After our outstanding Safari experience, the 5 of us flew to Zanzibar to relax on the beach for another 5 days.  Zanzibar is an island just off the coast of mainland Tanzania.  It’s surrounded by the beautiful waters of the Indian Ocean, an ocean none of us had ever taken a dip in. 

Zanzibar itself has an interesting history as it once was a powerful city-state made rich by supplying slaves, gold and ivory to other parts of the world.  Traders from Persia, Arabia and Portugal all once ruled here.  The trade from Islamic countries left its mark on Zanzibar’s religious makeup as the majority of its inhabitants are Muslim.  However the Tanzanians have added their own personal flair, as their Islamic clothing (headscarves and such) is far more colourful and lively than those we saw in the Middle East.

Activity wise the time spent was uneventful which was pretty sweet.  Di and I realized it was the first time on our travels where we could just sit around, read and nap by the ocean.  Relaxing on a white sand beach with my parents and sis was a great way to finish off our little family vacation.  The Indian Ocean is spectacular, and hopefully we’ll return to its waters in the Maldives or somewhere like that before our year is up.

After we left Zanzibar we went to Dar Es Salaam for a day before Andrea and my parents were to leave.  There we met up with a friend of my dad’s who ended up being one of the most interesting guys we’ve talked to so far on this trip.  He worked for the US government and took us into the US Embassy where he had the biggest office (George W. Bush stole it when he was in town).  For years he has been working in a lot of different countries in Africa and Asia for USAID (US Agency for International Development) and thus had some pretty crazy stories.  After my family left for home Di and I actually stayed at his house for a couple days where we were able to learn about US foreign policy and their aid programs all over the world.  It was also pretty cool to hear about the foreign policies of other powers (such as China) in this region.  He had keen insight as to why many countries in this region are mired in poverty, struggle and war.  It’s been easy to debate these topics with other people on our travels but to really get information and thoughts from someone whose job it is to deal with these issues was really educational.

We met someone in Israel who told us we were making a mistake by not visiting the other countries of East Africa, namely Uganda and Rwanda, especially to track the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas in the jungle.  Others told us that getting close to these amazing beasts after searching for them in the wild on foot was an experience that was really hard to top.  So with our Lonely Planet East Africa and our Skpe account we tried to organize said track by calling those countries to get a permit.  Unfortunately only 50 or so of these passes are sold per day at 500 US dollars each, and they are reserved up to 2 years in advance.  So no, there weren’t any last minute cancellations to open up 2 free permits for us.  The recent tragic bombing in Kampala, Uganda (July 12, 2010) that killed over 70 people didn’t inspire much confidence either so we decided to return to at a later date in our lives. 

For those looking for a 2-3 week vacation that envelops adventure, animals and relaxation Tanzania is a perfect destination.  Kilimanjaro will challenge you, the safari will amaze you, and Zanzibar will rejuvenate you.  Personally I’m kind of happy that they didn’t have any gorilla permits for us to buy, because that means that one day we’ll have to return to this part of the world.  In addition to seeing gorillas there’s still a lot left for us to do here, including contributing time to helping the people.  There are plentiful volunteer opportunities, and in the future we plan to come back to do some humanitarian work.  East Africa has huge public health issues to deal with, especially with regards to HIV/AIDS and malaria.  We met volunteers from all over the world here doing their part and we hope to as well.

Our friend from USAID is quite confident that even with the problems that afflict the region, East Africa is on the up and up, especially Tanzania.  His 4 year service term was supposed to be up a couple of years ago, but he has decided to stay and I can see why.  There is an undeniable allure in this country, whether it be the stomp of the elephant, the turquoise of the ocean, the melting snows of Kilimanjaro, or the smiles of its people.  There is a beauty and simplicity here that’s taken hold of us, leaving us no option but to return.

We met up with Eug’s parents at the Kilimanjaro airport after six tough days of endless hiking without showering.  Besides the fact that it was very nice to see them again for the first time in 5 months, it was a great relief as well.  We could be like kids again enjoying a family vacation without having to worry about looking into accommodations and planning out daily itineraries.  We could just sit back and relax for the next 10 days; 5 days on the Safari and 5 days in Zanzibar!  Woo!

The Safari was seriously awesome.  An Australian traveler we met in Syria told us it would be as if you were in the Lion King movie, and she was absolutely right.  We went for 4 of the so called ‘Game Drives’ where our Safari guide drove us around in the different national parks in a big safari jeep to look out for animals.  The roof of the jeep extended up so we could stick our heads out to get a clear view of the animals.  And when I say animals, I don’t mean just any animals, I’m talking about leopards, cheetahs, lions and their cubs, and countless herds of elephants, giraffes, wildebeests, gazelles, buffalos, hippos, etc. etc.  Every sighting was jaw dropping until we got tired of seeing them for the 100^th time (sorry gazelles, there’s just too many of you).

