Babu hikes Kili

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Posted by Bill S on December 28, 2007 at 2:33:17 pm EST

I just got back last night from hiking Kilimanjaro. I emphasize "hike" because that's what it was. It isn't a climb, although a challenging hike. But it was "super-luxo", with porters carrying all the gear (except rain gear, camera, lunch, water), a cook preparing huge meals of very high quality and way too much quantity), and a guide pacing me up the hill (the guide, cook, and porter are required by Tanzanian law). For me, it was pretty easy, though I became well-known to all the guides and porters of the many parties on the route as "Babu" (Swahili for "respected grandfather" or "wise elder" according to my Swahili phrasebook), along with many comments on how strong I was (I think that referred to my aroma after the first day in the 80-90 deg F, 80% humidity). Apparently I did travel a bit faster than the standard times on the various sections, and there were a lot of much younger folks who turned back with altitude problems (I don't ever seem to have problems with altitude).

Before the hike, Barb and I did a photo safari, during which we shot some 2000 photos of the various critters - the Big Five of lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and black rhino, plus cheetah, giraffe, various antelope, hyena, jackal, and many many kinds of birds.

I will do a more complete writeup later and post it somewhere. I will say that was the most luxo camping I have ever done, with superb food.

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