"Gonna travel, gonna travel wild and free.
I'm gonna pack my bags,
because this great big world is calling me."
Elvis Presley, Harem Holiday
On Sunday January 13, 2002 I flew to Amsterdam, to meet up with an acquaintance of mine, Frank Carone. We had met on a work-related training course in Montreal a year before. At that time, I told him I was going to the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and he immediately signed up to do the trip with me!
We spent three days in Amsterdam before flying onwards to our true destination of East Africa, so this story actually starts here.....
***Please note the image quality is limited as these pictures were not digitally captured but rather are prints that have been scanned.***
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| Frank and I enjoying a beer and a draw at the Greenhouse Effect Coffeehouse in Amsterdam! This place is the starting place for our adventure. Three and a half months later I would return here for the end of my trip. |
We flew from Amsterdam to Niarobi, Kenya where we hopped on a mini-bus and crossed the border into......
United Republic of Tanzania
Tanzania is East Africa's largest country and is also one of the most diverse; providing a home for more than 100 different ethnic groups, as well as some of the largest wildlife herds on the continent. It is also home to some of Africa's most spectacular topography, including the Great Rift Valley, Ngorongoro Crater, Mt. Kilimanjaro and the vast Serengeti plains.
After getting straighten away in the town of Arusha, we head for the base of....
Mount Kilimanjaro
At 5896 metres, snowcapped Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa however, the climb starts out in dense jungle under hot and humid conditions. Along the way we go through 4 different zones, including in-your-face, jet-stream, -25C windblasted-mountain terrain. Clothes for four seasons are needed, plus food for five days (i.e. sleeping gear, etc). We will need one porter per person to bring our personal gear, one porter to bring food for all of us, a cook and legally required guide.
We stay in three huts along the way, and trek for about 5 hours each day climbing an altitude of approximately a 1000 metres per day. Although this doesn't seem to difficult, keep in mind, that at 5896 metres, Kili is considered a world "biggie". Altitude is your main enemy, at 2500mts the first symtoms of Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS) begins and at 4500mts it can be deadly. Although this is a trekking mountain it is not to be taken lightly, for instance; just a week before we climbed it, a trekker had died from the altitude and even while we were trekking, 10 people had to be physically brought down because of suffering from AMS. Of the 50 climbers that started for the summit at the same time we did (12 midnight), by 9:30AM, only 16 trekkers made it to the top. With oxygen levels at only 50%, your body has to work twice as hard to get the same oxygen that it requires, add to that the fact that you're going uphill and it becomes a real struggle.
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| A view of our route. |
Day 1: Trek 8kms to the Mandara Hut at 2700mts.
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| Starting out at the park headquarters and the obligatory picture. |
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| My porter and Frank climbing up the forested slopes of Kili. |
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| Stopping for a mandatory picture (or more like the mandatory breather)!! |
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| We have a full days trek to the Kibo Hut 12 kilometres away! |
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| The 'Saddle', a plain of desert that stretches 5 kilometres at the base of the two peaks. The good thing about the saddle is that it is flat, the bad thing; is that you constantly see your destination but you don't seem to be getting any closer! |
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| Trekking the Saddle. |
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| Our guide, Ibraham and moi. |
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| The clouds move in on Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Tonight, after hopefully 3 or 4 hours sleep, I will attempt to climb her. To go higher than I've ever gone before.....but first I must make it to the Kibo Hut. |
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| Do I look tired? That's because I am, and I'm out of breath! |
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| Resting up in the Kibo Hut while we wait for supper. Most people lose their appetite at higher levels, not me. I was starved and couldn't wait for our meal of boiled eggs with bread and peanut butter...yummy!! |
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| While we were at the Kibo Hut we go for a short climb to help acclimatize. If you look closely you can see the Kibo Hut a wee bit down the hill. |
DAY 4: Trek 5.4 kms for a total of 1200 metres to the peak.
