There are a couple of details I haven't been thinking about that I finally attended to last week. First, I paid my first visit to a travel health office. This is like a one-stop-shop for vaccinations and other travel-related medical needs. I am fortunate not to have any medical issues or allergies to contend with so the questionnaires were pretty painless. I ended up with 4 shots that covered a variety of ailments such as Yellow Fever, Hepatitis, rabies and others. I also received a prescription for anti-malaria pills. This seemed like the most serious medication of all, complete with rumours of bizarre side effects that my travel nurse assured me I would not succumb to.
4 needles and two prescriptions later I'm all set. There were no side effects from the shots other than a bit of a sore arm on the first day.
The other thing to get done was my Visa. I hadn't worried too much about it before now as I was told you can get one upon entry to Tanzania. I had just about decided on that path but I called the Tanzania High Commission in Ottawa to get some advice. The lady who answered the phone was friendly and practical. She reiterated that I could get the Visa upon arrival but that I still had plenty of time to apply in advance. She insisted that either way was fine but naturally an advance application is safer. Best to find out about unforeseen complications before I get on the plane.
So my application is now in Ottawa along with $75.00. I should see it back in a week or so.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Research
The Internet is a Godsend for anyone thinking of climbing Kili. There are so many great links to both professional sites and amature blogs like this one. One of my early inspirations was a book my ex-wife gave me. The author has since become something of an uber-expert on Kilimanjaro and has created a website, based largely on excerpts from his book. This is a great example of a useful resource, complete with suggested clothing lists, precautions to take and help with little details such as how much you should tip the porters. You can find it at http://www.climbmountkilimanjaro.com/on-the-mountain/index.html
Sunday, July 5, 2009
More Gear...
I had an invitation to go on a quick kayaking and camping trip this weekend. I took it as an excuse to get back to the store and get more gear. Yesterday I bought my sleeping bag. As I mentioned earlier it was a bit of a challenge because the climb will take me through such a range of temperatures.
There are several issues to consider; Down or synthetic fill, barrel or mummy design, and more. What made it even harder was the fact that I may never camp in sub-zero weather after this. I don't want a bag that's too hot for everyday use if I can avoid it.
I ended up going with an all 'round bag using a barrel design and down fill. The barrel design isn't as warm but I think I'll get the jimmy legs with a mummy bag. I need some space to move. So I compensated with down fill which is warm and incredibly light. The only problem with down is you have to keep it dry. I told the lady helping me that we're almost guaranteed to get rained on. I already plan on buying a waterproof shell for my pack but just to be safe she showed me a waterproof compression bag for my sleeping bag. This serves to compress the sleeping bag to it's smallest possible size and keep it dry at the same time.
I also bought a compressible sleeping mat often referred to as a "Thermarest" (apparently the leading brand). The one I bought was Mountain Equipment Co-op, the house brand for the store of the same name I referred to earlier. Most of my gear is turning out to be this brand. I have to say that it doesn't seem to provide much cushioning. Which takes me to the camping trip...
So we kayaked out to this little island in Indian Arm. I had heard for years that you could paddle out and camp there and I looked forward to enjoying a more isolated experience than "car camping" would afford. Wrong. We arrived to find a troop of boy scouts had taken over the main camping area. Fortunately on further inspection we found some other less groomed spots on the far end of the island. It meant we had to hump all of our gear across the island from where we pulled our kayaks up but at least we had some privacy.
The little trip was fun but I have to say the sleeping mat wasn't much help. The spot we chose had a great view but was riddled with rocks and roots. So lesson learned: Sleeping mats will make a perfectly flat spot more comfortable but won't do much if your spot is lumpy to begin with. As for the sleeping bag, it was a little warm but then again it was quite a warm night. I'm confident it will be a good fit for Kili.
There are several issues to consider; Down or synthetic fill, barrel or mummy design, and more. What made it even harder was the fact that I may never camp in sub-zero weather after this. I don't want a bag that's too hot for everyday use if I can avoid it.
I ended up going with an all 'round bag using a barrel design and down fill. The barrel design isn't as warm but I think I'll get the jimmy legs with a mummy bag. I need some space to move. So I compensated with down fill which is warm and incredibly light. The only problem with down is you have to keep it dry. I told the lady helping me that we're almost guaranteed to get rained on. I already plan on buying a waterproof shell for my pack but just to be safe she showed me a waterproof compression bag for my sleeping bag. This serves to compress the sleeping bag to it's smallest possible size and keep it dry at the same time.
