Celebrating after climbing Mt Kilimanjaro

Now What? Update

It has been almost a month since I finished working at TICH and I've been working hard (well, kind of) at trying to extend this mid-life crisis and avoid returning to the "real world." While there are still plenty of uncertainties there are a few things that are now known:

1) Another VSO placement
Much to my surprise, even before I had left Kisumu VSO Canada had presented me with a possibility of a 9-month placement in Uganda as a financial systems advisor for a regional government. It would have started in mid-September. It looked like a great fit and I said that I was interested. Situated in the town of Masindi, 3-hours north of the capital Kampala, it was remote enough to be interesting but close enough to civilization to be tolerable. I figured that for 9 months I could live just about anywhere. The only catch was that the placement was still tentative and awaiting confirmation of funding. Unfortunately, I learned a few days ago that the placement has been deferred indefinitely.

VSO Uganda then offered me a different 9-month posting in Kibaale as an Organizational Development Officer. This would have involved trying to coordinate spending priorities with numerous small organizations and a volunteer board of directors. It would have also meant riding a motorcycle. Hhmm, I can still hear my Mother telling me that I'm not allowed to be on a motorcycle. I wasn't totally certain that this job would be a great match for my patience level and I suspected that it would be as challenging and about as much fun as herding cats. I decided to decline this position.

There are no other VSO possibilities in the works at this time. Most of their placements are for 2-years which is beyond my availability range. However, I was surprised to receive the Uganda opportunities so I'm not totally counting them out.

2) Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF; a.k.a. Doctors Without Borders)
I have been in communication with Jeni from the MSF Vancouver office and I'm back on their availability list. Of course, this doesn't mean that I will ever get the call from them or, if I do, when the financial controller position would start (they are normally 1-year placements). They know that I'm available now and I'll see how it looks when I get back to Canada. I may give it a couple of months to see if anything happens.

3) Early return to BC Hydro
I have to be careful what I write here just incase someone from work is reading this (hello there, everybody). I would just like to say that nothing would make me happier than to rejoin my outstanding co-workers. All seriousness aside, I suspect that if I want to go back early that something could be found for me to count. I wasn't expecting to return to the same job which is good because since the latest reorganization I don't think my job still exists. I'll be sure to touch base with the greatest boss ever (whomever that may be) upon my return.

4) Bum Around
Its great having flexibility and options. I have some Danish friends living in Hong Kong (Hi Stine & Kristian) who have just bought a houseboat. Maybe after getting back to Vancouver, picking my hockey pool team and doing my laundry I might be able to fit in a road-trip to China. Being in holding pattern with MSF may not make this workable. Alternatively, perhaps this is the winter I buy a ski pass.

Conclusion
I'm quite enjoying not knowing what the next year will bring. However, what I do know is that this chapter of my adventure is soon to come to an end. Now that I know that I won't be working with VSO in Uganda in September there is no need for me to stay in Africa in holding pattern. Its been great travelling around the continent a bit, but I recognize that my endurance for being on the road isn't what it used to be. Therefore, I'll be contacting the VSO Kenya office shortly to arrange my flight back to Canada. I expect to be back in Vancouver by mid-to-late September, seven months since my initial departure.

Tanzania Safari

After my Mount Kilimanjaro hike I decided to go on a 4-day safari to Lake Manyara and Serengeti National Parks and the Ngorongoro Conservation area. My travelling companions were two 20-something Californians. The following are a few random observations:
- its very difficult to differentiate between Kenyan and Tanzanian elephants;
- early into a safari, when experiencing the first bumpy roads and wildlife sightings, an American will inevitably compare the experience to being on a Disneyland ride;
- Tanzania seems to have better roads than Kenya. One section, built by the Japanese, even had shoulders. I suspect that they have a vested interest in good roads to the major tourist attractions;
- Sometimes the Masai people will leave you alone when selling their presence for photo opportunities when you say in Kiswahili "ninatoka Kenya" (I am from Kenya). Sometimes, but not always;
- I should have gone to college in the U.S. One of my travelling companions spoke of writing a paper comparing the careers of Raquel Welch and Jennifer Lopez - Latino actresses from different generations;
- the camera equipment that I saw at the Ngorongoro Crater picnic area likely had the cumulative value sufficient to eliminate Tanzania's national debt;
- I always find it amusing when I hear young, white, suburban Americans using black slang. I discovered its even funnier when its the same profile except the speaker is Chinese-American and he's going around calling the locals "home boy" and "dog."

The Serengeti portion of our safari gave me my most authentic African wildlife experience to-date and hopefully ever. As I drifted off to sleep I could hear the distant calls of Lions staking claim to their territories. What a nice Serengeti serenade. At 1:40 a.m. our camp was awaken by the loud, immediate and very vicious sounding roar of a Lion and the accompanying pained yelp of a hyena. I don't know exactly how close they were but it was clearly close enough not to check. This was a bit more authentic than what I was hoping for. I tried not to move or even breathe and I listened intently. Nothing else was heard and 2 1/2 hours later after much inner-debate I decided it was safe to go pee. I never did go back to sleep that night.

The snows of Kilimanjaro

Support crew for hike of Mt Kilimanjaro

My guide Kessey and I on top of Mt Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro

During the several years I spent training for Ironman triathlons it never occurred to me that I might be preparing myself for a new career. I figured that the monotonous hours of exertion was good for my physical fitness, but had no vocational application. However, when I came to Tanzania I discovered that my endurance training had prepared me perfectly for a new trade. I could be a Mount Kilimanjaro porter.