We did game drives in three national parks: Ngorongoro Crater, The Serengeti, and Lake Manyara.  The crater in Ngorongoro was really cool and we saw a rhino there, but the Serengeti was bigger and that’s where we were able to spot the hard-to-find leopard and cheetahs.  Lake Manyara is known for bird life, so we saw tons of pelicans and flamingos.  Our favourite was seeing the lion cubs walking right by our jeep.  As you can see from the picture above, they were adorable and they completely ignored us.  I think the animals were all very accustomed to the Safari jeeps.  We were like ghosts to them.  We also saw a female lion’s attempt to make a kill.  Lions do have a lot of patience when it comes to hunting; she waited for a good 45 mins before she decided to make her move.  Up to then she was slowly creeping in the tall savannah grasses, poised in the “ready to strike” posture.  The suspense was killing all of us.  When she did attack it was over in about 3 seconds and the gazelle she was targeting got away.  Though we’ve seen it a million times on TV, witnessing a hunt this close has a completely different effect on you. 

Another highlight of the Safari was we somehow got upgraded to a very nice hotel for 2 of the 4 nights!  The other hotels Eug’s parents booked were already really nice, but this one was out of this world.  We were told by our driver only 2 hours before we were to check in that there was a change to our hotel because there was a problem with the original one (which was supposed to be a gorgeous luxury camp).  We had no choice so we were expecting something worse.  But it turned out to be the Kempinski Bilila Serengeti, the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at!  Eug found out that the promotional rate for the hotel was $700/night, I couldn’t even imagine what the regular price would be.  Since we didn’t have to pay anything extra, we got a great deal.  And what a treat it was after hiking Kilimanjaro!  The hotel was right in Serengeti National Park, so we saw zebras from our bathroom window on the first night.  In front of the hotel there is a natural watering hole, and elephants drop by regularly as they traverse the savannah looking for a drink.  We were told by the staff that the morning of our check in, they sighted 45 elephants right by the hotel.  It was a truly beautiful hotel and we were unbelievably lucky to spend 2 nights there.

We were actually fortunate the whole time we were here.  It’s rare to spot a leopard or a cheetah, and we saw both very close to our jeep.  It’s almost impossible to comprehend the beauty and the power of these large cats when you gaze upon them.  Though we only saw one leopard and one cheetah (with 2 small hidden cubs) we saw a lot of lions.  At one point as I mentioned earlier we were surrounded by a bunch of cute cubs as the whole huge pride walked right by our jeep.  Seeing them 6 feet away allowed us to really experience their grace and magnificence.  Watching a lioness hunt was extremely powerful and memorable.  At one point there was a huge herd of elephants to our right, another big herd of giraffes to our left, and an innumerable number of zebras and wildebeests in front of us.  It’s no wonder the safaris of Africa are among people’s list of dream vacations; to be able to witness the rhythm of nature in all its glory is magical.  It’s the Circle of Life, And it Moves us All. (Eug had to throw in the Lion King/Elton John reference).

If you want to see some pictures of the animals we saw on our safari, click on the flickr icon on the right.

50 feet in front of us I could see a cluster of LED headlamps, only now they weren’t steadily moving forward in a row; they were excitedly moving in random directions.  Next I saw the flash of a camera, and it was then that I knew we had almost made it.  The sun had not yet risen, but the colour had started to emanate from the horizon.  We stumbled 20 feet closer and as I looked to my left at Di she started to cry.  A few more steps and Andrea’s eyes began to water, and finally the tears started to well up in my eyes as we approached the sign.  There it was in front of us: “Congratulations You Are Now At Uhuru Peak, Tanzania, 5895 m”.  At 6:10 am, we made it to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa.

7 days earlier Andrea came to meet us so that we could climb the highest peak on the continent.  The next morning we were assembled at our hotel with our fellow climbers.  There were 12 in total and we would all be attempting to summit through the Machame route; one that took 6 days or more and was known to be the most scenic.  There was a girl from Kazakhstan who would be Andrea’s tent mate, a couple of economists from Yale (one with a PhD and the other one with a masters), a young medical doctor studying in the UK (who said he would be the first person from his home country of Mauritius to summit if he made it), a French couple who had met and lived in Shanghai (fluent in Mandarin) and were on their honeymoon, and 3 Americans, one who worked for Oprah and was in Tanzania for a month volunteering, one who was a marathon runner and another who was a web guy.  With this group we set out to conquer the tallest mountain in Africa.

