I tried to climb Kilimanjaro once. I took the Coca Cola route, the easy route that anyone is supposed to be able to climb. I fell just short, getting about halfway up the final ascent before what I thought was a dose of malaria laid me low. Tests in Nairobi showed I was malaria free. I was just ill-prepared. And I had a crap guide.
I’ll call the guide Joseph, for that was his name. He spent the ascent chain-smoking and hurrying me along. He said the smoking got his lungs used to the thinner air. And he was hurrying me along because I’d taken the cheaper, shorter option. It was a foolish decision. An extra day would have helped me acclimatize. And I still had to pay the extortionate park fees, which were the biggest expense of the trip.
I mention this because Layhe has posted on the Forum asking the best time to climb Kilimanjaro. I learned from bitter experience that when you go isn’t as important as who you go with. And Layhe, if your guide says that trekking gear is included, make sure it’s more appropriate than the thin pink fleece that Joseph threw to me as we set off up the mountain.
Elsewhere on the Forum, JustinC is looking for a travel buddy to Suriname and Guyana, roovilla wants advice on planning a family holiday and Angela R is looking for tips on the best place to check out the autumn leaves in New England. You can help them all out here.
In the week I decided to get serious about applying for British citizenship, ChristianW is just back from my home town, Sydney, where he watched whales from the ferries and did the walk from Bondi to Bronte. Hmmm, maybe I should think a bit before coughing up the £874 the Home Office is trying to extort from me.
Howellsey, on the other hand, is back from the Galloway Hills, watching deer on the Southern Upland Way, mschaaf has been wandering the olive groves of Puglia and cactuschild took a hair-raising road trip from Zelezniki to Bled in Slovenia. Steve48 has been swimming with a shoal of snapper on the Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.
Over at Experiences, markymark983 goes all Beowulf on us with an entertaining saga about his travels in Iceland and Sundial finally gets to Cornwall.
Chandaala’s back over on the Photography section with a stunning image of pigeons in London. I don’t know how he managed to do it, but he got their best side. Treacleminer continues to upload fantastic images from his adventure in Iran, this time treating us to shots from Bam and Kerman. While you’re there, check out gshiham’s photos from Reethi Beach in the Maldives and yonderblog’s set from South-East Asia.
Until next week...
