Posted 8:12 AM by MelanieandSteve
MOSHI, TANZANIA - AND MOUNT KILIMANJARO (30 Sept - 8 Oct, written 14 Oct.)

MAKING THE MOSHT OF MOSHI: No rest for the weary - back from our Serengetti, we headed straight for the Base town of Mount Kilimanjaro, Moshi. We spent the whole rest of the day prepping gear for our first morning's climb.

KILIMANJARO - THE ROOF OF AFRICA: Mount Kili stands at 5895 meters or 19,340 feet. It's the highest mountain in Africa, the highest 'free-standing mountain in the world', and one of the world's largest volcanoes. As a point of reference, the highest mountains in the continental united states stand only 14,000 feet. We'd be spending seven beautiful, adventurous, challenging, and unforgettable days on the big Mountain.

THE ROUTE: Kili has several routes to the top. We took Machame, named after the village at the trail head on the southwestern side of the mountain. This trail is known for being scenic and beautiful. We spent 5 days hiking up. The sixth morning, we summitted, and by day 7, we exited the park gates and were on our way back to town.

PROUDLY THANKING EVERYONE INVOLVED FROM THE START: There were three of us. The two of us and Sister Melanie (Sis-Mel). There were 14 of them - staff, that is. Two guides and twelve porters to carry the bulk of our stuff. We'd carried day packs with necessities like warm clothes and snacks. They carried everything else -- along with their own gear, food, kitchen supplies and tents. And despite their heavy burdens, these porters were so strong that they always streaked passed us and made it to the camps hours ahead of us. By the time we reached camps, they would always have our tents set up and hot water on the boil to give us tea. This was the lap of camping luxury.

ECO-CELLS - THE MANY CLIMATES AS WE CLIMBED: Most places where we've traveled have reminded us of somewhere else. What stood out on Kilimanjaro was was that the terrain was very different from anywhere we've seen. We passed through five major environment changes. We went from "Cultivation" land at low levels, to mossy dark green "jungle and forest above 6000 feet, to rocky shrubby "Moorland" above 9000 feet, to dry rocky "High Desert" above 13000 feet, and lastly into the scree and rocks and glaciers of the "Summit" Zone above 16500 feet. It was all new. And each was a landmark of our progress.

EASY BREEZY PRE-SUMMIT DAYS: To acclimate, we took it slowly the first few days. Still the altitude effected people. Sister Mel had friends on the mountain hiking with another group. Several of them began to feel the effects of altitude by the second or third day. On the fourth night, we were 'lulled' to sleep by the lovely sounds of the guys in the camp next to ours being sick. They had to go down off the mountain before the sun rose. Given these conditions, it was good to keep the hikes slow at first. Friendly guides and porters from all groups would always greet us "Jambo" and remind us to go "Pole Pole" or slowly slowly.

A BIRTHDAY TO TOP ALL OTHERS: Sis-Mel's highest birthday was spent with us on 4 October, day 4 of the trek. We started the morning with the birthday song, cards and gifts and even balloons tied to her tent. Mel tied the balloons to her backpack during the hike that day.

SUPER SCHEDULED SUMMIT DAY: On day five we arrived at Barafu ("high camp") and set up camp in the early afternoon. From there, our schedule was entirely defined. First we rested. Dinner at 5:30. Then we tried to sleep. Tea and biscuits at 11:30 pm, and time to start getting ready. The beautiful orange half moon rose at midnight and we rose with it. We started up that mountain for the summit bit at 12:30 am on 6 Oct - clad in down jackets, snow gloves, gortex gear, balaclavas, and layers upon layers of warmth. Good thing for layers because at first we'd overheat as we climbed straight up steep rocks at lower altitudes. As we got higher, overheat would become a blessed word of the past.

