Feeling the Burn Out

Well I haven`t posted in a while and I will admit it is because I am getting lazy.

Since Budapest we spent 4 nigths in Vienna and it was great. We got a great deal on a 4 star hotel for only $60 a night with a fab breakfast so it set the tone for a great time. I got to reconnect with an old friend from Highschool, actually an exchange student of a friend from highschool, Veronika, and she was so helpful and nice enough to take time off and show us around! Vienna was a beautiful city with lovely architecture, amazing baroque coffee houses with delicious pastries and tons of museums that we didn`t have time to see all of them and honestly we didn`t mind. There is only so many you can see in a day and we have spent a lot of time walking, most days from 10am till about 4pm on average. So now I am burnt out, we are in Prague now for 3 nights and had planned to travel slowly towards Paris for our return on March 18th but have decided to head to Paris and hang out for 3 or 4 nights and catch a flight out earlier.
I have come to the realization that I have a 2 month travel limit before I get antsy and lazy, it isn`t that I haven`t taken time to rest but that I am wanting to take lots of time to be lazy and I don`t really care about seeing the cities. So instead of bide our time expensively in Euro-land we have decided to save the dough and get back home to start our next adventure of checking out the East Coast and landing jobs.

Paris of the East

We found the Romanian villiages to cold and to small to warrent freezing our tushies off in un heated rooms. We went from Bucharest to Brasov and then a day trip to Bran and Rasnov for castle viewing . I liked Bucharest, I compare it to a modern day Bladerunner set. Being a Eastern Block conuntry there are massive cement apparment building, large street, and amazingly a lot of art decco buildings mixed in; strange. The streets are large enough for a suprize misile launch vechile parade and then some. But the real kicker is that it is just dark. The buildings effortlessly blend into the dark grey skys and the hedge rows of dark black snow linning the street make one feel like the street just escelates into the sulin skys. Budapest is a world away. I really like Budapest. Maybe it is that we rented a flat for 4 days. We are so excited to have are own space and a fridge and stove, and it is cheaper than the hostel we were in the first night here. Today we spent the afternoon in a grand thermal bath. It was a little confusing at first, there were many pools with diferent temps and water types, saunas, steam rooms, and a few other rooms we didnt venture into. We were on cloud nine once we found the huge statue and fountian lined outdoor pools. 35 to 37 celcius and it was snowing to boot. Cant ask for much more than a Hungarian hot tub in the snow.

Got to run time is running out

Love this pic!

On the Bosphorus Ferry ride.

Well it is Africa...is that a valid excuse?

I have a few final thoughts of Tanzania of my own and as was discussed with our Irish friends, Brenda and Dave, you end up just throwing your hands in the air and saying "It's Africa" I am not sure if that really explains it but I will let you decide.

$4 diet cokes (12oz to be clear) in the Serengeti...and charging about $0.50 more for a diet anywhere else (which usually run about $1.50)

Rolling blackouts that can last months...Zanzibar doesn't always pay its electricity bill to Tanzania

Menus that mean nothing because of the rolling blackouts ie. at a coffee shop they sat us down and as we tried to order told us they couldn't make anything cause the power was off. We tried the reverse and asked what they could make, it was limited.

Prices that aren't really relative to what you get, ie small green salads (I mean small and not a lot of salad going on) costing more than a whole personal pizza at the same establishment. It appears that as our trip continued lettuce was a scarce commodity in Zanzibar because the salads got smaller as prices increased from Restaurant to Restaurant.

Lines mean nothing, every man for himself and that goes for loading and unloading of all modes of transportation (but to Africa's credit seems to be the same in Turkey too)

Also, I am not sure how this happens but it seems that everyone runs around in US brand clothing, sports teams, places etc. Not sure if it is goodwill related or if the NHL has a big following in Tanzania but I saw a couple of hockey hats.

Long Tıme Coming!!

Fındıng tıme to blog ıs hard when there are so many thıngs to do and see. The keyboard ıs a lıttle backwards so the i wıll look a lıttle off. Plus when I run the spell check ıt causes all kınds of grıef, so the spellıng may be a slıght ıssue but please read on.

