Cheap air flights are available into most of the larger cities in East Africa such as Nairobi, making all the countries of East Africa very accessible to backpackers and budget travelers.

Land of superlatives: Tanzania

Tanzania is one of the most popular countries in the whole of Africa, home to Mount Kilimanjaro, the Islands of Zanzibar, the natural wonders of the Serengeti, Lake Victoria and the wide expanse of the Ngorongoro Crater.  As well-traveled as the country is, it is still easy to get off the beaten track and enjoy some rarely-seen sights, including Lake Manyara National Park, the Usanbara Mountains and Tukuyu, and the underrated climbing alternative to Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru. The fifth-highest mountain in Africa, Mount Meru is a shorter trip than Kili, less expensive and more scenic.  Another beautiful and little-traveled area is the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. Rich bio-diversity, rare species and several hiking trails are all found there and are accessible from nearby Mikumi.

Malawi’s “Calendar Lake”

Landlocked Malawi is home to the beautiful Lake Malawi, known as Lake Nyassa in bordering Tanzania.  The lake is very popular with backpackers, offering up warm golden beaches and accommodations to suit the most meager of budgets.  Cheap, compact, beautiful and stress-free, Malawi is a great spot for backpackers.

The lakes and plains of Kenya

Kenya is nearly synonymous with safaris and the “big five”, and while the country is home to the Maasai Mara and its iconic plains and animals, there is more to Kenya than simply big game.  The lakes of the north, Turkana and Nakuru, are well worth the trip if only to see the millions of flamingoes that call these waters their home.  The oldest town in Kenya, Lamu is a great place to stop-off and unwind and has been recently discovered by backpackers.  Transportation is primitive, the sounds of motors replaced by the melodic crash of ocean waves.  Another cheap alternative to Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya can be climbed easily with a guide’s assistance, though casual climbers rarely attempt to scale the jagged peak.

Journey back to the past in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is a truly unique country, seemingly steeped in the past.  In fact, it truly is in the past compared to the rest of the world.  Having never adopted the Gregorian calendar, Ethiopia is seven years behind the rest of the world.  Home to one of the world’s great ancient empires, the Aksumites, it is also home to some of the oldest Christian communities in the world.  The medieval architecture of Lalibela features churches literally carved from the rocks.  Ethiopia is an ideal backpacking route, with plenty of interesting food and culture, friendly people, rustic towns and breathtaking scenery to satisfy a wide variety of travelers.  As an added plus, the altitude of the country decreases the risk of exposure to malaria significantly.

Zanzibar

Zanzibar is located off the coast of Tanzania, in the Indian Ocean. Sailors have mentioned many times that the journey to this country often takes them back in time. As you are sailing to Zanzibar; you will be able to imagine the erstwhile kingdoms of Persia, the sultans of Oman and music and perfumes of India. All ships arrive at the ancient Stone Town, which is one of the most beautiful locations in Africa. You can sail around in the clear turquoise waters off the coast of the town and visit the idyllic beaches on the Spice Island. Most visitors use the traditional dhow to explore the islands and waters off the coast where there are some exceptional snorkelling and diving sites. Famous people like Freddie Mercury have been lured by Zanzibar.

Galapagos Islands

The Galapagos Islands, off the coast of Ecuador are an explorer’s dream come true. This is where you can see Darwin’s theory of evolution on display. No other place on earth has the ecological diversity or landscape that these islands boast of. Instead of travelling all the way to these islands by boat, most sailors reach these islands by flight and then rent boats to sail around the island for a week or two. There are sailing yachts and motor boats available and you can leisurely cruise around the island and explore its unique flora and fauna. During the daytime, you can interact with animals like Iguanas, Tortoises, Sea-lions, etc.

