Mount Kilimanjaro Video

So I know this is overdue but I have been working on it for the past week to make it good. Drum roll please....



I'd love to know you thoughts and comments on this video! Any parts you loved? Anything you didn't?

Lights, Camera, Action!

Okay, I know I said I was going to post reflections today but something exciting has happened. Aaron, who I hiked Kilimanjaro with, sent me video footage he took along the way. 

So instead of posting my reflections today, I will post them next week. Today I am working on uploading the video he sent me to YouTube so I can add it here for you all to see.

The first time I watched this I laughed because a lot of it I didn’t remember or didn’t know he was even recording. I’m going to post it as soon as I get it uploaded to YouTube for you all to enjoy!

Thesis Thursday

Travel can be one of the most rewarding forms of introspection. ~Lawrence Durrell

As part of the process to graduate from the University of South Carolina Honors College this May I have to complete a senior thesis project. The project can be about anything of my choosing which is both a gift and a curse.

For a long time I really struggled with finding a topic for my thesis. With the freedom and flexibility to do my thesis about absolutely anything, it was difficult to narrow down topics. While I initially struggled with selecting a topic, as soon as I began hiking Kilimanjaro I knew that the whole experience would be my thesis topic.

My thesis focuses on two main things: reflecting about my hike to the summit of Kilimanjaro and providing detailed information about my experience hiking Kilimanjaro to others. First I wanted to look at the experience introspectively to identify what hiking Kilimanjaro meant to me in terms of a learning experience.

Second, I wanted to share this experience on a large scale which is why I opted to incorporate a blog into the thesis process. Hopefully this blog will help anyone considering hiking Kili or anyone who is planning their Kilimanjaro adventure with the preparation process and with what to expect.

Also I have found a love for blogging. I look forward to continuing to blog about my travel experiences. Summer of 2009 I spent five weeks in Spain, four of which were in Barcelona. Right before hiking Kilimanjaro I spent several days in London and two and a half weeks in Tanzania. Fall of this past year I took several weekend trips, one of which was to Asheville, North Carolina. Already since I began this blog I have been on a ski trip to Colorado and a spring break trip to Walt Disney World and Naples, Florida. I love to travel and want to continue sharing my trips and travel opportunities with others through this blog.

In the process of working on this thesis I have learned a lot. Tomorrow’s post will be about my reflections on the hike overall and what I feel I learned throughout the whole process.

Hot Off the Press!

One of the coolest things about having hiked Kilimanjaro is the recognition I have gotten on my campus. 

So far I have been interview by the University of South Carolina media relations office twice, once for the Summer Series articles, and once for Discovery Day. 

I was featured on the USC homepage at the beginning of fall semester. It was so awesome to open the University’s homepage and see a picture of myself there. I had so many people come up to me and tell me they read the article and their thoughts. The article can be found here.

 

Right now I’m waiting on the final draft of the article on Discovery Day before it goes onto the webpage.

I also was interviewed by a fellow University Ambassador, Katie Rudder. She is the writer of the blog Let’s Be Preppy and is a contributing writer to HerCampus, University of South Carolina page. Her article was fun and focused especially on the girly aspects of this climb. That article can be found here.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the articles and doing the interviews because it’s fun to share the experience. And let’s be honest, what girl doesn’t love a little attention now and then? I hope you enjoy reading the articles too!

Who Says You Can't Go Home?

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” ~Lin Yutang

The plane ride home was the longest ride of my life. My journey home consisted of two separate flights. The first flight left Arusha at 9 PM. Kind of. It was supposed to leave at 9 PM and because of delays with luggage we actually left at 10:30 PM or so. 

After an hour we landed in Dar es Salaam to load more passengers onto the plane before departing Tanzania. They quickly cleaned the plane out and began boarding more passengers. There were of course more delays and we didn’t get into the air until 1 AM.

They immediately served us dinner which was much appreciated. All of the extra time from delays had left me starving. I must say Royal Dutch KLM airlines serves really good food on their flights.