GOING THROUGH HELL TO GET TO HEAVEN - CHALLENGES REACHING THE TOP: Each of us handled the climb differently. We each had our own challenges. For Steve, there was trouble breathing. For sis-Mel, there were moments of dizziness. For Melanie, there was indigestion from the last night's meal. The Challenge that we all shared in common was bitter, horrible, piercing cold and high winds. The higher we went in the dark of night the more piercing the cold became. The weather reached about 11 below in Celsius, but with 40 knot winds, the wind chill was probably about 40 below. At times we tried to help each other get things out of our packs and that seemed impossible since our hands were frozen. Steve, who had been suffering from a chest cold, had the greatest difficulty. Thankfully, Mark, our assistant guide, was tender, competent, and extremely good in the cold weather. He helped Steve with layer changes, rubbed his back to keep him warm, and gave him mountain moral support all the way. Steve took the award for "Iron Will" as he overcame incredible discomfort during the six hour painful climb.

A GLIMMER, A GLOW, OF HOPE: We grew colder as the morning hours passed. Melanie's one liter bottle of flavored water froze solid. Her camel back began to freeze but she took a sip every 10 to 20 seconds to prevent total freezing. Each sip was full of slush. We needed that sun to rise. Just as we were wondering why we'd subjected ourselves to this, Sister Melanie pointed out a faint glow over the horizon. Sunrise was a long way away, but the promise of the sun was finally here. A glimmer of hope. Onward and Upward.

STELLA POINT: THE BIG HURDLE OVER: As the sky steadily lightened, still pre sun-rise, we finally reached the volcano's rim below the summit, Stella Point. This was about 45 minutes from our ultimate goal Uhuru Peak. But this was almost as climactic as the real summit. Hugs all around. The rest of the hike was less steep, and extremely beautiful.

SOBS AND LAUGHTER, SUMMITS AND SUNRISE: We had no idea what we had been in for. As we rounded the bend from Stella toward Uhuru, the sky began to pinken with the coming sunrise, and all around us there were crystal glowing glaciers. Below was a blanket of cotton pink clouds and below that, the valleys and cities. To one side was the crater of this ancient volcano. Melanie began to Sob. And then she began to laugh at herself for sobbing. And then she sobbed again. It was unbelievable up there. We all agreed this may have been the single most beautiful thing we'd ever seen in our lives. But oh, we were miserable. At the peak - 19,340 feet - we stayed only long enough to take a picture and then head fast down toward warmer lands.

THE LONG HIKE DOWN: All included, we likely hiked over 20 miles that day. Six hours up in the morning, three down to high camp, and then about 4 more to our next night's camp.

THE HIKE OUT: Our hike out took us back into the jungle. We watched Black and White Calabus monkeys swing through the trees. We stared at black monkeys sitting in the branches. We watched a green chameleon begin to turn red on the red dirt trail, and we stepped over a banana slug nearly as big as a banana. All the while we were enjoying the new music of a living forest - birds and waterfalls. At the base, we were greeted by congratulations and "Jambo's", and given a certificate of achievement for making it to the top.

A ROOF AND A BED AND A...: What would anyone really want on return to town after seven cold dirty camping days? Aaaah, yes, a warm shower. Well, we didn't get it. Our shower was cold. But we were happy to be clean and in a warm bed that night. We spent our last evening with Sis-Mel before her take off to Nairobi in the morning.

NEXT TIME: A little more Tanzania. And a little more Africa.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO:
Uncle Gary, Steve C., Sister Melanie P., 1st Cuz Barbara F., Tang, and Scott A..

Posted 7:13 AM by MelanieandSteve
ARUSHA, TANZANIA - AND THE SERENGETTI (25-30 Sept, written 14 Oct)

FLYING HIGH, DRY, AND WITHOUT MUCH SHUT-EYE: Another all-night flight took us from Cairo to Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania with stops in the Sudan and Ethiopia. We were to meet sister Melanie in Tanzania.

LITTLE SUDANESE JOKE: Mel came up with this one during our layover in Sudan's capital, Khartoum.
Q: Some languages use the Arabic Alphabet. Russians use Cyrillic. Greeks have their own alphabet. The Sudanese also have one- - what do you call it? (Remember: We made this one up.)
Mel's A: Khartoum Characters.

