India

Is frustrating, which I was ready for since these are my peeps and all...but they exceeded my expectations ;), but more on that later. We're off to Bangkok now and will post from there...HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're Alive!!!!

Today is day 2 of our recovery. We are still incredibly fatigued (we should be sleeping right now!), and doing the duck walk cause our calf muscles are so tight and we have blisters are all over our feet. Apart from that.. climbing Kilimanjaro was an amazing experience (I can say this now that my body feels half-way back to normal) and one we'll never forget.

We conquered Gillman's Point- 5685 metres, on December 22 at approximately 6:30 am. Everyone in our group of 12 made it. Only 5 of 12 made it to Uhuru Peak (5896 metres) for various reasons- total exhaustion, altitude sickness. Uhuru Peak is on the opposite side of the crater rim, and although only ~200 metres higher in altitude, takes about 2 hours to get to. Sham and I realized that once we hit Gillman's, we were completely exhausted and didn't have enough energy/ food/ water (our camel backs froze half-way up) to continue another 2 hours to Uhuru (plus 2 hours back to Gillman's, plus 2 hours down to base camp, plus 3 hours to our next camp). So unfortunately we didn't make it to Uhuru. Maybe in a few years we'll try it again! (hahaha Sham is giving me a dirty look now)

I wanted to keep a log of what was going on day-to-day, but at the end of every day when we got to our new camp, I was too exhausted to pick up a pen, let alone put down some meaningful thoughts. So here goes, Sham's and my recollection of our 6-day trek up Kilimanjaro.

Day T-1.

Met the rest of our group of 12 that we'd spend the next 6 days eating, sleeping, walking (crawling), snoring, coughing, drinking swamp water, going to bathroom at all kinds of inopportune moments, and bonding with. Brett and Sharon (a.k.a. the Brits/ Army guy), Leslie, Merna, Tom, Dan, and Marc (a.k.a. the American Airforce), and Patrick and Hassup (a.k.a the Fins).

Transferred from Moivaro Lodge to Kibo Hotel where we'd spend our last night in a warm bed. Weighed our bags to make sure they were less than 15 kgs. They weren't. Sacrificed some hot packs, hot water bottles, some medicine... and were good to go (after breaking the scale.. oopsies).

Day 1.

Early morning buffet breakfast. Last bottle of o-so-good spring water, last taste of non-sandy food, and last flushable, sittable, CLEAN toilet.

Transferred to Rongai gate, approximately 3-4 hours by a rocky dirt road. Ate our boxed lunch (somewhat edible), and met our guides, Fraterin, G, Robson, and Charles. Put on our backpacks and adjusted our walking poles, and off we went.

Trekked 3-4 hours through farm land, and forest. Saw some black and white monkeys. When we got to the campsite, all the tents were already setup, and popcorn and tea/ milo/ hot chocolate was served in the mess tent. mmmm popcorn...

This was our first night out under the stars..and as romantic as that sounds..it gets old really really fast when the cold starts to freeze your :) First off we were on some pills called Diamox that help you deal with Altitude Sickness, but are also a Diaheuretic. Secondly we had been drinking roughly 3 litres of Water each to maintain hydration. The combo made us have to go to the bathroom at least 5 times the first night..and getting out of a tent into very chilly air to walk over 100 feet to the Hole in the ground (and making sure not to step on the swarm of biting ants) is a bit unnerving..the good news is that this was the warmest night we would see for the next 6 days!!!

Overall effort: leisurely stroll
Elevation gained: 750 metres (1950 to 2700m above sea level)

Day 2.

Waking up in the cold is difficult..but the guides usually wake us up to check that we're all ok and then bring hot tea to our tents allowing us 30mins to wake up. Then they bring the warm water to wash and give us 30mins to pack everything. After that we have breakfast where the ritual of getting our Platypus bags and water bottles filled with boiled stream water (swamp water as we all lovingly called it). By this time the porters had put down all the tents and were packing our Big Bags for the climb.