Croatia

Croatia is fast becoming the new travel destination and is often referred to as the “new Riviera”, “new Tuscany” or the “new Greek Islands” by sailors. The brilliantly blue Adriatic Sea offers breath-taking views and adventurous sailors have more than a thousand islands to choose from if they feel like exploring the waters. Sailing is the best way to explore the vast coastline that this country offers. Although Hvar is the most popular docking spot, intrepid seamen can visit ancient fishing villages and remote islands like Elafiti and Kornati. Sailors also recommend that you visit cities like Dudrovnik and Split.

French Polynesia and Tahiti

What is more exotic or tropical than the French Polynesian islands? They evoke images of lush tropical hillsides and white sandy beaches. You can sail to and explore more than hundred tiny islands around the French Polynesia and interact with the locals. These islands are spread over an area measuring over 2000 square miles. As a result, you have a lot of opportunities to sail across azure waters in sunny weather.

Grace is an expert associated with The Boating Hub – leading providers of boating training courses in any location.  Visit the website for more information on sailing and boating or click here – www.theboatinghub.com/rya-sailing-courses for more information on the courses they offer.

It’s 12am on Dec 26th, 2010. We’re 3 hikers and 2 guides at base camp getting ready to start our final hike to Uhuru peak, Kilimanjaro’s highest summit at 5,895m. The backstory seems irrelevant. I seem to have somehow ended up here with other hikers. Eurostar deals and last minute bargains aside, this was something that had crossed my mind a few months ago and I was finally going through with it.

The hike started off well. All 3 of us were walking at the same pace and the view was absolutely stunning. The sky was pitch black and all I saw were the reflections of the headlamps on the mountain while the moon shining on us. When our guides told us we were at the half point, I felt like I could reach the top with no problem. But, that all changed when it was around 3am. The cold slowly made its way to us and although I was trying my best to move my fingers, they were at a point of no return- starting to freeze. In addition to my fingers starting to freeze, it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. At an altitude of over 5,300m, every step was a challenge. I was no longer able to walk for 15 minutes without wanting to take a break. The only problem was that we couldn’t stop for more than a few seconds because of the cold. One step at a time, I was slowly getting further from my group. One of the guides stayed with me and encouraged me to keep on walking when I was about to give up. At this point, my hands and feet were icicles. My guide took my hiking polls away from me, heat up my hands with his and told me to hang on to him. So one step at a time, one breath at a time, I walked towards the summit. To my happiness, the sun was slowly taking over the moon. The rays of sun were gradually heating up the frozen parts of my body. Although that was improving my body temperature, I was still increasingly facing the challenge of breathing. Every step was becoming more and more difficult. At this point, I could practically see and smell the summit but I still had some time before getting there. I could feel and smell the summit but my energy was running low. I had the angel and the demon in my head from all the stories I had read of Kilimanjaro. The angel telling me it was ok if I couldn’t walk any further because I had already made it this far. The demon was telling me there was no way I could go back now. I had to reach the summit. And so, with very little energy, I continued walking one step at a time. Slowly. Very Slowly. After what seemed to be an eternity, I saw the sign. The sign I previously saw only on pictures, on television and in magazines. I walked a little closer to be no more than a few centimeters away from it. It was the best feeling ever! After 6 days on the mountain, I can say that I reached the Kilimanjaro summit on Dec 26, 2010.

Animals in Serengeti

I created a list of the highlights of my trip in Tanzania. Both moments and memories that will stay with me forever. It’s normally those small moments that make the trip so memorable. Enjoy!

1. That feeling of accomplishment I had when I reached the summit of Kilimanjaro. The cold, the altitude sickness, the lack of facilities… they weren’t the funnest part of the trip but it’s just not as interesting when you have everything at the tip of your fingers!
2. Looking up at the sky and seeing the stars from both Kilimanjaro and the camp in the Serengenti.
3. Watching the sunset from Kendwa beach (Zanzibar)
4. Seeing a lion chase a zebra in the Serengeti.
5. Visiting the Masai tribe and a local school.

