September 17, 2009
Road to Africa
FY and I have been talking about going to Africa for a long time, even before we got married. I’ve always wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, and FY has remained crazy enough to agree to do it with me. I hope we know what we’re getting into, though we’ve had a few backpacking and hiking experiences under our belt:
- 9 European countries in 2 months
- Machu Picchu
- Mount Kinabalu in Sabah
- West Coast Trail (6 days, 77km hike)
But Kilimanjaro will rank above all our previous treks. The Uhuru Peak, at 19,300 feet above sea level, makes Kilimanjaro the tallest mountain in Africa. There are several ways up to the top, and we’ve chosen the Lemosho route, taking 7 days to climb over 18,500 feet to reach our destination.
Mount Kilimanjaro
In the past month, we’ve gradually planned our African trip. People ask me how I plan for this type of trip, and the answer is it’s never easy to work out your own itinerary on a trip like this, but it gives you so much freedom. Many people’s vision of a holiday is to book a tour, a cruise or a week in a destination resort. There is definitely a time for those types of trips, I guess I’m not at that stage in my life to enjoy those yet. When I’m a older, I might trend towards the cruises and hop on the coach bus tours to do my sightseeing.
To climb famous hikes and routes around the world, you usually need to go with a local guide. This is often due to a quota or permit restrictions set by the local government (= revenue $). It’s never easy trying to find a reputable guide or tour company, especially when traveling in developing countries. We didn’t have an easy time finding one, but we have had some experience in the past, so it’s all based on personal judgment. We were close to selecting one company, but finally decided against them based on our gut feel. In the end, as with most things, it ended up based on word-of-mouth, and we went with a company that a friend has gone with where the prices were reasonable. You don’t want to go with too cheap though, because those companies will likely underpay or mistreat their porters, use shoddy equipments or provide sub-par services. Going to a place like Africa, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Besides conquering Kilimanjaro, we also plan to see a bit of the rest of Tanzania, including a safari tour in the Serengeti, as well as a week in the island of Zanzibar. So the itinerary for now is as follows:
- Dec 7th – Arrive in Tanzania, Africa
- Dec 8th to 14th – 7 day Kilimanjaro hike
- Dec 16th to 21st – 6 day Safari
- Dec 22nd onward – Zanzibar
We haven’t decided exactly how long we’ll stay in Zanzibar, where we’re going to spend Christmas and New Years. This trip in December will prove to be one of our most exciting yet!
