Best job in the world

OK, so this is shameless self promotion, but here goes! About a month ago Tourism Queensland in Australia advertised for the "best job in the world". Basically they want someone to go and live on the Great Barrier reef and blog about it. I have entered the competition. Here is the link to the site where my

video application is

Go there and rate me 5 stars
Thanx

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Gate to Mandara Hut

Our bags were weighed and they let us get on the van for the ride to the Marangu Gate. It is a nice sunny morning as we arrive at the gate of the Kilimanjaro National park. Everywhere there are people milling about of all nationalities. Our guide leaves us near the office and goes to deal with various issues which seem to take forever. Really it a case of mass chaos and somehow the guides and park staff make order out of it. The gate staff have a huge ledger in which it records details about every visitor in quadruplicate. Then we have to sign it in about 12 places. I never thought I would actually know my passport number offhand but by the time I left Kilimanjaro I could recite it from memory. Once the paperwork is done the porters have to be sorted out. When you consider that about 100 climbers start at Marangu each day, and that there are three guides/assistant/porters/cooks for each climber you can imagine the chaos. Most of 'our' gear is in nylon duffle bags. The porters tents, our food and cook stuff seem to be mostly in orange plastic garbage bags. How they know where anything is, is beyond me. We haven't actually seen our own bags since we arrived in the van and we are beginning to wonder if we ever will again. Somehow, Sam, our guide wades through all the red tape and organizes our porters, and we all set off. It is now 11:40 AM.

It is a sunny day as we enter the forest. The first day is spent entirely in the forest. It is lush and moist with many small stream and little waterfalls and pools. The trees are tall and covered in vines and ferns of many varieties. There are tree ferns 15 ft tall. The trail is good as thousands of hikers use it every year. The first hour we are all gung ho and really not that aware of our surroundings. Then it starts to rain. For the next hour we trudge along in the rain and the mud. We have gore-tex and all sorts of other fabrics. The porters that we see are wearing sandals and have no raingear other than the odd plastic poncho. Sam suggests that we bypass the lunch stop as we would be eating lunch in the open in the rain, so a little farther down the trail we stop under a tree, and eat our lunch standing in the rain. Lunch was some fried chicken, a banana, cookies and a soda pop. At this point everything was tasting good, rain or no rain. After lunch, we resumed our climb. The trail was soggy but it wasn't really muddy, as it is made of a sort of cinder gravel. The roots of the trees were slick. during the climb we heard a lot of bird song but the dense growth made it hard to see much birdlife. We also saw and heard the odd troop of green monkeys. Gradually we climbed out of the forest and out of the rain. As we reached the moorlands we saw Mandara huts, and the rain ceased. We registered at the huts, again a big ledger and passport number, etc. We found our cabin and changed into dry clothes and by the time we came out again the sun was out. For a while we watched groups of porters attempt to set up their sleeping tents. It seemed that none of them knew how to set up the tent, as after an hour or so it still wasn't up. Here there were a lot of White-necked ravens flying about. There were a few other birds around as well but since my bird book weighed about 10 pounds I had chosen to leave it at the Springland hotel. Apparently there are about 170 highland species found on the mountain although really only a few to be seen once you leave the forest zone.

At about that point Sam came around and offered us the opportunity of a short hike "to see a cinder cone". We decided that we would take a pass on his offer as we had all seen cinder cones before, but I kicked myself later. It turns out that one of the things that people who did take the short hike, saw, were Black and White Colubus monkeys. Apparently, this was the only opportunity we would have to see these monkeys. They are a fairly spectacular looking animal. So the moral of the story is to take these opportunities as they come along. I never did see a Colubus.

I might also have taken the opportunity at the Mandara hut to go back down the trail after dark with light to see if you could see Galagos. Galagos,also known as bushbabies are primitive nocturnal primates. They have very large eyes and might well be found by shining a light around in the forest and watching for eyes. Galagos are present in the forest around Kilimanjaro, and this might be a spot you could see them. Of course, you might see other types of eyes as well, such as leopards, snakes, owls, etc. I am not sure whether you could talk your guide into it, as we didn't try. If I ever went back I would definitely try. I don't think I would try walking into the forest at night without my guide.

That evening in the dark we could hear many "jungle noises" including monkey like sounds. I have no real idea what they were although they didn't sound like "crying babies" so I don't think they were Galagos.