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| Tada!!! |
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| During our 5 days on Kili we trekked with Johnny, from Scotland, a fair amount of time. When our guide got AMS at Gilman's Point, we tagged up with Johnny and his guide to finish the trek. It's bloody cold here (Johnny's guide said it was average -25C this time of year. It was sooo cold I put socks on my hands to help keep them warm! |
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| Sunrise starting on Kili and we get a glimpse of her glaciers for the first time. The clouds in the background are actually below the glacier (just perspective making it look otherwise). |
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| There's three or four glaciers on top but they are receding at a rapid pace. We are told that this one is about 250 feet thick. |
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| Climbing up a portion of the crater! |
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| Cresting the Kili crater and starting our descent down the way we had come. Notice the two large glaciers ahead of us, on the way up in the dark, we walked right by these but did not notice them. |
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| Frank descending into the crater. It's a very long way down, so no slipping on the snow! |
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| Part way down the crater. |
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| Up close and personal with a glacier. When we started up at midnight, the last thing we thought about was sunblock, now that he sun was out however, we started to fry. |
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| This picture was taken at Gilmon's Point (5685mts) where many trekkers stop (including our guide). We have about 1000 metres down to the Kibo Hut. Notice the trekkers still trying to climb up!! |
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| Kili's second highest peak which is about even with us now, meaning we still have 600 metres down before we even hit Kibo Hut. |
After completing Mt. Kilimanjaro we head for........
Lake Manyara National Park
The 330 sq. km. park is an excellent place to see hippos, giraffes, tree-climbing lions and elephants. It is situated between the Rift Valley and the alkaline Lake Manyara, which at certain times of the year hosts thousands of flamingo birds. During the rainy season the lake swells to include about 2/3's of the park's total area.
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| After Kili, we were ready for something a little more relaxing and decided that the best thing was to take a safari to Lake Manyara National Park. |
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| The road leading into the park was often blocked by herdsman with their livestock.... |
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| .....many animals blocked our road to the park, and in most cases, we would just drive slowly through them and the animals would scatter. Not this fella!! He knew he was bigger then us and wasn't prepared to give up the road until he was ready! |
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| Now he's ready! |
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| Next to cattle, baboon's were definitely the most frequently seen animal in Tanzania. The little buggers were everywhere: in the countryside, in the towns and even in the cities. |
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| They are obviously very prolific breeders and survivors. |
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| Jerome the Giraffe..... |
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| ....and nine of Jerome's buddies! |
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| A family of warthogs just kinda hanging out! |
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| A family of elephants coming towards us.....time to move! |
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| King. |
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| The boys! |
Later that night at our restaurant, we were given a show......
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| After the safari of Lake Manyara, we stayed at a hotel where some local performers came to flaunt their stuff. |
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| What I found amazing about this was the fact that they did all of their aerobatics in bare feet, on a concrete floor....ouch that must hurt. |
The next day we head for.......
Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa's best-known wildlife viewing areas and one of Tanzania's most visited areas. At 20km wide, it's also one of the world's largest calderas. Within it's sunken walls are the largest concentration of animals in the world. You are likely to see elephant, lion, rhino, hippo, buffalo and many other plains herbivores, such as wildebeest, Thompson's gazelle, zebra and reedbuck, as well as thousands of flamingo's wading in the shallows of Lake Magadi, the soda lake at the crater's base.
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| The Ngorongoro Crater as seen from space. |
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| Looking down into the caldera from atop the cliff walls. |
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| A view of the very shallow Lake Magadi. |
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| Zebra's on the move. |
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| Where's Mom? Without her, this little zebra will be lunch for a lion. |
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| Hippopotamus's are extremely dangerous on land and kill more people each year then any other animal, usually when someone inadvertently blocks the animal's retreat to the water. They can weigh in at over 2000kg. |
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| Hippopotamus are found close to fresh water, spending most of the day submerged and emerging at night to graze on the land. They can consume about 40kg of vegetable matter each evening. They live in large herds, tolerating close contact in the water, but forage alone when on land. There's about 26 of them in this little patch of water. |
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| The Spotted Hyena is widely reviled as a cowardly scavenger, but in reality they are highly efficient predators. Weighing 80kg, they can reach speeds of 60km and they hunt in packs. Although appearing like a canine, they are actually closer related to cats than to dogs. |
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| We came upon these two male lions sleeping on the road. They didn't budge even when we drove up next to them. Obviously we were not the first safari jeep to come upon these lions!! |
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| Lions spend much of the night hunting and almost all of the day sleeping. They may live in prides of up to 30 animals except for young males. They are ousted from the pride at 2 or 3 years old, entering into a period of nomadism ending around 5 years old, when they are able to take a pride of their own. Although lions will hunt practically anything (including humans), wildebeest, zebras and buffalos are the mainstay. The average male can weigh up to 240kg. |
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| When one of the lions eventually did move, he walked so close to our jeep, that I could've reached out and touched him....except of course that would mean possible death!! |
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| The Blue Wildebeest is very gregarious, sometime forming herds in the tens of thousands strong, often in association with zebras. Up to 1.5 million of them graze on the plains of the Serengeti and the Masai Mara. |
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| We parked here and the herd continued to feed all around us as if we were not even there. The highlight came for us when one of the zebra's gave birth. |
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| Thousands of flamingo's occupy Lake Magadi. One could say the lake was magadi with flamingo's!!! |
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| Taking a rest under a tree with a couple of reminders that one shouldn't be out of the jeep for too long! |
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| Taking the only road out of the Ngorongoro Crater. |
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| The drive was like a roller-coaster (except all up) as we climbed the 600 metres to the top. |
Later that day back in Arusha....