I also bought a compressible sleeping mat often referred to as a "Thermarest" (apparently the leading brand). The one I bought was Mountain Equipment Co-op, the house brand for the store of the same name I referred to earlier. Most of my gear is turning out to be this brand. I have to say that it doesn't seem to provide much cushioning. Which takes me to the camping trip...
So we kayaked out to this little island in Indian Arm. I had heard for years that you could paddle out and camp there and I looked forward to enjoying a more isolated experience than "car camping" would afford. Wrong. We arrived to find a troop of boy scouts had taken over the main camping area. Fortunately on further inspection we found some other less groomed spots on the far end of the island. It meant we had to hump all of our gear across the island from where we pulled our kayaks up but at least we had some privacy.
The little trip was fun but I have to say the sleeping mat wasn't much help. The spot we chose had a great view but was riddled with rocks and roots. So lesson learned: Sleeping mats will make a perfectly flat spot more comfortable but won't do much if your spot is lumpy to begin with. As for the sleeping bag, it was a little warm but then again it was quite a warm night. I'm confident it will be a good fit for Kili.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Gearing Up
I'm about to leave on yet another trip to Mountain Equipment Co-op to look at more gear. Gear is one of the big challenges of this trip. There are tough choices. For instance, what sleeping bag do you buy for a trek that takes you from 30 degrees Celsius at the start to potentially -20 at highest camp? Or how do you buy a duffel or backpack big enough to store gear for any weather condition but still be no more than 15KG full? Last time I was there I found a cool bag that looks like a duffel but also has a flap that unzips to expose shoulder straps so you can carry it as a backpack. Plus, it has a daypack that zips on the back of it. This is perfect because while I am responsible for carrying my daypack, the porters carry the bigger pack for me. So I can travel with the two attached but separate them for the trek. Oddly, I'm told the porters don't care about the backpack straps. They just carry it on their heads.
Other misc. things to buy include a headlamp (the final push to the summit is at night), gators (had to learn what those were) and synthetic underwear (no comment).
Other misc. things to buy include a headlamp (the final push to the summit is at night), gators (had to learn what those were) and synthetic underwear (no comment).
Booking the Trip
This is not so real-time as I actually booked the trip several months ago but I thought I'd mention a few things about it.
The big decision is who to book with. It seems there are innumerable adventure tour companies offering Kilimanjaro trips. I noticed some people actually just booked their trip to Tanzania and then signed with a guide at the last minute. No way I was doing that. There are two adventure travel companies that heavily promote themselves here in Vancouver, Trek and Gap. Both of them hold regular travel shows where you can watch slide shows, etc.. I went to one by Trek on Africa and to my surprise there was a sea of grey hair in the audience. Aside from the fact that I'm turning grey at 44, I found this alarming. I soon figured out that most of them were interested in luxury safaris.
I ended up booking with GAP for no reason other than I happened to drop in one day and got a very friendly rep who had lots of time to spend with me. I have since noticed so many more around North America including some really impressive looking ones such as Tusker Trail (check out www.tusker.com - they have a very cool video).
I am flying Air Canada from Vancouver to London and then Kenya Air from London to Nairobi, Kenya and on to Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania. Booking the flights was a bit different than booking a standard business or personal trip. They had to wait for days to confirm availability and pricing, mostly because the flights and various tours I was taking all had to be coordinated and that can't be done on the spot. So you let them know what you want and wait for them to confirm.
I won't comment on the cost of the trip other than to say it is expensive. I justified it partly because I knew I was going to receive a 10-year bonus from my company which took a big chunk out of the cost. Also, it is clearly possible to do this trip for less than what I paid. In addition to Kilimanjaro I have a week on "safari" and a week in Zanzibar, both of which are going to be in relative style. (Picture enjoying a gin and tonic at sunset on the Serengeti while you're watching a pride of lions)
One other point: I never figured myself as being a stickler for detail but I was a little uncomfortable at first with the number of details that aren't nailed down before you leave. You just have to wing it when you get there. I'm ok with it now but if you're used to business travel where you have control over every detail, this took some getting used to.
