Tanzania - ilivetotravel's travel log

Of Kids, Water, a Fence, and Chicks – the Kili Centre Orphanage

3 May 2013 by Raul 17 Comments

Going to Tanzania was not just about climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro though that consumed most of my energy pre-trip (and, heck DURING the trip!). I had done a hike in the Transylvanian Alps in Romania last summer with Trekking for Kids (TFK) and I was so impressed, not only with the excellent logistics planning for the hike, but also with the great care with which the orphanage had been selected and the projects chosen. So going to Kilimanjaro was also about having another opportunity to help improve the lives of orphaned children via TFK. Tanzania is far and doing this trek was a not-trivial use of my time and money (though TFK is much cheaper than many outfits who organize Kili hikes). But I understood that my efforts would really make a difference on these kids’ lives and that my hike would be safe and well-planned.

I have written a few posts about the planning of my trip and the hike itself (see links at the end of this post). So I wanted to focus this post on the orphanage we worked with in Moshi: the Kili Centre.

Kili Centre orphanage in Moshi, Tanzania

Kili Centre welcomes its visitors!

The Kili Centre orphanage

I posted in LinkedIn that I was going to hike Kili and work with this orphanage as part of the fundraising all trekkers commit to do (raise a minimum of $1,000). One of my connections replied that she had been there and that the Centre’s leader, Michael, was doing a great job with the orphanage and the kids. Though I know TFK does a thorough job vetting orphanages, it was still good to hear this. After finally meeting and spending time with Michael in Moshi, I have to agree with the assessment my connection had made. He had a great vision for the orphanage and the projects he had proposed were very well thought through in terms of sustainability, impact to the children and the future of the orphanage, and ability to demonstrate to the donors their money had been well spent.

The projects funded at the Kili Centre

The future site of the Kili Centre

The Kili Centre rents its current location but it is not adequate anymore for the needs of the orphanage or meeting its future plans to accept more children. Some of the changes that would make it more adequate may not be acceptable to the landlord so the Kili Centre needed to find, not only a new location, but a place where it can be owner of its domain, so to speak.

New Kili Centre location in Moshi, Tanzania

New Kili Centre location with Kilimanjaro covered by clouds (showing the new fence)

What’s in a fence?

So Michael was able to raise funds to buy a new lot (with a GREAT view of Kilimanjaro!! though maybe this is not hard in the area given its proximity to the mountain and the height of the mountain). But this lot sat empty and ran the risk of being taken over by others. In many places in Africa, having title to land is not enough. If people squat on it, or neighboring folks start farming it, at some point one runs the risk of losing it. In addition, I heard there are rules that a purchased lot has to have something built on it in a certain amount of or, otherwise, the government can take it back. So here came an opportunity for the first and main project funded by the trekkers’ fundraising and their generous donors: building a perimeter fence around the lot.

New fence on the Kili Centre's future home

TFK Executive Director Cindy Steuart and trekker Dave Hughart at the fence on our first visit

Guardhouse at the site of the new Kili Centre

Progress while we were there! The finished guardhouse (shown without a roof in the prior pic)

H20 – Water – A basic necessity we take for granted

Though not an immediate impact to the kids’ lives, it will clearly help the children eventually have a new place that will better serve their needs. For example the current location of the orphanage does not have running water. So water must be trucked in (at great expense due to the cost of the vehicle and gas). In the new location, not only did the project build the perimeter fence (and the gate/guardhouse) but it also connected the lot to the town’s water system!!

I was very excited to see the running water during my visit of the new site. Water is fundamental to progress in less developed locations as it is essential for good health. Without good health, the education of the children suffers. So having running water in their new location will be a real improvement in the quality of life at the Kili Centre.

One of the faucets installed connected to the water system – water, the stuff of life!

Clearly, just having a fence and running water will not be enough to give the Kili Centre its new home. However, the evidence that other donors saw the Kili Centre’s plan as solid will help it in fundraising to have the wherewithal to build the different structures that will be needed.

Chicks (not for free, contrary to what Dire Straits may say)

One of the Centre’s activities that provide both a food source and income is its chicken coop. However, the Centre had been forced to sell its chickens in order to pay for the schooling of the children. The chickens had been towards the end of their productive years so the decision to sell them for meat was a good one however, it set the chicken coop back. So, some of the budget TFK had for projects went to buy chicks to “replenish” the chicken coop and assure some income and food for the Centre.

Trekkers and kids given the thirsty chicks some water upon their arrival at the Kili Centre

Trekkers and kids given the thirsty chicks some water upon their arrival at the KC

The kids well-being

Another item on the project list was repairing the furniture in the kids’ rooms and getting them new mattresses with new mattress covers (to make them last longer) along with new blankets. Their rooms looked great!

Refinished bunk beds and cabinets

Focus on education

As alluded to, the Centre is focused on the children getting a good education. (I wonder if the children of the Centre are more “lucky” than the children outside the orphanage given the attention paid to their studies by the Centre’s staff.) The Centre had a computer lab with learning software but the PCs were ancient and they no longer were going to be good for supporting new/additional software. TFK’s funds supported the wholesale replacement of the computer lab!

Computer lab being set up at the Kili Centre

Computers being set up!

The focus on education does not stop at school and academics. The Centre had identified developing a sewing “program” to teach a potential income-earning skill to the girls at the orphanage. Once kids leave an orphanage, it is important to have given them education and skills to make it in life in terms of livelihood. So the Centre had proposed TFK fund a sewing room: from setting up the power outlets to the scissors and materials, and everything in between. With the funds provided, used sewing machines were acquired, brought up to par and installed in the new sewing room!

