I'm wearing jeans! (aka Bye Bye Blogging)

I'm wearing jeans again, which means the trip, and therefore the blog, is over. I guess I could find some reason for continuing the blog, maybe to document my adventures in bschool, but to be honest, I've learned a few things about myself this summer that tell me thats not a good idea at all. To share a few:
1) While Dan was born to blog (if you havent checked out his blog yet, you really should - its hilarious: www.strangleagiraffe.blogspot.com), I was born to write in my journal about my feelings
2) Blogging is a pain in the butt. Especially in Africa where the internet is slow and expensive. (In Africa at one point I paid $10 for one hour of internet. My first day in Thailand I paid 50 cents). The whole trip, it felt like a job that I tried my best to procrastinate. (You'll notice that my last week in the islands I wrote not a single post, because I was so determined to make that time feel like vacation)
3) I missed my jeans. A LOT. In fact, I intend to never travel without them again. Therefore this blog would be a farce if I ever tried to continue it.

And so I'm closing the door on life without jeans. Its been great, really, but next trip I'm sticking to emails and picasa albums. Speaking of which, I'll be sending out some picasa links this weekend once I cull the 53 giraffe, 102 elephants and 570 antelope pictures down to something more manageable (interesting).

xo,
KC

Fastest Update Ever

Chiang Mai was awesome (thai cooking school, meet up with GSB crew, jungle trek, batman were just a few highlights); train to bangkok was late by 3 hours, took 12 hours, and sucked. watching Jaws on TV in the bangkok hotel while waiting for Alana so we could go swim in the ocean for 7 days was a dumb idea, Alana arrived right on time safe and sound and we were SO excited/in disbelief that we were in bangkok together. We're now on Koh Phanghan and off to the...FULL MOON PARTY. wish us luck. Our boat shuttle takes us there at 7:30pm and picks us up to go home at 7:30 am...

Train to Chaing Mai

Given that my sleeper seat had only cost $25 and based on other train experiences I've had where the food on board is either inedible or limited to chips and candy bars, I was prepared to huddle down for the 13 hour overnight train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai with my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee, spring rolls and some cashews saved from Tanzania. Instead, at 7:30, I was served delicious green curry chicken, with rice and soup and pineapple for dessert. Despite reports of a disco party in the dining car, I then settled into a great night of sleep on my comfy and spacious sleeper bed. In the morning, I was awakened for a hot breakfast of congee and coffee and pineapple and arrived in Chiang Mai just before 8am this morning. I'm staying at Julie Guesthouse in the old part of Chiang Mai for at least the next two nights. After that, who knows! Another update to come tomorrow...

Train food - it may not look like much, but when you're expecting nothing....its fabulous!!!

Train bed - lower berth is definitely better!
6:30am view from the train - almost to Chiang Mai!

Day Two in Bangkok - Ooops Day

Oops #1
I had planned all kinds of things for my second morning in Bangkok. Eating a delicious 8:30 breakfast at the hotel (a big part of the reason I was staying at the hotel was their reputation for amazing food), updating my blog from my in room computer with internet, repacking my bag, beating the crowds to visit the temples...all things I hoped to get done by noon.

Here's what I actually did by noon: I woke up. As a devout morning person, who is usually incapable of sleeping in past 7:30, it was very very weird to see 11:30 on the clock when I opened my eyes. The thought of missing the incredible breakfast I had been looking forward to since I checked in was devastating. Until I finally walked out at 12:30 and was greeted with a "Good Morning Ms George, are you ready for breakfast?" Ohmygod, so exciting. The pictures below show why:
I mean the fruit alone was to die for: pomelo (less bitter version of grapefruit), asian pear, dragon fruit (like white kiwi with more seeds, everywhere), papaya (i dont know about this one - still tastes like dirty socks to me), cantaloupe (also not my fave, but beautiful!), Rambutan (aka lychee lookalikes), watermelon, MANGOSTEEN (definitely my new favorite fruit)...add to that the amazing coconut pancakes, congee with yummy pork dumplings, yogurt with coconut...yum yum yum.

Ooops #2
Finally done eating, I headed to the Grand Palace to get in my culture for the day. Unfortunately, in addition to my internal alarm clock, my normally fairly decent sense of direction was off today too and I walked for 40 minutes in the opposite direction from the Palace. I mean, the complete opposite direction. In my defense, Bangkok is impossible to navigate, even for the taxi drivers (see yesterday's blog), but still, this was a big, embarrassing, thank-god-Im-traveling-by-myself-right-now, "oops". In fact, for a bit of irony, it was a taxi driver that actually rescued me and whisked me to the palace. At least I got my exercise in?

Along the way:

If you look really closely, there's a bead of sweat dripping from the King's nose...

No wonder Bangkok is dirty...