Each half of the huts have four bunks so tonight we will be sharing with our half with Anne. She is from England and is the organizer of a group of 39 climbing in support of an Ovarian cancer group. She is the first to admit she has no experience on Kilimanjaro or mountains in general. We wish her well. We are at approximately 9000 ft of elevation and so far we are feeling no efects of altitude. The gate was at 6400 ft so we climbed 2600 ft today.

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The Side Effects of Diamox

Diamox is a drug taken by many as a preventative measure against AMS. There is considerable controversy over its effectiveness and whether or not it is for everyone. I am not going to wade into that discussion here. Myself and the two others I climbed with all took it and we all were successful but many climbing at the same time were successful without it. I have included links on various subjects including AMS and Diamox.
The main side effect of Diamox is that it is a diuretic. You are constantly peeing, and drinking and peeing again. This is one thing during the day but something else entirely at night. We climbed using the Marangu route so we had cabins each night. See the photo below. Most of the cabins have two rooms each having four bunks. Every bit of building material on the mountain is carried up by foot, so needless to say not much is wasted. The cabins are A frame styled and they have four bunks. I pity anyone who is over six feet tall as the bunks are tight. When all four of you are in a cabin and all your gear is in there is no extra room. In fact walking from the bunk to the door is a challenge. Even more of a challenge in the dark! There were three of us, so each night we had a roommate that was a stranger to us. Every night it was someone different. It is one thing to wake up a good friend in the night as you are going out to the bathroom, quite another to disturb a total stranger. Anyways this is adapted almost verbatim from my journal on the night at Horombo hut.

Slept like a baby last night with the exception of having to get up to go to the washroom three times, a side effect of Diamox. Going pee in the night is quite a comical operation, especially if you are in the top bunk. Generally you delay getting up until you are just about desperate. When there are three others in your cabin you try very quietly to unzip your nylon sleeping bag. Then in the pitch black you feel around to find the clothes that you so neatly placed somewhere the night before. When you find said clothing you attempt to put it on quietly in a very cramped space in the dark. After having accomplished that quite nicely, you reach for your glasses on the shelf over your bunk. In the process you knock everything off the shelf, find your glasses, put them on, find your headlamp and put it on your head, and find your roll of toilet paper. Now the part about being on the upper bunk comes into play. You then reach up and grab a hold of the rafter with both hands, hang from the rafter for a few seconds and then drop the six or eight inches to the cabin floor, landing awkwardly on someone’s boots and stumble making enough noise so that now everyone in the cabin is wide awake. At this point they all decide that they should go to the bathroom as well, so they turn on the headlamps and get dressed in the light and then we can find the latch on the cabin door and out we go!!
Repeat 3X per night!!!

Those of you who are thinking of going to Kili may find this a bit of an odd journal entry. Those who have been will find it quite apropos.


As promised here are some links on altitude sickness, Diamox and mountain medicine. They will open in a new window.

Treksafe


BaseCampMD


Altitude.org: A High Altitude Resource

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Kilimanjaro: Arrival in Tanzania

Ray, Diane and I arrived in Tanzania via Amsterdam. We flew direct to Kilimanjaro airport which is near the city of Arushu. It was dark when we got off the plane, so we really couldn’t see a lot but the warmth and the smells told us that we were on the equator. Customs and immigration was the usual except there was only the one planeload to deal with. The whole airport was about the size of a small public school. We got our bag and went out to find our driver holding up a sign with our names. His name was Alex. We piled our gear into a large Toyota land cruiser and set off for the Springlands Hotel in Moshi. It was pitch black out so we really saw very little of the countryside on our hour drive to the Hotel. At the hotel we checked in and went to our rooms. It definitely wasn’t the Hilton, but not bad for a third world hotel.

The next morning we got up and went down to breakfast. The gardens in the hotel made it plain we were on the equator.
The first birds we saw were Pied Crows and Red Headed Weavers. We were definitely not in Kansas anymore!
Just about at that time one of us looked up and realized that what we were thinking was clouds wasn’t. Looming way up in the sky was our mountain. It was massive!!! We debated who’s silly idea this whole thing was, while we took in the shear magnitude of the task ahead. The fact that we still had a safari ahead of us before climbing the mountain allowed us to eat our breakfast. The food was an odd mix of eggs, European sausages, fruit and African style cereals and toast. It isn’t on your Gourmets list of places to go but we weren’t going to starve either. After breakfast we piled our stuff into the Land cruiser and set off for a couple of nights on Safari. I won’t go into that on this post other than to say if you ever have the chance to do a safari in Africa, do it!! You won’t be disappointed.
A couple of days later we returned to the Springland to prepare for our climb. That evening we met our guides who spelled out exactly what we should take and gave us our weight limits. They have a scale in the courtyard and your bag doesn't leave the hotel until it meets the limit!
They gave us the evening to pack and repack our bags. All evening small groups were carrying their bags to the scales, and then tossing a couple of pairs of underwear and/or bags of candy bars, whatever to make the weight. Eventually we were all satisfied that they would let us and our bags board the van for the drive to the mountain. We retired to the bar for a well deserved Kilimanjaro beer. It would be a while til the next one!!