FIRST SIGHTING OF KILI AND PEOPLE IN KILLER COSTUMES: On the highway to Arusha, we caught our first glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro - Africa's tallest Mountain. At the base, Maasai tribal boys walked in traditional clothing. According to our driver, these members of a former warrior tribe were coming down from a ceremony of manhood innitiation where they stayed alone in the mountains for a prolonged time. We ended up seeing several beautiful Maasai people walking near the towns.

COLORFUL PEOPLE: Faces, Skin, Clothing ... The people in Tanzania were striking. Women often had ornate hair designs and they all wore vibrant sarangs and wraps. Sometimes the wraps were worn over an old dress or T-shirt. If anyone else put the two together they would clash horribly. These people, however, could not go wrong. Wherever we looked, people looked good. It was very common to see women walking with containers or items balanced on their heads - they usually didn't even need to use their hands for balance. They would definitely get high marks in model school.

KIND PEOPLE: Melanie took a little time exploring in the early morning. She found that people noticed her, sometimes staired, but were most always polite and always returned her waves, hello's and smiles with the same. They'd go out of their way to wave even if their hands were full with large loads or with holding children.

MEETING, GREETING, SHOPPING, AND DROPPING: Sister Melanie arrived on our second morning and we all headed out for some last minute prepping before our Safari. There were needed supplies like snacks, and luxury supplies like souveniers to be gotten. Among the luxury items was Tanzanite - a rare vibrant violet blue stone mined only in Tanzania. Small world, the man at the Tanzanite store was good friends with one of Melanie's colleagues in San Diego California. We spent hours at that shop. Then we dropped for a while to let poor jet-lagged Mel rest up.

PUDDLE AND PARK JUMPING: In the morning we all borded our 14-seater puddle jumper for the Serengetti National Park. Little did we know our flight itself would be like a safari. People got off at two brief stopping points. "Stopping Points" is the word - as we saw no airports. There were dirt or grass strips, and safari jeeps waiting to pick up passengers. There were no buildings or control towers, but there were animals. On our first stop, we saw Elephants, giraffes, and best of all, cheetahs only 40 feet from the plane. Our second stopever was equally exciting with baboons, wildebeastes, giraffes, and gazelles. A foreshadowing of the next four days.

SO FARI SO GOODY, SAFARI: At our airstrip, guide Mutta and Driver Stanley met us in their Toyota Landcruiser. We'd end up spending most of the next three days in that car ... or more correctly, ON it. We often road on the roof, or else climbed up top whenever wildlife appeared - which was virtually all the time. The Serengetti was declared a National Park in 1951, but was a protected area for decades before that. The result seems to have been that the Animals a) don't fear human presence and b) are entirely used to us. The good effect is that we ended up being like flies on the wall. Animals went about their business as if we weren't even there. Including hunting, stalking, sleeping, even sex and child birth.

WE JUST ABOUT SAW IT ALL: The following are a list of animals we saw duruing safari. Many of them we saw multiple times in multiple places:
-Plains creatures: Zebras and wildebeasts who run together. Also graceful giraffes. and Buffalo.
-Water creatures: Hippos and crocs which live side by side.
-Antelope related creatures: Wildebeasts, waterbucks, red bucks, Thompson Gazelles, Grant Gazelles, Dic Dic's who always run in twos and run like the sound 'dic dic.' Topis. Impalas.
-Monkey like animals: Black Faced Monkeys, baboons.
-Favorites like: Lions, Elephants, and Cheetahs.
-Birds of many a feather: Roller birds demonstrated their acrobatics catching insects in the air. Blacksmiths Plover Bird. African Tight Walker. Oxpeckers. Storks. Buzzards. Secretary Birds. Egyptian Geese. Starlings. Ostriches. The list goes on. The colors go on even longer.
-And: Warthogs.