New sewing room

While these are not all the projects, I hope you can see why I was so pleased that my efforts to fundraise and my “investment” of my own time and money were well worth it. But enough about the projects and on to the great kids of the Kili Centre!!!

The children

The first time we got to the Kili Centre, the children were right there waiting for us. They surrounded our bus as we arrived for the first of 4 days we would spend with them (2 before and 2 after climbing Kilimanjaro).

Welcoming the visitors at the Kili Centre

Cheerful welcome!

That day, they had prepared a dance show for us. You could tell they loved dancing and putting on a show and, in us, they had an audience wanting to see all they had prepared. The kids who danced were definitely high energy and not shy!

Part of the welcome show put on for us!

Kili Centre kids show us traditional Masai dance at the Kili Centre in Moshi, Tanzania

Kids doing traditional Masai dance

Our time at the Centre was mostly spent with the kids. We had brought gifts for them (they are kids after all!) and it was a lot of fun giving each of them a backpack full of goodies and also distributing items like soccer balls, frisbees, and volleyballs. Of course, we then got to use many of those things in an afternoon of just “being.” I worked along with two kids and another trekker on a challenging jigsaw puzzle that, to this day, I hate not having had time to finishing!

One night, we ate at the orphanage during a party where again the children danced and neighbors of the orphanage were invited to come. I was so proud watching the kids’ manners. They lined up by section to go get the food, took everything back when they were done, etc. Just like I noticed in Romania, the children of this orphanage were very well taught by their staff. The staff was very much engaged with the kids and I do not recall any instance of the staff just bossing the kids around. All the engagement I noticed was warm and, at times, playful. It made me feel good this was the right orphanage to have invested myself in.

Trekking for Kids trekkers, Kili Centre staff and kids in Moshi, Tanzania

TFK photo of the entire group: Kili Centre kids and staff along with the trekkers!

One of the hardest moments in these trips is saying goodbye. You have developed, usually, a connection with some of the kids and you hate to leave. Unfortunately, the fourth day of being with the orphanage, I was bedridden with a nasty cold/infection that hit me once we came down from Kilimanjaro. I had forced myself on the third day to come along with the group but on the fourth day, I just slept all day. So I missed saying my goodbyes and I am saddened by that. However, I know the children now have a better home and are set up for an even better one in the future thanks to having been part of this trek.

To Michael and the staff at the Kili Centre: thank you for the great job you do with the kids and the Centre.

To TFK: thanks for another great opportunity to push myself (up a mountain) and to make a clear difference in childrens’ lives.

To my donors and supporters: thank you for your financial generosity and moral support to make this happen for the kids!

To the Kili Centre kids: keep studying hard, be good and stay cool!

Kids showing off their new backpacks and sunglasses!

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– Preparing for the hike is more than training and gear

– The Machame Route: our way up

– 7 things you will not see me without as I climb Kili

– Day 1 of the hike (starting the climb!)

– Day 2 of the hike (getting to Shira Camp)

– Day 3 of the hike (the Lava Tower and hail)

– Day 4 of the hike (Barranco Wall)

– Day 5 of the hike (getting to summit base camp, Barafu)

– Day 6 of the hike (the ascent to the summit – Uhuru Peak)

– Interview with fellow Kili climber and Ultimate Global Explorer

Filed Under: Africa, Tanzania Tagged With: Kilimanjaro, moshi, Tanzania, travel, trekking, voluntourism

A Brief Visit to a Masai Village

24 March 2013 by Raul 17 Comments

The day we were to enter the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, we first made a stop outside of the park at a Masai village. My image of the Masai before this visit was of tall, lean men wearing blue or red clothes holding a cane-like piece of wood. I knew they were a nomadic people and that they lived generally in both sides of the border between Kenya and Tanzania. However, that was the extent of my knowledge about them.

Visiting a Masai village is not the only time you can see the Masai as you see them in small towns as you traverse this part of Tanzania and as they may work in some of the places you may stay. You will also see them herding their cattle to take them to get water (like the ones we saw heading into the Ngorongoro Crater).

When we were taken to their village, I was not sure what was in it for them. I understood they lived off their cows and didn’t have many possessions since they are nomadic so I didn’t quite get it. I was not aware that some do make the best of the tourism in the area by making crafts to sell to visitors. Basically we were taken to their village so we could get a glimpse into their lives in return for the potential purchases we would make from their inventory of crafts. I am used to tours (big or small) always taking visitors to places for shopping and sometimes I can find that tedious (even if I do need to buy some gifts to bring back home). This time, I somehow did not mind.

Crafts for sale at a Masai village in Tanzania

Some of the crafts

First, they welcomed us with some chanting and by placing ornaments around the necks of the female visitors. They also proceeded to show how high they can jump and got one of our guys to try jumping higher than them – nope, could not do it!

Masai welcome at their village in Tanzania

The group welcoming us to their village

Masai women welcoming us to their village in Tanzania

Women greeting us

I found the short glimpse we got into their lifestyle very interesting. We were divided into smaller groups so we could each visit the small home of the Masai and there talk a little bit about how they live. The warrior into whose house we went offered good information and was generous in answering our questions.