Though I was satisfied by the meal, I also realized I was starting to get sick. I guess all of the climate changes from trekking down the mountain so quickly, the minimal sleep, the physical exertion, the stress of repacking and flight delays, and the dry plane air had finally gotten the best of me. My throat was killing me.

On top of that I was experiencing the worst cramps of my whole life. I had insanely painful knots of cramps in my legs and abdomen. After such a high intensity level of physical exertion for a week straight, sitting still on a plane for an extended period of time was really not working for me.

One major point of advice I would give to people hiking Kilimanjaro is to not fly out the same day or day after getting off the mountain. Give yourself at least two days to recover physically and relax your body before subjecting yourself to hours-long plane rides.

Fortunately for me, I won the plane seat lottery by sitting next to an older lady who was a nurse on a medical mission trip. She stocked me up with Vitamin C packets to mix into my drinks, throat lozenges, and Tylenol. I befriended the flight attendants as well so that I would have continual drinks to sooth my throat. In total I would estimate I drink at least a gallon and a half of water and a gallon of orange juice on my flights home. 

The flight from Tanzania arrived in Amsterdam the next morning very early around 8 AM. I had a two hour layover in the airport so I took advantage of the opportunity to stretch my legs and walked around. I also connected to the internet to e-mail my mom and let her know my flight schedule. Skype and e-mail are such a godsend when traveling. I used it to call and update home all throughout my trip to Tanzania and while I was in route.

Eagerly, I got onto the plane as soon as they began boarding because by this point I was so excited to get home. Fortunately on this leg of the flight I was seated in a bulkhead row and was able to stretch out my legs. First rule of picking flights: always try for a bulkhead row or exit row.

On this final flight I was far too anxious and excited to get home to sleep. I watched Dear John and Alice in Wonderland, chatted with the woman next to me, and ate the in flight meal to pass the time.

By the time we landed I was so happy to be on the ground and almost home. By this point I had been traveling for twenty-five hours and I was exhausted and still feeling sick. I gathered my luggage from baggage claim and waited in line at customs. After being cleared, I took the train in the Atlanta airport to meet my family.

Words can’t begin to describe how excited I was when I found my mom and dad. After giving them a big hug and having my mom cry she was so happy I was home safe, we drove home. 

After a month away, I was finally back. My mom made a big dinner to celebrate and invited over my grandparents. It was so nice to see everyone and share with them my adventure.

Shortly after seeing everyone and telling them about my trip, I crashed. The bed was beyond comfy after a week of sleeping on the ground. I slept through the night and until at least 2 PM the next day. It felt so good to be home.

Hiking Kilimanjaro Day 6

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. ~Dr. Seuss

Waking up at 6:30 was rough. I was groggy, exhausted, physically worn out, and the absolute last thing I wanted to do was get up and hike some more.

Despite not being hungry at all, I had a couple bites of eggs and toast to satisfy my appetite for the next few hours. While I was really apprehensive about the food going into the trip, I’m really going to miss the food we ate on Kilimanjaro because it was so good.

I’m even going to miss the trips Rakhi and I took to the wooded areas to go to the bathroom. Rakhi called some of them a “loo with a view” which I thought was hilarious.

We began the final leg of our hike at 7:20 AM. Aaron and Arnold hiked ahead to arrive at the gate first and organize our travel arrangements back to Arusha and the airport. Rakhi, Daniel, and I hiked at a slower pace because we were in physical pain from the downhill hiking.

As we hiked along through the rainforest it seemed as though we had come full circle back to the first day of our hike. We had beautiful scenery the whole way down but also had to deal with a muddy trail.

By the time we made it to the gate it was 11:20 AM. There aren’t enough words to begin to describe how happy and relieved I was when we got there. My motivation for getting down the mountain was receiving my summit certificate and a long, hot shower.

When Arnold gave me the certificate saying I had reached Uhuru Peak, I was elated. It’s definitely going to be framed as soon as possible so I can hang it somewhere I will see it every day. 

While I was super happy about receiving my certificate, sadness crept in when I had to say goodbye to three new friends: Rakhi, Arnold, and Aaron. Saying I’m going to miss Rakhi is a huge understatement. What a blessing it was to have her added to our group at the last minute. The companionship of having another girl on the hike was such a bonding experience. As for Arnold, I don’t know if we’ll ever meet again. I told him if I come to Tanzania in the future I am going to visit him.