The first day was fairly easy, although it was a muddy 6 hour hike through the misty rainforest and since we were amidst the clouds the entire time it was rather muggy.  That night Di reached a brand new milestone; it was her first time to ever sleep in a tent!  The next day we managed to break the clouds and get our first peek at the summit and the famous residual snows atop Kilimanjaro.  The third day we maxed out at an altitude of 4630m to facilitate our acclimatization before descending back to 3950m to camp for the night.  Some members of the group started to feel signs of altitude sickness, mainly in the form of throbbing headaches.  Fortunately the 3 of us were still feeling fine.  As we ventured higher, the landscape underwent a gradual change into a semi desert which was quite striking.  The fourth day was where things started to get interesting as 8 of us continued on while the remaining 4 stayed back to acclimatize for an extra day.  We underwent a steep climb up the Barranco Wall early in the morning   and about 6 hours later we arrived at the base camp at 4550m.  Heading up the Wall gave us the opportunity to witness the magnificent spectacle of the landscape beyond the clouds.  The sun was radiating and we were all in awe of how gorgeous the view was.  We rested for a couple of hours before having dinner, after which we went back to bed for another couple hours in preparation for our summit attempt which would begin at midnight.

At 11:30 pm we had our preparatory meal of chocolate biscuits and hot tea.  All the girls had headaches and slight fevers, and though I wasn’t feeling great I was definitely in better shape.  We put on all the layers we had and at exactly midnight everyone assembled outside.  We had our exceptional guides Festo and Meshuko give us (Di, Andrea, the Kazakh and I) a final briefing and motivational high fives, and then off we went.  As we started our ascent there was a continuous line of at least 50 headlamps slowly snaking its way up the mountain.  Over time the gap between the headlamps increased as the slower groups started to falter and the faster ones broke away from the pack.  By around 3 in the morning, the climb became exceptionally strenuous; each step up the steep slope required more and more effort as the air became extremely cold and thin.  Even sipping water for a span of 2 seconds required 5 seconds of heavy breathing just to recuperate.  At one point the guide told us to glance at the moon and the night sky was unlike anything I had ever seen.  The sliver of a warm yellow glow of a crescent resembled a smiley face and it was surrounded by millions of stars.  They appeared so close in proximity to us that I imagined if I had a butterfly net I could just take a swing and capture a star.  I really wanted to take a photograph but getting the camera out would have been far too demanding, so I did my best to take a mental imprint before I dropped my eyesight back to the ground to watch my feet slowly inch forward in a zombie-like state.  At 5 in the morning we finally made it to Stella point (5685m) where we were given some warm sweet tea carried in a thermos by one of the guides.  After a short rest we made our final one hour push towards the peak, walking on the summit glacier.  At this stage most of us could barely walk in a straight line as the altitude was disturbing our equilibrium.  Every few minutes I was feeling the need to throw-up and the guide wanted me to down a Red Bull to induce vomiting, which was theoretically supposed to make me feel better.  It’s interesting how Kili guides and bartenders both agree that Red Bull stimulates puking.  I was certain I didn’t want to go that route and just kept pushing on.  After an hour of what seemed like drunken stumbling in the cold while gasping for air, we made it to the summit!  We were one of the first groups there and the experience was truly indescribable.  It was such an exhausting journey that to finally reach the top was exhilarating and emotionally overwhelming.  We were all overcome with happiness and relief that we had finally arrived.  I can fully admit that it was for all of us (not just us 3 but every single person we talked to) the most physically challenging thing we had ever done.  After 20 minutes of enjoying our accomplishment we started our 23 km descent to a camp located at 3100m.  As we descended we were able to watch one of the most magnificent sunrises of our lives.  Unfortunately the rising sun also let us see the other climbers who were still on the ascent.  Some were vomiting everywhere; others looked as though their eyes were in the backs of their heads as their guides basically carried them up.  It was not a pretty sight (though I’m sure we weren’t so pretty either, especially with our constantly running noses).  By the time it was the late afternoon, we reached our last campsite with tired knees, burning thighs and exhausted calves.  We had been hiking for a total of 14 hours with only a slight break in-between to grab some lunch.  However, the return to normal oxygen levels gave our brains enough energy to allow us to soak in what we had done.

We had made it to the summit of Kilimanjaro.  All 3 of us had made it to the summit of Kilimanjaro.  The victory would not have been as complete if even 1 of us didn’t summit.  Being up there has been the most memorable experience on this trip so far; and there are no 2 girls I would have rather shared it with than Di and Andrea.  Andrea was always at the front of the group plugging along, never asking for a break and constantly encouraging us.  And Kili was Di’s first real camping/hiking trip, how many can claim that?  Obviously I’m unbelievably proud of them.  Now, who’s up for Everest?