Exterior of a Masai warrior's hut in Tanzania

Exterior of a Masai hut

Our host and some visitors at one of his wives’ hut

Among the things our warrior shared with us:

things are communal; they make crafts and the sales go to the entire group
they are polygamous
since their huts are so small, the house in which the warrior sleeps at night, any kids older than 4-5 get sent to another wife’s hut
the warriors’ job is the safety of the group; women have a long list of things they are responsible for like building the huts, cooking, fetching water, minding the children, etc.
some warriors get an education in a village or town so they can, for example, speak English and welcome tourists to their villages
life centers around the cattle on whose milk and blood they depend
they move every 2-3 months to a new place (where there is more grass for their cattle)
when someone dies, they leave the body out in the open to be nourishment for animals; they leave some marker so people know not to build their camp there; supposedly, a few months need to pass before the area can be used again
they live typically into their 100s (he also told us they don’t have illnesses).

After chatting with the warrior and checking out the crafts (and making purchases), we stopped at the tiny schoolhouse for their group. The kids were into showing they could read the words on the blackboard!

School building

The kids at school

I left with admiration for a people who seem to strike a workable balance between living according to their traditions while dealing with some of modern life with common sense (like taking advantage of the opportunity that visitors can provide in terms of extra income for the group). We gladly perused their crafts and, while certainly not offered very cheaply, we were happy with negotiating some but not as much as we had done in other settings.

Masai women with the containers to store cow’s milk and blood

Curious what else others know about the Masai. Leave a comment and share!

Filed Under: Africa, Tanzania Tagged With: crafts, Masai, serengeti, Tanzania, tourism, travel, village, warrior

On the Machame Route | Kilimanjaro Day 1

12 March 2013 by Raul 21 Comments

Writing about my hike to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro along the Machame Route is no easy task. What to share? Clearly the “facts” of the route, camps, durations, altitude, acclimatization, weather, gear, the day-to-day routine, etc. are all important elements of the story. But the more I thought about how to write about this experience, the more I realized I wanted to share how it felt first and foremost. And also covering some of the elements listed earlier as they fit into the overall story, instead of making those the focus of each story, making this more a log of the climb. As I mentioned in another post, preparing for Kili is more than training and gear. I hope that you will see, over the series of writeups, that an emotional element also applies to actually doing the climb. Let’s get going with day 1!

The Machame Route and the climb

One second… before getting into the hike itself, a quick word about the route that we took for this climb. Our group went up the Machame Route, known for its vistas and for not being as crowded as other routes. Also, the Machame Route is a route with a higher likelihood of success than the so-called “Coca-Cola Route” (the Marangu Route). That is because it offers better altitude adjustment or acclimatization to the ever higher elevations the trek would face (climb high, sleep low; 6 days of ascent; etc.).

The climb itself is to Uhuru Peak. Mt. Kilimanjaro actually refers to the entire mountain, the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. Uhuru Peak is the highest point on the mountain and, therefore, in Africa! Whereas Uhuru Peak is the goal, the entry point to the goal on the Machame Route is called Stella Point. Once you get to Stella Point, there is about one more hour before reaching the actual summit. Making to Stella Point, though, is no guarantee that one will reach Uhuru Peak though… More on summit night in another post. Let’s go back to day 1 itself.

Starting day 1: waiting at the Machame Gate

Day 1 starts full of anticipation. The trekkers finish prepping the daypack they will carry on their backs. And packing the other piece of luggage that will be taken from camp to camp by the porters accompanying our group.

Backpacks ready to go up Mt. Kilimanjaro

Daypacks waiting for their trekkers!

We got up at the crack of dawn to head from our hotel (the awesome Honey Badger Lodge) to the hotel from which the mountain trek would leave, the Springlands Hotel, home base of Zara Tours who Trekking for Kids had hired to do our trek. So add 20-30 minutes to the lead time… (I would have rather stayed at Springlands the night before but I imagine it was booked since there were a few buses loading that morning to go to the mountain.)

The ride to the Machame Gate, entry point to the Machame Route, could not start quickly enough. As with many things, one gets ready and then one waits. After we finished leaving some of our non-trek stuff in storage at the Springlands, our bus arrived and the process of loading up our trek bags began. Finally -and not soon enough- we were on our way to the Machame Gate. It seemed to take forever but it couldn’t have been more than 1 hour or hour-and-a-half. We were just so ready to get the climb going!

At the Machame Gate

Once we arrived at the Machame Gate, we proceeded to, you guessed it perhaps, sit and wait for about an hour. The reason, though, was quite simple: the permits had to be purchased by the lead guides. This process takes time as we were not the only ones there (fancy that!). This would be a reality throughout the trek: others are there with you. Not that we expected to be alone, mind you. Just that one never stops to consider that fact until one gets to this departure gate. While it could have been chaotic, it really was not; everything was fairly orderly. We proceeded to eat our boxed lunches while we waited and took a few pictures to commemorate the start of our climb.

ilivetotravel doing the obligatory photo at the Machame Gate, looking ready and clean!

Another thing you can do while you wait is read the few signs posted with instructions and warnings for those starting to climb Kili. Good reading.

We cheered when we saw our guide come over with paperwork – it meant we were ready to go. The funny thing is that we saw other guides come out around the same moment with their papers. You would think the first-come, first-serve approach would have led to guides coming out gradually and sequentially. Nope. It seems all permits were issued almost at the same time for all the groups waiting! That meant, everyone got going at the same time creating a little bottleneck at the entrance gate. We got to pass quickly through without waiting long so we were FINALLY on our way!!

The hike on day 1

Day 1 was mainly going through a forest habitat starting at 6,000 ft (1,830 m) and ending at the Machame Camp at 10,200 ft (3,100 m).

Day 1 of the Machame Route of Kilimanjaro

Typical of the day 1 Machame Route. Notice the porters on the trail.

It may have been the built-up anticipation but, for the most part, I didn’t feel the altitude wear on me as the day went on. We were fortunate it did not rain that day. So, the gaiters were not really needed (those green things I am wearing on my legs in the earlier photo to help prevent mud or pebbles from getting into our boots). This part of the trail is about the nicest one with some work done to create a good trail for part of the way.