Travel Fact :
On this trip we had 3 porters per person. Basically to carry our 15kg bag, tents and food. That's a big team! And these guys are incredible.. they always start the climb later than us, and beat us by a mile to the campsite. Usually everything is setup by the time we get to the campsite.

Breakfast consisted of porridge, swamp tea, swamp Milo or hot chocolate, fruit, eggs bacon, and toast with margarine/ jam/ peanut butter. Once breakfast was complete we started our 7 hour hike. This time the walk was much more difficult and involved a very steep incline. We walked 4 hours at a very very slow pace, the local term for Slowly Slowly is Pole Pole (Pole-eh, pole-eh)..we hated this term by the end of the trip..it's like a mantra out here!

After 4 hours in the cooling weather we hit our lunch spot. Hot lunch was varied every day and was surprisingly good considering we were hiking a mountain! :). Another 3 hours of tough hiking and we got to our second camp spot called Kikewellwa. This was a cold night..freezing..and the Diamox water combo was still going. OK for those of you squeemish ones you may want to skip the next bit.

OK so one of the things that really was difficult was doing the good old Number 2 (Long Haul as it is known here) in the stinky Kaibo..I had held out a whole day but wasn't able to this day...well let's say this was the thing that caused many of us a lot of stress...and became common camp conversation...anyway, we're all experts now.. be it at the Kaibo, behind a rock, at 3am in the bloody morning (when it's freezing freezing cold and you have 4 layers of clothing on top and bottom and a hot pack stuffed down your shirt!), or on the final ascent path up to the top.. :)

Overall effort: Intense Long Inclined Hike
Elevation gained: 900 metres (2700 to 3500m above sea level)

Day 3.

Same deal for breakfast but a relatively short but intense hike. The air was noticeably harder to breath and some people started feeling the effects of the altitude. Which included intermitent tingling of the extremeties and pressure headaches. Mel and I thankfully were ok this day (for the most part anyways!). This was a beautiful hike but extremely difficult due to the body needing to get used to the lack of oxygen.

By 1pm we were at a place called Mawenzi which was a beautiful spot. After lunch we all hiked up ~100 meters for an hour to get acclimatized and then came back down to rest for dinner. The jackets and fleece were out for the day...the night was the coldest I have ever experienced outdoors. We both froze that night, the frost was all over the tent, water bottles froze, and on top of that, we ended up with a tent that couldn't fully zip up which just added to the problem.

We must mention here that this place had the outhouse with the best view. No door. Just you doing your thing while enjoying the view over the cliff.

Overall effort: Intense Inclined Hike
Elevation gained: 750 metres (3500m to 4330m above sea level)

Day 4.

We were incredibly tired and cold by this day. Sham's fingers and toes were intermitently tingling (feels like when your foot falls asleep and then finally you get some blood to it.. i.e. pins and needles). We were also losing our appetites and had to force ourselves to keep eating and drinking the disgusting iodine treated swamp water. Today's hike was supposed to be relativley simple and flat, with a gain of only 370 meters to the base camp at Kibo Hut. The hike took place across the Saddle of Kilimajaro which made us feel like we were walking on the Moon or Mars.. very surreal. Unfortunately we both found this long flat hike quite difficult. Mostly due to the lack of oxygen and higher degree of cold. Also, it was very windy across the saddle. The hike took 6 hours and by the end of it we were completley exhausted. We got in around 1:30pm, and started to mentally prepare for the final ascent that night, starting at midnight. Exhausted and cold we took a nap..only to be woken up for lunch which was not so impressive ...back to bed and woken up at 5pm for a briefing on the climb that night. Some more soup and some other stuff and back to bed!

Overall effort: Intense Long Hike
Elevation gained: 370 metres (4330 to 4700m above sea level)

Day 5
.. begins at midnight. We were woken up to prepare for the ascent... it was so cold (although warmer than Night 3).. but not cold enough to hide the smell of the bathrooms. There were many people here and not just our group as this is the convergence point for the Marangu and Rongai trails heading up for the final ascent.

