretcher. He was discovered sick in his tent and it was decided that he should be transported on someone's back to the nearest stretcher, a few km down the mountain. He never made it. A memorial is the only indication that something went horribly wrong, that the national park/ government and tour operator failed to provide for one of the hardest workers on the mountain; the worker that earns 7$/day to make a tourist's life easier walking in a national park where a huge chunk of the park fees go to the government, (much of it to line the pockets of these so called leaders in my opinion). If you look at the numbers, things rarely add up to the government putting sufficient amounts back into the community. A tourist will pay about 35$ US/day (which will increase to 50$/day in 2006) for trekking fees, 30 $ /day for camping fees and 30$/day for rescue fees. (Cheekily, the national park requires all local workers to pay for their own entrance fees as well. Despite being reduced prices for residents, on 7 $ /day, porters are not left with much after a silly and costly expenditure). People spend on average 5 to 6 days on the mountain and there are about 20,000 tourists a year (year 2002) that attempt to climb Kilimanjaro. On those rough estimates, it works out to a lot of coin!

There are several unions in the area that claim to help porters, like Kilimanjaro Porters
Association in Marangu for an example, and attempt to lend support to porters and guides in the way of providing climbing gear and helping out anyone who got injured on the mountain. The porters and guides would pay a small membership fee and then expect the service to be rendered when needed. Like so many other "aid" organizations that we have come across in Africa, this one too has let the local people down. Financial support and gear comes from abroad and some local guy, who runs the place, pisses away the money and sells the gear on the side to make extra cash. Consequently, porters and guides have left that organization disgruntled and look for other ways to make money. If they last or get proper treatment, a porter can work for two years and then move up to be a cook (and porter) where they earn about 10 000Tsh (about 10$/day). After experience and some training they can become assistant guides for the same pay and then advance to head guide for about 15, 000 Tsh (15$/day). Still not a heck of a lot. Not all NGO's are corrupt of course. There is one very good aid organization IMEC that is trying to better the situation and improve the lives and safety of porters by lending clothing to porters for free (with the condition that they return it cleaned), offer English and First Aid classes for free to porters and educating tourists on what are the acceptable and unacceptable standards of porter treatment are.

Every time a porter would pass, I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Particularly for the ones that carried idiotic things like portable toilets and plastic lawn chairs! Irregardless if the lawn chair gang of tourists paid more $ for their climb, the porters still get the same flat rate and the clothing they wear isn't always any better. Their strength not only amazed me for the weight that they carried but also for carrying it on their head! Sometimes it is because they don't really have a choice because they don't actually have a bag that fits on the back. Despite being told that it would be easier and would keep both hands free for them to carry it on their back, most porters are used to carrying things on their head and alternate hands for climbing and balancing the package on their head. And these guys can carry! I've seen backpacks, duffle bags, reed baskets with food, clothing and stoves in them, tents sleeping bags, 5 gallon water cans, fuel and lawn chairs being carried on the top of a very stubborn head. Humbled amazement.

We had lunch at 12:30 PM. We munched our chicken, and samosas while white collared ravens and mice poked around us looking for crumbs. At 1:00 PM we departed for Barrafu camp at 4650 metres where we would stay for the night. It was up and up and up andâ€¦I could really feel my heart pumping in my chest and I began to lag behind a bit. I was content to go my own "pole" "pole" pace and trudged on through the bleak misty scenery that was uninspiring piles of large boulders scattered on what appeared to be shale and gravel. Thankfully the terrain leveled off a bit before going up again and I got my second wind. Reenergized, we arrived at "Base Camp" at 3:30PM, I felt great. I seemed to get on a high while hiking and then after about 30 minutes of sitting in camp, I would get a little heady or dizzy. I figured that I didn't have much up top to swell so now worries, eh? Heh heh heh. NOT! We all experienced these altitude hiking induced symptoms usually at different times from each other. Check out this web site for a really good description of what high altitude symptoms are: http://www.high-altitude-medicine.com/AMS.html