Arrival at the Machame Camp

Our arrival at camp was about 4:30 PM, five hours after we started that day. We were thrilled at having completed our first day of 6 to get to the summit. While we knew we still had a lot of challenges ahead, it felt SO good to have one day under our belt! At this point we did our first book signing to show we were there. This is a key requirement if we wanted to be issued an official completion certificate at the end of the hike.

The Machame Camp sits in an area with plenty of vegetation. This means we had more smaller animal life than we would have higher up; read, mice. Key here is to keep the tent zipped up when not coming and going! The Machame Camp has a toilet building that is pretty new. I heard it had both Western toilets and Turkish toilets, if those are the proper names for the fixture types. We also had a pair of portable toilets-tents and I preferred those… (less smelly).

In any case, getting to camp means setting up the sleeping tents and the mess hall tent. Normally the porters who carry these items and set them up get there ahead of the trekkers and the guides but on day 1 we got there at the same time. So this day we got to watch them at work.

Setting up camp

Wrapping up our first day on the mountain

Once the tents were set up and before dinner was ready, I, like some of the other trekkers, got organized by washing up, taking out the items needed for the night (headlamp, etc.), and preparing the daypack for the next day. Oh, and the getting drinking water and treating it (Steripen worked wonderfully!) – a staple of the every day life on the mountain!

Yours truly getting ready for my first night camping ever!

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset that night before heading to the mess hall tent for dinner. I took advantage of an early bedtime so I could be well-rested for day 2 – NICE! Dinner included a hot soup, potatoes, fried fish, vegetables, and small bananas along with tea and hot chocolate. On to my first night camping ever and day 2!

Tents at Machame Camp during sunset in Kilimanjaro

Our tents with a beautiful backdrop courtesy of the African sunset

On to Day 2 on the Machame Route…

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Other posts about the Kilimanjaro trek:

– Preparing for the hike is more than training and gear

– The Machame Route: our way up

– Day 3 of the hike

– Day 4 of the hike

– Day 5 of the hike

– Day 6 of the hike (summit night)

– 7 things you will not see me without as I climb Kili

– Interview with fellow Kili climber and Ultimate Global Explorer

Filed Under: Africa, Hiking, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania Tagged With: climb, hiking, Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro route, Machame gate, starting machame route, Tanzania, Uhuru

Tanzania’s Lake Manyara: A Cool and Easy Safari

9 March 2013 by Raul 11 Comments

After our climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro, some of the group had signed up for a safari in Tanzania taking advantage of having spent the time and money to travel so far from home already. I had been to the Serengeti six years before on a day trip in from the west side since I had been working in Mwanza and only had one day off. I remember how neat it had been but also how rushed it had been. I only got to see a lion perched atop a large rock. I had also done a one day trip into the Pilanesberg Game Reserve close to Pretoria, South Africa after attending a work conference in Johannesburg.

I had been left wanting a proper safari. However, as I had at least been to these places, a proper safari was not at the top of my bucket list. The opportunity to return to Tanzania for the Kili climb set up my chance to do a safari proper.

Our safari began with our departure from our hotel in Moshi, Tanzania (just east of Arusha) with all our belongings since we would not return to that town prior to our departure back home days later. And the first target for our safari was the Lake Manyara National Park in the Great Rift Valley area of Tanzania.

Getting to Lake Manyara NP

As you can see in the first map below, it neighbors the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the southeast. You can also see how much smaller it is than those two, making it quite doable in a short afternoon. I cannot recall exactly how long it took us from Moshi but I want to say about 3 hours.

Tanzania Map Serengeti Lake Manyara — Map showing Lake Manyara in relation to the rest of the country (Source: www.globalsojourns.com)

As you can see on the next map, the park mainly sits on the western side of Lake Manyara. We entered from the north and traveled along the main road until we exited to head to the town of Karatu where we were going to stay for the night before heading into the Serengeti. The road to Lake Manyara NP is mostly paved or in the process of being paved. The latter made for a dusty ride but mercifully it was only in certain places. And, hopefully, it will be completely paved in the near future. Good job, Tanzania, on investing in the infrastructure that will support your tourism industry!

Map of Lake Manyara Tanzania in relation to Ngorongoro — Detail of the Lake Manyara National Park (Source: www.safarilands.org)

Baboon welcome to Lake Manyara NP

Lake Manyara felt very different to what I remembered of the Serengeti. Of course, entering the Serengeti the next day confirmed for me that it was not just a matter of me forgetting how the Serengeti had looked on my visit 6 years before. The Lake Manyara NP, which occupies about 127 sq miles (330 sq km) of which 60% is the lake itself, is very lush with trees providing a different setting for the animals than the Serengeti. It is compact yet offers a microcosm of what the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro area will later offer us. The lake seemed to be on the dry side when we were there. In the following picture, you can barely even see the lake from a slightly higher vantage point on the road out of the park.

Baboons quickly makes themselves the first animals we see.

Baboons in Lake Manyara, Tanzania during safari

They are everywhere eating grasses, picking lice or something off each other, and mainly looking at us quizzically but unperturbed. You can’t help but stare at them and notice their hairless behind. I respected their privacy and minded their feelings by not taking a picture of said-behinds 🙂

Baboon in Lake Manyara, Tanzania during safari

And the rest of the wildlife…

… No, no, not the people in my vehicle! Moving from the road towards the lake offers different animals to view. However, I do not know if visitors are taken on vehicle towards the lake – at least we did not. Regardless here are some of the other local denizens who allowed us into their space.