Back dated -

Our fınal day ın Tanzanıa left an ımpressıon on me - ıts all relatıve. For the fırst 26 days I dıdnt see any real ınstances of tangıble despare on peoples faces, but our last day carrıes a weight stıll klıngıng to me. The vıew from my ınsuılated car wındow thru the dıngy back streets and congested alleys of Dar on the drıve to the aırport consıstend of many sad and desperate lookıng faces whıch I had not seen ın the rural areas or maybe I should defıne them as the tourıst areas. There was one stree ın partıcular; We turned off the maın road as the traffıc was at a stand stıll. The sıdes of the narrow dusty street were lıned by dıtches fılled wıth ubıquıtous smolderıng mounds of lıfe´s left overs, and large groups of young men. The majorıty wore only pants and there dark shınıng skın was so tıght on there torsos they looked lıke statue`s Mıchaelangello would have chızeled out of onyx. The street thumped wıth an ochestra of ballpeen hammers meetıng wıth hard steel and the chresındo of cuttıng torches and chop saws. The lıght cast from the hard black and blue metal productıon, dense smoke, and red and brown earth envoked a sadness ın me for reasons unknow. Havıng only seen the tourıst areas I thınk I am leavıng wıth a skewed sense of lıfe ın Tanzanıa, but then I thınk of the Doma we vısıted and relatıve to there lıfe style they were lıvıng faırly well. I have only to thınk of my many walks thru Long Beach to remember there was despare and a hard lıfe rıght out my front door for a large number of folks. So ıts all relatıve, whether ıts Dar, Afrıca or LB, USA the masks change but the faces underneıth tell the same story.

Then there was Holly. She ıntroduced herself on the bus to the north of Zanzıbar. We got to talkıng about lıfe and work, and she was ın Afrıca on a serıous qwest. Well more lıke an annual vısıt to see how the nonprofıt programs were runnıng ın Tanzanıa that she worked for. She gladdly detaıled out the qualıty of lıfe for domestıc anımals ın TZ - we dıdnt even have to ask!! She made a profound statement, 'lıfe ın TZ ıs hard for most people and they are mostly consumed wıth takıng care of themselves so theır beasts of burden are poorly cared for'. The nonprofıt was concerned wıth how the donkeys were beıng rubbed by the water jugs they had to carry from the water pumps to people´s houses. I thınk ıt was the ırony of thıs conversatıon that envoked a sense of sadness for the people on that street. I am not dıscountıng that donkeys deserve a better lıfe but ıt seems to me theır phılanthropy may be mısplaced but who am to make assumptıons from what lıttle I have seen and know.

Turkey ıs for EVERYONE (ıncludıng donkey lovers)

I love ıt here! Not a xenephobe ın the bunch. There ıs so much to be saıd for engratıatıng and frıendly people. We have met the nıcested and most sıncere people; so freındly and eager to lend a hand. Just yesterday we were walkıng down a green house lıned country road to get to Myra from Demre and an old man ın hıs tweed suıt and matchıng cap exuberantly thrust out hıs hand greet us and say hello to absolute strangers. But there always bad apples - as ın thıs case.

We had just fınıshed a couple hour ferry trıp up the Bosphurues and a long walk thru the Beyoğlu dıstrıct when we were crossıng a fısherman lıned (even at nıght) brıdge back ınto the Sultanahmet dıstrıct of Istanbul when a man walkıng the opposıte dırectıon past us droped somethıng. Beıng kınd, Natty reached down grabbed the ıtem and ran ıt back to the man. It turned out to be the brush from the mans shoe shıne kıt. In our naıve state we accepted what we thought were free shoe shınes for helpıng hım not loose hıs brush. Nothıng ın lıfe ıs free!!! He wouldnt stop shınıng and then before we knew what was happınıng there was another shoe shıner. It cost me 4 lıre to get hım to stop and he wanted more for hıs sıck kıds. At fırst we thought no that couldnt be a scam on our polıteness but then as we were gettıng to the end of the brıdge another shoe shıne guy happened to accedıntly drop hıs brush ınfront of us. Then ıt hıt, we had been taken. After that nıght ıt seemed to be raınıng shoe shıne brushes tıll we left Istanbul. But ıf that ıs my only grıpe then thıs ıs heaven.

