Mt. Kilimanjaro Mountain Warnings on Kili
The Poor Porter
It’s kind of a tough mental debate when you are climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. You just bought your fancy new $150 jacket, an expensive sleeping bag, and paid a bunch of money to climb the mountain. Here is your porter, carrying your gear to the top of the mountain, for minimal wages. He is usually not dressed in mountain clothes, but more or less just regular cotton clothes, not made for the mountain . Sometimes he might be wearing just sandles and have no jacket.
After your climb, being a thoughtful person, you decide that you want to help out a …
Date: December 2nd, 2005 |
No Comments
My Safari Guide Boyfriend
Some men go to Thailand in search of small, beautiful Thai woman, some woman go to Australia is search of the rugged Australian with the great accent. Whatever floats your boat is up to you. But, just like anywhere else in the world, there are a huge number of Tanzanian safari guides, porters and mountain guides, who have affairs with Westerners from around the world, usually those that are on safari, climbing the mountain, or going to Zanzibar. It’s not a bad thing, as long as you realize the following: 1) You are not special (there are many tourists …
Date: November 29th, 2005 |
No Comments
An Extra Day
The top of Mt. Kilimanjaro is about the same height as Everest Base Camp. To reach the top of Kilimanjaro, it can take you five or six days. To reach the top of Everest Base Camp, it usually take two solid weeks. What does all this mean? It’s means that you shouldn’t rush up Mt. Kilimanjaro, like most people do.
Since it’s expensive to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, many inexperienced people climb the mountain in sometimes five or six days. The problem is, many don’t make it to the top because they suffer from altitude sickness. The key to summitting Kilimanjaro is …
Date: October 27th, 2005 |
No Comments
Worst Christmas Ever
About four years ago, BootsnAll Travel Network published a story by Robert Geier, who wrote a poignant story about his tragic experiences on Mt. Kilimanjaro and in Kenya and Tanzania. This story is a bit sad, kind of funny, part truth, part embellished perspective from his limited time in Tanzania. In his intro, Robert says “I’m back from the Africa, having conquered its tallest peak, survived its beggars and thieves, been ripped off, and spent much more than I wanted to. I can definitely say I had the worst Christmas ever.”
When you read this story, I want to stress that …
Date: October 14th, 2005 |
No Comments
Sign Your Life Away
Almost any company taking you to the top of Kilimanjaro will require you to sign a few legal documents. Read through them very carefully because you will realize that basically you have few, if any, personal rights on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
You are agreeing that by climbing one of the highest mountains in the world, you are exposing yourself to a variety of risks that could put your life in danger. You could slip off a rock and hurt yourself, you could die from altitude sickness, you could be subject to severe weather conditions. People have died on Mt. Kilimanjaro, and …
Date: September 15th, 2005 |
No Comments
Who Makes It To The Summit?
You would think there is an equation for success on Mt. Kilimanjaro, a rule that if you follow, will help you arrive at the summit. Over of the years, however, I have seen everything: a short, fat, overweight woman with no trekking skill climb straight up Western Breach to the summit. A week before that, a huge, Scottish triathlete only makes it three days and has to be brought down because he was having trouble breathing and throwing up.
Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro isn’t hard - it’s like a long, long hike. The thing that gets you is the altitude and …
Date: December 1st, 2005 |
3 comments
Phantom Porter
Here is an unfortunate scam that happens to some people on Mount Kilimanjaro. We like to call it the “phantom porter.”
“I climbed solo with one guide and three porters. At the Machame Gate on the first day, amidst all the excitement and pre-climb preparation, an “extra” porter briefly was introduced to me. I did not see him again the rest of the climb, though I began to suspect something was up when I asked to take a picture of my guide and porters on the 4th day and my guide “reminded” me that the “other porter” wasn’t around, since he was SUPPOSEDLY moving gear and food between sites while we slept. Uh huh. I picked up on the scam and every time I asked to “get his picture” he was nowhere to be found. Then on the morning of day seven at Mweka camp when it was time to distribute tips, some guy who I have never seen appears and expects to be tipped with the rest of the crew who had worked so hard during the past week. Wise to the scam, I gave my guide ALL the tip money in front of the porters, which was a good tip for himself and the three porters I actually had, and told him to divvy it up the best he saw fit. He initially protested before agreeing.”
Date: November 7th, 2005 |
No Comments
Marangu Village - Friend or Foe?
The somewhat famous village of Marangu sits on the far eastern side of Mt. Kilimanjaro and is the starting point for climbing the easy route, Marangu - also known as the Coca Cola Route. Unlike the other bigger cities of Moshi and Arusha, Marangu has a distinct feel - much more like a small mountain town. It’s lush, green, cool, loaded with bananna trees - and is downright beautiful in many parts. The city center village isn’t much to write home about, but the area around it is filled with waterfalls, farms, nice hotels. You see women dressed in traditional outfits walking with huge stalks of bannanas on their heads. Marangu is also a welcome relief from the punishing sun, as it sits high up on the side of the mountain, already between 4000ft to 5000 ft. It’s nice and cool at night.
Date: October 26th, 2005 |
No Comments
Taking a Whiz
Water, water and more water - one of the best techniques for climbing Kilimanjaro is to stay hydrated - super hydrated. You should drink at least 4 litres of water per day, if not more. While sometimes your body may feel like it’s hard to drink more water, you have to force yourself to drink more. Dehydration is one of the major problems for climbing any mountain and forces many people to descend, if not properly hydrated.
And don’t forget, when you drink a lot of water, you pee all the time, sometimes every 20 or 30 minutes. People are peeing …
Date: September 17th, 2005 |
No Comments
Don’t Be a Sucker
You have just finished climbing Africa’s highest mountain, the grand Kilimanjaro. You are wandering off the trail, down past the gate, and are celebrating with your friends that you made it. All you want to do is sit your ass down, have a beer, and get in a Land Rover that will take you back to the hotel for a warm shower.
Instead of a peaceful ending to your climb as you come out of the forest, the second you walk outside the park gates, you are mobbed by 20 to 40 youth, selling you “I climbed Kilimanjaro t-shirts” to “tribal” carvings and necklaces. Given that you are tired, you might think about buying something, but you should heed this warning.
Date: September 15th, 2005 |
No Comments
