kili hike

we did a kili hike a couple of weekends ago.  just to the first hut which is about all you can do for a day hike.  it started as a good idea - a way for a bunch of friends to get together for the day.  the Marangu gate where we begin is about 45 minutes away so we start early 6:00am at 8:30 we are still in Moshi.  it turns out our 'guide' has been up all night drinking and can barely speak.  in the end we bail on the situation and walk away to have breakfast at one of cafes in town and call another guide to give it a go the next day.

everything goes according to plan which means a 45 minute wait at the gate for the office to process the paperwork before you can step foot onto the mountain.

we get impatient but i've been here before and i remember how slow it is.  in 10 years they haven't figured out a better way to do it?.  fortunately we are early and towards the front of the line so who knows how long it takes if you show up an hour later?  it's such a beautiful hike up through an environment much like a jungle and we stop to enjoy the flowers, moss hanging everywhere and even spot a few monkeys.

this is a popular path and being the first day for groups planning to summit the porters are weighed down to the maximum allowable weights.  still, they move quickly and we step aside we they move to pass us.

we have lunch at the huts and head back down to thicker and and warmer temperatures.  on the way out of marangu we stop at one of the hotels for cold drink and enjoy a relaxing hour in the garden there which is a throw back to colonial times.

off to nairobi

the managing director who is also the cofounder, and chairman of the board has been asking me to get up to Nairobi to visit [where he works].  so off i go to Nairobi.  on the flight from Jaro [Kilimanjaro Airport] to Nairobi the pilot did a 360 around kili so that would be the highlight of my day, perhaps even my trip so far. it was awesome. seeing it from above makes it feel like a huge accomplishment. we climbed that bitch!

white around the crater is remaining glaciers - the other white stuff is clouds!

security is massive everywhere in Nairobi.  to get into any shopping center or high end hotel, the car, including the trunk and glove compartment are searched and sometimes you are required to get out of the car as well.  this is the response to the horrific shooting at the mall in 2013.  i chatted with a security analyst at an American Chamber of Commerce event today who said the terrorist threat has been nullified here.  haha.  met the U.S. embassy guys.  the Kenyan Minister of Tourism spoke and accused America of destroying Kenya's tourism trade with irresponsible travel advisories. ballsy I thought when addressing an American group.  There are ongoing attacks against white westerners and christians [mostly in the north away from the wildlife parks] so yeah, i'd keep the advisories in place.

i meet with the Kenyan agent who quit about a week after i arrived Tanzania and listened to 'ways the company could improve' it's products and agent relationships.  all of which were valid points and just outlines the amount of work that needs to be done.

beyond culture shock

my flight to Tanzania had a four hour layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  the airport was more like a refugee camp than a international airport - and i don't say that lightly or in jest of what refugees are going through.  having taken the red eye [coach] i was short on sleep when we landed at 5AM local time.

the light was just coming up but it was bright enough to see the relics of other ages of aviation 'parked' between runways.  i'm not sure if they were trying to showcase the 'vintage' planes to visitors or were just too lazy to move them after they quit working.  

the 'airport' was exactly what we would call a warehouse.  imagine an abandoned warehouse with a few chairs, a couple thousand people and no exit door. that's what i'm talking about - a four hour layover and there's no chance i'm using those toilets.  there were masses of people, both african and western, sitting and laying everywhere.  this is the moment when the phrase 'oh $hit, what have i done' flashed through my mind.

forget restaurants - there wasn't even a place to buy bottled water.  the security line was a joke.  more about going through the motions than really screening for anything - i wonder to myself if the monitor was even plugged in.

the best i could figure is this warehouse is the central spot for changing international flights within east africa.  it was only serviced by Ethiopian Airlines and apparently flights arrive all night filling up the warehouse - then all flights out depart between 8AM and 10AM - i'm guessing they try to empty the warehouse before the heat turns it into an easy bake oven.  i felt lucky that my layover was only four hours.  if you google Addis Ababa airport there are some really nice photos of an airport - let's just say i wasn't at that terminal.

there was apparently an african celebrity there as people were lining up to get photos taken with him.  i was too tired to find out who, or take my eyes off the gate lest i miss the flight and be stuck there another 24 hours.  i was first in line when they called the Jaro [that's what they call kilimanjaro international airport - now imagine a really crappy loudspeaker with feedback and an accent].  so, the transition from the united club in London to Addis Ababa was a little rough but it gets much easier after this.  even at the moment as i was horrified by the conditions, at my core was a strong sense of purpose that this path i have chosen is the right one for me.  i am not here to recolonize or change the people of Tanzania just to provide them with options for their future.

Ethiopia looked from my views at the airport and airplane to be a beautiful country - much greener than i expected.  

the flight into Jaro is empty so i stretch out and get a two hour nap.  the plane isn't clean but it's less filthy than the first leg and is onward to Zanzibar so just a few of us get off in Jaro.  BOOM - 13 hours and change from London to Tanzania - i'm a zombie without sleep but happy to have arrived.  

happy to be on the ground at Jaro

before i even get inside the terminal i'm stopped and asked if i have a yellow fever vaccination [which i don't] and he let's me slide through when i say i was only in the ground in Ethiopia for two hours.  then he starts a whole conversation about hillary vs. donald!  he went on quite passionately for a few minutes and was clearly team trump.  i thought it slightly ironic since trump probably doesn't care a whit about anyone in Africa and hillary would be way more generous with aid and immigration. 

for me, immigration is painless and quick.  unfortunately, one of my bags didn't get off with me and i have to put in a claim for lost luggage. i'm hoping it's just gone on to Zanzibar and will be put back on for the return through Jaro - otherwise i don't expect i'll ever see it again.  after getting my bags that did arrive i found the driver the company sent and head for Moshi, my home for at least the next year.

back to the islands

the silent retreat at Wat Suan Mokkh is hard.  it felt physically and mentally as challenging as climbing Kilimanjaro.  like all things that are hard i am glad that i have done it and more happy that i am done with it.  the staff and participants are incredibly kind and i am honored to have this insight into the Buddhist and Thai cultures.

i get a ride out to the main road and find one other guy who has also left this morning. we get a sawngthaew to Surat Thani and he helps me navigate the travel agent to arrange a bus and ferry out to Koh Phangnan, an island in the Gulf of Thailand.

every time i use the travel agent in Thailand i end up with somthing different that what they tell me.  in this case they tell me the ferry is 11:30AM and it turns out the ferry is 2PM.   i ask information at the ferry terminal if they have wifi and they say no.  i ask a second time and they say no.  i turn on my computer and find free wifi so i spend two hours catching up on mail and news.

when i get to Koh Phangnan i run the guantlet of taxi drivers on the pier and check at the ticket office to find out times for ferries leaving the island then head over to Coconut Beach where i find good accomodations.  here's the view from my room.

air conditioning, internet, shower and a toilet.  i feel so spoilt.  i crash hard and enjoy sleeping on something other than a bamboo mat.  while i have been out of contact i find the arrangements i made for Willie Dawg while i am gone have not worked out and he's been taken to my mother's house.  my mom has not been supportive of this trip from the begining and i fear she will use this as a way to get me back to the US before i am ready to return.  just thinking about it brings up anxiety that i have to meditate away as i know if that happens i will be filled with resentment that will hard to get past.