Dwarf kingfisher bird — Colorful dwarf kingfisher

Zebras under a dark sky in Lake Manyara — A good dark sky is always a good backdrop!

Young and adult zebra in Lake Manyara — A young and an adult zebra wondering who we are

OK, I will NOT take this as a welcome gesture…

We also saw some elephants on this first day…

Elephant in Lake Manyara — The elephant was walking away. We thought that was the end of the show…

… This one in particular seemed to be preparing something for us… and I use the least graphic of the picture series 🙂

Elephant pooping in Lake Manyara — … but it had something in store for us… a welcome gift? We declined…

Lake Manyara is definitely a small piece of what Tanzania offers its visitors for animal-watching. But it is a unique ecosystem worth the drive through. My advice: see it before the Serengeti or Ngorongoro or, else, it could underwhelm you!

For more info on Tanzania’s many national parks, check their well-designed website at http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/.

Filed Under: Africa, Tanzania Tagged With: animals, Lake Manyara, map, moshi, ngorongoro, photos, safari, serengeti, Tanzania

The Machame Route: Our Route to the Top of Mt. Kilimanjaro

9 February 2013 by Raul 21 Comments

(At the end of this post, see the series of posts written post-climb about this route!)

I am a few days away from leaving for Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the rooftop of Africa. Eager anticipation and a modest level of anxiety are my constant companions these last few days before the trek… How fun will it be to finally see the mountain? Did I have the right pieces to deal with the extreme cold? Will my body cooperate? Will I summit? etc.

As I do a final review of the gear list, I am checking against the hike itinerary to be sure I am accounting for the right number of pieces given the varying climate zones we will encounter. Let me share with you what the climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro looks like. Mind you, this itinerary is based on going up the Machame Route (one of several routes available). The Machame Route is known to afford better altitude adjustment, offer better views, and typically have much less trekker traffic. All of these make it -ding, ding- a winner for me. Especially the better altitude adjustment since it increases the odds of summitting, something that is not assured even with a good fitness level since the lack of oxygen at high altitude can hit every person very differently.

Here is a view of the routes to climb Kilimanjaro to which you can refer as you read the day-by-day breakdown below.

Source: apartmentinlakeview.com

Itinerary to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro via the Machame Route

Day 1 – Adrenaline day!! Start at the Machame Gate at 1,800m/6,000ft. Head up to Machame Camp at 3,100m/10,200ft. It should take anywhere between 5-7 hrs depending on the number and duration of stops along the way. We should be covering around 18km/11miles. The habitat will mainly be forest. I am praying that adrenaline will carry me through the mud or whatever we encounter on this part of the hike!

Day 2 – “I can’t believe I am here” day. Continuing the climb, we go to the Shira Camp at 3,840m/12,600ft. This day we go for 4-6 hrs covering about 9km/5.5miles. The habitat here is moorland. You may ask what “moorland” looks like (like I did). So here you go, courtesy of http://www.africaimagelibrary.com. The landscape looks surreal, doesn’t it?

Day 3– Reality check day!! We leave the Shira Camp and move into semi-desert habitat. We head to the Lava Tower at 4,630m/15,200ft but descend to 3.860m/12,700ft to camp overnight at the Barranco Camp at 3,860m/12,700ft. As you may notice and wonder (like I did), why if we go up do we go through the effort of going BACK DOWN??!!! Seems counter-intuitive but after hearing the explanation, it makes perfectly good sense: you want to climb high to force the body to exert itself at altitude but then climb down so you can sleep at lower altitude (which means more oxygen) to help the body adjust better. OK, maybe also just the lay of the route contributes to this approach. This is the type of factor that helps improve the odds of making it to the summit. This hike will take 5-7 hrs and cover about 15km/9miles.

Lava Tower (Source: scottkress.com)

Day 4 – “OK, how much worse can it be compared to yesterday” day. This day we cross Alpine desert to go up to the Karanga Camp at 4,200m/13,800ft. This day we go up, and stay up. But we are not camping at the maximum height reached the day before so we are still sleeping lower than our maximum exertion the day before. Total time climbing should be around 4-5 hrs covering about 7km/4miles.

Day 5 – The “are we there yet?” day. Continuing to climb without descending, this day we move to 4,600m/15,100ft going for 4-6 hrs and covering 6km/3.7miles which seems a cake walk compared to the prior days given the shorter climb and duration but I am sure it will be anything but (you will see why as you read day 6)! We will stay at the Barafu Camp this night.

Day 6 – The big day!! This day we actually wake up at midnight (midnight between day 5 and day 6 – which means little sleep which will make ilivetotravel a little cranky – if he can muster the energy for that!). Why do we barely sleep this night? So we can see sunrise at the summit!!! It will be a long hard night for most of us as you can imagine. My headlamp will absolutely be my second best friend after all the layers of clothing that will keep me warm. Uhuru Peak (the tallest peak on Mt. Kilimanjaro) sits pretty at 5,896m/19,340ft. It will take us 7-8 hrs to go 7km/4miles. Yes, twice longer than the same distance on Day 4. Why? Well, it will be slower going due to the altitude. Pole, pole (slowly, slowly in Swahili) will rule this day. There will be ice/snow towards the summit and I hope to see the glacier that, it is said, will be gone in 30 years or so at the current rate. Stone scree will also be present so our gaiters will play an important role in keeping stuff out of our boots.

On this same day, of course, we have to get off the summit. So on to 7-8 more hrs. of descent to the Mweka Camp at 3,100m/10,200ft to what it will feel like drowning in oxygen!