FAVORITE ANIMAL VIEWING MOMENTS: There were many moments worthy of being 'favorite moments.' Here are just a few.
-A Pride of Lions sitting under an Acatia tree. One sharpened her claws on the tree. Another climbed into the tree and jumped from branch to branch.
-7 or 8 Elepahants Came too close to our hotel grounds. Hotel staff had to fire guns into the air to scare them away. During the night, the elephants returned and ate trees right outside our room. They toppled a tree right onto our hut.
-A Cheetah enjoyed eating it's prey as vultures and huge storks circled around and planned how to steal it. The Cheetah tried to resist the encroachment of the 30 or 40 huge birds, but eventually, the Cheetah was no match. It gave up and left. The birds tore into the feast like a band of demons.
-Pride of 8 Lionesses crossed the dirt road right in front of us. Eye to eye, the sauntering lions looked at us from only a couple feet away.
-Buffalo grazed right outside our hotel window. We woke to them at sunrise.
-Huge herd of Zebras and Wildebeasts stampeded across the plains. Like an episode of Mutual of Omaha.
-Giraffes stood in straddle position and bent legs in order to get their long bodies low enough to drink water.
-Black Headed Heron slurped down a foot-long lizard, right in front of us.
-Pool of Hippos, resting in the water, all rose up in a sudden moaning churning roar as a large Crocodile approached too close. There was a lucky monkey on the shore about to drink water. His life may have just been saved.

HOTEL SERENA, SERENE AND SPLENDID: At nights after our long safari days, we were in the lap of luxury. Great sunset views. A beautiful cabin with three beds for the three of us. Excellent service from a genuinely friendly staff of beautiful people. And food that could not be beat.

MASCOTTS: ANIMALS AND FLAGS: We learned from Mutta:
A) THE GIRAFFE: is considered to represent Tanzania because it is: 1- Tall like Mount Kilimanjaro, 2- Gentle like Tanzanian People, and 3- Colorful like the Tanzanian Flag.
B) THE TANZANIAN FLAG is: 1- yellow for minerals in Tanzania, 2- Blue for water, 3- Green for grass, and 4- Black the people. 5- Mutta said it was important to understand why there was No Red - because Tanzania shed no blood for independence.

PUDDLE JUMPING AGAIN: Melanie rode in the front cockpit by the pilot for the flight back to Arusha. The Serengetti part of our Tanzanian adventure over, we were just beginning.

NEXT: The Heights of adventure on Africa's greatest mountain.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO: Ala S., Brother Nate, Szeb S., Felice., Penny T.

Posted 9:00 AM by MelanieandSteve
EGYPT #1, 17-24 September (written 10 Oct)

THE PLACE TO BE: Our first jaunt in Egypt was divided between Capital Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula. This was only a stop over for a few days, but we found that Egypt was so mystical that we knew we would have to come back for more.

CAIRO DARK AND EARLY: We arrived in Cairo at 02:45 am. Tired and dull as we were after early a.m. baggage claims and customs riga marole, we were ready to accept what creature comforts came our way. When the "New Palace" hotel offered transport to the hotel and to check us in early, we took took them up on it ... with a yawn. Their business must be built on tossled tired travellers, because the hotel itself wouldn't attract a crowd. The "New Palace" was like Grape Nuts. It wasn't New and it wasn't a Palace. But the dirty, rickety, old place on the sixth floor with a broken elevator had a friendly staff and it was a place to lay our heads. But soon we moved on.

EGYPTIAN OPTIONS: We fell in love with Egypt. Traveller's options were very diverse.
--History: Goes back further than record.
--City and Culture: Bustly and dusty Cairo is riddled with lovely Arabic hospitality and culture with daily calls to prayer, beautiful Arabic dress, friendly people.
--R and R: Scuba, waterfront accomodations, horse riding, fine dining... are some of Sinai's splendors.
--Trekking: Mountains that attracted even the folks of Bible times.