View of the Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is a Maasai word that means “Big Hole”. In the last 5 million years, 9 ngorongoro volcanoes erupted. The crater formed when the last volcano erupted and then collapsed on itself about 2 million years ago. The area is enclosed due to the mountains or hills that surround the crater. This doesn’t however stop animals from migrating or moving over to the Serengeti plains. In the crater, one will not find giraffes because there are no trees to eat from. Animals who eat grass and carnivores will predominantly be found in the low plains of the crater. The view of or in the crater is spectacular. The pictures I took literally look like paintings. Here, we got to finally see a rhino from very far, buffalos, zebras, wildebeests and lions. The highlight of my day in the crater was watching a lion chase a baby zebra, where the mom protected its baby, which finally didn’t result in a deadly end!

Tarangire National Park

By the time we go to Tarangire Park on the 5th day of the safari adventure, I had already seen all the animals I wanted to see, other than the Cheetah. The Tarangire was nevertheless a nice place to see, although you cannot compare it to the Serengeti. Here you find dense bushes and high grasses. It was a rather quiet morning in terms of animals. We didn’t see all that many animals but did see many baobab trees. Baobab trees are big and hollow trees that the Maasai protect because they believe the trees hold a secret. We also saw a vervet monkey steal a tourist’s lunch, which was really funny!

This finalized the 5-day safari in Tanzania. Although I’m not particularly an animal fanatic, I must admit that leaving Tanzania without going on a safari would have been a big mistake. The landscapes, the abundance of animals and the simple beauty of it all is definitely worth a stop. It will take your breath away! Do keep in mind that safaris are fairly expensive, mainly because of the price of permits to enter these protected areas. I’d suggest not to cheap out and pay the price to make sure you visit the right places and see what there is to see in the region.  You won’t regret it!

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Lake Manyara National Park

Our first stop was Manyara Park, about 2 hours from Arusha. As we entered the park, we saw mainly baboons, monkeys, giraffes. elephants and various birds. It was a forest-like scenery until the landscape finally opened up to a grassy food plain landscape. Then, we saw nothing but green grass, zebras, gazelles and a hippo pool. The scenery was awesome and the best part of this day is running into Jonathan, John and Charles, three friends we made in Kilimanjaro. It was a Kili reunion in Manyara park. Definitely a great feeling!

The Seregenti National Park

The Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s oldest and most popular park, being a world heritage site. It’s 14,763 sq km of open plains, an absolutely stunning scenery known for the largest migrations in the world. The word Serengeti originates from the Maasai word Sirigent meaning “The land of endless space”. The Serengeti National Park is part of the Serengeti Plains, which includes both the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater.

I’m not quite sure how to accurately describe the feelings I was experiencing when driving through the Serengeti. All I can say is that everyone should visit this region at least once in their life. December is part of the raining season which means that the plains were very green. As we were driving, we saw nothing but animals, from zebras, to gazelles, to impalas, to wildebeests, to lions, to leopards, to buffalos, to jackals, to warthogs, to ostriches, to topis, to hyenas and so much more! It’s absolutely fascinating the abundance of animals one can see while driving in this Park.

While game watching, you can notice zebras flirting with one another, mothers caring for their little ones, lions mating among many other things. There are a few facts I learned through my guide while visiting the Serengeti:

• Once a male lion finds a female, they mate for a week, every 10-15mins.
• Impalla’s can jump up to 10ft high
• The cheetah is the world’s fastest animal. They can reach a speed of 100 km/h.
• Leopards are a solitary animal. They are difficult to find (but I saw one!!).

The Big Five (list derived from how dangerous and difficult it can be to hunt them down):

• The Lion
• The Leopard
• The Buffalo
• The Rhino
• The Elephant

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The next post will touch the Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire Park. Stay tuned!

