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Trail mix, not trial!
Doh!!!
K9
Who's keeping your seat on the BENCH warm?
Hello Big dave!!
I'll be keeping a reserved slot on the bench as I'm never uninjured for long.
Happily my meniscus problem seems to be currently behind me although I'm only running up to an hour or so, and not very fast at that!
How are you?
we went up Kili in 1998 - and want to do it again.
ST has said perhaps everything about what you need to know on the kit/climb front. It's a shame you're not cimbing Mt Meru to acclimatise for Kili as we did as that is a fab climb (and 6th highest in Africa) through a national park with loads of animals you don't see on Kili (elephants, giraffe, buffalo, lions etc) - Kili is barren in comparison.
I do hope however you get better weather than we had - within 45 mins of starting the Kili climb it started raining and hardly eased up for the 6 days we were on the mountain! It wasn't a climb - it was a battle to keep going without getting trench foot. Everything got wet and a couple of our party ended up sleeping inside survival bags (make sure you have them!) as their sleeping bags got so wet. But saying that - we got 19 of 21 of the party on top - 2 were just never going to make it (unfit, mentally not up to it etc) which was no mean feat.
that's the reason we want to do it again - to do it in decent dry weather where we can see something from the top!! it was -15C and fogbound when we got to Uhuru Peak.........
we'd go from the Northern side next time - it's reputed to be quieter
have fun - fingers crossed for good weather for you!!
PS - we also scree ran down - great fun!! dropped a 1000m in 20 mins......
fb, what time of year did you do your climb? We went in January, so their summer, which might be why we got really good weather - apart from the tropical rain for a couple of hours on the first two days, it was dry the whole time.
If you go up again, you will notice how much the glacier has shrunk even in the 10 years since you did it. Very sad.
yeh - I've heard about the glacier shrink so won't be that surprised I guess
I'm going in January
I feel utterly lousy still after my vaccines on Saturday...6 diseases in one go.
K9
I feel a bit low at the moment (I hope it is just seasonal & not symptomatic of something)
I am suitably envious of your little jaunt - enjoy!
the head porter will collect any money given to the porter's team - and this is expected - but I wondered how much actually got to the skiiny little guys, the kids and juniors who make up a lot of the team......they're usually part of the head porter's extended family so I guess they are catered for in their own way...
but old t-shirts/jackets/any good outer wear - anything basically that you would give to charity in the UK - is good to hand out although it's not easy carrying this so think about wearing stuff that you'd happily give away at the end of the climb and replace when you get home....(it also means you have more luggage allowance for stuff you'll buy to bring home!!)
Tanzania is still a poor country blessed with fabulous natural wealth and gifts are welcome
The porters etc are quite happy to take filthy, smelly gear that you have been wearing on the mountain
The guides were fascinated by what we told them of our lives here in Britain, and also by our mobile phones/cameras/iPods etc. They wanted to see how they worked, take a photo, listen to the music. But you know, there was no sense that they envied us or wanted to have these gadgets for themselves. They see themselves as being lucky to have that magnificent mountain on their doorstep and the opportunity to make a living through it.
It really is a very humbling and thought-provoking experience, apart from the adrenalin rush. Amazing.
A lot of the tour companies now are investing in local projects too - that's one of the reasons we went with Adventure Alternative, because they employ local people on at least minimum wage (so they are all paid regardless of the tips) and they have set up educational projects in the area. It's a small way of giving something back to an area that has made the tour companies very successful.
Many great comments made already.
Would also suggest a trip to your Dr to ask about a supply of Diamox - taken prophylactically for altitude sickness.
I did Machame route with a twist - took a direct ascent via Arrow Glacier for the final push up, and the head torch was worth its weight in gold at that point.
Re the toilet paper - yes take some, however don't forget, it doesn't magically get flushed away up there, so use it sparingly to save adding to the litter!
Enjoy
re: Diamox - this is a very contentious area and there are many who swear by it and others that diss it big time. My personal view is to take it with you but do NOT use it unless you really are having a big problem with altitude. It doesn't work for everyone and I believe that taking it prohylactically is not the right approach as many people do not need it. I've been to 6000m a couple of times but never used Diamox even though I had the pills with me as I didn't have too many problems with the altitude - headache, yes, but nothing severe. Diamox can also have some side effects - some tingling in the fingers is one - so it needs to be used cautiously as it is actually a diuretic which is not exactly going to help when you are already dehydrated due to altitude!!
FB
You're right, the fluids need to kept up even more than normal with diamox. Only trouble with taking it reactively is you may not be able to keep them down if you leave it too late.
