From Zanzibar to Malawi - Merry christmas to all!

Long time, no see... Yup, it has been a week without internet but Kande beach at Malawi offers me this chance of luxury.

Zanzibar turned out to be a minor disappointment (at least for me): services and activities were very expensive, so I decided to postpone the diving and do it in Indonesia. Beaches at the Nungwi area (most northern part of the island) were ok but quite small and had some seaweed & other misc matters that were not so enjoyable. Bungalows were (Amaan) allright.
But, as a conclusion, I would not recommend Zanzibar for backpackers because of the high prices (+ getting there by ferry 35USD each way). Stone town has clearly more characteristics than the beach area. If you are going, check out the Hotel Africa House for sunset dinner - amazing view!

From hot hot Zanzibar we headed back for a quick stop at hot hot Dar before making our way towards Baobab valley camp site (with two tyre changes). From there we continued to Old Farm House Campsite near Iringa and finally reached the Malawi border yesterday around noon. We spend the first night at the Chitimba beach campsite and now we are here at the Kande beach for christmas.

What else? Well, one thing - laundry has proven to be quite difficult to get clean when we are moving so fast from place to another.. And campsites don't really offer laundry services, so bring your own washing powder and hope for a good weather after your wash; that is what I'm doing right now.

Two weeks in Africa: amazing views, lots of dust, children by the roads greeting our truck, 4 broken tyres plus 1 broken water tank, minor problems with stomachs, bad roads, sizzling sun, various kind of toilets and so much more.

From here we make our way towards Zambia (visa is now 50USD and not 35 like I wrote before) for new year. There we also get some new members to our group as some people from our original UK,Australia,US,Finland lineup will be ending their journey to Livingstone.

Merry Christmas from Malawi.

-Ville

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From Nairobi to Zanzibar

Ok - we are at Zanzibar now and the sun is giving the full treatment for us. It has been an amazing week with the safaridrives at the Serengeti and Ngorongoro - we got to see the big five: elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo as well as the unbelieveable circular migration of two million wilderbeests and also a whole lot of other authentic wildlife. Although some people say that Serengeti is not the best place for doing safari anymore, I can totally recommend it. I have some great pics to back it up.

What else? A week in Africa has offered nice campsites at Arusha (Snake Park - thanks to MA and BJ for creating an excellent atmosphere..), Serengeti, Ngorongoro crater rim and at the Mikadi beach at Dar Es Salaam. We have also had an opportunity to enjoy the worst roads in the world (Nairobi to Arusha), couple of incidents with tour truck and the first set of stomach problems.

Tomorrow we will be heading for the spice tour here at the Zanzibar and after that we'll take a couple of days at the beach before heading back to Dar and further to Malawi.

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Nairobi

Got to Nairobi this morning without any problems. Immigration office was surprisingly fast. Did a short walk at the Kibera area where two million people live in conditions that are far from the standards we are used to in Europe - very positive people considering the conditions at the area. Had a meeting with the group - it will be the maximum size of 22 people.

Tomorrow morning we start early to get to Arusha, Tanzania. From there we head to Serengeti and Ngorongoro conservation areas. After that to Dar Es Salaam and finally Zanzibar where there will be available internet connection next time.

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Kilimanjaro trek 2009

24.8.2009, Moshi, Tanzania
After 22 hours of travelling we (me and my luggage) made it here to Springlands hotel at Moshi. The place is very nice in African standards. People from all around the world are coming here either to climb or to go on a safari - or do both. Together with the UK and US gyus we were planning on going for a city tour but right now the rain is blocking the activities. The 3g service is at expected level, so I'll try without pics.

25.8.2009, Heading for the Kili
We visited Moshi yesterday and it is a mixed city with hindu/islamic/christian and colonial influencies. It is not a tourist attraction but it very much highligts the lack of certain commodities we in the Europe take for granted. Tomorrow is the time to get to the mountain and see whether I'll reach the top on the morning of 30th. There are no other people in my group so it will be just me and my guide, cook and porters.

Trek schelude with short comments: (corrections to original itinerary in cursive)

26.8.2009, Rongai Gate to Simba Camp
Hiking Time: 3-4 hrs (2h 40min)
Total Distance: 8km
Starting Altitude: 1950m
Final Altitude: 2750m
Habitat: Montane forest

First day of the trek. Start in the morning by 6 hour drive to the north side of the mountain where we started the actual hiking part going through some pine forest. Arriving to Simba camp around 6 pm, where we had dinner and went almost immediately to bed. Lion/Buffalo/Elephant warning for the night if getting out of the tent.

