The Berlin Wall

Africa - Day 6 - Saturday September 28

Wake up call was at 6 AM today.  Even though we only had a short hike, our guide was concerned about traffic since the wall is so narrow. We ate breakfast and we were on the trail by 7 AM.  We hiked downhill for about a tenth of a mile, 200 feet vertical, and we crossed three streams. We quickly arrived at the base of the wall and started our ascent. 

All along we were told of a "trail."  There was no trail. We started scaling this wall using all four limbs and doing our best not to look down. Most of the sketchy areas only had drops of 5-20 feet but a few were a bit further. At one point we came to the "Kissing Rock."  It's called that because as you stretch across the rock with your one foot and one hand, you have to basically kiss the rock and slide across to the other side.  It's recommended not to look down.

Today's climb was truly something we will never forget. At the top, we all just hugged and relished in our accomplishment. It was a big deal.  After catching our breath we took a few pictures and started on our way to camp.  We hiked down along a ridge to what looked like a desert.  We walked through the desert to another ridge.  From there, we could see camp.  Awesome, a lot closer than we thought.  Another few turns and, uh oh.... Camp was on the other side of a 500 foot valley.  Think standing on one side of the Grand Canyon looking at your camp on the other side.

We hiked down 500 feet, crossed a stream and hiked up another 500 to camp.  The walls were pretty steep so it was slow going.  We checked in with the ranger and walked uphill to our campsite. The entire camp ground is on a fairly steep slope.  We arrived around noon and lunch was waiting for us.  The total hike for today was 4 hours 7 minutes, 3.21 miles (mileage didn't count going vertical up the wall) and camp was at about the same altitude as the night before, 13,300.

As we ate lunch we noticed the weather varied from cold to hot.  Not chilly to warm but cold to hot.  As the sun came out the temperature spiked but as soon as the clouds rolled in the temperature plummeted. After lunch we had 3 hours to ourselves. We basically just hung around the mess tent remising about the day.  At 3:30 they brought snacks and at 4 we went another acclimation hike.

Today's hike was 300 feet up from camp to another ridge. We took a few pictures but the clouds had rolled in so we couldn't see much. Back at camp, the clouds cleared just enough for us to see part of Kilimanjaro.  I really wish the weather had been nicer but the small glimpse we saw looked amazing. 

We hung out and walked around camp a bit to kill time.  At 7 it was time for dinner.  Tonight's meal was soup, rice with sauce and then a nice custard desert.  After dinner it was off to bed......

Fear the Wall

Africa - Day 5 - Friday September 27

Wake up call was 6:30 AM,,, "Hello,, you are welcome to have wash water and tea."  The folks helping us on this trip are so nice and their English is pretty good.  Every morning they bring us warm water to wash with and hot tea right to our tent.  We dressed, packed and headed to the mess tent for breakfast.

By 7:30 we were on the "road" and headed to "Lava Tower."  For the first time on this trip we had great weather, unfortunately it wasn't going to last. The morning was warm, the sun was shining and we hiked in t-shirts.  We started at 12,610 feet and hiked to the Lava Tower at just over 15,000 feet.  The hike was easy in the sense of terrain. It was a slight incline along a ridge the whole way.  What isn't steep is long.  The total hike to the Lava Tower was about 5 miles.  Just before the Lava Tower the clouds rolled in and our beautiful day turned ugly real quick.  We stopped to put on our wet weather gear and then continued to hike.  

As we approached the Lava Tower my head started pounding. Our guide is no fan of medicine, he wants to make sure he can see how we actually are, not how we are on drugs.  Since the weather was such crap, the crew had our mess tent setup and lunch ready. We ate lunch, drank tea and hung out for about an hour.  After lunch we started our walk downhill to our next camp, Barranco Camp.  One thing to note, we ate lunch at the base of Lava Tower but we never got to see it.  We were in some thick clouds.

The walk downhill in the rain/sleet/snow wasn't too bad. The weather got nice again about half way down.  At camp we actually saw the sun.  We were once again greeted by our entire crew with song and dance.  After our warm welcome, we took a little time to walk around, enjoy the sun and recharge our batteries.  The total hike time (excluding lunch) took 7 hours and was exactly 7 miles.

Dinner was awesome, three courses.  The first course was sweet potato and corn soup with fresh made crepes for dipping.  The second course was spaghetti with a meat sauce and the third course was cut oranges.  The most memorable thing about dinner was the talk of the next day, Barranco Wall.  