We had dinner at 6:00 PM. I didn't really feel like eating much. Not because I was sick but I just didn't feel like eating a lot like we had done before. Apparently, a loss of appetite is a symptom of altitude sickness but I didn't really care. I felt that I knew what I needed for the ascent and that sleep! Yussuph came and briefed us on the itinerary for the next day. We would head to bed ASAP and be woken up at 11:30PM. We would take about 30 minutes to drink some tea (we weren't aloud to drink coffee as it makes the heart work harder and we couldn't have milk as it upsets the stomach) eat some biscuits and then head for the summit at midnight using our headlamps and guide to lead the way.

I prepared my clothes and inserted my earplugs. I didn't want anything, including the porters jawing with each other in the tent beside me (they don't climb to the summit. They just wait for you to come back alive), to keep me awake as I had less than 5 hours sleep to be rested for the summit attempt. I checked my pulse and it seemed alright. The night before, my heart rate was at one point 88 beats per minute just lying in my sleeping bag and then I got it down to 60 bpm before dozing off. Satisfied that I was now ready for a power nap, I shut my eyes and told myself to sleep.

Day 5 Summit Attempt!
My body didn't listen. I had less than two hours sleep before Elli woke me up by jiggling my toes. Bleary eyed, I looked toward the door and saw Elli's face eerily lit by the candle he was holding in the surrounding blackness. He was saying something but I couldn't hear properly. I pulled out my earplugs and he said that he was calling me for a long time. Apparently, Elli had come to the tent and was calling my name, only calling my name, for about five minutes and then went away before coming back and trying again. After 15 minutes and curious as to why I hadn't replied as I usually and readily did, he unzipped the door and continued to call my name before grabbing my toes and shaking it. Lisa, Meredith and Toby were all wide awake in their tents kaking themselves laughing at the one sided inquisition outside, "Ianâ€¦â€¦.Ianâ€¦â€¦..Ian?........Ianâ€¦" It was 11:55 PM. None of us slept that well. We gulped down our tea and cookies and suited up. With all the clothing needed and the minimal amount necessary to carry for the summit, we donned our headlamps and gazed towards the crater rim where Uhuru peak lay beyond. There was a long line of bobbing fluorescent blue lights leading the way up the crater rim. The other groups had left earlier and were already making their attempt. We checked our gear, looked at each other, took a deep breath and walked out of camp at 12:25 AM August 1st, 2005.

Much of the ground in and surrounding our campsite was made of millions of thin flat pieces of rock, resembling slate that made tinkling sounds as if we were walking on a massive pile of tiles. I think the whole group including Yussuph, Richard, our assistant guide, felt pretty good, considering. I was full of piss and vinegar for the summit and followed Yussuph so closely I was almost tripping on his feet. Yussuph, ever the pace setter, dispensed his two words of climbing wisdom, 'Pole, pole.' and began to walk exaggeratingly slow up the gravel slope of the crater. It was like taking a step every two seconds and frankly, it couldn't have been a better pace. We really couldn't see much except for the stars, a sliver of moon looking like a white bowl in the sky and the dark shadow of the mountain looming above us with a faint string of lights demarking other trekkers that had passed before us. Not that I spent much time looking up. Most of the time I saw the faint blue light of my headlamp illuminating Yussuph's hiking boots, as they crunched their way up the lose gravel slope. A couple of times I stumbled because of fatigue and misjudging some steps as I got used to taking such small ones. With the exception of the one-hour rock ledge climbing we had done the day before, this was the steepest part of the trail. It would be 15km of slogging our way up the crater to an elevation of 5732 m at Stella's point, the second highest point of Kilimanjaro and 5895 metres at Uhuru peak, the highest point in all of Africa! So, water and rest breaks were short but frequent. At one point, I was feeling so good, so positive that I bragged to anyone who would care to listen, "That f*#@er is going down!" I almost ate my words.