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Kilimanjaro: Part 1

Ok "so we're not in southern Ontario anymore, Toto"!! Hey, I did warn you!

In February of 2007, two friends, Ray and Diane, and myself, set out to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. We all have some experience in backpacking and hiking but we are not mountain climbers in any sense of the word. This was the highest I have ever hiked by about 12,000 feet.
I have been a naturalist all of my life and have traveled extensively throughout America and the rest of the world, usually focused on the natural world that is around me.
When I set out to climb Kilimanjaro I attempted to do some research beforehand. I found that although 30,000 people attempt to climb Kili each year there is not a lot of commonly available literature out there to help. Indeed some that I ordered through the internet never arrived, being on back order or out of print. Try finding a trekkers map of Kili and it is out of stock or out of print! I never did get one. A book on the flora of Kili? There is supposedly one for sale but I haven’t found it. The only book that I actually received through ordering on the web was Hemingway's THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO which doesn't really qualify as a "how to guide". The web is slightly better, although wading through the myriad of commercial sites attempting to get you to book your climb with them confuses the issue for someone who has already booked, and is looking for hard facts on the equipment you will need, the natural history, or the conditioning required.
This post is an attempt to add to the info that is available to you without any commercial interest.

Equipment

If you are thinking of climbing Kilimanjaro you will need some equipment. If you read the travel guidebooks you will see that apparently you can rent everything you need in Tanzania. Perhaps you can but my climb was pretty much a once in a lifetime experience and I did not want a few hundred dollars worth of equipment to prevent me from success or enjoyment.
If you are going with a group, your travel agent will make recommendations about equipment and there are a multitude of books and websites that can help you. Just about any large outdoor equipment store will be very happy to help you out with their recommendations. If you can talk to someone who has done the trip so much the better.
I have done the trip so here are a few recommendations of mine.

Boots

Don’t skimp on boots and don’t leave it to the last minute. Get a good pair of multi-day hiking boots. You won’t really be carrying a full load as you will have porters, but much of the trail is fairly rugged so the heavier boot is welcome. As well, on the final night of climbing you will be cold. Take that as a given. Again the heavier boot will provide more warmth. I have two suggestions.

Buy them early. In fact if you don’t have a good pair now and are contemplating Kili, start looking. The last thing you want to do is break in a new pair of boots while climbing the mountain. You might make it to the top OK but the trip down will be a different story. The hike down is going to be a struggle regardless and if your heels are blistered it will be hell. Buy them as early as you can and start wearing them. You will be in them for eight or ten hours a day at minimum and on summit day for about eighteen hours. I would recommend building up to wearing them for eight hours a day in normal daily activities and then start hiking in them. If at all possible hike in a hilly area. Going up and down is where your boots and feet will feel it. When they are comfortable you will know it.

Make sure they fit correctly in the store. Before you start trying boots on look at the ones in the store and decide which models you are interested in. Then start trying them on. Don’t settle for the best fit in the store. Find the right fit if it means visiting a dozen stores and trying on a hundred pairs. Everyone’s feet are different so the right boot for one may not be the right boot for you. Boots can not be sloppy on your feet but you will want room for warm hiking socks. Try the boots on with the socks you will wear on the mountain. If the fit doesn’t feel perfect in the store it probably isn’t the right boot. The new boots will be stiff but they should feel good on your feet. Experience helps here, so if you have someone you trust who will help, by all means take them along on the shopping expedition. Most avid hikers are more than willing to spend a few hours in the local outdoors stores.

Poles

Hiking poles are something relatively new. I had never used them. They were recommended to me and so I tried them. I can pass on that recommendation! I am glad I had them and wouldn’t do a long hike again without them. I’m not sure I would do a short hike without them either. They give you added stability on tricky terrain and allow your arms to take some of the work off you legs. I bought the collapsible ones and considering you will probably be flying to Africa they are the wisest choice.