We could spend a couple weeks ın Istanbul alone but the belly of Turkey calls. We took the nıght bus to Goreme. I have found nıght busses gıve me a nasty hang over because I cant sleep on them. Natty sleeps lıke a baby on them; I am so jealous. There ıs no snow ın Goreme whıch ıs unusual for thıs tıme of year but we arent complaınıng. We found a nıce lıttle pansyıon where we got a tıny cave room wıth a shared bath for 18bucks anıght lıfe ıs good, and ıt has a vıew over the town from our cave wındow. Dıd I mentıon ıt ıs ın a cave - really. If you cant tell I lıked ıt.

Have to run the raın has let up and we have ruıns to see. We are ın Pergumum and are headed back to Istanbul on the nıght bus then a nıght traın to Romaınıa!!!

Why did Constantinople get the works...that`s nobody`s bussiness but the Turks!

I am in love with Istanbul!!! The food, the history, the people are all wonderful and a welcome change from Tanzania.
Our first day in Turkey was something out of a Turkish guidebook induced dream. Fırst we had to spend a night in the overprıced Doha airport where I sprung for a nine dollar TCBY yogurt for dinner and found some cozy benches to be my bed for the evening.
We arrıved ın Istanbul around 11am and easily went through customs and found our way to the metro. It took some time and patience but we figured out our stop and how to get there and through trial how to get tokens at the Jetson kiosk. We found our Hotel, Hotel Peninsula (great recommendation Morgan!), and dropped our stuff and hit cobblestone Sultahnmet streets looking for food. We made our fırst frıend before we even got a few meters from our hotel, Arman. We spoke briefly about his upcomimg trip to the US to show carpets. Onto food and on every corner and block someone will help you find it, they come running out the minute you walk by with menu in hand and prices written, though as you walk away the prices start to fall. We found a little Döner cafe and had some local bites including a yogurt drink that is pretty much the liquid whey and some strong Turkish coffee. We walked around and enjoyed the cool weather and dropped into a local tea house outside the Grand Bazaar area behind an old cemetary and had our fırst Turkish tea for the day. We made our way back to the hotel and enjoyed HOT showers, the fırst of our trip.
After some rest we ventured out for nıghttime shots of the Aye Sofia and Blue Mosque and dinner. Around 9pm we started back to our hotel and ran into Arman, it was time for our first carpet lesson. We tried to tell Arman that his shop is well out of our price range but he wanted to visit with us all the same and so we downstairs. Time for our second Turkish Tea for the day, this time Apple tea, so far my favorite.
Arman and the manager, Edwin, schooled us in the details that make Turkish carpets art and seperate them from others that are meerly single knot carpets. Then came the display of all of the carpets from varıous regıons and of course the second he shows us is amazing. 70 years old, done by Dervishes with amazıng colors and softness and pattern. After our hour and a half lesson we are hooked, though we haven`t given in just yet...only time will tell.

Dar

Funny you should say history Dad, I started reading a book about the history of the Ottoman Empire this afternoon on the Ferry, so far the Terkmans have made it down from the steppe.

We spent our morning taking refuge under an awning of large green and white colonial, slash Moorish building next to the port as there was a fierce down pour for about an hour this morning. The gauntlet of touts at the ferry building in Dar wasn't to fearsome. After a month of the constant pestering our silky sweet demeanor's have morphed into bleak stone facades. The threat of pack animals will not be missed.

Got to run Internet time is up.

Things to come!

We are in Stone town for the last night and looking forward to a little HBO tonight. Yes, I love my babysitter and her name is Cable. We are staying at the Warere Town House - does it sound luxurious - well it may be by budget African standards. Our room has a mini fridge and 17 inch TV set that plays all your favorite Bollywood channels and Tanzanian tella novellas for $35 a night. To put some icing on it we are going shopping for cereal and milk for dinner. Might not sound like a big deal but the local greasy food for each meal really starts to wear on the system. So that's our night!!!