The Grand Palace was beautiful and surprisingly well-maintained (does gold leaf grow on trees here too?). A good way to spend an hour out of the busy city. Especially when youve been walking aimlessly in that city for almost an hour...
Ooops #3
Still in good spirits, and my normal, overly optimistic self, I decided I still had time to get some internet in before heading back to my hotel to collect my bags and make my 6pm train to Chiang Mai. I was soon pulled into the wonderful world of gmail, gchat and excel (yes, Team Africa I'm working on the grand total for everyone, I promise). And then, all of a sudden it was 4:55 and I was very very very late for the train station.

I ran the 6 blocks to my hotel and walked in to the greeting of "Hello Ms George, we've been looking for you - we're worried about your train catching." Yeah, join the club! It was then suggested that because of the evening rush hour traffic, it would be best if I took a tuktuk rather than a taxi. I guess we all decided to ignore the letter the hotel had given me the day before warning me not to use a tuk tuk under any circumstances (they are known to swindle tourists and lure them into stores rather than taking them to where they want to go). Im guessing those rules dont apply when theres a Thai doing the flagging. I watched as my awesome hotel friend flagged one down, negotiated a very good price and sent me off to the train station with only minutes to spare.

Hooray for the tuk tuk! Normal traffic rules dont apply to them (or so I chooose to believe after my trip) and we were at the station in 10 minutes when it would have taken a taxi at least 30. After all that, I even had time to get myself a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee for the ride (Nicky - I was thinking of you, of course!).

Tuk Tuk to the Rescue!

Tuk Tuk Self Portrait

Day One in Bangkok - Singapore Sling

My fresh off the plane energy to explore a new city was pretty shortlived. An hour of Koh San Rd craziness sent me back to my hotel ready for some rest. Old Bangkok Inn did not disappoint, bringing me a pot of hot vanilla tea, fresh homemade cookies, and a selection of DVDs. Hotel Rwanda had me in tears 2 hours later (especially considering that story only took place 14 years ago right next door to Tanzania...), but I still felt rested and was ready for more Bangkok. Working off Mom's recommendation list (a compilation from her time in Bangkok 20 years ago and the NY Times 36 hour guide), I headed to the Oriental Hotel for a delicious Singapore Sling and a view of the river...
Decided to work off my very strong drink by walking to dinner at Eat Me, an artsy dinner place about 45 min walk from the Oriental, and also on the NY Time's list. Maybe I ordered poorly, or maybe I was just tired and overly picky (read cranky), but I left feeling like my food was pretty tasteless, overpriced (and thats hard to do in Thailand) and the atmosphere was very "you could be at any over priced hipster mod restaurant in the world right now because they all look feel the same" Ah well...

Taxi ride home was an adventure...I had been warned that taxi drivers in Bangkok dont really speak english, and the hotel had given me a map written in Thai to show the driver where my hotel was. Just to be extra sure, I even asked the driver before i got in the cab if he knew where the hotel on the map was...two drivers shook their heads no at this question. #3 seemed confident and I got in. 45 minutes later i had given up on him getting to my hotel on his own and directed him to take me to koh san rd. Once we were there I made him go slowly block by block as I navigated with hand signals based on my walk to Koh San Rd from the hotel earlier in the day. After an hour driving what should have taken 10 minutes, I was so happy to crawl into bed...

Hello Thailand! aka Back to Blogging...

After a super smooth string of flights from Zanzibar to Dar to Doha to Bangkok, I got to the Old Bangkok Inn early Wednesday morning and was able to move right into my lovely room immediately. Despite not sleeping a wink on any of my flights (the movies and tetris games on Qatar Air were just too good to sleep through!) I was strangely awake and within half an hour I was strolling Koh San Road, with offers to take a tuk tuk, buy new shoes, book a tour to angkor wat and eat pad thai all being shouted at me at once. I took none and discovered super fast internet instead.

Can I just say, first of all, that it is SO much easier to blog from Thailand??? Internet is like 50 cents an hour and its FAST! I already miss a lot about Africa, but one thing I definitely won't miss is trying to blog/send emails/check websites. Dan did a much better job updating his blog than I did, but that boy is dedicated (did we ever get a photo of Dan blogging from Lisa's blackberry in the ocean at Paje by Night???). I'm instead taking the "I'll catch up from Thailand" approach to blogging...

Zanzibar

Before catching the series of flights that would take me from Zanzibar to Bangkok, I spent a day alone exploring Stonetown. We'd already been to town as a group a few days earlier, so this time around I was content to just roam the streets taking pictures and soaking up the city (and plotting the best place to have dinner, of course!). Here are a few shots from that day...

All the interesting masks and carved wood souvenirs I didnt buy...

While the rest of Tanzania is majority Christian, Zanzibar is very Muslim.

Views from my hotel roof

Kili Tips

Just some thoughts for others contemplating a climb...