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| Frank standing outside our hotel in Arusha, the Meru House Inn. We stayed in this hotel for 4 nights and managed to get 3 of them included in the Mt. Kilimanjaro trek and Ngorongoro Crater safari's cost!! |
Well that's all of Tanzania for now, in the next posting of this trip we return to Kenya....
Cheers...
DIARY ENTRY: Sunday, January 13, 2002 9:22PM: What is it with me and airplanes??? The flight from London to Amsterdam was delayed by 2 1/2 hours. I arrived in Amsterdam and it was dark. I took the train into Central Station, wandered around until I found my hotel - The Greenhouse Effect. Met up with Frank and he was taking a nap, so I did as well. The hotel is pretty basic for the amount of money we're paying for it, but as Frank said this is pretty well normal prices.
Amsterdam was cold when we got up from our nap at around 9:00PM and grabbed some supper (Lebanese food) and spent the rest of the time wandering around and getting stone in the coffeshops! We were both suffering from jet lag, so we were back in bed by 12:30. There's a church real close to our hotel and it tolled it's bells every 15 minutes .....al night long.
Today was a beautiful sunny day but very cold. Probably not cold enough to freeze but there was a high wind. Actually got on the go around 10:00AM. Went for breakfast in the bar downstairs, it's included in the price, it should be.....this place is expensive. We went to the Anne Frank Museum today. It was very interesting albeit a sad story. We also did a riverboat tour for $9 Cdn. This was also interesting, but I like the walking better. Of course, we did stop in the ocassional coffeshop to warm up!!
DIARY ENTRY: Monday, January 14, 2002 9:56PM: Believe it or not, I'm in bed and it's onluy 10:00PM....must be getting old.
Today we went to the Van Gogh Museum. It was interesting but when you see one million dollar painting, you seen them all. After that we went to the Heinekien Museum for some free beer tasting but it was closed.....major bummer. We ended the day off with a visit to the Sex Museum. Now this was indeed a very interesting place!
DAIRY ENTRY: Wednesday January 16, 2002 11:31PM: Spent all day yesterday (Jan 15/02) travelling. Flew to England and I had 11 hours to kill, so I went into London. I got off at Piccadily Circus which was a big mistake. I wasn't planned, so I basically wasted 5 - 6 hours aimlessly wandering around. I did manage to see Buckingham Palace and King James Park, but there was a lot I could have seen and missed out on. Next time.
The flight from London to Niarobi was uneventful. I arrived in Niarobi and grabbed a taxi into town. When I met up with Frank he had a travel agent with him. We arranged our tour of Kilimanjaro for $650.00US but we declined the tour of the Ngorongoro Crater ($300US) because we hope to get it for cheaper than this. Regardless; our ride to Arusha was arranged and we headed for Tanzania. Part of the tour package paid for two night in Arusha at the Meru House Inn.
While travelling on the mini-bus we met 3 girls from the USA. They were telling us about the year long, around-the-world bike tour they had done.
After we arrived at the hotel, I grabbed a shower: God did I ever feel dirty after two days of travelling. Meanwhile, Frank met a couple of Danish people and they invited us out to supper. We went and had pizza and the conversation centred on climbing Kili. they had done it and offered advice. Basically, they said it had rained the entire trip and it was very very hard.