Sleeping Bag

Depending on the route you take you will really only experience one cold night sleeping. I bought a mummy bag rated for minus 12 degrees C and was quite comfortable. I don’t think I would want much less of a bag but neither would I want a heavier bag. There were quite a few people on the mountain with lighter sleeping bags but many of them complained of cold nights. If you are cold you aren’t getting a good sleep and it affects your days as well.

Clothing

Only three things to say:

Layering
Fleece
Gore-Tex (or some other waterproof breathable).

Seriously check with your local outdoors store!

Miscellaneous

Chemical hand warmers- I have seen photos of people at the summit in T-shirts. That wasn’t on our trip. On the hike up to Gilman’s point in the dark it was cold. No let me rephrase that. It was COLD!!!!!!!. After about four hours my hands were seriously complaining. Luckily a family member in Canada had given me as a gift some chemical hand warmers. They saved the day and I don’t think I would have enjoyed the rest of the climb without them. For a few dollars and a few grams of weight they are worth it whether you use them or not.

YakTrax- when we got to the crater rim the trail to the summit was narrow and very icy. Apparently I wasn’t the first to think of climbing Kilimanjaro. The trail was slippery and in some places the drop to one side or other would have been serious, or at least the stop at the bottom would have hurt. In Canada and probably anywhere there is “winter” they sell something called YakTrax which are a rubber mesh with steel grippy things that slip over your shoes or boots and provide traction on icy surfaces. While very cautiously picking my way along the trail to the summit and back I wished I had a set of them. Again, cheap, light and would be worth looking into. Mountain Equipment Co-op sells them.

Lithium batteries- if you are taking a camera (and let’s face it who isn’t?), ordinary AA batteries don’t last long in freezing temps. Lithium works. Before setting out on the summit climb change your cameras batteries to lithium and your headlamps batteries as well. They will last you till you get off the mountain even at 20 below.

Speaking of which, you will want a headlamp. The new lights are bright, lightweight and you will wonder how you ever did any camping without them. We used them every evening walking about the huts. Remember you are on the equator so it is pitch black by 6 pm. We also used them on the actual summit climb. Just about any outdoor store or the MEC has them



Fitness for Kilimanjaro

Before I start please do not take me as an expert. Do your own research. The group you are travelling with will likely make recommendations and or have a trainer lined up. There are numerous websites out there about climbing Kili and many of them discuss training in depth

When I climbed Kilimanjaro I was a few months shy of fifty years old. I have always kept active, but I am not a real fitness fanatic. Mostly, I like to be outside, whether on my bike or hiking. Regardless, when I committed to Kilimanjaro I obviously wanted to bring my fitness level up as high as I could. I did a variety of activities including hiking in hilly areas for a few hours at a time two or three days a week. I climbed in February so our later hikes were in the dead of the Canadian winter which helped acclimatize to the cold on the last days climb. It was still mind numbingly cold during the climb to Gilman’s Point but I am glad for those training hikes in the cold. I also went to the gym and did a variety of exercises to build up strength. However I think that the one thing that I did that helped me the most was spinning. For the last three months I joined a 50 minute Spinning class three times a week. If you are not a cyclist then I would recommend working your way into spinning slowly and as soon as you can after committing to climb Kilimanjaro. I climbed with two others, close in age and fairly active people. Both of them concentrated on stepping machines and both ran into difficulty the last night. I had no problems with breathing or fitness. I don’t guarantee that that was the reason for the difference but I feel my spinning classes gave me an excellent cardio workout. One trainer I knew who has climbed Kili recommended doing spinning classes with a paper dust mask on to simulate the struggle breathing that we would experience. I didn’t go so far but I never had breathing problems either.

Altitude Sickness

I really don’t believe you have to be an Olympic athlete to climb Kili. Anyone who is in good shape, and has some hiking experience should be able to make it. However everyone has a different reaction to altitude so fitness is only part of the equation. I experienced no symptoms of Altitude Sickness on this climb. If I was to do it again I might. I am not a Doctor. I recommend that before going you talk to your doctor about Altitude Sickness and about possible preventative measures. You can be the fittest person on the mountain and be turned back by Altitude Sickness. Having said that, being in good shape will make the climb more enjoyable. There will be some links to sites on altitude sickness later.

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