The camp is called Barranco because it's at the base of the Barranco Wall, the wall we have to scale tomorrow.  From the time we arrived at camp until the sun went down, we stared at this massive wall we would have to scale the next day.  Our guide tried to explain the route but all we could comprehend was the sheer verticalness of it.  All 700 feet,,,, ughhh.  Evan and I aren't great with heights (understatement) so we were very nervous about the next day.

Off to bed....

Holy Moly

Africa - Day 4 - Thursday September 26

We woke up today at 6 AM.  We got dressed for the day and packed up our night bags. While we were at breakfast the crew broke down camp.  We have been learning that the meals here are no joke.  They have a saying here "The Mountain is Food."  They want us to drink 4 liters of water per day and eat as much as we can. The meals are 4 courses and if you don't eat at least one full helping of each course then they start twisting your arm.  Today's breakfast was hot cereal, an egg sandwich, fresh fruit and,,, well, I forget.  The altitude must be taking its toll :)

We finished breakfast around 7:30 AM and started our hike. There are 5 climate zones on Kilimanjaro and today's entire hike was a rock stair stepper (no more rainforest).  We hiked up steep rocky slopes with only a few flat spots thus the title "Holy Moly". There were two dicey points where we were told "hold on" and "don't look down."  It wasn't anything crazy.  I had no problem doing it which says a lot (I hate heights).  I also didn't look down.

Along the hike we were constantly getting passed by porters.  These guys are no joke. After the clients leave camp, they pack everything up and race to the next camp site to set it all up before the clients arrive. They not only carry their own backpack, they carry a bag or two on their head and shoulders.  It's a very impressive site!

We arrived at camp pretty early, 11AM.  Today's hike was 4:10, 2 miles and 2,613 feet ascent.  At camp we were once again greeted by the friendly singing which Jamie refers to as Stairway to Heaven because it doesn't seem to end.  We rested for 30 minutes and then started lunch.  Today's lunch was; course 1: an avocado wedge with something piled on top of it and some egg toasted bread thing, after that, course 2: creamy chicken noodle soup, course 3: pasta shells and sauce, course 4: watermelon.  

After lunch we were free to hang out and rest. I was dead-set on trying to get this phone of ours to work. The only place to get signal was about 200 yards from our camp site. It doesn't sound far but it's downhill (which means you have to walk back up hill to the camp site).  I ended up making the trip multiple times, more than I care to admit. After numerous calls to tech support I was able to get the phone on the Echo network which is basically useless. I finally gave up.  Fortunately for us I brought my sat phone which has been working great but still no wi-fi.

At 4 PM we were served popped corn, toasted nuts and tea.  We snacked for a bit and then headed off on a recreational hike.  You might be asking, "If you are hiking for 8 days, why would you do any additional hiking?"  We were asking ourselves the same thing.  When we asked them, the answer we got was "to keep you from getting stiff and to help you acclimate."  Fair enough.  We did a hike around the camp area and saw some of the local attractions. It was more of a walk then a hike and it ended up being worth the effort.

After the hike we cleaned up for dinner.  Dinner was another four course meal which we struggled to get down.  Don't get me wrong, the food was great but the portions were huge.  They kept saying "you're not eating because of the altitude but you have to eat."  We explained that we can't even eat this much at sea level.

After dinner we were all exhausted so we headed right to bed. It was a very chilly night which we got to enjoy over and over again as we all had to pee every 30 minutes.  This 4 liters of water per day is a lot!  At least it was a clear night and the stars were amazing.

Poli Poli

Africa - Day 3 - Wednesday September 25

We got out of bed at 6 AM and prepared for the first day on Kilimanjaro.  We headed up for our breakfast buffet which lasted until about 7:30.  After that we packed everything in the room; bag 1 - stays with the lodge, bag 2 - goes up the mountains with the porters, bag 3 - is our personal backpack we carry ourselves. 

After a 1.5 drive to the Kilimanjaro trail head (that includes 4 stops for Evan to pee), we were ready to go,,,,, almost. First we needed our passports so that we could check in and obtain a permit to enter the park.  After that we enjoyed tea and cookies while our guide made his final preparations. During this time we were approached by wild monkeys that wanted some of our cookies. We didn't feed them but it was fun to watch them work.

As we started our walk to the official "starting point", it was interesting to watch all of the porters from all of the different teams prepare for their ascent.  We learned that there can be over 1000 people on the mountain at any one time. Most groups of 2-4 hikers had a team of 17 to 30 porters. We had 21 porters, 1 head guide, 1 assistant guide and 1 chef in our group.  This is what we were told, we didn't actually meet them until we arrived at camp.  