GREAT PEOPLE: Metalica, a travel agent we spoke with, gave us some helpful hints about Egyptian people: Egyptians are friendly, extremely caring and generous. Violence virtually does not exist. He warned to watch out for people taking advantage of tourists, but He said that if you had a problem and you asked an Egyptian for help, they would almost always take you in, give you help, or even lend you money. We found people (other than tourist vultures) really were this warm and caring. Very many people spoke English, and everyone shared a smile when we put some effort into speaking to them in Arabic. Smiles and "welcomes" greated us everywhere.

FREE RELIGIONS: Egypt is about 85% Muslim and 15% Christian. They have a history of tolerance and they even have their own special sect of Christianity - the Coptic Christians who were people who refused to convert when the Arabs conquered and converted most of the middle east and North Africa in the 7th century. The modern influences of both religions was noticeable. Christians on the street would ask us if we were Christian. Muslims would wish us Alacum Salam. Gladly, neither were pushy. All were respectful of each other.

TASTE OF CAIRO: A new food: Coshari - a mix of it all - onion, rice, noodles, garbanzo beans, other beans, and more pasta. A beany, carby wonder - very cheap and popular. At about thirty cents a big bowl, there are restaurants that serve this and only this. They have a bin full of each ingredient and when you order, they efficiently slop in a scoop of each ingredient and hand you the bowl to mix up and spice up. Too heavy for every day eating, but yummy and kind of fun.

CAIRO PEOPLE'S TASTES: Mel felt a Kindred spirit since Egyptians love three things that Melanie loves - Tea, Nuts and Shoes. There are lots of shops with bins of scoopable nuts to snack on. Tea is like "Egyptian Whiskey" since Arabic culture is non-alcoholic. And the streets were lined with shoe stores. At night, the crowded sidewalks became bottle necked with large groups of locals huddling at shoe store windows pointing and stairing. (Kind of Humorous to us).

TASTE OF THE PAST: Before we made it to the Pyramads or other ancient wonders, we caught a sneak preview of ancient Egypt in the Egyptian Museum. This was one of our best Museums yet. Mel love it too, but Steve loved it enough to visit twice. The first time experience was enhanced by our hired a guide, Abdul. He helped make sense of the over 120,000 amazing relics. Highlights included finds from King Tut's tomb including his solid gold casket. We saw mummies and mummy making tables, and we learned how to mummify. Melanie couldn't believe the 4500 year old hyroglyphics on papyrus that still looked as if they were written yesterday. Steve was amazed at some of the ancient inventions, not just centuries old, but millenium old - such as hinges on a portable fold-away bed. We were surprised to find that ancient Egyptians used six sided dice and boomerangs (Why do Aussies get the credit?).

ANCIENT RELIGIONS, POSSIBLE LINKS? Having travelled through lands of Hindu and Budha, we noticed common influences here in the land of Ancient Egyptians: Like Hindu and Budhists, Ancient Egyptians hold loved the Lotis Flower and they also revered the "Holy Cow". We knew Hindu love the cow, but Ancient Egyptians did as well. (We wondered, does this have anything to do with Moses's golden calf incident after the Isrealites escaped Egypt?)

PYRAMIDS OF GIZA - GETTING THERE: We decided to skip the mass tourist busses, and we hopped on the metro. Once in Giza, there was still a long way to go. We began seeking a micro-bus to the pyramids. A man, Ossama, quietly approached us to say that he had just gotten off work and would be glad to drive us there, as a friendly gesture. We really enjoyed Ossama's gentle, generous personality and the half hour conversation during the ride. The personal experience with this father of two shed a bright light on the whole day.

CONTRASTS AND COME-ONS: After our lovely interpersonal experience with Ossama - there awaited the tourist buzzards at the site of the Pyramids. From the minute we arrived, we were harranged with trinket pushers. Their favorite act included giving us "a gift" - "No, I don't want money. This is a welcome gift." But eventually they move in the for kill. "I gave you a gift. Can you give me one?" When we didnt, they demanded back their "gift." This annoying scene was repeated over and over. We knew to expect it. But we didn't quite know how to shake them.