Be it just like mother nature and Kilimanjaro to turn their head slightly, wag their finger in my face and say, "Ah , ah, aaaahhhh." Not long after my bold claim, about halfway up the crater I was a bit behind the group as they continued on upwards as I was farting around in my bag for something. After taking a leak and with Richard's urging to not stand around for too long, we continued up after the rest of the group. Now I swear to you that I didn't run, sprint or hurry up after the group, I only walked half a step quicker than usual. Once I reached the group, a wave of nausea hit me and it took a long time to catch my breath. Those feelings would be with me for the rest of the way. It seemed easier to breath if I looked down. If I looked up, I would get a throbbing sensation at the back of my skull. Worse, the nausea would make me want to vomit but I tried not to think about it. Lisa wasn't having the same luck and was ducking behind rocks to throw up. It was in anticipation of this symptom was the reason why I didn't eat a huge dinner. Despite having similar symptoms of altitude sickness prior to this day, once we attempted the summit, we all reacted differently to the demands of the altitude and hike. I couldn't walk more than 10 metres without stopping to catch my breath. It was as if I had run flat out for 200 metres without training for it. I was winded! Lisa was ducking behind rocks and throwing up, sometimes dry heaving. Toby, who had Stella's point within reach, found that his legs would not respond to his liking. Meredith, who seemed to cope the best, just kept right on trucking up the mountain. At one point, Lisa said she thought she wasn't going to make it but that she was going to keep trying. We were always checking our watches and we all seemed to be hanging for the sun to come up as if it would uplift our spirits and give us the energy (and warmth) to continue. It was 3:00 AM, then 3:30AM, then 4:00AM, surely the sun would start coming up at 4:30AM??!! We looked back down the mountain at the faint glow of headlamps making their way towards us. Relieved that we were not them, not that far down, coupled with meeting the few tourists who, for whatever reason, had decided that they couldn't make it to the summit, began their descent to base camp, no doubt disappointed at their failed attempt but perhaps content with their efforts and experience gained, spurred us onwards and upwards.

At one point, I rested on the ground in fetal position, hoping to catch a few winks before Richard chastised me for sleeping. "No sleeping, no sleeping! Sleeping is dangerous." The sweat on my back pooled around my spine and became cool along the length of my spine from the slight breeze and minus 15 degrees Celsius temperature until it reached the point where it was more insulated by my day pack. Adjusting my clothes to minimize overheating and sweating too much, I tried to maintain a comfortable temperature and shifted my bag from back to front occasionally. I could feel the right sole of my hiking boot getting stiffer and stiffer from the cold. Wave after wave of nausea came over me and at one point; I said to the group, and myself "I would be happy just with Stella's point." The guides wouldn't hear any of it. Somewhat attentive to our physical condition, they knew that we could make it and gave us the few mental and physical boosters that we needed. "Come on, pull your socks up.", said Yussuph in his gritty Tanzanian accent. "You can do it", said Richard. "It's only 45 minutes away", said Yussuph.

At last the sky began turning lighter and lighter and we neared Stella's point. Toby took one step and slid back. He took another step and hadn't gotten any further due to the round pebbles underfoot. "My legs won't work", he said quietly. Richard came up behind him and pushed him up the last few metres to Stella's point. I was doubled over trying to catch my breath after what felt like another mad phantom 200-metre dash and slowly raised myself as Richard encouraged me onwards. Lisa, Meredith, Toby and I had reached Stella's point. Richard turned around and scolded Toby who had collapsed onto the ground trying to sneak a nap. From Stella's point we could see the beginnings of the most glorious sunrise I have ever seen. Perched high above the white clouds we saw the sun spread its orange turned golden yellow richness over the cloudscape. Bathed in its sunlight, I couldn't help but feel emotional and shed a couple of tears. It had been so hard to get to this point.