Anyway, we get our boiled swamp water. This time we added Gatorade which masked the iodine taste and would lower the freezing point of the water. Everyone was trying to eat as much as possible.. this is incredibly difficult when you have no sense of hunger. Anyway, around 12:30 we were lined up and started our Pole Pole walk.

If anyone could have conveyed to us how hard this was, maybe we wouldn't have gone. We both felt this was the most difficult physical thing we had ever done. 6.5 hour hike, straight up with no oxygen in -5 (plus windchill weather). Many of us lost feeling in our toes and fingers, were always short of breath, would over heat, get too cold, thirsty, run out of energy, etc.. Somewhere mid way our primary source of water (Camel Backs) froze, Mel was smart and ate Power Gels at every break (which was every 10 steps), I couldn't stomach anything. We call what we did that night the Zombie Walk, and it was the only way you could make it up. Just keep your mind focussed, and walk...when you're not thinking about walking it goes faster. There were many points where I thought I would just turn around..but Mel had a determination and we just kept walking. My biggest mistake was asking how far to go when I was the most tired..the answer was a resounding at least 3.5 hours...a death sentence, when you are freezing, thirsty, way past the term known as fatigue... That may have been the hardest moment. Once up at Gillman's we both realized there was no way we could make Uhuru this time :(

Anyway, when you're at the top you are completely and utterly exhausted..and there is still another 2.5 hours down to Kibo, and then after that, a few hours to complete a 10k hike to the next camp site... It was almost impossible contemplating walking another 10km by the time we got back down to Kibo (around 9:30am). I was exhausted and passed out with a little bit of fever. Mel was still on her adreneline rush but came back to earth shortly after. Once everyone was back down we started off to Horombo Camp Site 10km away. In total, it ended up being 15 hours of walking and summiting...RE-DIC-U-LUS.

One big surprise: we found Coca Cola (and beer) at the camp site! The group bought a ton at a pricey rate..but hey..it was Coke and beer!

Overall effort: Almost impossible ascent and then long hike
Elevation gained: ~1000 metres (4700 to 5686m above sea level, and then back down to 3720m at Horombo)

Day 6
Basically usual routine, except much more tired.

6 hour lesiurely (but painful as the blisters piled up) hike down to the gate... and much celebration that night at Kibo with everyone.

This post hasn't fully done justice to the trip. There were many stories to tell.. we'll try to tell them all soon!

Picture Descriptions:
1. Our certificates
2. Pepe posing on Mawenzi with Kili's peak in the background
3. Sham and one of many outhouses
4. Night 2 campsite
5. Sham on the saddle with Kili's peak in the background(day 4)
6. View from Gillman's Point (on crater rim)
7. Sign at Gillman's Point
8. Mel with Fraterin (lead guide), and Robson (our wonderful guide who sang to us all the way up the mountain to keep us going, and carried our bags down the mountain!)
9. Us at Gillman's
10. Group photo at Kibo Hotel after final descent
11. Our friends (a.k.a American Airforce crew) at Ngordoto Mountain Lodge Hotel on Christmas Eve (good times!)
12. The Real Santa Claus at Ngordoto

Lion King cont'd

Here are a few more pics of the safari for your viewing pleasure. They were taken in the same parks as the previous post. Sham and I are still missing the experience and hope to come back some day!

1. Poomba eating (Couldn't find the pic of momma Poomba with her two little ones.. will have to find that one later)
2. Timon getting ready to pop back into his hole
3. Shenzy checking us out
4. Simba on top of the world
5. Zebras at a watering hole (they run out of the water every few minutes in case there's a lion hanging about)
6. Baboon hanging out on a rock
7. Mating lions (yes, we have a clip of them mating)
8. and 9. Leopard chill'n out in a tree till he gets hungry again
10. Baby elephant staying close to mom
11. Hippo yawning (look at those teeth!!!)
12. Sunset in the Serengeti
13. Sham and our guide and friend, Robert, at Arusha National Park

Now if you happen to be thinking of going on a safari vacation to Africa, we'd highly recommend Predator Safaris (based in Arusha). They were very helpful in planning our safari to make sure we saw the most possible given the time of year. And our guide/ driver, Robert, was incredibly knowledgable, and made sure we saw everything we wanted to see. Thank you again Robert and Nabeela!