Day 7 – The happy day!!! OK, Day 6 will be a VERY HAPPY DAY for those of us who summit. But Day 7 is happy in other ways – we get to celebrate our climb and we get to shower!!! We climb down to the Mweka Gate which sits at 1,830m/6,000ft, walking down for 4 hrs and covering 10km/6miles through a forest habitat. A beer will never taste as good as the one I am planning to have that night at dinner!

Again, another view of the route (there were a few good ones so I couldn’t just use one…).

Source: apartmentinlakeview.com

Climbing Kilimanjaro is not without risks

The key to a safe and successful climb is to be aware of what is ahead of you (literally and figuratively). Going slowly, staying hydrated all the way, minding where you are walking, and very important: listen to the lead guide and his aides. We are lucky to have a veteran of Everest, Kili and the rest of the Seven Summits (tallest peaks in every continent) which makes me feel much better. Able to detect altitude sickness early, knowing the landscape well, supportive leadership, etc. are very important traits in a lead guide and we have that in our lead guide, Luis Benitez, one of the leading high altitude mountaineers in the world. In addition, I have been on a prior trek with Trekking for Kids and everything is well thought through and planned. So Luis and TFK are what make me feel confident that I will have a safe and successful climb regardless of the highest point of my climb: at the summit or somewhere on the way there!

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I have added to this post the writeups for each day AFTER the climb so you can read more about each day! Also here is a post about the actual clothing I took to climb Kilimanjaro item by item with the corresponding explanations in case it helps you plan your own hike!

Day 1 – Getting Going

Day 2 – The Moorlands and Reaching the Shira Camp

Day 3 – A Lava Tower and then All Hail Broke Loose!

Day 4 – The Barranco Wall and Its Challenges

Day 5 – Rocks Everywhere!

Day 6 – Reaching Kilimanjaro’s Summit: Uhuru Peak

The descent from Uhuru Peak

Filed Under: Africa, Hiking, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania Tagged With: Africa, Kilimanjaro, Machame Route, Tanzania, trek, Trekking for Kids, Uhuru Peak

7 Super Photos from My Travels

30 April 2012 by Raul 6 Comments

My seven super photos below show the some of the things that amazed me and the memories I cherish from my many travels. I think I was tagged for this a few months ago. I can tell because I had begun placing candidate photos in a special folder but I couldn’t find a post… Thanks to Lola (@LolaDiMarco) for tagging me. I will need to think about who to tag since she probably hit some people I would have hit and I also don’t want to hit the person who tagged me months ago! (and I can’t remember who that is… my apologies, I was trying to get it done!)

Here it goes!

a photo that takes my breath away

Crossing the majestic Andes…

a photo that makes me laugh or smile

Walking like Egyptians… In Egypt.

a photo that makes me dream

In the Greeks Islands: A sunset in Mykonos

I dream of returning to Mykonos…

a photo that makes me think

Village savings and loan members posing near Mwanza, Tanzania: not begging for help, but taking control of their livelihoods. How we have lost that in our own country…

a photo that makes my mouth water

The grapes that yield a delicious Bordeaux…

a photo that tells a story

Hated taking this pic but it was very moving to see this in Pompeii…

a photo that i’m most proud of (aka, my NationalGeographic shot)

Overlooking Queenstown and The Remarkables in glorious New Zealand

Filed Under: Special Photos Tagged With: Andes, Bordeaux, Egypt, grape, Greece, Greek Islands, Italy, Mykonos, New Zealand, Pompeii, Queenstown, sunset, Tanzania, The Remarkables, Vesuvius, village savings and loans

First Experiences in Tanzania – Arrival in Dar es Salaam and Heading to Work

27 February 2012 by Raul Leave a Comment

Before the days of this blog, I would send periodic emails to family and friends about my travel. At first it was report that I’d made it to wherever and then I started adding some of the things I was seeing for no real reason other than I wanted to tell someone about anything interesting I saw from the trivial to the significant. What follows is the email I sent soon after arriving in Tanzania in 2007… Enjoy!

Hello, hope everyone is well. I have been now about 4 days in Tanzania for my work trip. After the long journey here, it is nice to be “settled” into a normal day-to-day living schedule though the first few days I kept waking up way too early for sanity (4 AM, 5 AM, etc.). Today, I slept past the desired wake up time. I think that is a good thing.

So what is my workday like? I start with a FULL breakfast at the hotel since lunch will not be until 1 PM, at the earliest, and since we start at the office at 8 AM. There is nothing in the vicinity of the office where you can buy any snack or other food, so I must load up at the hotel before coming over. No vending machines either. I fear hunger almost as much as I fear critters so I am proactive 🙂

The work location is what looks like an old house, big for the standards of Tanzania but smaller than the McMansions in Atlanta. Being an old house, rooms are small and I imagine some rooms where broken up into offices at some point too. Each little office has its own window A/C unit to keep people cooled. I was actually surprised they had these in every office but I am VERY glad for many reasons. I sit with the IT manager who has technical equipment in her office so her A/C unit works especially well to keep everything cool. I will miss her next week when she will not be at work since her office has to be kept locked due to the equipment and I will not be able to enter it…

Lunch is cooked on site by some ladies they hire to cook lunch for the office. Apparently everyone chips in like a subscription type of scheme because there is nowhere to eat around here. Visitors pay 2,000 shillings for lunch which sounds like a lot but it is less than $2. A bargain for a full plate of rice, a couple of small pieces of meat, beans or vegetables, and some fresh fruit. Around 530 PM we go back to the hotel. We are able to go out if we want but it means a taxi ride as there is nothing near the hotel (it is not near the city center).