"Much windy", said Yussuph, as there was a a slight breeze coming over the rim of the crater so he had us move toward some rocks further up along the rim for some protection from the wind. Resting at the rocks, I went behind them and got on my hands and knees and buried my head in my hands. It was the best way I could think of top sneak a bit of shuteye without actually looking like it. Chest heaving, I slowly managed to catch my breath. I couldn't believe how difficult it was to breathe, especially when it didn't seem to affect the others. In retrospect, I wonder if I brought it on myself psychologically. Prior to embarking on this challenge, one of the reasons why I wanted to do it was to experience the lower levels of air at a high altitude and see how difficult it would be to breath. Wow! What a difference!

Yussuph said that we still had to make our way to Uhuru peak along the outer crater rim, an hour's walk away. I really didn't feel like slogging another hour but Yussuph took Lisa by the arm (still nauseous) and ushered her and Meredith onwards while Richard brought up the rear. Toby would walk a little ways and then sit down and seemed to be quietly contemplating the inner workings of his legs. I wasn't about to stay behind and by the time I caught up to him, I had to crouch over and support myself on my thigh to catch my breath. This went on for a little while. People who had already reached the summit were coming back down, almost power walking their way towards the descending trail. As we passed them, we couldn't help but wonder where they got their energy from. Here we were digging deep to make it around the next bend and there ahead lay the famous Uhuru Peak signpost where everybody who makes it gets his or her picture taken. Lisa, who thought that she wouldn't make it and was at the end of the group most of the time, perked up when she saw the end in sight, dug deep down and motored straight to the end, arriving first at the peak. Meredith soon followed.

Toby and I were sprinting to the end, NOT! Toby was so busy just looking at the ground trudging along that he hadn't noticed he was almost there until Rich lifted his chin up and pointed at the sign. That brought a tear to Toby's eye. I was just a heaving pulping mass with watery eyes from the shear exhaustion and mental fatigue I had endured. Toby and I finally reached the end where a group was still busy taking their souvenir photos of this momentous occasion. We had made it! The highest mountain in Africa! Wooohooo!!! 5895 metres! It was 6:50 AM. A full six hours and twenty five minutes of mentally and physically grueling and draining slog! I had wanted to do something different at the top, like doing 10 pushups when I got there but I just couldn't muster the energy and decided not to do it for fear of passing out. Just to rub it in, Rich, unbeknownst of my intent to do pushups, dropped down and polished off six push ups. Sigh. We congratulated each other and shed some more tears. The scenery was spectacular and we stood and ogled it for a while. We didn't stay long. Maybe we were there for about ten minutes.

Once the group had left, we did the obligatory pictures and began our walk along the crater rim to Stella's point. As we walked along, I noticed that we wouldn't be going anywhere near the glaciers as I had hoped. Though we were in fact above the glaciers now, there wasn't any snow on the ground. I would have to settle for a few snowy patches that we had come across on the way up the crater. At least I can say I saw snow in Africa, right near the equator! Not such a hard thing to believe nowadays.

As the sun rose in the west, Mount Kilimanjaro's shadow was cast to the west and at one point completely blocked Mount Meru from the sun. The shadow was a perfect triangle. It was brilliant seeing a mountain's shadow from the peak and we were right on top of that shadow. (Not that we could make little hand or men shadows or anything but it was just brilliant)

I couldn't help but get emotional thinking about how difficult it was to get there. It was so hard! At that time, I imagined that when I told anybody of this story I would be a wuss and get teary eyed but once I was back in my tent, I was fine. I never did get that way since.

Walking back all smiles and some of us teary eyed, we noticed that we too, were now walking down the gentle slope around the crater rim much quicker than we had coming up. We had one last look from Stella's point and then made our way down the crafter slope back to camp. The trail was mainly loose volcanic gravel and made going down quick like quasi skiing but unsteady. I found a patch of snow, picked up a clump and carried it for a while. I was still feeling nauseous from the altitude and I wanted to get down ASAP. Yussuph let me go ahead while he and Rich stayed behind with the others. I slid and skied and walked my way down, taking a breather now and then to rest my legs and marvel at the steep slope we had taken five and a half hours to climb. I descended from 5895 metres to 4650 metres in about two and a half hours and to my relief, the feeling of nausea went away. I stumbled into camp, slate tinkling beneath my feet and collapsed in my tent by 9:30 AM. I told Elli that we all made it and the rest of the group would be back soon. I visited the immaculate loo, went back to the tent and crashed for an hour. We had brunch at 11:30 AM and left camp at 12:30PM.

