Blogs from Mount Kilimanjaro, North, Tanzania, Africa - page 14

My climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro began just after mid-night on the 5th of January, 2008. It was a frigid, moonless night and the sky was heavy with stars. Lights from the surrounding cities flickered over the African plains as if the starry sky had cast its reflection. The only other lights present were those of trekker’s head lamps snaking up the mountain like a fiery serpent. The darkness held an unnerving silence that was intermittently broken by gusts of wind or the occasional guide’s whistle. Rarely was a word spoken from the mouths of the trekkers attempting the climb. There was just too much focus; too much pain to ignore. This was the highest my body had ever gone and the hardest it had ever worked. My heart raced rapidly and with great ... read more

It was before even the crack of dawn we had to be up to catch the bus to Moshi, in the Kilimanjaro district of Tanzania. Sharing a car with one of the team leaders we had a long drive to the ferry port of Dar es Salaam before heading to the bus station. The roads near our house were drenched by the heaviest rain I have ever seen. The water poured down over three days leaving small lakes on the rougher parts of the roads. ‘Puddles’ would be an understatement. The rain in Tanzania falls mainly in the bus as I discovered finding my seat soaked and the curtain next to the window dripping, while curiously all the windows were shut. Thankfully I’d brought my coat which provided a barrier. ‘It will stop when the ... read more

Today we had the day off from volunteering for a group field trip to the Marangu waterfalls. Marangu is on Mt. Kilimanjaro but not too far up. Seventeen of us piled into the CCS van for a day of adventure. First we stopped at a local batik maker to order custom batiks. Next it was on to a volcanic rock quarry. This was unbelievable. People working in flip flops carting out volcanic rocks on their heads to be made into bricks for construction. I'll post pictures so you can see how amazing it was. Apparently the person who works inside the cave chopping the rocks makes 25 cents per rock while the people carrying and carving it make 5 cents. I don't know how these people don't screw up their necks by carrying everything on their ... read more

WE MADE IT! Yep, that's right, we have officially been to the highest point in Africa and it was amazing! What an experience. It started on the 11th when we were picked up from the cozy, comfortable Rivertrees at 8 am by our guide and a few other people from the company. On our way to the Machame gate we had to pick up several liters of water for our first day of hiking. After that they would be boiling stream water for us to drink. When we arrived at the Machame gate, we were really surprised to see LOTS of other climbers. We were the only ones in our group but there were at least 8 other groups there ready. Some of the groups had 2 people while others had 14! We packed our day ... read more

Hi, so today is Sunday, and i have a bit of time and thought i'd give it a shot to upload some pictures. It takes quite a long time (very slow connections and slow computers) to upload a photo, but here are at least a few impressions from my stay in Tanzania so far. Enjoy! I also added a few pics to the Maasai village blog, if you are interested! Cheers everyone ... read more