When they left to head back to Arusha, I was alone in a day room at a hotel waiting for my 9 PM flight. It was the first time in almost a month being by myself. What a strange feeling. It was too quiet for my liking. I used the time to decompress, repack all of my belongings, and rest before my long plane ride.

Hiking through the rain forest with my attractive gaiters

Rain forest scenery

Our group with all of the crew at the gate!

Saying goodbye to Rakhi

Arnold giving me my certificate-I'm ecstatic in this picture but looking a little rough

My certificate!!!

Hiking Kilimanjaro Day 1

Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it. ~Cesare Pavese

Today has been absolutely crazy so far. I barely slept last night because I was so nervous and anxious about starting the hike today. It definitely hit me last night as I was trying to fall asleep that everyone in my study abroad group had really left and I was actually staying to hike Kilimanjaro. I felt like the kid playing baseball in the outfield too distracted by picking flowers in the grass to notice the ball falling from the sky conveniently right on their head. 

Though Andrew and Robert had left, I was fortunate to have one guy, Aaron, from my study abroad trip staying. Because he’s a graduate student in the distance education program who lives in Charleston, I had never met him before meeting in Tanzania for the study abroad trip and I didn’t know him that well at all. Knowing I had at least an acquaintance slightly took the edge off but I still slept restlessly.

I woke up bright and early at 7:30 and re-packed my belongings and took a nice, hot shower. It was slightly unnerving to think that I wouldn’t have the luxury of a shower for the next six days. It was even more unnerving anticipating how bad I would smell.

After finishing packing, Aaron and I met for breakfast. Along with some eggs, toast, and juice, we also took our first Diamox tablet to help with the symptoms of altitude sickness. Shortly after we finished, our driver from SafariMakers, Ltd. came to pick us up from the hotel.

The day before beginning our hike, we went to pay SafariMakers for the cost of the hike. While in the office, Aaron and I were asked if we minded a third person hiking in our group. As it would lower our cost, we agreed despite not knowing the other person at all. 

After the driver picked us up, we went to pick up this mystery third person. The dork in me hoped it was someone famous because wouldn’t that be cool to say you hiked Kilimanjaro alongside Jessica Biel or Emile Hirsche (who hiked several months after I did). 

Although not famous, the final person of our trio Rakhi was pretty fabulous. She’s a British girl in her late 20’s who lives in West London-so posh! She has a lovely accent and a great sense of humor which I can tell immediately. After meeting her I was sure we would get on quite nicely.

In the hour and a half it took to drive from Arusha to the Machame base, Aaron, Rakhi and I chatted about our lives and how nervous and excited we were. We stopped at a little convenience store on the way and I purchased a Coca-Cola (I’m addicted) and a bottle of celebratory champagne to drink at the summit.

After arriving at the Machame base gate, which is roughly 6,230 feet in elevation, we registered with the national park service. In addition to myself, Aaron, and Rakhi in our group, we have a crew of nine porters, one cook, one assistant guide named Daniel who is extremely quiet, and a lead guide named Arnold.

Arnold is Kenyan by birth but grew up in the village in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. Although he’s only 29 years of age, he has summited Kilimanjaro about 40 times in the past three years. His first trip to the summit was with his father, who was also a guide, when he was a mere 15 years old. Interestingly, he’s also college educated and has a degree in civil engineering. He has a warm smile and I could tell we were going to become friends.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting because I was so anxious, we began hiking at 12:30. To find out how long the hike took us on day one, read tomorrow’s post!

Aaron, Rakhi and me at the Machame gate

Aaron went to Clemson for undergrad and as I am a Gamecock it was only natural that we would fight all the way up Kili about which school is the best. GO GAMECOCKS!!

It's Not Goodbye, It's See You Later

Rafiki: What was that? The weather - Pbbbah! Very peculiar. Don't you think?
Simba: Yeah. Looks like the winds are changing.
Rafiki: Ahhh. Change is good.  ~Lion King

Hopefully by this point you’ve read all of the preparation I went through for trekking Mount Kilimanjaro. And hopefully by this point you’ve gotten yourself prepared as per my process and you’re ready to conquer Kili.