As we learned the day before, today's walk was going to be completely in the rain forest, from 5000 feet to exactly 10,000 feet. The first day of the hike was easy, or as Evan would say, like a green.  The guides kept saying "Poli Poli" which means "Slow Slow" and "Magi Magi" which means "Water Water.". They wanted to make sure we acclimate to the elevation properly.  The first mile was just a dirt road with a slight incline. After that the road narrowed to about the width of a sidewalk.  We hiked for about 2.5 hours until we reached our lunch spot.  

Lunch was interesting. Keep in mind, there are probably 5 groups that left with us (there are over 100 companies that guide on this mountain), so about 150 people including us that headed up at the same time.  Each group had lunch at the same spot. Some guiding companies provided a log or rock to sit on along with a boxed lunch to eat. We had our own picnic table setup along with a crew of 3 to cook and serve the food.  Not too shabby.

After lunch we continued up the mountain through the rainforest. After 4 hours and 10 minutes of hiking and 5000 feet of vertical accent we reached camp for day 1.  First step, we had to sign in with the ranger at the ranger station.  After that we waked through something that looked like Occupy Kilimanjaro. Past that we hiked another 100 feet vertical to our private camp area. Our crew greeted us with singing and dancing which we joined right in on.  

Camp was interesting. They had the three of us in two big tents (plenty of room).  Our night bags were already in our tents ready to go.  We also had our own private shower and bathroom.  They also setup a mess tent, which we use to eat and kill time (think playing cards).  Our two guides shared a small tent and the porters shared two larger tents (12 to a tent, wow!)

After getting familiar with how things work, we all cleaned up for dinner.  I took a shower which turned out to be more work then it was worth.  Dinner was awesome but, after not sleeping last night, I was beat.  As soon as dinner was over I headed back to the tent (about 15 feet) to crash.  I don't even remember closing my eyes, it was a solid night of sleep after a hard day or hiking.

Africa Day 2 - Tuesday September 24th

Africa Day 2 - Tuesday September 24th
Title: Preparing for Kili

We were woken up at 8:40 by the front desk asking what time we wanted breakfast. We decided we should get up and start the day. We quickly got ready and headed to the main lodge where a breakfast buffet awaited us. While eating breakfast we enjoyed some wi-fi which is a rarity in these parts.

At 11 PM, our main guide and the trip manager from Summit Africa came to visit us. The trip manager spent about an hour going over what we can expect from the experience, start to finish. He talked about safety, shared his personal experiences and made sure all of our questions were answered. After that we went with our guide to our room to ensure our kits were properly prepared.  We passed with flying colors.

After our time with the guides we headed up for lunch. After a quick lunch we hopped in the lodge's shuttle and headed to town. The trip to "town" took about 30 minutes. Our first stop was a rehabilitation center for people with disabilities called Sanga Shop.  Here they had multiple physically handicapped people making all sorts of handicrafts including blankets, bracelets, necklaces and, most impressive, blown glass. After shopping there we were driven to the heart of "town" which wasn't much.  Most of town was people sitting on the side of the road selling worn shoes and farm foods.  The bus system was very interesting.  The buses were just a bit bigger than VW vans and they had no less than 20 people in each one.  The buses kept coming and coming as well.  We saw over 40 in just a 10 minute span.

We walked in to a few stores but decided to head back to the hotel to rest. Earlier in the day we learned 3G is available almost all the way up Kilimanjaro. So, just before jumping in the van to leave, we decided to buy a cheap cell phone that would allow us to tether our devices to it. Cell wi-fi here is crazy expensive, $20 per meg!  For non techies, one picture from an iPhone can cost $60 to upload. Little did I know that this phone would be the bane of my next 24 hours (and the saga continues). As of now we still can't tether :(

Back at the lodge we ate dinner and headed back to the room for an early night.  We watched a few movies and tried to call it a night. Evan and Jamie did ok, I ended up pulling an all-nighter, not by choice.  I guess I got such a great night of sleep the night before, I just couldn't sleep.  Or perhaps it was the Kevin Spacey movie Evan had us watch which pretty much freaked me out. Overall it was a pretty lazy day.  Tomorrow starts the big day!