Things to Bring (In addition to the basic packing list suggested by the guidebooks)

• Sunblock with SPF of at least 30 (Brent got burned using 15, even with re-application, I was using 70 the whole time)
  
• Sunblock for your lips
• Wet wipes (shower substitute, also good for cleaning your hands before dinner and even as a toilet paper substitute)
• Extra sunglasses (in true KC style, I broke my first pair on our second day on the mountain and I was very glad to have a backup pair waiting for me - the sun on summit day is intense and you want a good pair of polarized glasses to protect your eyes)
• Camel back (i almost didnt bring one because I read that the tube would freeze on summit day, but I was SO glad I had one. Its much easier to stay hydrated on the 6 other days youre hiking and i was able to avoid my tube freezing by blowing back into the tube - if theres no water in there, there's nothing to freeze (thanks for the tip JJ!)
• Gaiters (these were awesome - kept my pants cleaner than they would have been, kept me warm, and of course, make an excellent fashion statement!)
• Poles (sometimes these were a pain to carry, but there were definitely points, especially going down hill, when I was VERY glad I had them)
• Balaclava (single best thing for keeping me warm on summit day)
• Big garbage bags (we ended up putting all of our stuff in garbage bags inside our backpacks so that if it rained our clothes would stay dray - alternatively, you can get a raincover for the outside of your bag...)
• Moleskin (or duct tape, which is what I ended up using to cover the awful blister I got on day one of the hike)
• Small Camera (I only had my big Nikon SLR and wasnt able to pull it out of my backpack for all the beautiful shots I wanted to take along the way)
• Gear that you can give away (when possible, try to bring stuff with you that you are willing to give away to the porters and guides at the end of the trip. it was a great feeling to be able to give them something in addition to the customary tips that we knew they would use and appreciate for a long time to come, and my bag was so much lighter for the rest of the trip! I ended up giving them a fleece, a fleece hat, balaclava, mittens, waterproof pants, wool socks and a nalgene.)
• BIG day pack (you need to be able to fit your lunch, your waterproof coat and pants, camera, 4 liters of water and anything else you want to have with you during the day)
• WARM sleeping bag (whether you bring your own or rent one from your climbing company, make sure its rated for environments less than 20 degrees celsius.)
• Lots of plastic bags to organize your stuff in (you end up spending a lot of time packing and unpacking your stuff every evening and morning - this was much easier if everything was already organized into smaller bags)
• Cards and other games (we had cards but wished we had brought some other game as well to fill the time we had in the mess tent - trivial pursuit or other trivia game might be a good option)
• Camp shoes (something very comfy to wear other than your hiking boots for walking around camp - but not flip flops because you'll want to leave your socks on!)

Our Itinerary

• Machame Route - Dont know what the other routes are like, but our guide definitely felt that the Machame route was much more beautiful and fun than the Marangu (Coca Cola) route
  
• Number of Days - We were really happy with our decision to go for 7 days rather than the usual 6 days for the Machame route. Doing it in 6 days means that on summit day you have an incredibly long and hard hike that gets you into base camp at 5pm, then you only have a few hours to rest and eat dinner before you wake up to climb up for 7 hours to the top, then 3 hours back to base camp, then after resting another 3 hours down to the campsite for your last night. Im not sure we all would have made it (or at least not in such high spirits) if we hadnt had an extra day to get acclimated. Also, if you opt for 7 days and you find yourself doing really well, you can always shorten to 6 days. Its much harder to lengthen your trip (eg, food may run low and schedule conflicts for the guide's next tour).
• Buffer Day - We were really thankful we had an extra day in Arusha before we left for Kili, not only because it gave our airline time to get our lost baggage to us (without which we couldnt have done the climb) but also because we were able to go through our gear with our guide and make sure we had everythign we needed, make a few last minute purchases in town and relax, catch up on sleep before starting our adventure

Here's our itinerary...

KILIMANJARO TREK - MACHAME ROUTE + SAFARI:
This is probably the most beautiful route up Kilimanjaro. All your equipment and supplies are portered and a cook prepares all your meals. Where accommodation on the Marangu route is in huts, the Machame route offers strictly camping tents only. This makes Machame (also referred to as the "Whiskey route") better suited to the slightly more adventurous hiker, rewarding him with a scenic splendor such as not seen on the Marangu route. From late afternoon sunsets at Shira, to the misty revelations of Kibo at the great Barranco Wall, the Machame route offers the adventurous hiker a stunning scenic "slide show" over 6 days. The Machame route is normally completed in a minimum of 6 days.

There is an added benefit to this, as you are afforded the most valuable commodity on the mountain - acclimatization. The Machame route takes you high to Lava Tower (4630m) on the day 3 and brings you down by nearly 700m for an overnight at Barranco camp (3950m). This is the secret to successful acclimatization.

Day 1, July 18, 2008: Arrival - Arusha
On arrival, transfer to SG Resort for the night sorting climbing gear in readiness for the next day's trek. Overnight at SG Resort on bed and breakfast.

Day 2, July 19, 2008: Arusha

Full day in Arusha on own leisure and relaxation. The day is spent preparing gear and equipment required for the next day's Kilimanjaro trek. Bed and breakfast accommodation is provided at SG Resort, B.