Natty made a new friend on the morning Dalla Dalla from Kendwa. A young 18 year old talked her up as he has been studying English for the past 6 months. I must say the people who are not trying to follow you around and sell you things are really friendly. For the most part everyone we have talked to has been very affable. Don't let my negative descriptions of the local ticks give the wrong impression.

We are taking the fast ferry to Dar in the AM and then flying out to Istanbul on the 31st. Good bye and good night from Zanzibar!!!

MAMBO - JAMBO - POA

Back in Stone Town after 4 days in Kendwa. We did two dives around Mnemba Island which were good. The visibility was good, I can't gauge distance underwater but it must have been a couple hundred feet. I don't really know if that is far but anyway. We saw a couple large turtles and lots of fish - imagine that. We did absolutely nothing on the white sands in Kendwa except stay out of the sun and read. I started to get really bored; happy to be getting on with it. Natty bartered the Hotel manager down to 35 a night and 2 free cokes it was a sight to see. Our bungalow was throwing distance to the beach and the Italian hordes.

Next to our little slice of bliss was a literal Hades. The boisterous plump souls nearly drove me crazy. I am going to generalize here; imagine a sun baked red suede Michelin Man packed and squeezed into a high cut white speedo and this sausage meandered back and forth with a lit smoke in one hand and a camera in the other from the water to its lounge chair all day. The creatures of both sex fit the above description. Low and behold, next to us was an all inclusive Italian resort for the insane. I doubt any other civilized island would of taken them! To top it all off, every night around 10pm till 1am the Placido Domingos' ventured from their Chianti bottles to the microphone. That's right, Karaoke by the numbers, and it was loud. Our little room did not have any windows to close either just large windows with metal bars and screens.

The north of Zanzibar is very different from Stone Town. It resembles the tropical island I had envisioned. Long wide white sand beaches with palm trees. The water is an amazing array of blues and greens. The buildings have thatched roofs and things move at a really slow pace. Half the time power doesn't work and water presure is no presure as there is none. We eventually cut the top of 2 water bottles and bathed with a manual pour technique. Its all an adventure!!! Even walking to dinner. Last night the walk way was alive with a million plus red ants of all sizes. We watched a grass hopper make the mistake of landing in the walk way; it was engulphed with in seconds.


Regress -

Natty pretty much covered the days before and during the trek. I am just going to add a few of my own observations.

The day before we started our trek I woke up nice and sick. It was a deceiving little cold. I felt great while lying in Bed but not so good on the dusty roads north of Arusha. Losai met up with us at our hotel to take us to his Boma (village). We walked thru the colonial section into the heart and heat of Arusha.

Around the bus station is a maze of shops and goods laid out on the street for sale. The maze is neatly broken up into sections. If it is shoes you are looking for they will all be in one section. I made the mistake of doing just that. I went looking around for some sneakers as my flips were not the most comfortable. As soon as I bent down to the ground to measure a Vans knock off against my foot the riot erupted. Every shoe vendor and tick with in ear shot started yelling at me and shoving shoes in my face to try and show me their shoes were the best for buying not necessarily wearing. Once the eye of the storm passed and the vendors settled down a bit I asked if any had large shoes. Turns out size 12 is not available. But I did get to catch a hand in my pocket.

I was looking around the sock section of the street when I was engulfed by a group of shoppers or so they seemed. I was wearing my back pack on my chest and had nothing in my pockets. I thought it odd there was a hand in my pocket as both my hands were on top of my back pack. I reach down and grabbed the wrist attached to the hand and it jerked away quickly but I turned and made eye contact with the wrists owner. He blankly stared at me, I on the other hand yelled, not too loud, at him. Then the others around seemed to catch on and the vendors started to yell at him as well. I did not stick around for an encore.