Jambo from Tanzania

Hello Everybody.

Tanzania is amazing! The pictures from above were taken in either Tarangire (pronounced Tar-ahn-gear-eh), the Ngorongoro Crater(A complete Alien World) or here in the Serengeti where we are now.

Today is day 5 of the Safari and we've been lucky enough to see all the animals we were looking forward to. The Big Five (Leopard, Lion, Buffalo, Rhino and Elephants), we saw a lion and a baby zebra square off, and surprisingly the Zebra won. Although we do have a pic above of where a Zebra lost (see lion with Zebra leg in mouth), we didn't see the kill though. We also saw 2 Giraffes trying to mate..there is a whole bunch of snark I can get into here..but I'll let it go ;), either way, let's just say the male had a lot of work to do :D

The bad news is we also saw the Bug Five (Sisi Flies (sp?), Spiders, Roaches, some weird bugs that move like star fish, mosquito's).

Travel Fact
Sisi flies are said to have single handedly driven the Massai from the Serengetti plain.

We also got very lucky in the Ngorongoro crater. Our original hotel had overbooked and we were then sent to a 7star Ngorongoro Crater Lodge..one of the pics from above is a view of the crater from the room. Suffice it to say it was the most amazing place Mel and I have ever stayed in.

We are "Luxury Camping" in the Serengetti for the next 2 days and then back to Arusha to rest for 3 days before the climb. (Nick : We are staying at Moivaro Lodge Dec 15, 16, Kibo Lodge Dec 17, then we climb from the 18th - 23rd, night of the 23rd at Kibo, 24-25 at Moivaro Cofee Lodge again). For those that don't know Nick is climbing up Kili while we are on the way down..good luck man!

Cheers

On Safari

Have a tonb of pics..but no way to post from here. We're on a little Coffee lodge just outside the Ngorongoro crater..might be able to post some at the end of the Safari in 5-6 days. Hope all is well.

Cheers

1 2 3 4 BUNGEEEEE!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO We did it!

Jumped off the Victoria Falls Bridge 111 Meters. I must say it was the stooopidest thing I have ever done, but I'm glad I did it! This was Mel's 2nd time, so go figure. You just really have to psyche your self up and then just do it, there is no time to really feel fear until your bouncing up and down and have a chance to evaluate the fact that if something gives way you're lion food :) . And although Zimbabwe is a 3rd world country the folks at the Zim Bungi we're very professional and safe....

Anyway..The other 2 pictures are of a Wild Hog who walked us to the Bridge, I was more scarred of the hog than the jump I think :) (Mel scoffed at this line :P ), the other pic is of Pepe enjoying Vic Falls.

Sooo people go to Vic Falls. I know it's a bit cliche saying the best way to give charity is to be a tourist, but in this case it's really true. The people here are going through so much and the poverty is mind numbing, but not once did we feel too unsafe and we met some wonderful people here that helped through some interesting predicaments. We spent more on tips then we did on lodging and food, but the people here were gracious, even returning some lost sunglasses. No one ever overtly asked for a tip, and even the guys that bother tourists for money by the bridge, relented after a while and were wonderful tour guides, you have to tip someone that figures out you aren't going to give them money and then just gives you a free tour :) .. either way, you can't help everyone, but your heart does go out to the people.

Travel Fact
Also, here in Zimbabwe, Mel and I are Millionaires (maybe Billionaires)...Conversion rate $1 Cdn = 66 000 Zibabwe Dollars. That rate was 1 CDN = 27 000 Zim Dolalrs 3 months ago. Stuff here's isn't Egypt cheap, but is still very affordable!!