Now I'm back at the hotel laying in bed. Frank and the Dutch people are having a beer> I have absolutely no money, a big mistake on my part. Thank God Frank was able to lend me some. I have to find an ATM tomorrow.
DIARY ENTRY: Friday January 18, 2002 3:10PM: Yesterday (Thursday 01/17/02) we rested up and did some planning on what we will do after our Kili hike. We're not sure if we'll go to Zanzibar or Lamu. Lamu appears to be cheaper but everyone you talk to say Zanzibar is absolutely beautiful. We met up with Nathan (??) from England and had tandori chicken for supper at an Indian restaurant, otherwise yesterday was a slow relaxing day.
Got up this morning and drove to the base of Kili. Started the climb up thru dense jungle, it was very hot and humid. We saw a couple of "blue" monkeys along the way. Although we only had hiked 7.9kms, we climbed 700 metres to 2700MASL. It was very hard going even though the trail is in perfect shape. We arrived at the huts at 3:00PM about 3 1/2 hours after we started. We went thru two temperate zones, the second was quite strange, being a cedar forest (but not). The Mandara Huts sleep about 80 people and consist of several buildings. Our hut sleeps four but fortunately, we're the only ones here. I expect that'll change because this is the high climbing season. Our guide, Ibraham, made tea, popcorn and hot roasted peanuts for a snack.
DIARY ENTRY: Saturday, January 19, 2002 1:59PM: Started out at about 8:30AM this morning and arrived at the Horombo Huts (3720MASL) at around 1:00PM. It was almost 12kms, but we made very good time. Most of the trip was in alpine type conditions but there was some very strange vegetation, especially the Giant Groundsel tree.
The Horombo Hut is very crowded because this is where the descenders meet the ascenders. I now stand at the highest point I've ever stood. Tomorrow we climb to 4700mts. So far the altitude has not been bothering me, but my breathing has been laboured on some of the steeper climbs. The Horombo Hut is completely shrouded in cloud mist most of the time, I guess we are at cloud level. I'm told it will get down to -10C tonight. I hope my sleeping bag is able to keep me warm, even though at the Mandara Huts it got down to 0C last night, it was quite comfortable in the bag.
DIARY ENTRY: Sunday, January 20, 2002 1:33PM: Well, just made it to the Kibo Hut at 4700mts. Although we climbed approximately a 1000 metres today, most of it was flat with just a gradual grade. My breathing is laboured but not as much as I expected. I had had stomach cramps earlier today but I think it was more to do with the food than the altitude. Actually, I'm not noticing the altitude nearly as much as some. The last couple hundred metres were brutal because we could see the hut but it was still a long way away. The landscapes gone from alpine to complete desert. The only wildlife now is a few little birds that seem to appear out of nowhere when the food is broken out!!
Last night at 12:30, when I got up to use the toilet, I saw two Bat-Ear Foxes. They had these enormous ears and were hanging out under the mess hall. This is also where the mice hang out, so I guess they were the foxes supper!!
We can see clearly the route up to the top and the glaciers. For such a long time the mountain seem so far away, now it's in our face. Straight up 1186 metres to the top and to get there, we will get up at 12 midnight for the final assault!! Dinner at 5 and then straight to bed!
DIARY ENTRY: Monday, January 21, 2002 6:50PM: I DID IT!!! I DID IT!! I DID IT!!
On Sunday night we got up around 11:00PM and we started the final leg of the journey up Mt. Kilimanjaro and we had nearly 1200 metres in total. Of course the higher we got the harder it got. Within minutes I was exhausted. It took us a couple of hours to go only 200 metres and we had nearly 1200 in total. We were moving at a snails pace. One foot forward and stop for three breaths, one foot forward and stop for three breaths, and so on and so on. The first part of the journey was straight up a steep scree slope (a total of 5.4kms) It was so steep, we had to criss-cross back and forth.
My breathing was very laboured as the air on the mountain is only 50% oxygen as compared to sea level. this was the hardest thing I had ever done. After four hours I was ready to call it quits. I was hardly able to breath, I had stomach cramps, I had stitches in my side, my brain was pounding and I swear I was hallucinating. To top it all off, the mountain was cold......man was it cold. The wind was howling and the windchill factor must have been wicked.