From Barrafu camp we walked 11km down to Millennium camp at 4150 m for a break and then another 8 km to Mweka camp at 2850 m. When I started hiking down, my head was still a bit cloudy and I was tired but it was as if I got a second wind and felt great the rest of the way. We picked and maneuvered our way down the dusty track, talking at times and reflecting upon our grandiose achievement from hours before. Unfortunately, the dust that was kicked up by trekkers and the wind caused Meredith's contacts to be unbearable to wear and had to be assisted down the trail for a while, careful that she wouldn't trip over anything. Also, the daily dosage of sun and wind had made Lisa's lips swell and blister and Lisa was not a happy camper for a while. Another good reason to wear a balaclava I thought though, I too had gone without one for a few hours. We came across the porter memorial that I mentioned before and continued on until we found an old stretcher lying on the ground. That was the stretcher needed to carry a sick person down to the next stretcher we saw, which had one wheel underneath it like a wheelbarrow. With the brakes on this stretcher gone, the driver had to be careful to maneuver the patient down the mountain until they came to the point where a truck could pick them up near Mweka gate.

Down and down and down the mountain we walked descending into the clouds again. By the time we reached the last campsite, Mweka camp, we were back in the rain forest again. It was 4:30PM and our blistery feet, toes and knees hurt from the constant downward walking. With ripe blisters, we hobbled into my tent for our last tea and dinner. Afterwards, I scouted out the long drop toilets only to discover that the doors didn't lock or close properly. Wonderful. I was relieved to be back in the forest and not on the desert slope. I slept soundly to drops of water dripping from on the tent.

Day 6 The finish line
We got up bright and early, swapped our personal reflections of our climb over breakfast and learned that one member of our expedition from the day before spat up a wee bit of blood. In retrospect, we all should've had to wait a bit longer to acclimatize before attempting the summit; otherwise we would be endangering our lives. This is one reason why the suggestion to change the park fees from per day fees to a one time fee because too many people motivated to save dollars climb the mountain when they are not fit to do so.

We broke camp and finally got introduced to our camp crew (at our requests) and took their pictures. Whenever we arrived in camp, they would always be busy in the cooking tent or hanging out with each other in their tents so we really didn't interact with them much. In fact, when we first started, we were surprised that we didn't eat with the crew, which we would've liked. However, it wasn't a reflection upon their services rendered. They lugged the equipment up and down the mountain like He-Men and fed us good food. We were well taken care of. We didn't have to worry about a thing except walking with a daypack. They did the rest. We were very happy with our crew.

From Mweka camp it was a hop skip and a jump of 5.5.km to Mweka gate at 1750 metres through lush green rain forest. I found a huge vine hanging from a tree and gave it a tug. Yup, solid. So, of course I had to have a swing on it. I could've swung on it all day. I was right in my element.

We arrived at the gate amongst a throng of tourists chatting it up congratulating each other their climb. We were hustled over to the register book and signed in our names as having completed all 83.5 km of trail and a successful ascent of Uhuru peak, the tallest mountain in Africa, the tallest free standing mountain in the world and one of the world's largest volcanoes. We had done it! Yay!

We milled about while Yussuph and Richard did some paperwork and I took the time to smell the beautifully arranged flowers. Looking at other tour groups, it was easy to see who had paid more. One group had a beautifully set table with brunch ready and waiting. Others had their 4X4 pick up vehicles waiting to drive them to the airport or to town.