Back on track, Me, Natty and Losai took a Dalla Dalla about 40-50kilometres north of Arusha to the base of Mt Meru. The roads were really bad and where we got off there was no road but they were building one. The road construction on the dry red earth caused a near black out of dust. The amount of dust consumed by our lungs was tremendous. It was misery with a cold on top of it. The day was amazing, we walked about 10 kilometers up and down dirt paths and spent the day with him and his family in their manure and mud hut. The high High point was on our way back. Clouds of gray began to blow in with the afternoon. We were good luck, rain was on its way. Half way back to the road we were in the middle of a corn field when large droplets began to fall. Natty was so excited she got out her bright red rain poncho. We made a run for an old brown and deteriorating rectangle school with no windows. We reached the wall and took cover under over hang. The smell of fresh earth and wet grass filled my nose but that was nothing compared to the effortless and melodic choir music coming from inside the school house. It turned out the local choir was practicing. Leaning against the wall watching the rain fall across the valley while Swahili melodies were playing was so magical. Thanks to my friend Casey for recommending the Toto song about the Rains in Africa I was prepared for this once in a life time experience. Thanx Bud!

TAN-ZAN-E-U

We have been busy busy and the Internet connection speed in Arusha was not as fast as my expiring patience's with the dial up. So, I am going to do a little back tracking. My apologies if I jump around a little.

The first two days of planes and airports was a day at the beach compared to the first 3 hours in Dar Es Salam. I actually slept some on the second flight from Heathrow to Dar, and I watched a total of six in flight movies. We arrived in Dar at 7am and promptly made it thru customs (thanks to getting our visas ahead of time) as it was hot and muggy. The air in the yellow and green cinder block customs building was thick with the dank musty odor of years of flourishing African mold and the fresh scent of very ripe humans; it was a splendid introduction. Once thru, we ran the gauntlet of ticks (touts) to the taxi stand without any mishaps or rudeness on my part (that comes after a few days of dealing with the ticks).

My first impression was as expected, pock marked asphalt roads, dirt paths, wash board dirt roads, dilapidated buildings made of any and all construction materials, dust and more dust, and the omni present refuse. We wanted to make the early morning bus to Arusha so as to not have to spend the night in Dar, so we first tried the luxury bus line. The cabby did all the talking to the ticket agent (mistake 1). We were told the luxury direct bus was full and we need to drive to the main bus station, questionable at best but we were not yet wise to the penetrating bite the ticks make into your billfold. After haggling with the pleasant cabby about the fare for the next leg, we were off to the main bus bizarre!! The excitement we were looking to avoid was now in our cross hare.

Just driving into the parking lot before the large football field size bus lot was an assault to the jet lagged senses. I now know what it feels like to be swarmed be an aggressive mob which is willing to chew and tear at each other only to get best vantage point from which to try and sell a bus ticket or a fake ticket. The cabby parked in the middle of the chaotic mess of outdated and abused buses which come in all colors, ages, and sizes. He advised we stay in the car while he asked around which we heeded. It turned out the only escape left was the non direct, non luxury, Happy Trails bus ( painted in big bright colors across the front window). Sign of good things to come - Not Likely! And luxury only means there may be a bathroom on the bus ( doesn't mean it works) and that the bus doesn't stop at every road side village.

(mistake 2) - One never really knows the price or who actually works for what in the African transportation world. Identifiable uniform or insignia of any kind think not, timetable or fee chart think not. But that is the adventure and excitement of it all (at least that is my positive uplifting silently repeated motto). Truthfully, I do enjoy it. Back on topic - we graciously thanked and tipped the cabby for finding us the bus. We did pay to0 much ( the luxury price for the economy experience). Some guy grabbed my backpack to put it in the under carriage but I wasn't having that so we put it where our feet should have gone - not a wise choice for a 13 hour bus ride but I was just getting my traveling legs. And I still had to buy the guy a soda for helping, silly me I thought it was his job. We sat in our cramped sparsely padded 90 degree angle bench seat for 2 1/2 hours in the direct sun. We could not get off the bus or move to the vacant shaded side as the tickets were for specific seat and any vacant seat gets sold. Plus when I tried I was invited back to the seat I paid for. Once the bus was filled to capacity the cranky diesel beast was let loose into the morning rush hour. Traffic laws are for somebody's amusement, I am just not sure who's. So far things appear to be in total chaos but I am guessing that my foreign eyes just can't see the reasonable simplicity of daily grind here.