GIZA ON HORSEBACK: We decided to approach the pyramids from a different perspective. On horseback, we rode through the seven thousand year old town of Giza - through winding streets, tiny alley shops, by cozy hole in wall homes. We went around to the back of the pyramids and approached over white sand dunes and watched the huge ancient structures rise up and loom over the rolling horizon. Wow. The first sight of the pyramids made our hearts skip a beat. There were nine of them - 3 huge and 6 small. Guarding them was the Sphinx, complete with it's missing nose thanks to target practice a la Napoleon.

GIZA ON DIM LIGHTS: We decided to stick around for sunset. We found a restaurant with a roof top view and watched the sky turn pink and reflect it's colors off all the monuments. Then the natural light show over, we decided to stay for a high tech one. The 45 minute sound and light show bounced lazers, broadcasted music, told the stories of the ancient Pharoes, and lit each monument as a glowing pictoral landscape.

RESORTING TO RESORTS IN DAHAB: Melanie used to think "resort" meant huge sterile buildings with swimming pools and spas. She didn't like them. Dahab gave the word a new meaning. The tiny breezey cabanas and rooms right on the Red Sea were so full of character that Melanie was in 7th Heaven at our hotel "7 Heaven" - and at about two dollars and fifty cents a room. We spent our days snorkelling, scuba-ing, basking in the sun, and sipping and eating at the water front in Bedoine Tent style restaurants.

MEETING MOSES - BIBLE AND KORAN STYLE: From Dahab, we caught an 11pm bus to Mount Sinai. We started our summit bid at 2am and made it to the top before sunrise. The place is a bit of a pilgrimage, so the path was quite full - of both people and cammels for hire. Hikers held torches (flashlights) and the winding trail looked like a Christmas card - a string of lights below, bright stars above, and sillouettes of people and cammels along the way. We saw many shooting stars. While the desert below was warm, the top was very cold. An entrepreneurial Bedoine rented us a cushion and blanket to keep warm. We found a good spot for the sunrise, and snuggled up together in a cozy cacoon. The sunrise was phenomenal and surrounding mountains were a palate of color. We understood how Moses knew this to be a spiritual place to speak to God. We read some Sinai-related passages from both the Bible and the Koran.

TERRAIN - FEELS LIKE ANOTHER PLANET, BUT ALSO A BIT LIKE HOME: The Grey Desert of the Sinai, practically devoid of life (other than the occasional "burning bush" of course) is sparse, dry, and sharp. Jagged shoots of rock rise up as mountains. (Children of Isreal would have definitely needed Mannah to survive forty hears in this harsh landscape.) Ironically, though, it felt a little bit like home. - The rock outcroppings are similar to California's Palm Desert. Only Palm Desert lacks the fantastic red sea - for climatic relief, and great Scuba diving.

SCUBA, SNORKEL, AND SUMPTUOUS SWIMMING: The Red Sea water was Crystal clear, and warm enough. Melanie liked it here better than Australia's great barrier reef. The red sea is famous for harboring unique kinds of fish - developed over centuries of being cut off from other fish in the sea. They were beautiful - And sociable as well. Melanie's favorite experience was when a happy little clown fish swam right up to Melanie's mask. The two hovered looking at each other eye to eye. Steve enjoyed it when a similar fish swam right to his outstretched hand.

SAW THE SUEZ: from below. Our bus back to Cairo took us under the Canal through a tunnel.

BELLY DANCING ON A BOAT ON THE NILE: Our last night in Egypt, back in Cairo, we decided to try for a taste of culture. We boarded a Nile Dinner Cruise, ready for our true belly dancing experience. Our boogying belly dancer girl who was most likely a boy was not the show we were looking for. The food was good - but the cruise was long and the entertainment was more tedious than entertaining. But we enjoyed our time when we went up top and stood in the pleasant breeze admiring the stars and the lights reflecting on the nile.

EGYPT WAS AWESOME - WORTH COMING BACK TO: ... and we will. Before this trip is over.

NEXT TIME - Back in the Southern Hemisphere, reaching new heights.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO:
Caroline O., Gauri T., Erin W., Natalie P., Anna B., Lesley L., and Judy R.