Just before Gilman's Point (5685mts) we got into rock scrambling. It was here that I was ready to call it quits. It was SO cold. My hands were freezing, my toes were freezing, my entire body hurt.....and I couldn't breath. Fortunately, Frank pushed me on and within minutes we made Gilman's Point. From there, it was actually downhill into the crater which was snow-covered with very steep cliffs on one side. Finally; we made Uhuru peak at about 6:20AM.
It was pitched black by the time we reached the summit and all I wanted to do was take a picture and get the hell down off it, but I realized that I did not put myself thru that torture just to get a picture. So we waited for 10 minutes until the sun came up and then took some more pictures and took in the scenery. It was absolutely unreal. There was a glacier right next to us at Uhuru Peak (5895mts) and we could see down into the crater.
Peaking is one thing, but getting back down is another. We had to backtrack the 5.4 kms we had hiked, passing other climbers in the process. We practically ran down the scree slope and fell into the Kibo Hut at 8:30AM. We were allowed to take a nap for about a hour and then got up and walked 12kms to the Horombo Hut. I was so tired by 12 midday, when we finally arrived at the hut. We had lunch and went to bed for about 3 - 4 hours.
DIARY ENTRY: Tuesday January 22, 2002 11:12PM: Woke up this morning at around 7:00AM and hit the trail at around 8:30. We basically retraced our steps back down the trail to the gate (20kms). We gave our guide, Ibraham, a $100US tip to be divided among himself and the porters, but true to form they complained that it wasn't enough (no surprise there).
The ride back to Arusha was pretty much uneventful except for the dead donkey and the overturned transport truck....but other than that, just uneventful.
Decided togo back to the Pizza Arusha for supper. Met a crowd (Uerica, Anita, and Tilman) who also went with us. They had just finished the Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, etc, so we were getting some good tips on our next adventure. Tomorrow I must check my e-mail, bus routes, book our next trip, etc...
DIARY ENTRY: Wednesday January 23, 2002 5:01PM: Today was a day to get things done. We booked our 2 day trip to the Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. I checked my emails, etc
It's raining here now and I mean raining!! Thunder and lightning and downpour big time. That is not good because it did tthe same thing for most of last night. If it continues, our planned trip is somewhat ruin.
DIARY ENTRY: Friday January 25, 2002 7:24PM: Well we just arrived back to the Meru House Inn after two days on the road.
The first day (Thursday Jan 24/02) we left here at about 9:00AM and drove to our guest house in the town just before Lake Manyara. After lunch we headed for Lake Manyara National Park. The wildlife here is plentiful. Saw all kinds including: lion, African elephant, zebra, warthog, giraffe, steenbok, impala, gazelles, African buffalo and mongoose!! The tour lasted about 5 hours. We got real close to a lion although we couldn't seem to wake him from his slumber.
I made a small purchase of African Ganji, although I haven't smoked any yet. After supper there were a few young lads dressed in original African garb that put off some singing, dancing and aerobatics. They seem quite talented, espcially in the aerobatics. There was only our table (Frank and I) and a couple from Holland and a table of Brits.
Today we got up at 6:00AM and started for the Ngorongoro Crater. The drive to the crater took about 2 hours over a road that would be impossible without a 4X4. The ride was worth it however as the crater was awesome. At about 20km wide, the crater is 2200 metr4es above sea level.
We descended into the calderas which included grassland, swamps, salt pans and a freshwater lake. Again we saw all kinds of wildlife, including those not previously mentioned: ostrich, blue monkeys, hyena, cheetah, jackals, hippos and the eland (Africa's largest antelope). Again the tour lasted about 5 hours but what's remarkable here is the actual crater itself. Awesome to see the cliffs completely surrounding us on all sides and they tower above us (about 600 - 700 metres). Unfortunately this is a real tourist area, so there were a lot of safari jeeps in the crater. We came across two male lions laying down in the road and we were able to pull right up along side of them. They were so close we could've reached out and touched them.
The ascent out of the crater was great as well. I stood up thru the opened roof of the jeep as we climber the 600 metres up the sides of the cliffs. Many switchbacks and hairpen turns that made the ride totally awesome.
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