Day 3, July 20, 2008: Machame Gate (1490m) - Machame camp (2980m
Hiking time: 7 hours | Distance: About 18 km's | Habitat: Montane forest
Your day starts early with a briefing, followed by breakfast and a 45-minute drive from Moshi (910m) to the Machame village (1490m). The guides and porters prepare and pack the supplies and your equipment in the village. You will receive a lunch pack and you can also buy mineral water in the village. Depending on the condition of the road, it is possible to drive from the village to the Machame gate, but if not, the muddy 3 km walk will take about 1 hour to complete. After registering at the gate office, you start your ascent and enter the rain forest almost immediately. There is a strong possibility of rain in the forest, which will transform the trail into a very soggy, muddy and slippery experience. You will have a welcome lunch stop about half way and will reach the Machame camping area in the late afternoon.

Your porters (arriving at the camp site long before you) will have erected your tent on your arrival. In the evening the porters will boil drinking and washing water and the cook will prepare dinner, before you retire to your tent for the night. Night temperatures can already drop to freezing point at this campsite, B,L,D.

Day 4, July 21, 2008: Machame camp (2980m) - Shira camp (3840m)
Hiking time: 6 hours | Distance: About 9 km's | Habitat: Moorland
You rise early at Machame camp and after breakfast you climb an hour or so to the top of the forest and then for 2 hours at a gentler gradient through the moorland zone. After a short lunch and rest, you continue up a rocky ridge onto the Shira plateau. By now you will be able to see in an easterly direction, the Western Breach with its stunning glaciers. You are now due west of Kibo and after a short hike you will reach the Shira campsite at 3 840m. The porters will boil drinking and washing water, before serving dinner. The night at this exposed camp will even be colder
than the previous night, with temperatures dropping to well below freezing, B,L,D.

Day 5, July 22, 2008: Shira (3840m) - Lava Tower (4630m)-Barranco camp (3950m)
Hiking time: 7 hours | Distance: About 15 km's | Habitat: Semi desert
The route now turns east into a semi desert and rocky landscape surrounding Lava Tower, where you reach an altitude of 4630m after about a 5 hours walk. Lunch is served in a designated area before ascending the rocky scree path to Lava Tower (4630m). Definitely, the toughest day so far. It is normally around this point, where for the first time, some climbers will start to feel symptoms of breathlessness, irritability and headaches. After lunch you descent again by almost 680m to the Barranco camping area and after reaching the high altitude of 4600m at Lava Tower, the true acclimatisation benefit of this day becomes clear. This descent to Barranco camp takes about 2 hours and offers great opportunities to take some beautiful photographs of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. The camp is situated in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Wall, which should provide you with a memorable sunset while you wait for the preparation of your dinner, B,L,D.

Day 6: July 23, 2008: Barranco Hut to Karanga Valley (14,800')
Hike time: 3.5 hrs, Elevation change: +100 M
Estimated distance: 4km, Maximum elevation: 4590 M
Final elevation: 4000 M

From Barranco Hut we climb up through the edge of great Barranco 95percentage of that day walking will be on elevation of 4250m. We will break our day at Karanga valley campsite at elevation of 4,000m walking time is 4 to 5 hrs on this day.

Day 7: July 23, 2008: Karanga Valley to Barafu Hut (4,600m)
Hike time: 3.5 hrs, Elevation change: +600 M
Estimated distance: 4km, Final elevation: 4600 M
Today involves gaining a little more elevation, acclimatizing and resting for the summit attempt the next morning. This day will take us 4 to 6 hrs of walking.

The last water stop on the route is the Karranga Valley, as there is no water at Barafu camp. Barafu is the Swahili word for "ice" and it is a bleak and inhospitable camping area to spend the night. Totally exposed to the ever-present gales the tents are pitched on a narrow, stony, and dangerous ridge. Make sure that you familiarise yourself with the terrain before dark to avoid any accidents. The summit is now a further 1345m up and you will make the final ascent the same night. Prepare your equipment, ski stick and thermal clothing for your summit attempt. This should include the replacement of your headlamp and camera batteries and make sure you have a spare set available as well. To prevent freezing it will be wise to carry your water in a thermal flask. Go to bed at round about 19h00 and try to get some precious rest and sleep, B,L,D.

Day 8, July 25, 2008: SUMMIT ATTEMPT, Barafu camp (4550m) - Uhuru Peak (5895m)-Mweka (3100m)
Hiking time: 8 hours to reach Uhuru Peak | 7/8 hours to descend to Mweka |
Distance: About 7 km's ascent - 23 km's descent | Habitat: Stone scree and ice-capped summit
You will rise around 23h30, and after some tea and biscuits you shuffle off into the night. You will head in a northwesterly direction and ascend through heavy scree towards Stella Point on the crater rim. This 6-hour walk to Stella point is for many climbers, mentally and physically the most challenging on the route. At Stella Point (5685m) you will stop for a short rest and will be rewarded with the most magnificent sunrise you are ever likely to see (weather permitting). From Stella Point you will normally encounter snow all the way on your 2-hour ascent to Uhuru Peak. The time you will spend on the summit will depend on the weather conditions. Do not stop here for too long, as it will be extremely difficult to start again due to cold and fatigue. Enjoy your accomplishment and a day to remember for the rest of your life. The walk back to Barafu from the summit, takes about 3 hours. Here you will have a well earned but short rest and collect the rest of your gear, before heading down to Mweka hut (3100m). The route is not difficult and will take you down the rock and scree path into the moorland and eventually into the forest. The camp is situated in the upper forest and mist or rain can be expected in the late afternoon. Dinner and washing water will be prepared, B,L,D.

