Climb for Hospice

A recap of my life for those who may be new to the blog:

In between my charity work with the poor, and my 24-hour, on-call, volunteer position with the Saving-Kittens-From-Burning-Buildings Society, I am climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money and awareness for The Delta Hospice Society.

Although it’s certainly filling up my schedule with planning and preparation, I still have time each week to teach underprivileged children how to ride bikes, and I’m also able to fit in my bi-weekly visit to the farm where they rescue and rehab racing greyhounds. I am also quite content with keeping my position as President of the Board for the Real Men Don’t Eat Sea Urchins Society.

I am certainly able to continue with my PhD thesis on Caring for the Caregiver, but unfortunately I’ve had to cut down my daily trips to the SPCA to walk the dogs and clean the cat cages. Alas, I can only do that 3x a week now. It breaks my heart, but sometimes life gets in the way of life, doesn’t it?

However full my life may become with all my work to better the lives of others, I will always happily make time to speak with my wonderful, loving mother everyday, and also to lavish attention and an appropriate amount of chaste affection on my significant other (who was obviously raised very, very well).

So to those of you who may be just tuning in to this humble blog, I welcome you, and would like to take this opportunity to let you know that I am a very good person who respects others.

Especially mothers.

Of sons.

*ahem*

As the days to go become less, (23 days until I hop on that plane!), the pile of STUFF that I have just keeps on growing. I’m trying to keep it all organized, but it’s like a hideous Gear Virus that is spreading mercilessly throughout the house. Bags of stuff from Valhalla Pure, bags of stuff from London Drugs, bags of stuff from Pharmasave, bags of stuff from MEC… I think I need a bigger bag in which to stuff all the stuff from these bags.

I have to pack clothes for beach, desert, rainforest, alpine, snow, and veldt.

I am couch surfing, camping, staying in beach huts, collapsing in hotels, and possibly staying in lodges.

I need hiking boots and flip flops, gaiters, long underwear, fleece, down, bikinis, sarongs, hats, socks, snow pants, a rain shell, shirts, pants, sunglasses, a headlamp, a good pair of gloves, and capris.

I need a sleeping bag, Therma-Rest, hiking poles, my water bladder, toilet paper, baby wipes, and medication.

And how about the iPod, camera, handycam, batteries, memory cards, chargers, and cords? Can’t forget those.

I need snacks. Lots and lots of snacks.

I need money. Lots and lots of money.

I need help. Lots and lots of help.

*puts head in hands*

*sobs*

The Year of Adventure continues!

Kilimanjaro

Tire changing

Handsome new beau

Concerts

Motorcycles

and next weekend… THIS.

Oh, Year of Adventure, how I love thee.

I don’t know what I did, but it’s been done and I don’t like it.

As of this moment, my back is giving me the spinal equivalent of The Bird.

Stupid spine.

THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS!!

*Hobbles away mumbling about Advil, Kilimanjaro and needing a new bionic spine*

You know what’s great?   Not getting Malaria.

You know what’s not so great?   Spending $150 to not get Malaria.

I went and picked up my wee traveling pharmacy yesterday and it included my Malarone, which I was hesitant to pick up because I knew it was going to be expensive. But hey, I guess it’s worth it, right? Malaria doesn’t sound like it would be all that fun, so I’m content with skipping the experience altogether.

Oh hey! While we’re on the subject of things being great, Amanda was looking at us staying here while we’re in pre-climb Zanzibar.   Not too shabby, eh?  Hopefully we can book a room there and spend some time lolling about and being all drunk and fat.

…Ummm, I mean, spend some time swimming in the ocean, doing yoga on the beach every morning, and running in the sand for 4 hours a day to prepare for our climb.  Yes. That’s what’s I meant.

Not a whole lot new to report today, aside from the fact that I’ve doubled-up on my training with Cara. I do one group class a week and I’ve  suckered convinced Chris to do a private training class with Cara and I. Our first class with her was yesterday afternoon, and it was not easy. Cara was working Chris and I very hard in the sun, and we were both putting all we had into it.  Funny thing, I could have sworn that as Chris ran past me during sprints, he said something along the lines of wanting to leave me… but it could have been the dehydration effecting my hearing. I’m sure that was it.

Things are getting very exciting as the date of my departure approaches. Exciting/scary… same thing, right?

*gulp*

There’s something disconcerting about the idea of walking the bright streets of Dar es Salaam on my own. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve traveled by myself a good deal, and although it affords me some freedom to do what I want and when, it’s ultimately a lonely experience. But it’s never really been scary.

I think walking around in Dar is scary.

I don’t fear getting dragged off into a dark alley or anything, but I do fear my naivety. I’m too nice sometimes, and when I’m traveling in a foreign country, that can get me into some serious trouble. I have to remember that it’s ok to be stern. Not cruel, stern. I fully believe in the ‘catch more flies with honey‘ adage, and have no desire to tell some stranger to get bent while I’m taking swings at him with a hiking pole. On the other hand, I need to remember that it’s ok to be assertive and say, “NO!”.

The problem is that I haven’t done enough traveling on my own, and so am (admittedly) fairly stupid when it comes to confrontations. My tendency is just to walk away, but my understanding is that this may not be the best way to have someone leave you alone when they’re desperately trying to sell you an excursion, show you to a hotel, take you on as a cab fare, ask for money, or trying to sell you something. My fantastic friend Michael has given me some good advice on how best to deal with these situations, and as much as I appreciate it all, I will admit that I never would have thought of doing things the way he suggests. But I know he’s right.

Hmmm, maybe that’s something I should be training for, too..