Being a guide or porter at Mount Kilimanjaro is a popular career choice for many living in the region. Most of the routes do not have huts to stay in so its necessary to pack along tents and other camping equipment. As each porter is limited to 25 kgs of baggage it takes a small army to support the many tourists making the trek. I ended-up arranging my own hike and found that there were many advantages to going on my own rather than hooking-up with another group. Therefore, my support team consisted of my guide Kessy, a cook and 3 porters. I couldn't believe that it took this many people, but I guess they had anticipated how much I like to eat and had brought lots of food.

Compared to a lot of jobs there are many positives about being a Kilimanjaro porter. You get to work outdoors, get plenty of exercise, deal with relatively low-maintenance tourists, and hang-out with your buddies. While the guide would hike each day with their client the porters would go at their own pace, carrying their loads on their back and/or head. The porters would often hike together in groups and chat with their friends. When I asked Kessy once to translate some yelling across the valley between a few porters he hesitated. Finally, he told me a few words that were anatomy related and certainly not what I would have learned in kiswahili lessons. Kessy also mentioned that "what is said in the mountains is not repeated in the village." This is evidently the African equivalent of "what goes on the road stays on the road." Kessy also mentioned that some of the porters' happy nature is chemically induced and that those aren't always cigarettes they're smoking. Perhaps this explains why we brought so much food.

My guide Kessy is 41 years-old and has worked on the mountain since he was 15. He now has a wife, three teenage children and a small farm in his home village. During the busy season he may go a month between visits home. Kessy seems to be really enjoy his work. I have no doubt that there are worse jobs one can do...like, have you ever been on an audit?

Our Kilimanjaro expedition was a 6-day, 5-night affair. There were a number of routes to choose from and we took the Machame route up and the Mweka route down which will be of interest only to my readers who have actually been there (Hi James). The first day was spent getting above the tree line and clouds and then the next 3 days were spent at around 4,000 metres (give or take 500) as we crossed along the side of the mountain to our point of final ascent. It was great hiking in the sunshine everyday with perfectly cool temperatures. Below us thick clouds surrounded Kilimanjaro an only a few other mountains were in view in the distance. You felt like you were on an island and that the clouds were the surrounding ocean.

Having the flexibility of hiking on my own I was able to go at my pace which was fast enough to impress the porters. Of course, I wasn't carrying the same load that they were, but I was a mzungu. Having not had much exercise for the past year I enjoyed the daily hikes and then relaxing in the camp and watching as tired tourists arrived. I was fairly confident that this whole adventure was going to be a snap. Boy, was I wrong.

Our final ascent started at 1:00 am from 4,600 metres. It didn't take very long for me to know that this was going to be a very difficult day. There was simply not enough oxygen to breathe and it felt that something was constraining my lungs. We walked slowly and many, many times Kessy and I had to stop so that my breathing and heart rate could slow down a bit. However, no matter how long we waited my breathing could not return to a normal rate. I guess this is pretty much par for the course, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with at the time. During one break Kessy looked at my face closely and then said "My friend, I'm worried about you." "Good," I responded between gasps, "because I'm worried about me too."

We reached the crater rim at some secondary peak after about 5 hours. I think Kessy was hoping that I would be satisfied with this, but despite how spent I felt I knew that if I didn't make it to the very top without a try it would bother me forever . We pushed-on with many breaks and I took a few photos of the massive glaciers just for an excuse for further rest. Finally, at 6:30 a.m. we reached Uhuru Peak, 5,895 metres above sea level, Africa's highest point and one of the seven continental summits.

The temperature was cold, but quite comfortable and I spent a lot of time sitting on a bench looking below at the sea of clouds as they blended into the hazy horizon and watching various groups pose for photographs at the peak. Looking at the variety of people who had made it I realized that more than being a test of fitness, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro was about stubborn determination. Once I had rested long enough to fake a smile I posed for the obligatory photo.

I returned to the bench and wondered how I would find the energy to make my way back down. I thought to myself that there would be worse ways to perish than by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro (like death by auditing). I looked deep inside myself and found my reason to survive - the new NHL. Finally I said "Kessy, its beautiful up here, but lets get off of this rock." He laughed and we both knew that I would be fine. I also knew that my career as a porter had ended before it had started.

Departure from Kisumu

The terms of my agreement with TICH required me to give one-months notice. However, there was no way that I was going to last that long coming in day after day with little to do. I was able to get Reverend Obondi to agree that it was pointless for me to come-in and have TICH continue to pay me. Therefore, my last day was on July 29th.

I went for a final visit to the village of Ndiwa to see my Dutch VSO colleague Frank and packed-up my gear. Knowing that there was a chance of another VSO placement in Africa I didn't want to give too much stuff away (especially my electric fan) and I was able to store some things in Kisumu with TICH. However, I didn't leave much of value so if no new opportunity arises I've told the Reverend that TICH can have it. He is praying for me.

On August 4th I left Kisumu for what may be the final time. I took the 6:30 night train for Nairobi which departed promptly at 7:23. I spent 5 days in Nairobi doing a bunch of different things including: dealing with the VSO office in Nairobi on a variety of administrative issues and a potential new placement, visiting with friends, arranging travel insurance, eating well, and trying not to get mugged. Nairobi is a modern city with shopping malls, traffic jams and lots of people. It isn't a very nice place.

On August 9th my holidays truly began as I caught the shuttle bus for Arusha, Tanzania. From there my game plan is to hike-up Mount Kilimanjaro, maybe see some of the national parks and then hit the beaches of Zanzibar. After that who nows? I think it will be a good little adventure.

Serengeti wildlife

Kenyan Wildlife

Lions in Kenya

Masai Mara safari