Day 9, July 26, 2008: Mweka camp (3100m) - Mweka Gate (1980m)
Hiking time: 3 hours | Distance: About 15 km's | Habitat: Forest
After an early and well-deserved breakfast, it is a short 3-hour and scenic hike back to the Park gate. At Mweka gate you sign your name and details in a register. This is also where successful climbers receive their summit certificates. Those climbers who reached Stella Point (5685m) are issued with green certificates and those who reached Uhuru Peak (5895m) receive gold certificates. From the Mweka Gate you will continue down into the Mweka village, normally a muddy 3 km (1 hour) hike. In the Mweka village you will be served a delicious hot lunch!! You now drive back to Arusha for a long over due hot shower, dinner and celebrations!! Overnight at SG Resort, B,L.

Kili - The Long Version

Kili was by far the most amazing and rewarding thing I have ever done. Going higher than I've ever been (19,341 feet!), getting dirtier than I've ever been (7 days, no shower!), and experiencing a whole new level of male bonding (1 girl among 24 men!) will certainly leave an impression on anyone. But by far, the most rewarding part of the trip for me was becoming friends with our guide, John Minja. A little bit about John and other highlights from the trip below...

Meet John MinjaAs our guide, John was responsible for every aspect of our time on Kili. He kept us safe, he kept us motivated, he kept us well fed (SO well fed!). He was always always always taking care of us on the mountain and every one of the 15 porters, 1 assistant cook, and 3 assistant guides obviously respected him and called him "friend." He was the kind of leader that the GSB would be proud to call one of its own. Getting to know John in our long talks up and down the mountain touched me in a way that I hope I never forget.

The Trail
We spent a total of 7 days on the trail, making our way from rainforest to glaciers and camping in every kind of environment in between. Standing at the Machame Gate on our first day, I had no idea what to expect.

The view of Kili from our tent took my breath away on our 3rd day. The view from the top, with the sun coming up just as we hit the crest of the summit was heart stopping (or was that the lack of oxygen?).

Welcome to Our Fine Dining
Oatmeal, Crepes, Omelettes, Sausages, the Best Soup I've Ever Had, Fresh Made French Fries, Roasted Chicken, Spaghetti, Vegetables, Mango, Tilapia - I've never eaten better on a camping trip and never tasted a better soup than John's in my life (sorry mom!). All enjoyed from our cozy mess tent where we spent many evenings relaxing around candlelit meals playing cards and talking with John and our other guides.

We're Not Alone
Desolation Wilderness Kili is not. With groups ahead and behind of us and porters constantly running past us to set up camp before we arrived, we were never alone on the trail. At night, the campsites were huge tent cities. With 30,000 people summiting per year, and most climbs taking place in the 6 month high season, I'm not sure why I expected any different, but it was definitely a surprise to me the first night when we arrived to a loud and bustling camp full of groups from all over the world. Along the way we met Americans, Germans, Aussies, South Africans and even one girl who'll be a junior at Stanford in the fall. It was interesting to see the differences in how each group interacted with their guides and porters (while we were playing cards with our guides, some groups seemed to never speak with theirs except to ask how far it was to the next camp) and to later hear the stereotypes the guides have about different cultures (e.g., Aussies are fun but bad tippers, Americans are friendly and the best tippers, Germans are unappreciative, etc)...

You Can Do it!
Im in total awe of the people who reached the summit while enduring vomiting and splitting headaches from altitude sickness. If that were my story, I'm sure I'd think of Kili as the hardest thing I'd ever done physically. But we were all incredibly lucky that none of us came down with any symptoms. On summit night, we inched our way up the mountain behind John, just putting one foot in front of the other the whole way. It took forever, it was freezing, it was exhausting and as I said before, incredibly fulfilling, but I think I've got to say that finishing the last 4 miles of the San Diego Rock n Roll marathon still counts as the hardest thing I've ever done physically. Deepu - I'm thinking of you as I write this - you did San Diego, you can do Kili no problem!

The Porters
Running up and down the trail with 20-30 kg on their backs (or balanced on their heads!) the porters are incredible athletes who always finished the days climb several hours ahead of us and still had energy to set up camp, cook dinner, clean up and sometimes join us for stories and cards in the mess tent. Many started climbing the mountain as early as age 15 and keep going for years and years until their knees give out. The awful question is, what happens to these amazing guys when that happens? We didnt see anyone on the mountain over 40...