Ok, here’s an idea: from here on in, I want all my friends to try and sell me something every time they see me. That way I can practice being assertive while avoiding escalating or prolonging an uncomfortable situation. So… yah. Whenever we meet up, friends, I want you to bug the living beejubus out of me until I finally say the thing that actually makes you want to leave me alone. I am hereby giving you free reign to be a complete dickbag to me and avoid the repercussions. Deal? Deal!

This is going to be a long month.

I’ll bet someone’s going to try and sell me a shorter one…

Slowly but surely the plans are coming together. Amanda and I sat down last night and started to plan our pre-climb itinerary. We’re going to head to Zanzibar for about 5 days or so, and then trek on off for our trek on up. That should be pretty cool, eh?

After the climb I have a couple of options for my remaining 5 days on African soil. My initial idea was to do a safari, and as much as that’s still on the table, another idea was brought to mind recently. Chris was speaking with me about my trip, and suggested that I look into some volunteer work while I’m there. This had been in the cards when Ali and I were first putting this adventure together, but it fell by the wayside for a variety of pathetic reasons that I no longer can recall.

Chris’ suggestion made me think of El Camino Voluntours, and how excited I am about the prospect of traveling somewhere to help do some good instead of just traveling somewhere and sitting pool-side on my expanding arse while some poorly paid waiter in an ill-fitting white coat serves me a fluffy drink with an umbrella in it.

So, why am I waiting for next year when I can afford to connect with El Camino? Do I need a special reason to make a special trip? I mean, I’m already going somewhere, so why not take advantage of an opportunity there? Makes sense, right?

So, I emailed a couple of people about volunteering over in Tanzania, and hopefully I’ll hear back soon. I’ll let you know.

xo

Closer, closer, closer…

I realized this morning that I’m running out of weekends. I only have FOUR weekends left until I’m on my way to Africa. FOUR!

That’s not many. So today my plan is to make a list of all the things I absolutely have to do before I get on that plane.

I received my Tanzanian Visa in the mail today, so I know I’m officially allowed to step off the plane when we land in Tanzania. People ask why I didn’t just get the Visa at the airport when I arrived in Dar es Salaam. I just wanted to make sure that I had it in my hands, you know?

I’m a control freak.

I’m ok with that.

So, what are some of the things that this Control Freak needs to do today…

I need to call the Travel Clinic and get one last inoculation.

I need to go to London Drugs and drop a bazgillion* dollars on a personal pharmacy to take along with me.

I need to assess my gear and see if I need anything else… (And while I’m on the subject of gear, I’d like to give a hearty THANK YOU to my sponsor OPEN SPACE YOGA for allowing me the opportunity to outfit myself with about $350 worth of essential gear. I love you, Michael!  xo)

I need to look into my pre-climb activities, and book some hotels.

I need to look into my post-climb safari, and book some lodging.

I need to photocopy all of my travel documents and itineraries and leave a copy at home just in case.

I need to ignore the ice cream in my freezer.

I need to go for a run.

Go, go, go.

Do, do, do.

Plan, plan, plan.

Breathe.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!

I SAID ‘BREATHE’!

*exhales*

Aaahhh…

Much better.

*Bazgillion may or may not be a real number

We’ve got the dates booked, the hotel booked, and the actual climb route (Lemosho) planned out. Now you can follow along from the comfort of your own home, while Ali, Amanda, Christopher and I trudge our way up the World’s Tallest Free-Standing, Equatorial Mountain.

Day 1 will be August 23rd…

Day 1:  Drive to Lemosho Glades and hike to Mti Mkubwa forest camp.

Day 2:  Hike to Shira One camp.

Day 3:  Hike to Shira Two camp.

Day 4:  Hike to Barranco camp.

Day 5:  Hike to Karanga Valley camp.

Day 6:  Hike to Barafu camp.

Day 7:  Hike to the summit and descend to Mweka or Millennium camp.

Day 8:  Complete the descent to Mweka gate and drive back to Marangu.

Countdown to Day 1:   43 days…

*gulp*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!

Thank you for the email today.  I’ve reserved two twin rooms for you in the (Marangu) hotel for the nights of 22nd and 30th August, and an 8 day Lemosho route climb for 4 people starting on 23rd August…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!

Yesterday I went to Vancouver to meet my good friend Eran for lunch. I took transit in and, as is now my habit, I hopped off at the first stop after the bridge, and walked the rest of the way into the city. It usually takes about 90 minutes or so to get where I need to go after I ditch the train.

I’ve been doing this to help prepare myself for the fact that in 5 weeks I will be walking EVERYWHERE, and in 6 weeks I will be walking up A MOUNTAIN.

The thing about yesterday’s walk is that it was about a bazgillion* degrees outside, and the sidewalks were little convection ovens. Not to rehash it, but really, if I were a cannibal, yesterday would have been totally awesome, because all my food would have come pre-cooked.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, I slogged through the heat (and LOVED it), and felt my fingers go all fat and tingly with edema. The sweat was rolling off of me (Although I am a woman, I do not “glow”. I sweat like a drunken sailor in a whore house…. ew… ok, that may have been inappropriate. And quite a disturbing visual), and the sun was turning my once pasty-white skin into a gorgeous shade of sickly red.

However, as I was walking along (read: running from tree shade pool to tree shade pool), I realized that it was just about as hot as it is going to be in Africa, but I’ll be slogging up a frikken’ mountain. In hiking boots. With Ali swearing at me and throwing rocks at my sweltering head.

But the upside is that I’ll be walking towards, you know, a freaking GLACIER. So there’s that.

I love this Vancouver weather. You won’t hear me complaining about the heat! I’m a warm-weather kind of gal, and it makes me happy when I’m warm tapas for cannibals.

Bring it on, Kilimanjaro!

*Bazgillion may or may not be an actual number