Tanzania, unlike other countries where we do work, is quite safe so we are not required to stay in the hotel for our safety. I have heard stories of other countries where once you get to the hotel you must stay in per security standards. Transportation to and from work is provided by the local office, so we don’t have to worry about catching a cab, etc. That is a nice thing.

In the hotel I can get free wireless Internet access, unlike the US where we are squeezed to pay for that in most hotels. However, some nights the Internet connection is down which may have nothing to do with the hotel. That may not be atypical in many of the countries we work in from what I hear. Infrastructure (power, water, etc.) can be rather fragile. I have not experienced power outages in the hotel which is nice because it keeps the A/C on! (I am, I have to say, a little needy that way though I would survive without it if I had no choice which may happen when I travel outside of the big city.)

Alright, this has become quite a long email so I will begin to wrap up. My plans for the next few days are to travel to a town called Mwanza in the NW of the country to visit the field work Saturday and Monday (here is a link to my hotel there http://64.91.230.207/accomdation.html). From there, I get a small break on Sunday to visit the Serengeti National Park (hopefully) (this is where I may stay outside of the park http://www.spekebay.com/). I will return to Dar on Tuesday and probably head out to visit the field in Zanzibar.

Finally, I return to Dar and visit some of the field work done in the urban area here. We do a lot of work here related to health, education and national resource management (I was ignorant about this last area and now I am very curious to see the work we do; there is a strong correlation with national resource development like mining, forestry, etc. and poverty; the former when not managed tends to impact those who live in those areas rather strongly and negatively).

OK, now I will stop.

Filed Under: Africa, Tanzania Tagged With: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, travel

On the Shores of Lake Victoria in Mwanza and on to the Serengeti

22 February 2009 by Raul Leave a Comment

In early 2007, I went to Tanzania for work reasons and I was excited to get to this part of Africa. Two other entries in this blog cover the trip over and some observations about Dar es Salaam. This entry will share more of the logistical items about my visit to Mwanza, the actual stories of what I saw once there (field visits, the city, and the Serengeti) merit their own to-be-written entries and I don’t want to make this entry too long!

Part of the reason to be sent to Tanzania, as I may have mentioned in earlier entries, was to better understand my organization’s operations in the developing world. I was fairly new to the organization so this was to be part of my onboarding, if you will. There were a few places in Tanzania to potentially visit but we settled on a 1-day visit to Zanzibar and a 4-5 day visit to Mwanza, on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Getting to Mwanza

To get to Mwanza, I flew Air Tanzania as land travel is extremely slow (there is a train and some sort of road but nothing that would make for an easy and speedy trip; the latter being more important due to time constraints). The plane was brand new and very well kept. I was not sure what to expect but the service and the food were quite good and I felt quite safe flying the local airline. I landed in Mwanza and, though I have flown to a smaller airport (Contadora Island in Panama), I was amused by smallness of the airport and the baggage claim area: a wall divided the area where the plane was from baggage claim and a big rectangular hole in the wall was where the baggage handlers placed the luggage to then be claimed by the passengers.

Mwanza airport

Lodging in the City

I was picked up at the airport and taken to a hotel on the shores of Lake Victoria, named Hotel Tilapia (http://www.hoteltilapia.com/). There were different types of rooms and over the few days I was there, I got to try one of the rooms in the building and one of the rooms on the docked boat (the Buganda, which appeared in the movie the African Queen!). (I didn’t stay at the bungalows, the 3rd type of room.)

Tilapia Hotel House Boat Buganda in Mwanza, Tanzania

The Buganda

The one on the Buganda was rather interesting as the boat (which was well docked and tied up so it didn’t move) was sort of tilted. Also, my window to the water wasn’t really sealed so I wondered what creatures would come in during the night… Actually, both rooms were well fumigated so I actually saw no critter in either one (a key success factor for me even if the spray they use daily in the rooms is toxic to ANY living creature!).

The best feature of this hotel was being on Lake Victoria. There was an outdoor bar and restaurant area by the water which, as long as you had put on some mosquito spray, was quite enjoyable. Clearly, there are other hotels in Mwanza and I didn’t get to see them so there may be better options but this one worked well for me.

The Tilapia Hotel’s bar area right by the shores of Lake Victoria

Mwanza

Mwanza is blessed to be located on Lake Victoria and not terribly far from the western entrance to the Serengeti. It is the second largest city in Tanzania after Dar es Salaam (located on the Indian Ocean coast). I traveled the Mwanza region visiting projects with work which was a neat way to see the area. Some of the projects I visited had to do with village savings and loans (economic livelihood improvement projects). Everyone was very friendly to this visitor!!

Village savings and loan group in Tanzania

Village savings and loan group 1

Village savings and loan group 2

Being on the lake, it is a port (other countries bordering the lake include Kenya and Uganda). One of the natural features of the lake are the rock formations which you also see on land. The most famous of the rock formations is Bismarck’s Rock right by the shore.

Bismarck Rock in Mwanza (Tanzania), by Lake Victoria

Bismarck’s Rock

The city of Mwanza was very manageable and there seemed to be a lot of economic activity at the time. It was a great base to explore the lake area and enter the Serengeti from the west.

Downtown Mwanza

Lodging near the Serengeti

I did overnight in another part of the Mwanza region because I was going into the Serengeti (from the western entrance) the following day and since you want to be there at the crack of dawn, driving from Mwanza was not going to work. So I stayed at the Speke’s Bay Lodge ( http://www.spekebay.com/ ), run by some Dutch (if memory serves me right). They built the lodge area (bungalows and tent area) and they cleared the reeds/bushes from the shores of the bay and actually created a beach (which apparently is very difficult to keep clear of reeds so it is a labor of love, I suppose).