Kili - The Short Version

We made it!
All 5 of us summited, celebrated at the top in style and made it back down to enjoy the best showers, hot meal and drinks we've ever had. Off to the Serengeti today...

Ok, Now We're Really Off to Kili...

I was completely wrecked after our day of travel from Livingstone to Kilimanjaro. Our 9 hour Johannesburg layover was actually quite successful. We were able to refresh our very depleted stock of US dollars (thanks to zambia, which raised their visa cost from $35 USD to $135 unbeknownst to us and left us scrambling for every last emergency USD we brought with us so we could cross the border and get to our hotel on 7/15). We had a very successful shopping trip where we stocked up on warm clothes for Kili - everything we hear from folks who have just come down off the mountain (and theres a lot of them) is that it is FREEZING. We also had a delicious meal at Soulsa in Melville (same place Chris took me to on my first night in Joburg, almost a month ago). We even got time to relax at the airport for several hours, as our Kenyan Air flight was delayed by an hour due to "operational difficulties."

Thats when things turned ugly. I had a middle seat next to the obnoxious American from hell who decided that because there wasnt a lot of space in the overhead compartments, she should shove both her enormous backpack AND her enormous shopping bag into the seat with her. Being in the middle as I was, that meant that they were basically in the seat with me. Fun times. Thankfully, I was so tired at this point, that I slept like a baby for the duration of the "red eye" (loosely used term, given it was only a four hour flight). Arriving an hour late in Nairobi, we rushed to our next and last flight. We successfully boarded, which consisted of walking out on to the tarmac with a bunch of other people and walking towards the plane we thought might be hours (choosing from a number of options of different planes, all from WWII era, some already taxi-ing down the runway, some taxi-ing directly at us).

Unfortunately, our bags did NOT successfully board with us. We're starting our climb of Kili tomorrow but spent the majority of today not only without our bags but also without a clear sense of when/if we might see them again. Thankfully, Brent was the hero of the day and hunted them down for all of us. By 5pm, we had our bags and were actually able to each go through our gear with our guide (who seems awesome!) to ensure that we have what it takes to successfully summit AND stay warm. That was incredibly confidence inspiring and let us all go off to our rooms to take our last showers feeling much more at ease than we had in the last couple of days leading up to our big adventure.

We went out to dinner, and I went with the boys' selection of Khan's BBQ. Now to be fair, it would have been excellent choice any other night. But the street food ambiance and the fact that by day this place is a auto repair center (they actually advertise themselves as "Chicken on the Bonnet" which is British for a car hood) made me feel like this might not be the best call for our "last supper" so to speak. If I went the entire last 3 weeks with not one hint of Montezuma's Revenge, I was just thinking that this wasnt the night to tempt fate. So I picked my way through a few pieces of chicken and some naan (again, all excellent) and we'll see where the ol' GI track is in the morning. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

So that gets us to right now. 10pm. July 19th. Tomorrow morning at 8:30am we're on the road to Kili and should be hiking by noon at the latest. I've got a good feeling about this...

Off to Kili

Here in Livingstone, Team Africa expanded to 10 with the arrival of Sam, Arvind, Sarah & Leshya. We took a booze cruise on the Zambezi River to celebrate (and wondered why we hadnt been doing that every night of our stay here, given the $40 pricetag inclusive of booze, dinner and cruise!).

Then this morning, Team Malawi (Mike, Leshya, Sarah, Mohammed, Nicole) left at 4am to drive the 4 hours to catch a flight in Losaka to Lilongwe where they'll have another 4 hour drive to get to their hotel...Not to be outdone in travel discomfort, Team Kili (Dan, Brent, Sam, Arvind, KC) is catching the first of several flights taking us to Tanzania this afternoon at 1:20pm. We fly to Joburg, where we have a 9 hour layover before catching a red eye to Nairobi at 12:40am and then a final flight to Kilimanjaro at 6am. We'll be in Arusha for a day, doing final preparations and shopping before we take our first steps up the mountain on the morning of the 20th.

We'll be away from internet for the next 7 days, so the next blog will be a post-Kili update. Wish us luck!!!!!

Vic Falls

The bridge we jumped from just hours before...

And me, all in one piece!












We arrived at just the perfect time of day, for rainbows...



















And sunsets...











And photos!

The Triple Combo (aka Mom's Worst Nightmare?)

Three different stomach-in-your-throat, is-this-EVER-going-to-end jumps of 111 meters from the bridge connecting Zambia to Zimbabwe over the Zambezi river, with Victoria falls in the background...
http://www.afrizim.com/activities/victoria_falls/Bungee.asp

1. The SWING

My "Am I REALLY doing this???" face...

2. The Bungi Jump

Practicing...The JUMP!

3. The Slide

I'm Back!

