....Prelude to the Climb.....

.....Cape Town, S.A. to Johannesburg, S.A. to Niarobi, Kenya to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania......I hate to complain, but the journey was less than to be desired - flight was long and dreadful! Johannesburg, S.A. lived up to it's reputation - busy and not so friendly; however, we were only in the airport, so we should not be so quick to judge! We left S.A. at 5amish and arrived at Springlands Hotel at 1 am the next day with a 1 hour time change. On the last leg of the flight and the bus ride to Springlands Hotel we travelled with 10 british boys and 2 british girls - they were young and fun so it was good for a few laughs to get us through. The boys were climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro - the Marangu route in 5 days (a bit longer in length, but easier then the Machame - the one Delia and I were doing in 7 days). The girls were doing the same Marangu route, but summitting on Christmas Day. The boys did not look prepared so I am curious if they were all successful or not. However, the mountain has nothing to do with fitness, but the cold, altitude and it is all about mind over matter. I also learned early on that climbing Mt. Kilimangaro is like an ironman race - you cannot judge a person's ability to succeed by their shape and size! I am reminded again of this thought once we start the climb.





We did not see alot of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania when we first got there as it was at night (except we did experience the really rough roads - a new meaning to the childhood song "....the people in the bus go up and down......"), but when we arrived at the hotel we did get a taste of the poverty that exists in the country. Although we are not naive to the poverty and the extent of poverty in Tanzania, it did take us off guard a little. Whatever our awareness, I don't know if it would ever prepare us for experiencing it first hand. The first experience we had was when we arrived at the hotel at 1am in the morning (after a long flight so we were tired and even less tolerant). It was obvious then, and became more apparent the longer we were in Tanzania, that the poor were "contaminated" by tourist. At every opportunity the people in Tanzania that were less fortunate attempted to capitalize on our ignorance & vulnerability. They wanted to carry your bags, entertain you, sell you and basically do whatever you are willing and can pay for. It was their perception that if you could afford to travel and stay in the hotel, then you were rich and they wanted a part of that - and from their vantage point & having basically nothing (not even the basics such as clean water), this seemed about right. Specifically the situation we were handed right away was when we first arrived on the bus and ready to check into the hotel. First of all, the hotel; located right in the middle of a suburb of Moshi, was gated so we had to wait until the security let the bus driver in. Once through the gates the bus parked in the very narrow driveway - not completely dark, but very few lights - some on the ground around the path only, so it was very difficult to see even if you new the grounds - we had no idea where to go or what to do - we were waiting for instructions, but the communication was not the best. As a herd of buffalo - we all just started to get off the bus aimlessly hoping that we would be told where to go or that someone on the bus would be able to figure it out. Delia and I were just thinking that we would really love to register ahead of the English blokes as they were young and were more anxious to go to the bar then they were registering *grin* (you can take kids away from their environment, but it is hard to change their ways)! Anyways, as we got off the bus and looked around for some direction. We then attempted to get our own bags off the bus and then go register. At this time we were told not to worry about our bags, "they" would get them. We were not sure really who "they" were, and as we stood there for a bit wondering what was happening, the driver pointed us to the registration desk. As we walked around the bus along the path to the registration desk, we did see several maasi men (distinguished by their dress) waiting & quite frankly, looking just as lost and confused as we were. The maasi did not speak English so we relied on the staff at Springlands and the driver for explanation and the maasi relied on the Springlands staff and driver for the same. When we told our driver it was okay that we could take our own bags (as they were REALLY heavy and we felt guilty to make anyone carry the massive bags anywhere) - they just kept saying, "....that it was okay, "they" will get them...". By this time, we clued in that we really didn't have a choice and that they wanted to take our bags to receive tips. The bus driver told us to go check in & the maasi would wait for us, take our key and they would take us to our room - carrying our things. The hotel obviously endorsed this as they would not tell us where our room was - they kept saying that the men would take our things to the door. Now, it is not rocket science here - we knew that they were waiting for a tip, but as much reading as we did on the trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro and Tanzania - tipping for the mt climb was discussed, but the hotel and other services were not. We don't have any issue with tipping and those of you that know Delia, she goes to the extreme the other way, but it was just the uncomfortable situation - did not matter which country I was in, I was use to carrying my own bags. It was also late and we had all our money in our money belt (all currency - American, Australian, S.A. Rand and NZ dollars) - we really didn't want to pull all our money out and start sorting it out - very awkward as they stood in the room. We ended up giving them some American money, but they did not seem to happy with the amount. Also, the other thing that happened was that Delia had to go and buy some water when I realized that I packed my swiss army knife - the one that I was going to use to open our bags with (we used plastic ties to secure our bags during travel). So I asked the men before they left the room if reception would have any scissors that I could use to cut it. One of them went off to check and came back with a machate to cut it off. Needless to say it was a quite a shock. I have to say though that during this whole experience, everyone was really nice and friendly and I did not feel my safety threatened, it was just the experience of the tipping that I was not initially prepared for that's all. Throughout the hotel it was similar attitude - it was never talked about, but the expectations was always there. Although we were initially taken off guard, we soon realized that if you constantly had tourists shoving a camera in your face to get that perfect shot or possibly at times, being taken advantage of - maybe you would be doing the same. After being in Tanzania for a few days - you just got use to it and we just went with the flow. I mean, really, we are not making them rich - just taking part in the whole touristy thing. When travelling, one has to experience it all - not just the good parts. In fact, learning about the country and the people is 80% of the travelling experience. Despite the poverty, people generally were friendly & seem to be always having a good time together. In Africa, they have many resources & there is definitely money - as always, it is the lack of distribution that causes the problems. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of the poverty that we were to see. Africa is definitely a continent of mixed emotions....elation to despair, awe to sadness and a sense of hope to a sense of helplessness. Many times I would be laughing so hard that my stomach hurt and the next minute I would be holding back tears. It was really difficult to watch people with literally nothing surrounded by wealth! This is only one part of Africa - it truly is a place that has alot to offer. I won't go on & on, but it was all part of our experience!

Springlands Hotel is nice, but alot of action for sure - once we got use to the things, everything was okay - communication was not the best and for the most part, we found things out by trial and error. We had one day at Springlands Hotel before the climb, which was good to get ourselves organized - what clothes to take, etc. The night before our climb we had a meeting at the hotel. This meeting was to review the details of the climb, to meet our guide; Benjamin and to meet the 3 other people that we would be climbing with: Mike, Sabrina & Jen - I will explain more later, but we were a fantastic team - I don't think that we could have planned it better if we were able to choose our own team - we had so much fun and we truly cared about each other. Our instructions for the next day were to have a good breakfast and prepare 3 bags: one for the porters to take up the mountain, one day pack that we would carry and a bag with the remaining things that you were leaving back at the hotel. Once all the questions were answered we said good night and agreed to meet tomorrow morning, at the bus to take us to the Machame Route by 8am sharp.....hmmmmm......or was that 8 am African time.........*grin*! We went to bed had a great sleep and really not sure what to expect....and as much as we would ever be, we were ready to climb the mountain...."See it, Fear it, Conquer it"!