As the end of my study abroad trip with my classmates approached, I began to get nervous. The two weeks leading up to hiking Mount Kilimanjaro that I spent in Tanzania I made some incredible memories and made great friendships. 

The day I said goodbye to those on my study abroad trip was a tough day. First of all, I didn’t want them to leave because we were all having such a good time. Secondly, I knew that as soon as they left I was on my own which slightly terrified me. 

I told my new good friends Robert and Andrew goodbye as they would be leaving for Kenya the next morning with their parents (their dad was our professor). I would miss joking around with them on safaris in the “Diddy-mobile” (our affectionate name for our all white safari vehicle), our Lion King sing-alongs (Tanzania is where the Lion King is set after all), our sad attempts at playing beach volleyball at the Jangwani Seabreeze Resort (I miss that DJ so much), and even our evening card games where they constantly killed me at Hearts or Spades.

Needless to say, this study abroad trip was incredible and I am lucky to have made such wonderful new friendships while seeing the world. As fantastic as the trip had been so far, there was still one more 19,334 foot tall task awaiting me. I am freaking out.

My whole IBUS 444 class visiting a school

The four of us in the "Diddy-mobile"

Andrew with bananas on his head at the Mulala village

Robert jumping with a Masai cattle herder

Me getting ready to dance with women of the Masai tribe

Nom Nom Nom!

As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices:  take it or leave it.  ~Buddy Hackett

When traveling, the take it or leave it principle can be applied to food as well. While abroad, your options become limited mostly to whatever is put in front of you.

Over the years I have gotten better about being a picky eater. Now I will give almost any type of food a try (seafood is still difficult for me though).  I start to get nervous about my food options when traveling abroad especially because your options become pretty limited to whatever the local cuisine is.

Your options become severely limited when you’re hiking Mount Kilimanjaro and the only option to serve is whatever food your cook provides. This terrified me. In my hiking pack I brought so much food is looked like I was stocked a bomb shelter with snacks for the next year. 

Want to know what I was munching on? My favorite snack from the hike was chocolate chip Clif Bars. The peanut butter flavored Clif bars are good as well. Disclaimer though, I will not touch Cliff bars anymore after eating two a day for a week straight. Also Jif Peanut Butter packets To-Go were a life saver. I would add the peanut butter to bread the cook gave me to make little sandwiches and I would dip crackers in it. Welch’s strawberry fruit snacks were a sweet treat with my daily serving of 100% vitamin C. 

Although I had some great snack foods as extra energy boosters, I must say I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food on Kili was. Our cook was awesome and made delicious food for every single meal.

A typical breakfast on the mountain consisted of an oatmeal porridge, sausage, eggs, toast, a banana, some melon, and hot chocolate or coffee. Lunch was usually eaten as we rested during the hike, so the cook packed us each a little lunch box with our food. The lunch box had a piece or baked chicken (usually a leg, breast or thigh), a hardboiled egg, a banana, a juice box, and a butter sandwich. No, I did not forget to type peanut, the sandwiches just had butter and bread. This is where my Jif To-Go packets were handy! For dinner, we always had some type of soup (leeks, carrot, zucchini, or squash), chicken or fish, rice, potatoes, and then a random side like peanuts or beans. There was always a banana for dessert also and instant hot chocolate or instant milk.

Something for you to look forward to are the fruit you get to eat, especially the bananas. Tanzanian bananas are much sweeter than those found in America. While I usually won’t eat bananas or melon, I loved them on my hike!

If you’re a picky eater like I used to be, I would definitely recommend packed some substantial snack foods like Cliff bars, FiberOne bars, or meal substitute bars in case your cook serves something you absolutely won’t try. That being said, this is a once in a lifetime trip and Tanzanian food is really good so even if you are a picky eater, give the food a chance because I’m sure you will love it!