Ok, sorry for the long delay in updates. I finally have a good internet connection and I've finally responded to the personal emails that were waiting for me in my inbox (thanks guys!!! those are the best!). So now its time to give the blog some love. Below you'll see that I've cheated (yes, once again) and backdated some entries to fill you guys in on our time in Namibia - dunes of Sossusvlei, activities in Swakopmund, adventures on our way to Botswana, Okavango Delta, Chobe, and now our current spot - Lovely Livingstone. As much as I wanted to keep this blog pretty picture heavy (I keep saying Dan has the funny and i have the fotos), its REALLY hard to get photos up reliably. So I'll just tease you all with a few for now and when Im home, the picasa albums will fill in the details.

Thanks for reading! =)
KC

Botswana Cheater: 7/8-7/15

I'm woefully behind on my posts, and Dan has been oh so good about blogging, that for now at least, I'm going to leave the Botswana portion of our trip to his blog. I couldn't have said it better myself anyway =)

strangleagiraffe.blogspot.com

When we hit the nirvana of internet (which may actually be San Francisco), I'll try to backtrack and update with photos. For now its on with the present!

Swakop Fun

We arrived in Swakopmund in the late afternoon, hungry and tired of driving. Thankfully, Swakop is a very walkable town, and relatively safe compared to Windhoek. In fact, it reminded me a lot of a California coastal town, like Santa Cruz or Half Moon Bay. Including the freezing cold water. No swimming for us in Swakop. We DID however get some amazing activities in while we were in town...

Sandboarding - Just like it sounds, its snowboarding but on sand dunes. I had a Burton snowboard that I waxed up, strapped into and started carving turns down the hill (with a few falls mixed in of course - its not EXACTLY like snowboarding). I even went off the jump a few times, since the sand was MUCH more forgiving than the typical Tahoe snowpack. The big surprise of the day was that while the standing up version that we had come for in the first place was very fun, the lying down version was much more intense. Going down the biggest dune, lying face first on what amounts to a piece of pressed cardboard, I hit 73km/hr. Not so far from the all time record of 82.

Landy ACH-ting (or Land Yachting for those of you that haven't been subjected to Dan's new favorite non-word, said with a thick German accent) - This was my favorite activity by far. I think I'd be disowned from sailing if it weren't. Basically, you have a sail and a three wheeled contraption and you tack and jibe your way over land, up hills, and over the occasional bush. By the end we were racing each other across the desert plain, and managing some sweet 360s (by broaching as much as possible for the sailors out there).

Quad Biking - Evidently, when Brad and Angelina were in Swakop to have their baby (yes, Angelina gave birth to little whats-its-face in Swakopmund, Namibia), they went to the same quad biking place that we went to on our last morning. Anyway, we had a blast with our 90 minutes taking our 4 wheeled motorcycles up, down and around the dunes. Not my favorite activity, with the dust and the noise, but another box I'm very glad I checked =)

Rib-Eating Contest - This was a Dan and Mike only activity - the rest of us were happy to remain just spectators. Our last dinner in Swakop was at Napolitana, on the recommendation of our sandboarding guide, who mentioned that there was a certain plate of ribs that, if finished in one sitting, landed the victorious eater's name on the wall. Dan, never one to back down from a challenge, declared that his name was going up by the end of the night. What he didnt count on was Treskow's stealth eating power. We all watched with awe over dinner as Mike steadily led the rib eating through to completion, even as he kept saying "I have no plans to finish all of this - i could never" Dan's blog describes the inside of defeat quite well I think, if you check it out. strangleagiraffe.blogspot.com

They Say It Has to Happen to Everyone At Least Once

After dropping Megan at the airport, we headed to the coast to spend a few days at Swakopmund, the crazy activity capital of Namibia. We've gotten pretty good at the road trip, enjoying our tunes courtesy of Nicole's awesome forethought in bringing along her ipod car adapter, breeze blowing in our hair, fun car games (except for that 762nd game of 20 questions, when it just got old), random pit stops at the side of the road when it seems nicer than the gas station bathroom...it doesnt get much better. All the while, marveling at how EASY its been to drive ourselves all over the country. Or rather for our three appointed drivers, Mike, Brent, and Mohammed, to drive us all over the country (thanks again, guys!).

And then...our tire blew up. Not just went flat. Literally, blew up into multiple pieces. I'd never seen anything like it, even though I had had a pretty scary experience the week before I left for Africa when my tire blew as I was going up Donner Summit (of course, then I had AAA. In Namibia, we had Brent) Mike was at the wheel and did a fabulous job of getting us safely to the side of the road, with not a moment of panic (at least that he shared with us). Brent was once again our car guy, getting that tired changed like a pro. Dan and Mike even recovered our hubcap, fully intact. All in all, our adventure lasted 25 minutes. But in the back of our heads, I think we all were thankful that it happened on a paved road (the first we had been on since we went to Etosha at the beginning of our time in Namibia) where there was lots of traffic going by. Evidently, its said that everyone who decides to drive through Namibia has at least one flat tire - thats why the rental companies give you two spares! So basically, our time in Namibia wouldnt have been complete without this experience =)