In short, the bus ride was hot, hot, and hotter. We stopped in every red earthed ramshackle village to pick up and drop off the day trippers. At each stop all kinds of drinks and snacks were hoisted to window level and sold. Some of the vendors got on the bus and fought there way down the isle to sell their wares and then get off at the next stop. We did not drink much as we didn't know when we would be stopping near any kind of facility. We finally did stop in the after noon in BFAfrica for a road side cafeteria and porcelain holes. I braved the rice and chicken but sleeping beauty only could muster the need for water. The bus only broke down once due to the need for more water in the radiator, that was nice got to stretch the legs a little. Natty just slept, she slept most of the ride. We finally arrived in Arusha around 8pm.

After a long sleep in our tea bag (mosquito net) we introduced ourselves to Arusha. Our hotel was in the old colonial part of town with lush gardens and shaded by a variety of large trees. Jacarandas being the one I knew the name of. It even had a turn of the century putt putt course. I never did ask if they had clubs and balls. Tanzania is on fire, literally. All that omni present refuse is burnt in small piles every where. There is a constant smell of campfire in the air, nice at first but when the raw tailpipe fumes of an army of trucks, taxis, and Dalla Dalla's is added to the recipe it seriously hampers the required breathing I enjoy so much. Complain complain, on to some good times.

We met Losai, a modern Masai tout, while looking for safari bookings. He was very friendly and not pushy so we gave him the time of day. He recommend the safari company we went with and also offered to take us to a Masai cattle market and a day trip to his Boma (village). We had faith in him so we gave him a deposit and were going to meet up with him the next morning at our hotel.

We were so please, he showed the next morning. We walked thru the central market to the bus lot where he introduced us to the Dalla Dalla. It is a mini van with 4 rows of bench seats, a driver, and a guy who hangs out the side yelling for passengers and pounding on the roof for stops. We were in luck to get the back row as they DD don't depart till capacity is met, and capacity is relative to the amount of space need to expand the lungs for breath. Our capacity was 26 heads. A soccer team and then some!!!. It is an experience not to be missed I guess it is similar to the how many people can be crammed into a VW exercise except this is a business. I love it. Another thing is all the roads have massive speed bumps sporadically placed on them, and this part can be missed as the DD's only slow down for paying passengers - not road hazards.

The cattle market was the real deal - not a tourist trinket market. It was an amazing glimpse into rural life. The bright and vivid wardrobe colors was a sight to behold. The Masai essentially wear blankets, similar to kilts or the like except the colors pop and scream with a strange sense of joy and excitement. Natty, the intrepid, blazed the trail through the bony and scarred cattle and the Masai handlers. The beasts and men are all intermixed in a large soccer pitch size enclosed field. The cattle are not branded but instead they are cut to make intricate scarring patterns which act as the brand. Natty was as much a novelty to the Masai as the market was to us. Her height evokes much curiosity which allowed us some interaction with the Masai men. We were offered some tapioca porridge out of a plastic bucket but had to regretfully decline. It may have been very rude to decline but I think the health of our hynnies was worth it!!. There were troops on hand to quell any turbulence between the different clans. All the Masai carry big sticks with large knobes on the end and really big knives. We were told that fights do break out and when they do every one gets involved leaving many bleeding and some times the dead. That evening once back at the hotel sickness began to unwrap its nasty present for me; sinus infection and a cold. But I was not about to miss the next day in the Boma.

More to come.......

Random Stuff we did before Kili

So some things are not in chronological order, oh well...

The second day we were in Arusha, we went to a Masai market with a friend we made (a local who sold us on showing us around and helping us set up a safari) Losai. We were as interesting to them as they were to us, they liked looking at our cameras and taking pics of us and were quite shy when we wanted to take pictures of them.

There is a bit of culture shock and also guilt for living the way we do and also proliferating "westernization" on the rest of the world. From what Losai was telling us, Masai people are more and more moving toward the new way of living where they try to set up businesses and leave the countryside to look for work in the city. With that people are "thinking about too many things" in the US we call it stress, and they are dieing about 20 years earlier than they used to, so much for increasing quality of life.

