GeckoGoneBlogging

7 more reasons to hike Kilimanjaro

Welcome! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! =)

I’ve always been fascinated by the continent of Africa.

I also happen to like to climb tall things (my fear of heights notwithstanding :p.)

So when I first saw the IMAX Movie about Kilimanjaro, I was hooked. Four years later, I decided, what the heck, let’s do this thing. I booked a trip, dragged my friends, and we were on our way.

So why go to Kilimanjaro? Here’s why:

1) B’room with a view.

When you gotta go, you may as well go with style. And if you can’t, at least take the view. NOTHING beats mountain potty time perched on the precipice high up amongst the misty clouds. Well nothing except maybe four walls, soft toilet paper, and a heated seat.

Word.

2) Singing porters

Porters are amazing. They really do deserve a strong round of applause. Not only do they carry all your food and your bags and their food and their bags with a 1+ hour handicap every morning, they beat you to the final destination and still have the energy to serenade your arrival.

Go ahead, ask them to teach you some songs. “Kilimanjaro, mlima mrefu sana.”

3) Scree skiing.

Hate winters?

Love the concept of letting gravity do its work while you bend your knees and slide forward?

Guess what!

On Kilimanjaro, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to ski down some scree on your way down from the summit.

Bad news though.

It’s cold up there too.

4) Everything starts to taste good - even deep fried dough.
Never before, and never again will powdered soup mix taste so divine. High altitude full day vigorous activity is like nature’s MSG. Seconds? Bring it on!

5) Everything would taste good – if you had the appetite

Are you a calorie counter? Forget about watching what you eat.

You won’t have to!

With high altitude comes loss of appetite, so you really might not feel that hungry.

One of the few who are immune to these effects? Guess who gets dibs on that last piece of fresh mango ?

6) Testing out the wireless network
Just when you think you’ve escaped the banality of modern e-living. The faxes, the voicemails, the instant messages and the cell phone calls, you discover – you haven’t. Kilimanjaro is actually one of those wilderness regions that get great wireless reception. So if you really need to take that call? Well you can. Just watch out for your irate fellow hiker. You’ve just burst his tranquility bubble.

7) Volleyball at 18000 feet
About those super-human porters: While you marvel at living out your life in slow motion as it takes you 10 minutes to walk 10 feet, you can marvel as well at how such a high-intensity sport could be partaken by the porters at such an altitude. You can join in too, if you want. Just make sure that your team has a healthy scoring lead first. They’ll need it.

And finally…

It’s like the wicked witch of the west said. “I’m meeelting”

Except this is real.

50 years the experts say? 15? The glaciers really are going…going…going, and if you don’t hurry, they’ll be gone…gone…gone.

So go!