dhruvsharma

1. It's not a good idea to start packing on sunday night, when the flight leaves on monday morning. I forgot a few things - although I managed well without them. 2. Most accounts about the Kili climb are scary. The climb is not that bad .. really! Its a bit demanding physically, but its more of a mental thing. I just had 2.5 weeks to prepare for it. Lonely Planet and other books are overtly conservative iassesment, and if you follow them, you'll end up over-preparing and over-packing. 3. No need to get typhoid/Hepatitis/yellow fever vaccination and malaria pills. They are overkill. Just be sensible about what you eat (no uncooked food except bananas/thick skinned fruits), and protect yourself from mosquitoes by wearing full sleve shirts/pants, sleeping under mosqitoe net 4. Pranayama and Ginko Biloba ... read more

Because I climbed Kili one day early, I had an extra day to spend. I tried hard to move my return a day early, but Ethiopian was fully booked. So 2nd was my day to rest and enjoy Arusha I went to cyber-cafe, walked around the city, met a couple of interesting swedes at a cafe and talked about liberal politics. This person I met was more militant than green peace demonstrators, and was denied entry in US because she belonged to a socialist group in sweden. All through the trip, I met most interesting people with such diverse background! She was in her late 20s, worked for DHL in sweden, and had taken 3 months off to tour Africa from Cape Town to Khartoum (sudan). Before that, she had traveled more countries in Asia, Europe, ... read more

This was my last day in Serengeti, and I hadnt seen lions from close proximity. I woke up early yet again, to beat everyone to toilet, and also to start the game-drive really early. I even skipped breakfast because I wanted to spend as much time as possible watching animals. I asked Omar to take me to those lion dens (Kopjes). We were rewarded at the first Kopje itself - 3 lions (1 male and 2 females) walked right past our car. They were so close that I could almost touch them. And then we saw a whole pride of lionesses basking in sun with cubs. In my next life, I want to be a lion. Perfect life they have - lay in sun and relax, have a pride of lionesses .. and make the lionesses ... read more

In my excitement, I woke up early on 29th. I didnt need a wakeup call from front-desk because the mosque and church did that job dutifully (precisely at 5 am). I met Ameer - my safari guide/driver after breakfast. He was a Bantu (majority tribe in Tanzania), very friendly, wise and knowledgeable person. I liked him from the start. Our vehicle was Range Rover whose top could come off .. and I got myself the front seat. We went to pickup other 5 of our group. The group I met was predominatly Aussie. There were 11 of them, and 12 of us (including me) were divided in 2 groups to go in different land rovers. Of the 5 in my car, 2 were aussies (Ben and Terry), 2 were kiwis (Rich and his wife) and one ... read more

So I was forced out of bed by noise-making room-mates by 11. Tea and biscuits (much like glucose biscuits in India) were served. I could only take 4 of them. At 00:10, Ambrose and I started. We were the last ones to leave from our hall. It was a clear night - moon was bright, even though it wasnt a full-moon. Suky was beautiful with so many stars... I have never seen such a beautiful, starry night. Too bad I couldnt take any pics. For this climb, I just had my guide with me. Porters and cooks stayed back. Plan was to reach the crater rim around sunrise, reach the Uhuru peak around 7:30 and then come back for late breakfast at Kibo Hut and then late lunch at Horombo. First 15-20 minutes of ascent were ... read more