Link to Pictures

I uploaded some of the highlights from the first three days:

https://plus.google.com/photos/113169248147362226921/albums/5927072304312668961

Tanzania At Last

We started this journey Friday morning at 9 am.  It's 10:00 pm, Monday night (we are 7 hours ahead of the East coast) and we are finally here. We are in Tanzania, just a few miles from Kilimanjaro, at the Lake Duluti Lodge. The flight to Dubai was amazing. Personally, I only got about 20 mins of sleep (feel asleep watching the Internship).  I spent 90% of my time at the inflight lounge. With such an amazing feature how could I not?  I met some pretty cool folks as well.  Evan woke up after a quick 4 hour nap and joined me in the lounge for the remainder of the flight. We weren't quite sure how Jamie was doing, we didn't want to risk the walk down to level 1.  Just Kidding ;). With the in-flight phone I was able to call him but despite our best efforts we couldn't sneak him upstairs. 

Speaking of in-flight phones, the plane had a ton of great features including, 3 outside cameras viewable from our screen, SMS and email satellite messaging, low-speed Internet, 100s of movies and TV shows and a lot more. Our pod had an iPad looking device that was used to control everything.  It changed the TV, controlled the lights, the bed, etc etc,,, very cool.

After landing in Dubai we headed straight for the Emirates club.  WOW, what an amazing airport. Dubai airport is like the Ritz Carlton of airports.  Very impressive. On our way to the club we were distracted by a spa in the airport. Not just a spa but a marble floor & water fountain, over the top nice, spa.  We set appointments and headed to the club to check out the showers.  We found the door to the men's shower which was less than impressive. We were pleasantly surprised to walk in to an enormous spa type environment where we were quickly shown to our own private bath/shower suites. Very nice!

The 90 minute massage was awesome.  The spa rooms were as nice as I'd ever seen, complete with spa music, heated massage table, shower, etc.  After the message our 3 hour layover was coming to an end. We headed to the gate and boarded our plane for Nairobi.  

Nairobi's airport is a far cry from Dubai's. Their main terminal had just burnt down so we were put in some hot, noisy lockdown for 3 hours. After that exciting adventure we boarded our puddle jumper for Tanzania. 

We landed in Tanzania just 1 hour after takeoff.  On arrival we were able to see glimpses of Kilimanjaro but it was getting dark and it was cloudy so we couldn't see much. We cleared customs, grabbed our bags, found our driver and started the 45 minute drive to the lodge.  Our room is amazing albeit small.  The bathroom is just as large as the main living area. Everything is very modern and, more importantly, very clean.

As I'm typing this we are finishing up dinner. It's nice to have something other than plane food. Tomorrow is a day off.  We will spend tomorrow resting and checking out the town.  Wednesday morning starts the big hike.  Stay tuned...

Oh, as for pictures, we don't have wi-fi in the room so tomorrow I will try to make the time to bring the laptop up to the main lodge and upload a few.  Good night!

Africa - T-20 hours till SRQ Departure

For those of you new to the blog, be sure to scroll down to yesterday's blog so you can see the itinerary.  Remember, you can always track us by clicking the satellite icon below:

Just a quick update on the foot; today I bought a "TENS" device.  It's an electrical nerve stimulator that has been sending shock waves through my foot.  I'm not sure if it's working, the dull pain is still there.  No matter what, I plan on getting to the top of Kilimanjaro.

I was reminded today of a funny SNL skit about Africa, check it out:

Preparing for Africa

Here I am --- Tuesday night, September 17th, preparing for a trip I'll not soon forget.  Evan, Jamie and I are preparing to leave Saturday AM for a 16 day adventure to Africa.  After 18 months of talking about it, we are finally going to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro.  5,300 feet to 19,300 feet - 5 days up, 2 down.

I'm not sure what sort of Internet access I'll have so I'm going to call Katie on a regular basis.  Hopefully she do the blog updates.  I have 5 spare batteries for my Sat phone so hopefully it will last the entire time.  I'll most likely not be able to send pictures until our return (at least until we're off the mountain).  Anyone wishing to track our progress can do HERE:

Itinerary:

Saturday 21: Depart for JFK
Sunday 22: Depart for Tanzania
Monday 23: Arrive Tanzania
Tuesday 24: Rest
Wednesday 25: Start the hike - Machame Route - http://www.ultimatekilimanjaro.com/machame_route.htm
Thursday 26: Keep hiking up
Friday 27: Keep going up
Saturday 28: Keep going up
Sunday 29: Keep going up (give a pep talk to Evan and Jamie, they will be exhausted)
Monday 30: Summit - (Evan's Birthday!!!) - start back down
Tuesday 1: Reach Base Camp
Wednesday 2: Safari
Thursday 3: Safari
Friday 4: Safari
Saturday 5: Leave Safari - Late night flight to Dubai
Sunday 6: Arrive Dubai
Monday 7: Depart Dubai for JFK then SRQ

Please say a prayer for us!

--Jesse Biter