At that height, as long as yo take your time to aclimatise it shouldn't (hopefully) be neccessary, however most Kili trips move at a schedule rather than the pace of the slowest to aclimatise, which in purists terms is not exactly medically ideal.
RE Arrow glacier - The realities of global warming mean that you can actually do quite a steep ascent up the side of the ice with very little need to actually touch the stuff as you head for the gap in the crater wall. Still not a walk in the park as such, but not as "He Man" as it might sound!
We were going to do the Western Breach summit, but three weeks before we were due to fly out, there was a rockfall and five guides/porters and three American climbers were killed (the press only reported the three climbers, go figure), so the Park Authorities closed the Western Breach indefinitely, which we were really disappointed about as it was a bit more difficult and challenging.
((Big Dave)) - why are you low? sending you cheering vibes.
DOT - had thought about diamox and carrying some emergency dexamethasone...relatively easy for me to get hold off as i work in the NHS. Probably would reserve it though for if I had problems as FB suggests. It's not
What sort of cash did you take with you. Not keen on taking too much cash but will clearly need some for the porters etc. Do they like $$$ or are £££ just as good?
Not been to Africa so I can't add anything specific to what's already been said.
I did, however, go to Nepal a few years ago and met up with some people who had been up Kilimanjaro. One trick they'd learned, which seemed to go down well, was to take with them all manner of carp from the inside of Christmas crackers and the like as gifts for the local kids - certainly the Nepalese kids seemed to appreciate all the little plastic cars and puzzles. Possibly worth thinking about if you're not going until January.
Again, I don't know what the system is in Africa but our porters were happy enough to have whatever we gave them (we tipped them in the local currency) and bought them a drink whenever we had the chance. US Dollars seemd to be the currency of choice in Kathmandu though (except for the kids at the airport, who were happy to collect pound coins then offer 5 or 10 of them back in exchangfe for a banknote).
Have a great trip.
Take dollars, K9. Which is good for us at the moment, so result!!
Our tour company asked us to give the tips to the head guide to share out at the end of the trip, when we came back down the mountain. Sometimes you get a dance/display from the porters/cooks/guides when the tips are divvied out, which is fun.
There isn't really any opportunity to buy them a drink, as you are on the mountain with them rather than in town, and there is nowhere to buy anything until you come down on the last day, when you get your certificates presented to you.There's a little shop you can buy soft drinks, t-shirts etc.
We bought the "Kili- just done it" T-shirt with the (pretend) Nike swoosh one
Climbed Machame route last year and summitted. Had a brilliant time - did it with my dad, brother and his girlfriend.
Lessons learned;
No matter what your guide says and however much it shows blue sky and sun, always carry your waterproofs - second day started with sun/ blue sky - we ended up with hailstones and snow. May not happen to you but my brother and his girlfriend got caught out.
Take a spare pair of thick socks (two pairs should do it) for over your thin socks.
When you summit, keep your camera inside a sock - it freezes.
Take loads of ziplock bags - keep dry stuff dry and wet stuff away from dry stuff( toilet roll, dry underwear, dirty underwear, used tissues).
At the time, I was living out there, so my family brought most of my kit - check all the pockets/ etc.
Antiseptic hand gel stuff is good - I used baby wipes to "wash" with. Take factor 50 suncream for the summit - my Tanzanian colleagues both got 2nd degree burns on their faces and were astounded I didn't come back with worse burns.
Drink tea/ coffee with sugar in - even if you don't normally cos this is calories. Calorie load at every opportunity - and force yourself to eat even if you don't have appetite. Interestingly, we never ate any of the kendal mint cake/ brownies that we took except on the way down.
I used dollars for tips - count the tip to the head guide in front of everyone else (they witness and they know how much was given - and then its their problem if they don't get it) If you google, there is a guide by someone about who should get what percentage (head guide, chef, porter etc) that was really useful.
BTW The head guide will lose his licence to guide if a) any porter carries too much weight b) the weight going up doesn't match the weight coming down (except food and water) - no rubbish.
If you do the gifts things - please give it to an adult rather than the kids themselves. Ask the guide if you can stop at a school or hospital.
Its actually bad for everyone when kids start expecting westerners to give gifts instantly. It stops people feeling safe and Tz needs tourism for income. At the moment, Tz isn't too bad at the moment - don't encourage it.
this is one of the most basic mistakes that people make when going into mountains/hills - the weather is fickle and can turn on you easily so it's ALWAYS best to go prepared for the worst........yes, it means carrying extra but it could mean the difference between life and death through exposure....
Thanks guys! that's great.
Finally started feeling well again today 5 days post vaccinations!
SO EXCITED
note to self:
buy toilet roll and ziplock bags