Everything was going relatively well by the time we reached halfway. It was steep and most of us were struggling for air, considering that oxygen levels at the height is low. We were walking slowly and still all in a group. This changed about 3-4 hours after the hike began. By then, it was 3-4am in the morning and it was getting really cold. My fingers began to freeze and my feet felt like blocks of ice. Marcel and Con continued to hike at their pace, whereas I fell behind with my guide Abdi. My fingers were so cold that Abdi had to warm them up and gave me more heater packs. He also took my hiking polls away from me, forcing me to move my fingers more. At this point, I was freezing and completely discouraged when looking up at Stella Point because it was so steep and we still had some time before reaching it. I held on to Abdi’s arm and all I remember at this point is walking, one foot after another, whilst taking constant breaks because I was constantly out of breath. Breaks were very short because we would otherwise freeze. It was as mentally challenging as it was physically. Part of me was ready to give up, telling myself that I made it this far and I was happy with my accomplishment. The other part of me kicked myself in the butt and reminded me that I wouldn’t be completely satisfied if I didn’t reach the summit. It was like having the angel and the demon above my shoulders. As all of this was going on in my head, my feet kept on moving, one after the other. I eventually made it to Stella Point, physically exhausted and frozen. I couldn’t wait for the sun to rise.

I think it took me another hour to get from Stella Point to Uhuru peak. I lost track of time at this point but it seemed like it took forever. I was so close yet so far. I was still hanging on to Abdi, hoping that the summit was approaching. A few meters away from the peak, I met both Con and Marcel, who both reached the peak before me. Con made it before sunrise (he’s a marathon runner) and Marcel arrived about 20mins before I did. Marcel didn’t look so good when I saw him and I was truly worried about his well-being. He later needed help in descending the mountain due to altitude sickness and physical exhaustion. We took at picture (not at the summit) and I continued my ascent in reaching the summit. By now, the sun was out and I had a great view of the glaciers. They were huge!

I finally reached the Uhuru peak (5,895m) around 7-7:15am. I was sooo happy to see the sign. I suddenly fell on an adrenaline rush and took a few pictures at the summit with Abdi. I felt like I just won the lottery! After spending a few minutes on the summit taking pictures, it was time to begin the descent to base camp, which took about 2 hours in all. At the beginning of the descent, I was still on adrenaline but quickly began to feel tired as pressure was felt on my knees. I reached base camp around 9:15am and went straight to my tent for an hour nap.

When I woke up around 10:30am, I packed my stuff, had lunch with Con and Marcel and quickly began our descent to the gates. We were supposed to spend one night at Mekwa camp (3,100m) but all 3 of us were eager to get back to the hotel to take a shower and sleep on a bed. Con and I hiked to Mekwa camp where we then had lunch. Marcel had high fever and he was feeling really weak so he took a little more time to get down. We got to the Marangu gates at 6pm, where we then hopped on a bus and headed to the hotel.

Once at the hotel, we were told that it was full. Since we arrived a night early, we couldn’t really argue so they sent us to another hotel in Moshi. Marcel went straight to bed to rest, whereas Con, Ravi (he was feeling better) and I met up with the other group for dinner. We all celebrated our victory at an Indian/Italian restaurant in Moshi and then went to a local club called La Liga. Con and I were on an hour of sleep. It had been a long day but we were both on adrenaline at this point, after reaching the top of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa and the highest freestanding mountain in the world!

Previous Post: Diaries of my Kilimanjaro Hike- Day 5

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The night I spent at Karanga Valley camp was very cold. By the morning, I wanted to begin the hike as soon as possible so my body cam warm up. I was beginning to look forward to getting the hike over with so I could head back to the hotel and sleep in a bed. It was the first night I didn’t have to wake up to go to the bathroom, which is not necessarily a good thing because I probably wasn’t as hydrated as I should be, but considering that I was so cold that night, it was nice not having to get out of the sleeping bag. So we woke up that morning, had breakfast and began another 3 hour hike to base camp, Barafu Camp (4,600m). The hike was steep but not very long- considering that the other group did it all in one day. We reached Barafu camp around 1pm, where we found out that the others successfully reached the summit overnight and had already began their descent to Mekwa camp (3,100m). At the camp, I met Graham and David, both had just woken up from their nap after reaching the summit that morning. I was happy to hear that all the guys made it, and was now feeling anxious about our summit night, taking place that particular night!