Sossusvlei/Fourth of July Continued

Our fourth of July was spent mostly getting ourselves back to civilization from the end of the earth, otherwise known as Sossusvlei. On the way there, in our rented Toyota Quantum, we passed through an incredible, arid landscape, on dirt roads that started just 15 minutes outside of Windhoek (the hub in our hub and spoke approach to seeing Namibia) and continued for the next 7 hours of driving. Brent was an incredible driver, one that I would trust to drive me basically anywhere under any circumstances (and he proved his worth multiple times throughout the driving portion of our trip). He was even calm and cool when we realized that we had made the rookie mistake of not filling up our gas tank before heading to the middle of nowhere and then came much closer than any of us would have liked to not making it to the next BP. With some creative use of our map and by taking some roads that you had to open a gate to enter (i guess to keep the cows in check?), we made it out of that mess. But I think more than one of us was considering the headline "7 GSB Students Lost in Namibia...Probable Cause, Stupidity"

Anyway, we recovered from that misstep quickly and settled into our Little Sossus Lodge in Sossusvlei, where we were greeted by the best food we'd had so far on our trip. Simple food and a meat, starch, veggie all on one plate like my mom always made sure we had at home. Incredible how hard that threeway combo is to come by when you're on the road! (Mom - I'm having an "I appreciate you" moment). Next morning, we rose early (we've had ALOT of pre-6am mornings) and headed out to the dunes. Just like the guidebooks said, it was some of the most incredible landscape i've ever seen - in person or in photos. Huge red dunes contrasted against the blue sky contrasted against the white deadvlei or dead lake. We hiked to the top of the tallest of them all, Big Tittie, and then ran, rolled, slid, fell (take your pick) back down a 45 degree slope to where we started (and where an Indian film company from Collywood, Calcutta's version of Bollywood, were filming a new movie). Exhausted and all very satisfied with our trip to Sossusvlei, we headed back to our lodge to relax by the pool and observe the enormous bugs that call Sossus Lodge home (thank god for mosquito nets!). Another fantastic dinner, another late night talking, a rare morning of sleeping in, and we were off to head back to Windhoek and send Megan off to her next adventure in Austria. Our drive back was thankfully much less eventful (and much shorter due to tips from our host), other than the first 10 minutes when Brent was reminded that in Namibia they drive on the left side of the road and we then had an Oregon Trail style river crossing where we successfully forded the river. =)

To celebrate Fourth of July and commemorate Megan's last night, we treated ourselves to a nice dinner out in Windhoek and formed the Midnight Club, egging everyone on to stay up late enough to become a member. Questions were posed - how old was JFK when he became prez? Does a liger really exist? What about a tigon? Can we play spoons without spoons? How about tea bags? - and we had fun in our hotel room until the wee hours. Much better than wandering the sketchy streets of Windhoek searching (and not likely finding) a good time. The next morning we got up, packed our bags and headed off to the airport to drop off megan and say our goodbyes. The trip won't be the same without you Megan - hope you're having a great time in Austria!

And then we were off to Swakopmund...

Happy Fourth!

We're planning to party it up here in Windhoek in honor of our favorite holiday. With temps dropping below freezing here, it will definitely be the coldest fourth I've ever spent...

3 Phrases

Three phrases are guiding me through Africa...

• "Its a once in a lifetime experience"
• "I deserve it!"
• "It is what it is..."

These help make things go much more smoothly. Like when I find out that our flight from Livingstone (Zambia) to Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) for our climb is going to cost $1000 (1/3 of the cost of my round the world ticket). By repeating all three phrases over and over a few times, I'm at peace with the world.

NB: Africa is expensive!

Etosha! 6/29-7/1

We got our first taste of many long, but super fun drives through Namibia on our way to Etosha National Park...

Where we were greeted by animals of all kinds...just to share a sampling...

eagle(?)

lion

springbok=deer

zebra & wildebeest

affectionate zebra

elephants!

more elephants at watering hole at night

beautiful sunsets

Capetown Highlights 6/26-6/29

Arrival of the Little Red Backpack

Brent took the opportunity while in Capetown to gear up, purchasing shoes, warm clothing and, everybody's favorite little red backpack.Miscellaneous Dan Shenanigans
Always a highlight

Sharing our Fun
Only the best taxi drivers were treated to the baboon video...

If you havent seen it on youtube yet, treat yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT99yD836aY

Visa Shoutout
"The preferred card of Table Mountain..."

Table Mountain
I'll admit it, I'm a bit spoiled. When you start your 20s out in a place like San Francisco, its tough to find other places that even come close to tempting me to move. Sydney made the list when I visited in January, and Capetown is now the second addition. In fact, its now at the top of the list...

Beach for Sundowners

Hair
Before... (I've known Dan for 24 hours and Treskow for 15 min at this point)

After! (And now I've known Treskow for an hour)