We had to walk another km down because our tour company didn't have a 4X4 to get to the gate. Hawkers selling their wares immediately swarmed us and they followed us all the way down. I didn't mind the walking as it took us through villages and coffee and banana plantations. Little children waved at us and some even ran up to us to shake our hands and ran away giggling. When we arrived at the meeting point, all the porters were waiting with a big pile of equipment on the ground. The minibus got stuck! Toby and the girls had a friend meet them and they shared a beer before we all had to walk another kilometer down to where the bus had gone as far as it could go. I was eager to see Lizzy but Paradise said that she left a message with him that she would meet me in Dar Es Salaam. No worries, I thought, as that was one possibility of a meeting place that we discussed before we parted ways. Twenty of us including equipment piled into the minibus and we were shuttled back to Moshi with the crew singing jolly Swahili songs. They were really in a party mood. I got dropped off at Buffalo hotel, handed back the rented clothing, picked up my belongings, paid my tip and received my certificate of completion.

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Teaser

Ian Kutschke reflects on his six days on Kilimanjaro. He didn't do push ups at the top.

Hakuna Matata

suchi — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 12:14:35 -0500

Body

Some New Friends
Gary PierceAdventure Traveller

Age: 51
Nationality: USA
Where was your adventure?: Tanzania
How many days was it?: 15
What type of adventure?: Safari
Give us a general overview of your adventure:My 10 year old son and I spent an incredible 15 days in Tanzania, from 20th June to 4th July 2005. We spent time in the town of Moshi, Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park, and the Island of Zanzibar.
BootsnAll hooked us up with a safari company. They met us upon our arrival at Nairobi Airport and took care of everything for us until our departure. They were very efficient, provided brand new vehicles, and first rate guides and drivers. There really is nothing I can complain about as everything went smoothly with absolutely no hiccups. Our guide was extremely professional, very knowledgeable on the wildlife and culture, and took great care of us. We made a few changes to our itinerary on the fly and it was handled very well and efficiently by the safari company. There was great communication between our guide and headquarters back in Moshi.

We saw incredible amounts of wildlife at every park we visited. The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater were absolutely amazing. We spent time at a Maasai Village in the Ngorongoro Highlands that is highly recommended. At the end of our safari, we spent an ultra relaxed 4 days on the Island of Zanzibar. It was probably the most relaxing 4 days I've ever had. We fished, snorkeled, ate, drank, and chilled. My son had a great time playing with the local children from the village. They spent hours playing soccer on the beach.
Was it difficult?: noWhy or why not?Donovan Pacholl hooked us up with an excellent safari guide and a brand new Land Cruiser. Basically, I barely had to think...everything went very smoothly.
Would you recommend this adventure trip to someone else? Why or Why Not?Tanzania is highly recommended. The people were lovely, the game parks incredible. Everywhere you turn there is a National Geographic moment. The color, the light, the wildlife, the culture...magic.
What do you wish you would have done differently?Flown into Moshi rather than driving 6-7 hrs from Nairobi. The bus we were on was comfortable, but a bit overloaded and top heavy with luggage. I was a bit paranoid of having a blown tire. I wouldn't have minded so much if it had been just me, but I had my kid along. The drive was interesting and scenic.
What kind of advice can you give to other travellers going on this adventure?Relax and enjoy. The country was safe and the safari company very competent and accommodating. I took stacks of photos and had to try and download a 4gb card and a 1 gb card every night which was very time consuming considering I didn't have a laptop along. I was transferring the photos to an IPOD which took forever. Next time I'll take the laptop.
What type of gear did you bring?3 changes of clothes and my 10 year old son...thats it.
Where is your next big adventure? Why?I would like to return to Tanzania next year to climb Kilimanjaro.
Did you travel before or after your adventure? If so, where?I've been an expat for over 20 years which has taken me to many countries. I am presently working in Iraq and wish I were back in Tanzania.
On your adventure, what person did you most identify with?Jesus

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Teaser

While working in Iraq, Gary Pierce takes a break from the war and visits Tanzania with his young son.