Just because I had so much fun that day, I'd like to share some of the joy in preparing for a trip to East Africa. (Plus, should you be feeling the least twinge of jealousy this ought to cure you.) It necessarily involves a trip to the travel clinic. In my case, the Coastal Health Travel Clinic at Broadway and Ash - these people know FUN! And not just because they can empty your wallet faster than you can say, "How much will all this be?"
I recommend being really, really excited about your trip before you go there because you could easily change your mind once the consult starts. For the warm up there's the malaria prophylaxis, the cipro, and then the diamox (see earlier post for how I feel about this and add on that once you've had an allergic reaction to sulfa antibiotics, but you can't remember the reaction so you have to book into see an allergist in less than 5 weeks...guess what, the allergist says you can take diamox because it isn't the same sulphur structure!). The main event is a party of needles. Shots for meningococcal meningitis, typhoid booster, tetanus booster, yellow fever... For extra entertainment I recommend going with someone over 60 for the story on how the risk of death from the vaccination is much increased for over 60 year olds...unless you've already had yellow fever vaccination in which case this is merely a booster so don't worry about it. Dad couldn't remember, but we went with thoughts that it would be a booster owing to his early start as an intrepid traveller...Good news is that we're both through the 'caution' period and seem to be fine.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Why this trip?
Good question!
I like to hike, but I've never really considered climbing mountains and at 5892 m, Kilimanjaro is a mountain of somewhat scary proportions to the non climber. True, it's not a technical climb, but it is high. And, lots of people get acute mountain sickness (AMS) on the way up. This is partly to do with the route, but mostly, it seems to do with the aggressive climbing schedule that Tanzanian operators promote. This could lead to a lengthy exposition on diamox, which if I haven't already asked your opinion on consider yourself lucky. So, back to the titular question. I'm going to climb Kilimanjaro and tour a bit of East Africa because a dear old friend of mine was already planning to go with a group of friends and he invited me to join in the fun. My first reaction was "um...hmmm, Kili is not really on my bucket list (see Morgan Freeman & Jack Nicholson movie, I'd argue you're never too young to have a bucket list) and I'm not much of a mountaineer and frankly the risk of AMS freaks the crap out of me." But, on reflection, I thought, if it scares me a bit, that's probably a good reason to go and if the trip is largely planned already, why not? I, of course, well trained in arguing both sides, had a long list of reasons not to go, not least my aforementioned dream of candidacy (which the longer I type at this blog...), and the fact that it is not exactly a budget holiday. However, I've been lucky enough to have some good consulting projects this year, my interest piqued, I threw caution to the wind, and said "maybe".
Then my grandpa died reminding us all of how, inevitably, times does pass. So, I asked my dad if he wanted to *finally* take that trip with me (for some years we've been bandying about the idea of a trip together) and join in the climb and trip to East Africa. Dad said "Sure!" Although he has declined the climb (for knee issues) we are meeting in Arusha where we're going on safari (hence the url of this blog) and then to Zanzibar and finally Mombasa.
I like to hike, but I've never really considered climbing mountains and at 5892 m, Kilimanjaro is a mountain of somewhat scary proportions to the non climber. True, it's not a technical climb, but it is high. And, lots of people get acute mountain sickness (AMS) on the way up. This is partly to do with the route, but mostly, it seems to do with the aggressive climbing schedule that Tanzanian operators promote. This could lead to a lengthy exposition on diamox, which if I haven't already asked your opinion on consider yourself lucky. So, back to the titular question. I'm going to climb Kilimanjaro and tour a bit of East Africa because a dear old friend of mine was already planning to go with a group of friends and he invited me to join in the fun. My first reaction was "um...hmmm, Kili is not really on my bucket list (see Morgan Freeman & Jack Nicholson movie, I'd argue you're never too young to have a bucket list) and I'm not much of a mountaineer and frankly the risk of AMS freaks the crap out of me." But, on reflection, I thought, if it scares me a bit, that's probably a good reason to go and if the trip is largely planned already, why not? I, of course, well trained in arguing both sides, had a long list of reasons not to go, not least my aforementioned dream of candidacy (which the longer I type at this blog...), and the fact that it is not exactly a budget holiday. However, I've been lucky enough to have some good consulting projects this year, my interest piqued, I threw caution to the wind, and said "maybe".
Then my grandpa died reminding us all of how, inevitably, times does pass. So, I asked my dad if he wanted to *finally* take that trip with me (for some years we've been bandying about the idea of a trip together) and join in the climb and trip to East Africa. Dad said "Sure!" Although he has declined the climb (for knee issues) we are meeting in Arusha where we're going on safari (hence the url of this blog) and then to Zanzibar and finally Mombasa.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Preparing for a Trip
Okay, so I'm at my desk, ostensibly editing my research proposal because I have dream (actually, I have several), but this particular dream is that I might achieve the long-sought candidacy in my PhD programme before I attempt to climb Kilimanjaro. At the same time, thoughts of what to pack and what still needs to be done before I leave in 17 days keep flying into my head - a bit like that circling mosquito that just won't leave you alone at 1 in the morning. No amount of swatting seems to chase the mosquito away and my list of to-dos doesn't seem to be doing the trick either. So, I've decided to start my blog for the trip.
To learn more about SOS see http://www.
For more on the children's home in Arusha see http://www.sos-ea.org/
To donate please go to: http://www.canadahelps.org/
An important part of this trip is the fundraising for 5 orphans in Arusha, Tanzania, through SOS. Thank you to everyone who has already donated - we really appreciate your support.
To learn more about SOS see http://www.
For more on the children's home in Arusha see http://www.sos-ea.org/
To donate please go to: http://www.canadahelps.org/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)