We are in Harare today (1 day early) due to some rescheduling Air Zimbabwe is doing due to the lack of Fuel (yah, sanctions...long story, maybe one we'll tell when we get back). Anyway, when got off the plane there were no cabs and a wonderful woman(Thanks Bongi!) just offered us a ride to the Crown Plaza (where we decided to stay, since this is on travelers Insurance). There was also the nice receptionist that put us up in the Honeymoon suite..and sweeet it is! Anyway, put Zimbabwe on your travel to list, it is 3rd world and it is Africa, but, if you're an experienced traveller you'll be fine.

Also wanted to thank our South African friends Marc and Tanya for being great company in Egypt and volunteering to ship some art back for us, hope you guys got home ok!! We'll email you your Camel pics soon!

Anyway, we're off to Killimanjaro via Nairobi tomorrow. Hope all of you are doing well.

Cheers

Surreal Egypt

Hello All,

This will be quick as we are shortly off to the airport. Here's a small sampling from Egypt.
2)Giza During the Day
3)Sakkara Pyrmaid with a Camel that I took without having to pay any Baksheesh!
1)Sunset on the Nile somewhere between Edfu and Luxor from our Cruise Boat

The whole place was surreal and we would definatley recommend doing a guided tour as Egypt is a difficult country. Our toiur with Top Deck tours was great with a wonderful tour guide. I'll try to post the pictures from Abu Simbel sometime, assuming we get Net connection in Zim :).

So Vic Falls for 4ish days and then off to Tanzania! All the Best

Cheers

Where the streets have no lane

Cairo. It's like an alien city. We've been here relaxing and taking it easy for the last 3 days. The only touristy things we've done are see the night show at the Giza pyramids(tacky, but worth it) and get ripped off by local cabbies (who are crazy). The night show is worth seeing if you go to the Pizza Hut across the street and order some food, let the waiter know you'll give him a good tip and he'll dim all the lights, turn down the music and open the windows, which allows you to pretty much experience the same things as the guys that paid the 65 Egyptian pounds each and sat within the pyramid compound.

The pyramids are unreal and it's difficult to ascertain their true size at night. The whole view was surreal with all the donkeys on the street side by side with the cab cars and then these majestic pyramids mixed in with the smell o putrid and the tacky light show. We can't wait to see them in the day!

Food. Is good and cheappp with the best falafels I have ever had! And...they we're only $0.25 CDN each. YUM!

So the roads..wow..no lanes..everyone is weaving, pedestrians are forced to walk on roads due to the state of the sidewalks, even on highways. We got in at 11pm Cairo time and we were in traffic jams all the way. Rush Hour in Toronto is orderly and speedy comparatively.

We begin our Touristy Tour tomorrow and get a daytime view of Giza and the Sakkara Pyramids, then a night train to Aswan and then a 3day Nile cruise to Luxor and finally a one day flight to Abu Simbel and then another overnight train back to Cairo.

One more thing about Cairo. Pollution, it's dense, the air always smells like some mix of rotten and gasoline. Blow your nose and the resulting fluid is black. I feel like I've been smoking since I was 5 here. It is an alien world, you can't see those too often, really looking forward to Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings.

Peace.

Some more wedding pics

OK with 20 minutes to go till we have to leave for the airport, here's a link to more wedding pics from Vani, Jill, Julie, Damian and Adam.

Click Me!

(You can view the pics without signing into Kodak. Click the link below the Continue button labelled "View Photos without signing in")

They're in no particular order ! If anyone else has Costa Rica pics they would like to share, please post a link in the comments section. Thanks!!

Pepe all over the world

Hello Everybody,

Ok, we are in the final stages of prep to leave. Our flight leaves at 9pm tonight to Cairo via Heathrow. It hasn't hit us yet. The hustle and bussle of the last 3 days really hasn't let it sink in...It'll probably happen on the plane.

So packing...I really don't think we overpacked..but that damn climb up Kilimanjaro made us carry an extra carry on each. We will have to ship that stuff back after the climb.