The big decision is who to book with. It seems there are innumerable adventure tour companies offering Kilimanjaro trips. I noticed some people actually just booked their trip to Tanzania and then signed with a guide at the last minute. No way I was doing that. There are two adventure travel companies that heavily promote themselves here in Vancouver, Trek and Gap. Both of them hold regular travel shows where you can watch slide shows, etc.. I went to one by Trek on Africa and to my surprise there was a sea of grey hair in the audience. Aside from the fact that I'm turning grey at 44, I found this alarming. I soon figured out that most of them were interested in luxury safaris.
I ended up booking with GAP for no reason other than I happened to drop in one day and got a very friendly rep who had lots of time to spend with me. I have since noticed so many more around North America including some really impressive looking ones such as Tusker Trail (check out www.tusker.com - they have a very cool video).
I am flying Air Canada from Vancouver to London and then Kenya Air from London to Nairobi, Kenya and on to Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania. Booking the flights was a bit different than booking a standard business or personal trip. They had to wait for days to confirm availability and pricing, mostly because the flights and various tours I was taking all had to be coordinated and that can't be done on the spot. So you let them know what you want and wait for them to confirm.
I won't comment on the cost of the trip other than to say it is expensive. I justified it partly because I knew I was going to receive a 10-year bonus from my company which took a big chunk out of the cost. Also, it is clearly possible to do this trip for less than what I paid. In addition to Kilimanjaro I have a week on "safari" and a week in Zanzibar, both of which are going to be in relative style. (Picture enjoying a gin and tonic at sunset on the Serengeti while you're watching a pride of lions)
One other point: I never figured myself as being a stickler for detail but I was a little uncomfortable at first with the number of details that aren't nailed down before you leave. You just have to wing it when you get there. I'm ok with it now but if you're used to business travel where you have control over every detail, this took some getting used to.
Introductions
Greetings. My name is Doug and on August 6, 2009 I leave Vancouver, Canada on a 3-week trip to Tanzania. I will be spending a week on safari and a week in Zanzibar but this blog is primarily focused on my attempt to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro.
I've been thinking about making this trip for over 5 years but it was 2008 before I started my research and planning. During my research I was pleasantly surprised to find a ton of blogs published by others who had gone before me. Many of these have been very helpful. With this in mind I've decided to make my own contribution in hopes that my experience might be of some use to others who are considering making the trip. I welcome your questions, comments or pre-trip suggestions. In addition to being potentially useful they will let me know that someone has read and possibly appreciated the effort. At the very least I'll have provided updates to those friends and relatives who are interested in what I'm up to.
A little background...
Many of you have already suffered through my thoughts on why I'm doing this, ruining what would have otherwise been a very enjoyable beer. So suffice it to say that I've always wanted to visit Africa and Kili seemed like a cool way to experience it. I will spend my share of time staying in lodges and being shuttled around to view wildlife but the Kili experience will be particularly real. This was always important to me but in 2006 my marriage of 21 years ended. Now the Kili trip is somehow even more important to me.
How important is it to summit?
As I mentioned, I started out just looking for a more interesting way to see Africa. But over the course of my planning I have come to realize that Kili is a much bigger challenge than it was portrayed to be in the books and films hat first inspired me to do it. My research uncovered stories of triumph, surprise, disappointment and even death. Yeah, death. Turns out that the ascent of Kili gains far more altitude per day than the normal benchmark that climbers would use for say, Everest. This is because Kili is considered a non-technical climb. That is to say, no special skills are required, you pretty much just trek straight up, so any dumb-ass can attempt to climb it. (That's where I come in.) For this reason, the true challenge of Kili seems to be how you adjust to the altitude gain. For some it's an apparent walk-in-the-park and for others it can mean hitting a wall and turning back. For a foolish or unlucky few it has meant injury and occasionally death by pulmonary or cerebral edema. For anyone interested you can find a primer on this at ww.indigoguide.com/kilimanjaro/edema.htm
While I'm not too worried about dying, Kili has somehow evolved into some kind of symbolic challenge to be overcome. What started as a different angle on Africa has now become something much more. The books all say, remarkably, that physical fitness has relatively little to do with whether you summit. It's more about willpower and your ability to adjust to altitude.
So, is it important for me to summit? Of course it is. But it's not about impressing anyone or even proving something to myself. It's about exploring my limits, challenging my assumptions about myself and setting a new benchmark for phase II of my life.
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