On the 7th we went to Losai's Doma, or village of his family and went to his house and had tea and lunch and were quite the attraction for the little kids in the Doma. He is the popular guy in town since he invested in a small solar panel for electricity for light at night and to charge his cell phone (yep cell phones everywhere with great service, cheap and reliable, they get signals all the way up Kili and chat the whole time :). So in some ways he is ahead of the curve with renewable energy but then he asked how people in the US make their homes, that is when the guilt set in. His home he built with his family and neighbors and it was made of cow dung, mud and straw, there was mosaic art in the walls and it had multiple rooms which is nicer than most and he was so welcoming.

Our journey out to his village was an experience, we had our first Dalla Dalla experience and they were able to cram 26 people into a little Nissan circa 1990's van.

Top of the World

We made it!!!! On January 12, 2009 5:40pm we reached the top of Kilimanjaro, Uruhu peak, 5,895 meters (19,341 feet for the rest of us) in the sky. It was beautiful being above the clouds and it was no small feet by any means and the sense of accomplishment still makes me feel super human.
All great experiences aside, I will never do that again! I will hike great mountains and plan to do Machu Pichu as soon as I can, but I will not be heading up Kili for a rerun. It was the hardest, emphasis on the hard, physical thing I have ever done in my life. Things were going well the first couple days, it was a great way to start out my birthday with a nice little hike to our first camp spot in some misty clouds. Our trek company treated us like kings and tried to fatten us up like them too. Things got a little tough on the third day when we hiked up Lava Tower (15,190 feet) and then down, that evening I was a little sick at our Barranco campsite, that was the beginning of losing my appetite.
The next day of hiking was fine, but that evening we decided to change up the itinerary and hike from Karanga to Barfu and then rest for only 20 minutes and then summit. Normally you hike to Barfu, rest all day and wake at midnight and summit then rest when you get back to Barfu and hike down to the last campground later that same day before hiking out the following day. We like the idea of summitting in the light and went for it.
So we went from12,959 feet to 19,341 feet and back down to 14,928 feet in about 13 hours (Jan 12). Exhaustion doesn't even begin to describe it. I will say that it became a mind game that I kept playing with myself and I am sure a lot of stubbornness played into it too. I am not even sure how far I was when I became nauseous (mind you that I had been eating lightly since I was sick at Barranco), I threw up (sorry if this is more than you want to know) and then was ready to rock for about another 100 meters (now I am talking footsteps and not elevation). The going was Pole-Pole (Swahili for take it slow, and is the motto for how to get up Kili). I pretty much could have curled up under a rock anywhere we stopped to catch our breath and gone to sleep. But perseverance came through and we made it and I was worried about how I would make it all the way down because I was so exhausted.
Here they come to save the day!!!! Our guide, Max, and assistant guide, Bruno, are super human, we were on a race to make it down before it got dark or at least as far as we could before using our headlamps. Coming down is like skiing on cinder pits and I could only keep up for about 20 minutes and then they both took an arm and we skiied down together. The whole time I felt so bad cause I know Ara was tired too and I was getting all of the help down and these guys were racing, but Ara is amazing and didn't have any problem keeping up. We went to bed around 8pm that night.
The next morning we still weren't hungry and ready to head down as fast as we could, ultimately we ended up cutting our trek by one day and heading all the way to the gate on Jan 13th cause a shower and bed were enough motivation, along with cleaning our clothes. So we went from 14,928 feet to 6,496 feet just because we are gluttons for punishment.
I do have to say that our trek company was great and obviously flexible, Max and Bruno were awesome, the cook was amazing though we lost our appetite and the porters are the heroes of the mountain because without them no one would make it, they carry everything, I mean everything even mangos and pineapples.
So all that being said, it was an experience of a lifetime and an accomplishment that makes me feel like I can get through anything, but we came across a group where one of the ladies had done it 3 times, and that is two times more than necessary in my book.

Natalie

ps we will add pics later when we have a faster connection, I am sure you are just on pins and needles.

Organized Chaos

We made it! After over 40 hours of travel, with 13 of those on a bus that thankfully only broke down once, we have made it to Arusha. It is definitely a bit of a culture shock but most people speak some English so it has been easy getting around other than the fact that we probably look like a walking dollar sign. We have successfully arranged our 6 day safari when we finish our Kili climb so the ticks will leave us be.