newyorklady
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2006
- Messages
- 199
yes, my trip included a visit to a maasai village and it was very interesting. beautiful people.
Tanzania??
- Thread starter Niko
- Start date
C
Cut-Throat
Guest
Wow Caroline! - What a trip! 8)
). Thanks for all the details.Maximillion
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2006
- Messages
- 569
Re Altitude Sickness, at one time in my Marathon days, 25 mile runs were weekly occurences.
I visited Aspen, I could not even run a half mile, I was exhausted.
I visited Aspen, I could not even run a half mile, I was exhausted.
Sarah in SC
Moderator Emeritus
My70 year old boss is heading there the 2nd week of June. He is using a highly regarded (read very expensive) Thompson Treks and going on safari afterwards with the same company.
He has been using a hypox machine to get accustomed to the change in oxygen from sea-level Charleston, SC to the mountain air and is also hiking up our awesome new bridge 2x week (the only hill in town!). He was at a marginal age for the trip and it took some convincing for them to believe he was fit and able--reason to go sooner than later! He has been training very seriously for it, and the company had a great preparation guide he has used.
I will let him know about leaving some gear behind for the porters. Great idea!
Sarah
He has been using a hypox machine to get accustomed to the change in oxygen from sea-level Charleston, SC to the mountain air and is also hiking up our awesome new bridge 2x week (the only hill in town!). He was at a marginal age for the trip and it took some convincing for them to believe he was fit and able--reason to go sooner than later! He has been training very seriously for it, and the company had a great preparation guide he has used.
I will let him know about leaving some gear behind for the porters. Great idea!
Sarah
Sarah -- I used every ounce of energy in my 48-year-old body to get to the top of Kilimanjaro... I was 10 feet from the summit when I passed an old guy coming down. I just had to stop him and ask (between gasps for breath), how old he was.
Seventy five years old!!!! I congratulated him on his success, and his reply was: "This is easy. You just put one foot in front of the other, and lean forward!"
I didn't know whether to worship him or murder him!! ;-D
Sounds like your boss is doing all the right things. My own plan is to go again when I'm 75 myself. I figure that's as good a motivation as any to stay in shape!
Good to know about this hypox machine -- thanks for the tip. I've never heard of such a thing but I'm going to find out since we're going to Nepal in October! (Some people simply never know when to quit.)
Caroline
Seventy five years old!!!! I congratulated him on his success, and his reply was: "This is easy. You just put one foot in front of the other, and lean forward!"
I didn't know whether to worship him or murder him!! ;-D
Sounds like your boss is doing all the right things. My own plan is to go again when I'm 75 myself. I figure that's as good a motivation as any to stay in shape!
Good to know about this hypox machine -- thanks for the tip. I've never heard of such a thing but I'm going to find out since we're going to Nepal in October! (Some people simply never know when to quit.)
Caroline
newyorklady
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2006
- Messages
- 199
wow, i went on safari, no climbing for me. might be something i would be interested in doing in the future. i am cheap though, and when i went i got a luxury safari for literally cost due to going right after the terrorist thing in kenya. they just wanted to fill spots up since people were scared off immediately after that happened. that was my first and only trip to Africa (besides Morocco) and i wanted a super luxury trip as i thought africa is kind of scary. now that i went, i see that kenya is so not scary and i could have done a budget safari. glad i did cottar's safari and it would have been worth full price for anyone willing to throw money around. i have a case of severe cheapness though, and am wondering how much a trek like yours would run me. is it something you can do on a budget or is that not a good idea?
Sarah in SC
Moderator Emeritus
More on gifts for the porters: my boss says that some friends who went last year said that the porters were super excited at gifts of duct tape! Such a cool idea.
He was also heartened to hear of the 75-yr old you met, Caroline. He has so much pride riding on this trip; I so want him to get to the top! He has been relatively sedentary since retiring from dentistry and now spends a lot of time traveling/lecturing on retirement planning for dentists, so this will be the first really tough adventure for him. I'm planning a trip to Mongolia next year, so we spend a lot of time discussing getting into shape for trekking! I'm glad I'm starting younger!
Sarah
He was also heartened to hear of the 75-yr old you met, Caroline. He has so much pride riding on this trip; I so want him to get to the top! He has been relatively sedentary since retiring from dentistry and now spends a lot of time traveling/lecturing on retirement planning for dentists, so this will be the first really tough adventure for him. I'm planning a trip to Mongolia next year, so we spend a lot of time discussing getting into shape for trekking! I'm glad I'm starting younger!
Sarah
Sarah in SC
Moderator Emeritus
Nords, it is awesome! They built it over the existing 2 Cooper River bridges and crews have been blowing up the old ones since it opened. So cool. I can't post a picture, but there is a great photo on Wikepedia of all three bridges. Named after crazy Arthur Ravenel, our geechee statesman.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ravenel,_Jr._Bridge
fixed link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ravenel,_Jr._Bridge
fixed link
From Newyorklady:
I can't remember what our trek cost -- somewhere around $1.5K for three hotel nights, the trek, travel, all food, etc., if I recall.
You might be able to go with several fewer porters, depending on the level of comfort you want. I know that our porters carried a LOT of things I'd never bring along on a backpacking trip -- fresh eggs, heavy pots and pans, a big mess tent to eat in, chairs for everyone, etc. I even saw one group with a personal toilet and a tent to go with it!!! Looks like you can hire as many porters as you'd like, to carry anything you'd like. I've heard that you can negotiate for fewer porters also, though you are required to take a guide.
Beyond that the porters do a tremendous amount of work -- hauling water from streams, breaking camp down behind you and running to set it up in front of you every day, etc.
All of that being said, I DO know that a large part of the cost is in non-negotiable national park fees, so even if you did the trek on the cheap you'll have to pay that part of it. Porters earn, last I heard, only $10 per day before tips.
If you're really interested there's a great Kilimanjaro guidebook you can buy that runs it all down for you. Kilimanjaro: A Trekking Guide to Africa's Highest Mountain, Includes City Guides to Arusha, Moshi, Marangu, Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam (Trailblazer)
Best of luck!
I can't remember what our trek cost -- somewhere around $1.5K for three hotel nights, the trek, travel, all food, etc., if I recall.
You might be able to go with several fewer porters, depending on the level of comfort you want. I know that our porters carried a LOT of things I'd never bring along on a backpacking trip -- fresh eggs, heavy pots and pans, a big mess tent to eat in, chairs for everyone, etc. I even saw one group with a personal toilet and a tent to go with it!!! Looks like you can hire as many porters as you'd like, to carry anything you'd like. I've heard that you can negotiate for fewer porters also, though you are required to take a guide.
Beyond that the porters do a tremendous amount of work -- hauling water from streams, breaking camp down behind you and running to set it up in front of you every day, etc.
All of that being said, I DO know that a large part of the cost is in non-negotiable national park fees, so even if you did the trek on the cheap you'll have to pay that part of it. Porters earn, last I heard, only $10 per day before tips.
If you're really interested there's a great Kilimanjaro guidebook you can buy that runs it all down for you. Kilimanjaro: A Trekking Guide to Africa's Highest Mountain, Includes City Guides to Arusha, Moshi, Marangu, Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam (Trailblazer)
Best of luck!
Dang, I remember the Cooper River when it only had one bridge and was one of the hairiest navigational challenges in the submarine force. A tugboat ran into one of the stantions and shut it down for months of repairs (I swear I wasn't on board at the time).mclesters said:
I notice the new bridge eliminates a lot of tug obstacles!
I guess this means my Cooper River Bridge Run t-shirt is officially a collectible...