Speke Bay Lodge on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania

Speke Bay Lodge – my lodge

Speke Bay Lodge room by Lake Victoria in Tanzania

Speke Bay Lodge room by the shore of the lake

The “beach” looks very nice but not a beach you would walk around at night – the hippos are not far away and may meander through the beach! I stayed at a bungalow by the lake (the ground where the bungalows are is at a higher level than the beach so I assume the hippos can’t get up there, or so I hoped!). All night long I could hear the hippos – I could have sworn they were right outside my window! (They were not.) The hotel shuts off electricity at some point in the evening so it was an early night which suited me fine because of the early start. However, it was a very hot night and I didn’t think it wise to open the sliding door… One good thing was that the bed had a mosquito net and was quite comfortable.

Lots of wildlife around Speke Bay Lodge

Sunset on the shores of Lake Victoria at Speke Bay Lodge

Sunset on the beach at Speke Bay Lodge

Unfortunately, I did not spend too much time at the lodge because of all the visits on the day on my check-in and because of the very early check-out the next day. However, I had a great meal at their restaurant where a group of Canadians were nice enough to ask me to join them since I was on my own and the grounds were very beautiful and well kept.

There are likely other options (the lodge was on the more expensive side) that may make more sense but I generally went were I was taken so cannot offer other suggestions.

The area around Lake Victoria is beautiful and the memories of nature and people will last me a lifetime…

Sunset on Lake Victoria

Does someone else have insights into other hotels in the city of Mwanza and accommodations near the western entrance to the Serengeti? Can anyone comment on traveling by road or train instead of flying there?

Filed Under: Africa, Tanzania Tagged With: air tanzania, hotel, hotel tilapia, lake victoria, lodging, Mwanza, serengeti, Speke's Bay Lodge, Tanzania, travel

On the Way to Tanzania, via Dubai

31 January 2009 by Raul 8 Comments

My first international travel with the non-profit organization I work for was Tanzania. Originally intended as a one week review of operational controls, a second week was added to the trip to get me exposure to the field work we do in the developing world. I jumped at the opportunity to see firsthand what my new organization did and looked forward to my first opportunity to see sub-Saharan Africa.

Again, getting there is half the fun

Being mindful of cost, I found what was an incredibly cheap fare from Atlanta to Dar es Salaam for less than $1500. I did have to connect in Gatwick (connection hell, second perhaps to CDG) and then in Dubai. Connecting in Gatwick became more hell than I expected when I was informed I could only continue with one carry-on after standing in a security line for connections that would make a tortoise race look speedy. I had with me my laptop bag and a small backpack with camera and personal items. Shocked at this absurd rule from a major international gateway (which I have proactively sought avoiding ever since and recommend likewise), I had to reconfigure things such that I could send via checked luggage my now fairly empty laptop bag. Surely, as a passenger I could be notified of these sclerotic rules AHEAD of getting to the annoying airport?

In London I switched to Emirates Airlines and things picked up quickly. What a fantastic airline. Though traveling coach/tourist class, you are treated as if you had paid business class. Some frills (like footrests) but, more than anything, it was the flight attendants’ attitude towards their customers. I think U.S. based airlines have forgotten who it is they are seeking to serve. You don’t have to spend money, just please treat me nice and pretend you are happy I am there.

The special surprise for me on this Dubai-bound flight (besides the footrest) were the cameras in the underbelly and nose of the aircraft. You could watch from your seat monitor as you flew over things or the space straight ahead! A little freaky at first, it quickly became fascinating. Tops was watching the approach and landing in Dubai from the camera feeds.

Laying it over in Dubai

In Dubai, I had a very long 9 hrs. layover. I had tried to book a room in the hotel in the secured zone of the airport but it had been full weeks in advance and I didn’t feel like leaving the airport. Through research, I did find out that for like $12, you could take a shower in the gym facilities at the airport. These shower facilities were very nice and spacious (you got a private room) and that shower was heavenly. It helped me re-charge a little bit but 9 hrs. was too much time. Since I was traveling alone, it was hard for me to lower my guard enough to nap in any of the sitting areas or areas with the seats made for napping (nice airport!). So I was extremely fatigued and lucky to not have fallen asleep unexpectedly and deeply before my flight to Dar! I slept like a baby on the flight to Dar and I do not fall asleep easily on airplanes…

The Dubai airport is very glitzy in a commercial/Las Vegas-ish kind of way. But it felt nice and clean. It was interesting to see the flights to all these, to me, very exotic destinations that one rarely hears off in the U.S.: Khartoum, D’jamena, Tehran, Riyadh, etc. Very cool. Then you see the passengers from all over the world who cross paths at the airport with different languages, clothing, and customs… People ARE people. Seeing people sleeping UNDER the seats in the hallways of the concourse sure made it feel like the Dubai airport was the air-equivalent of a train station of the world, if such a thing existed.

The Dubai airport is also known for its shopping arcade. I did compare prices on some things and they did not seem really cheaper than back home (for example, electronics). That may have changed since I went a couple of years ago but it is best to do research before heading there to make sure you know if you are getting a deal… It may be that the real deals are in things like jewelry but that was not an area I researched nor was looking to shop in. Does anyone have any insights into what are the best deals to be had in that airport? Any other suggestions for things to do in that airport or the ease of getting in and out of the airport for a hotel stay in between flights?

In future entries, I will share more about Dar, Mwanza, the Serengeti, and Zanzibar. Stay tuned!