Above is Pepe, a lovely goat that we all came across hanging out in the pool in Manuel Antonio. Pepe is coming with us, so look for him as we travel. He's much more photogenic and enjoys the limelight.

Anyway, Cheers and see you all soon

Driving in Costa Rica

Costa Rica Bridge
Originally uploaded by _s dot.

Let me start off by saying I love driving. I love it all the time: Rush Hour, DVP, Country Roads, 401 during construction (which has been all my life), and also driving in Costa Rica...but man, that may have been the most stressful driving of my life. Let me rewind a bit.

So Week 2 after all the family had left, some to head back home some to other parts of Costa Rica, Mel and I decided that we wanted the freedom to decide what we wanted to do on the fly, hence, we rented a car. Mel and I were pretty excited about drving, only to discover that Mel had left her license at home...I was secretly happy about this turn of events since I LOVE DRIVING (I secretly regreted secretly being happy about the license thing later on)..so anyway off we went! The plan was to drive to Volcan Poas on the outskirts of San Jose, stay the night, and then head to the Caribbean Coast.

Travel Fact:
Manuel Antonio to San Jose distance = 275km, Time to Travel 4hours in good weather on a Major Costa Rican Highway.

Anyway long story short we didn't see Poas that day or the morning after due to cloud cover (we did get to see the day we left though, it was beautiful, I think Mel might post that soon)..but due to some luck, the Park Ranger let us know Tropical Depression Ghandi was forming on the Caribbean Coast and wiping away all the roads..FUN! So we changed our plans to find the sun..we decided to drive to the Nicoya Coast to a wonderful little beach town that Lonely Planet couldn't stop raving about called Playa Del Coco.

Travel Fact:
Distance to Playa Del Coco from San Jose 305 km, Driving Time = 6.5 hours on the worst roads I have ever seen.

No pothole in Toronto can compare to any of the ones we saw on this trek. For your viewing pleasure we shot this video of a typical stretch of road, note, this is the Main Pan American Highway, the largest highway in Costa Rica.

Anyway, to spare you the details we now hate Lonely Planet too, Playa Coco was Kaka. Mel would want me to remind everyone that I was a wreck after this drive, cranky tired and moody..I blame the drive :) anyway, we soon realised that the sedan we had was nice but we'd need an SUV. We switched cars in Liberia(30km away) to take what the locals call the Monkey trail, the fastest way to get from Liberia to Playa Tamarindo a place we knew and liked :)

Here's a little taste of the Monkey Trail

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4

Yah..nuts

Anyway, here's some take aways

1)Get a Fricken SUV from the get go
2)Get a Standard Transmission, cause we needed it, not sure we could have pulled it off with an Automatic
3)If you want a very chill vacation, let someone else drive you
4)if you love driving, definatley do it...just break up your drives
5)Keep aware of the exchange rate: 1 Costa Rican km = 5 Canadian km
6)The fastest you are ever going to drive is 90km/h for maybe 1-2 minutes at a time
7)There is a cop around the next bend, we must have seen over 20 and pulled over 6 times. 5 for no apparent reason (I'm fairly certain it was to check Mel out) and once when we were speeding (HA!), but the cop was nice, after admiring the Hena / Mendhi on Mel's arm and coming to the conclusion that there was no way we could communicate with each other, he said something about being Canadian, had a laugh and let us go on our way..wonder what he would have done if we had American Passports?

OK back to packing. We leave tomorrow night! Cheers

More Wedding Pics

Ola everyone,

We are back, after a ridiculous flight with American Airlines. We now officially hate American (that story to follow). Anyway, I'm down with a cold and taking all home / Pharmaceutical remedies to make it go away...

Anyway Vani has some teaser photos up on her site. Check them out Here and Here.

Thanks Vani! If you're looking for a great wedding photographer check out her site!

Finally some pics

Here are some pics finally of:
- our peeps piled into the airport van,
- the crazy lizard in the pool at Casa Romano,
- a precarious bridge on the ride out of Manuel Antonio,
- crocodiles chilling out underneath another bridge,
- cows on the road to Volcano Poas