Once we arrived, we setup our tents, had lunch and napped. We needed all our energy for summit night, which was going to begin at 11pm that same night, on Dec 25th. After our nap, we woke up to have dinner. It was our last dinner before reaching the summit. We were all nervous except for Con, who seemed full of energy and confident. Marcel and I just wanted to get it over with at this point. We made sure to eat excessively at dinner (lots of carbs) and went to bed.

At 11pm, we were woken up and asked to get ready for Summit Night. Nervous and cold, I got out of my tent, put on a bunch of layers, prepared my day pack and headed to the tent for hot water and cookies. At midnight, our guides came to get us to begin our summit night hike.

Previous Post: Diaries of my Kilimanjaro Hike- Day 4

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When I woke up on Day 4, at Barranco camp (3,900m), I was feeling much better than the previous day but not 100%. I had to however suck it in because this morning’s hike was going to be challenging, as we were practically rock climbing a wall. This was also the day where the group was splitting. Those who were completing the hike in 6 days had a 7 hour hike to base camp today, whereas we were hiking 4 hours to Karanga Valley. Although I was low on energy and exhausted, the hike up barranco wall was fun. We were using our feet and hands. After reaching the top of the wall (1.5hrs), the rest of the hike was up and down, up until Karanga Valley (4,200m).  I took my time so I separated from my group once we climbed the wall. I did however insist on carrying on my day pack. It was tough but I made it to camp without too much delay. I went straight to bed! It was cold once I reached Karanga Valley camp. It soon began to rain so I was glad to be napping in my tent. The others were stuck in a mini blizzard, trying to reach base camp. My thoughts were with them! I must say that if I would have chosen to hike the mountain in 6 days like the others, I highly doubt I would have made it to the summit, given that I was suffering from the after math of my day 3 altitude sickness. It gave me an extra day to recover, which I am very grateful for!

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The hike was going along well. We were hiking as a group, with both our guide Abdi and assistant guide Guideon. We were playing the country game, where we each had to name a country with the last letter of the previous country. Everything was going according to plan until I began to feel nauseous. I suddenly felt weird in my stomach and had a slight headache. By the time we stopped for lunch, I was feeling weak but didn’t have an appetite to eat. So I tried to eat as much as I could have but without much success. After lunch, given that I was weak and not feeling well, I walked at a much slower pace than my group so my guide Abdi stayed behind with me. As we were reaching closer to the Lava Tower, I was losing more and more energy so this is when Abdi took my day pack so i could have more energy to walk. We finally made it up to the Lava Tower. By then, I was feeling nauseous, I had a splitting headache and practically no energy left. But I had to hang on because we still had a 2 hour descent back to Barranco camp and there was no way I was going to give up on Day 3. Feeling like crap, I finally made it to Barranco camp in the late afternoon, the last one to arrive out of my friends. They immediately asked me how I was feeling at my arrival, given that I looked pale and sick. I went straight to my tent, where I struggled to get my sleeping bag and mattress out of the duffel bag so I decided to fall asleep on my bag. I took one tylenol at first but given that I didn’t feel any better after an hour, I popped some more drugs. I had a really bad headache and relatively high fever, my head felt like it was about to explode.

I took a nap until dinner. It took all the energy to wake up and eat dinner. I had to force myself however because I needed energy for the rest of the hike. I wasn’t very talkative at dinner and went straight to bed after trying to eat as much as I could. I was however very appreciative of the support I received from the guys. None of them really understood what I was feeling at the time, but by the time they experienced Summit Night, they had a better idea!

The nights were getting colder and colder and none of us were getting much sleep. I’d spend most of my night tossing and turning, waking up to go to the bathroom but by the time I woke up the next morning, I was feeling better. Although I wasn’t feeling 100%.

Previous Post: Diaries of my Kilimanjaro Hike- Day 2

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