Typical breakfast on Kilimanjaro

Typical breakfast on Kilimanjaro

Typical dinner on Kilimanjaro

Typical dinner on Kilimanjaro

Must Have Travel Accessories

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.  ~Ansel Adams

Five fun accessories that I cannot travel without came with me on my hike to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. These items included two cameras, my journal, my coach sunglasses, and my iPod.

I am a camera addict. I love taking pictures, photo editing, printing pictures, and framing them. I brought two types of cameras on my trek up Mount Kilimanjaro: a small digital camera and a D-SLR camera. I brought two cameras because I knew I wouldn’t be able to charge the batteries while on the hike. If you love snapping photos on trips, I would highly suggest buying an extra battery for your camera.

I used a small digital camera during the hike to snap quick pictures when we didn’t have time to stop and get the D-SLR out of my back pack. Because you don’t want to carry the D-SLR around your neck for the majority of the hike, having a digital camera that slips into your pocket is key to documenting the whole experience. 

For the trek up Kilimanjaro I was using my four year old Sony Cybershot camera so the quality of picture wasn’t as good as I wish it had been. However, this Christmas I got a Nikon Coolpix S8100 and I love it! It’s perfect for on-the-go and although it’s compact, you don’t sacrifice the quality of the picture when it comes to this model.

Before my study abroad trip to Barcelona, I made a big time investment in a D-SLR camera. After browsing various models and asking around to friends and family, I decided that the Nikon D40 was perfect for me. While the price was incredibly steep at $700 after tax and warranty (you better believe I bought a warranty on it at that price!), I take incredibly good care of it. The unbelievable quality of pictures a D-SLR camera yields is worth every penny you pay.

Because I am not a dear diary kind of girl on an everyday basis, I wasn’t sure I would want to take the time to write in a journal on my Kilimanjaro hike. Each day though, I found myself more and more thankful I had my journal to record my experience in. It provided an outlet for my inner most thoughts and feelings on the most physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging experience of my life. I feel such a strong connection with my hike when I go back and read everything I wrote during that week. Even if you don’t find yourself having “Dear Journal” moments like Sue Sylvestor on Glee, you will be glad after your hike is over you forced yourself to write about your experience each day.

Really good sunglasses are a travel necessity, especially when it comes to hiking Mount Kilimanjaro. Because UVA/UVB rays are stronger at higher altitudes, protecting your peepers with sunglasses is essential. If you’re buying a new pair, consider polarized sunglasses to give you further protection. I wore black Coach sunglasses I already owned so I could stay cute while climbing. 

While I was unable to use my iPod Touch frequently because of the inability to charge the battery, my iPod served as a great pick-me-up when we were trekking a particularly long stretch and I started going crazy because I had run out of thoughts to entertain myself. The six most played songs on my Kilimanjaro hike were:

1) Time by Hootie & the Blowfish-my favorite band of all time (they met at the University of South Carolina too!) and one of my favorite songs. This song always puts me in a good mood when I hear it, as do all Hootie songs.

2) Two Step by DMB-another upbeat 90’s hit. I am a 90’s music junkie and in my opinion no music compares to that of the 90’s! This song is a great pick-me-up and has one of my favorite song lyrics of all time, “Celebrate we will for life is short but sweet for certain.” 

3) The Climb by Miley Cyrus-incredibly cheesy, I am aware, however this song truly spoke to what I was doing and it provided me the motivation I needed to get through the experience.

4) Babylon by David Grey-I love this song because of the lyrics “let go of your heart, let go of your head, and feel it now.” Sometimes all you can do is just let go in a situation and completely immerse yourself in everything you are feeling in that moment.

5) United States of Pop 2009 by DJ Earworm-a mash up of all the most popular songs from 2009. It’s upbeat and gives you a good pace to walk to or workout to. Definitely a pump up song!

6) My Wish by Rascal Flatts-this song always makes me think of my loved ones, especially my younger sister and brother. When I was missing my family and wished I could talk to them and tell them I was okay while on the mountain I played this song.

Nikon Coolpix S8100

Back side of the Nikon Coolpix S8100

Nikon D40 D-SLR camera-I LOVE this camera!

My travel journal from Tanzania

My black Coach sunglasses

My beloved iPod Touch 3rd generation