Holidays and absences [2]

Dont think EVERY river has those.- Lance

Yes but that means SOME do. And it might be the one I'm in!  

I will Lance, but only if you peel me some grapes in your Tarzan thong.

 

Mrs Figg wrote:I will Lance, but only if you peel me some grapes in your Tarzan thong.

Fine by me... just need some of your eel oil to help get it on.

I'm a Cheetah. Boom Boom!  

  

hey you wouldnt peel me grapes! you wouldnt even peel me a Haggis. and Lance will do it cheeks akimbo with a croc infested blow hole so you cant argue with that.

I tried peeling you grapes but I couldn't work out how you get them back out the wine, its not my fault!  

And you dont peel haggis, the skins the chewy bit  

Easter seems a good enough time to bump this thread as any.

I've not been around for all that much of it so far, but it seems I'll be gone for the rest of it.

So good Easter to everyone.   

You too. I am here until August... need holiday... can't make it through...

Hoppy Easter, Blue! Hope you have a good time.

And hold in there, Lance!   

Hey Lance, what happened with your african camping trip a year ago? I missed mention of it then. Spent a couple years in west africa, where were you?

Halfy - if you are talking about one I have done then I did Kilimanjaro in Jan 2012. If you mean the one I am doing then I am heading out to Zambia in November to do 5 days on the Zambezi river.

What were you doing out there?

Lancebloke wrote:Halfy - if you are talking about one I have done then I did Kilimanjaro in Jan 2012. If you mean the one I am doing then I am heading out to Zambia in November to do 5 days on the Zambezi river.

What were you doing out there?

Very cool! i was teaching in Sierra Leone.

And I will be doing Kilimanjaro in october. How was it? the final altitude sort of scares me.

ps: the ladies now know you ARE an Aragorn type.

How do they know that now?

Do you know what route you are taking? I could give you plenty of tips!!

You travel exotic places like Strider. They commented your chin looked like him, now the rest is filling in.

We're going via Lemosho, we're not so young anymore so are taking the most gradual route.

Please, tip away!   

You will have to wait until I get home in a couple of hours. My phone isn't a good place to type too much.

Yep, phones are for confirming receipt of information, not transmitting it. Not that my mom understands that (and she does voice only).   

you two can take me up the Lumpoopoo river any day, does it have snakes?    I dont like snakses

the Limpid Lampopo or the Lampoopoo?

Thats typical Figgs, you'll jump at the chance to let these two take you up the river but can't I get you to so much as clean some of the crusty stuff off my barrel?   

I am confused. How did we get in to talk about taking anyone up anywhere?

halfwise wrote:You travel exotic places like Strider.  They commented your chin looked like him, now the rest is filling in.

We're going via Lemosho, we're not so young anymore so are taking the most gradual route.

Please, tip away!    

Ok, so I did the ascent on the Rongai route which then takes you back down the Lemosho. The Rongai and Lemosho I think are the longest, but that is a good thing!

I assume you are doing it through some kind of trekking company and that they will have taken care of everything such as tents, food, guides etc.

There should be about 3 days of trekking before the big night. Expect to walk for about 4-5 hours a day over those 3 days. Make sure you have clothing for hot weather as the first few days will be t-shirt time.. the layers go on as you get higher.

Also, take snack food with you. You will be given plenty I am sure but make sure you have something you really like. Takes the edge off a little.

Do you have a camelback for water? If not, get one and make sure you can put it inside your day pack. I don't know how much trekking you have done, but at altitude hydration is key!

At breakfast, just bloody eat. Altitude also has the effect of making some people lose appetite. Force it down... the energy will be needed. You can tell quite early who the people are that will get to Uhuru and those that wont.

I also assume you have got some tablets to help with altitude? Remember that it is an affect that you have no control over. You will either get it or you wont. The route you are on is good on that front as you get extra time to acclimatise. 100% of our group got to Gillman's Point which is where you can officially say you got to the top. Other routes have much lower success rates.

So... with that in mind.... summit night!

Not gonna lie, summit night is a bitch.... but you will make it!

You will start your ascent at about 11pm... so you would have had a days trek before that and had a very carb heavy dinner (again, force it down... you really will need the energy). The temperature when we make our summit bid was -15c and incredibly windy (I lost both of my outer gloves.... only had thermals for most of the night) but be prepared for colder and snow.... the weather can be quite random.

My group made it to Gillman's in 5 hours, the group behind did it in about 6.5, but they went back down. From there, you are looking at about 2 hours round to Uhuru, 2 hours back and about an hour down again..... then breakfast and off to next camp (another 4-5 hours).

So... it is a bloody long day of walking. You will see peoples torches above you (make sure you have a head torch) and below you and coming up other routes. For some people that in itself can be quite demoralising when you cant see side of the mountain, only the little specs of torches above you in the distance.... but clearly they made it so you will too.

Hitting the sign at Uhuru will make you feel great, but not as good as when the sun comes up and lights up the world below you.... especially if it is cloudy down below as it was for us. That buzz will be enough to get you back for breakfast.

That whole experience is both amazing and horrible. While you cant train much for altitude without being at altitude, you can train for the distance. I was doing 20 mile walks at home before I went to make sure my body was ready for it. It makes the difference between enjoying the sun rise and not..... and that is a big difference!

Take walking poles! They really help take the load off your knees, especially when going down things.

Take a deck of cards for the evenings if you are with a group!

You will stink.... but so will everyone. The first shower when you get back is pretty shocking!

Make sure whatever boots you have are broken in well. If you dont have them already, go out this weekend and get walking. Better to get a shit pair now and find out than when you are on the mountain.

Oh... I can't think what they are called, but you can get things to put in your water which flavour it, but more importantly will lower its freezing temperature. Might give you an extra hour of water on summit night before it freezes.

That is about all I can think of right now.... hope it helps in some way.

Those are great tips! I'll pass them on to the other people in our group. Thanks!