27.8.2009, Simba Camp to 2nd Cave camp
Hiking Time: 3-5 hrs (3h 15min)
Total Distance: 7km
Starting Altitude: 2750m
Final Altitude: 3450m
Habitat: Moorland

Wake up in the morning with beautiful sunshine and clear sky which allowed the first views of the Mt. Kilimanjaro. Absolutely great. Yesterday we had decided to change our trek plan to be more straightforward instead of going long distances as the original one suggested. So, after around 3 hours of walking we reached the second caves. Really started to feel the altitude for the first time. Neckpain/headache after we got to the camp forced me to take some painkillers, but nothing major yet. Made also a little acclimatization walk in the evening to speed up the adjustment to the high altitude.
Out of bottled water, so from this point on, Kilimanjaro stream water only.

28.8.2009, 2nd Cave to 3rd Cave
Hiking Time: 4 hrs (2h 15min)
Total Distance: 10km (not so much)
Starting Altitude: 3450m
Final Altitude: 4330m (3900m)
Habitat: Semi-Desert

Morning started with some problems - stomach not functioning as it should. We still decided to go forward, because the situation wasn't too bad. Decided to abandon the walking poles because I felt like those were jamming my shoulders more than actually helping to go forward. Started to feel headache allready during the first hour and as we got to the 3rd cave the pain had gotten quite strong and I also had some fever.
Not so good. Had some painkillers again and then just waited what would happen. Discussion with the guide about the options: 1) Feeling ok in the morning, we go on or 2) feeling sick in the morning, we abort to ascent.

29.8.2009, 3rd Cave to Kibo hut
Hiking Time: 5 hrs (3h)
Total Distance: 8km
Starting Altitude: 4330m (3900m)
Final Altitude: 4700m
Habitat: Alpine desert

In the morning the health situation had improved a bit being in the same level as the morning before. So, we decided to continue with the ascent towards the Kibo hut. Trekking part was quite allright, but right after getting to Kibo hut, the headache hit againg. Nothing new there - once again I hit the backpack for the painkillers (400mg of Ibuprofein if someone is wondering - so, really nothing massive..).
I also met Hein, Fraser, Phil and Simon from the hotel who had ascended using Marangu route. They had succesfully summited last night and were now on their way down. They told that the views were amazing and absolutely worth of all the struggle.
Wake up at 23.30 so that we can start the summit hike around midnight.

30.8.2009, Kibo hut to Summit to Mandara hut
Hiking Time: 10-15 hrs (13h 30min)
Total Distance: 28km (over 30km)
Starting Altitude: 4700m
Final Altitude: 3700m (2750m) (via 5895m)
Habitat: Alpine desert

Start at midnight towards the summit. Problems allready during the first half an hour: totally exhausted, feeling a bit nausea even. Decided to go on to 5000m to see the situation. At the 5000, feeling quite ok again, so we continued to ascent. At 5400m my stomach decided organise some morning gymnastics for me. After that it also felt like my legs were pure lead. I was almost about to give up when Stanley said that it is only ten minutes to the Gillman's point and the crater rim, so I got myself enough fighting spirit to do it. So, there, sitting at the Gillman's point (5685m) around 4 am, Stanley asked the question: Should we try to get to Uhuru? It was about 2 hrs of walking to get there. I was feeling a bit of a headache and physically not the most fresh state, but we decided to go for it. After all - this was what I came here for.
After two hours, we reached the Uhuru peak being the first people there that morning. Had a couple of photos and started our descent right after that. It would have been nice to spend more time to admire the awesome views at the crater (sunrise, glaciers...), but my increasing symptoms of AMS were not worth of risking it. Descent to Kibo hut was kind of fast - thanks to the loose gravel that I cursed on the way up. After the breakfast we decided to descent to Mandara huts allready today so that we would only have a very short hike for the last day.
I must say that if the ascent was demanding because of the altitude, so was the descent because of the constant downhill which made you use your muscles in a totally different way. When you add the sun, the extensive dust and 21km of African path, you end up having the kind of feeling in your feet that you very rarely normally get...

31.8.2009 Descent - Horombo Hut Camp to Marangu Gate to Moshi (Mandara hut to Marangu gate)
Hiking Time: 5-7 hrs (2h 15min)
Total Distance: 18km (9km)
Starting Altitude: 3700m (2750m)
Final Altitude: 1830m
Habitat: Montane forest

Descent and a good night of sleep had done wonders to my headache which was now almost gone as the swelling of my fingers. Very sore legs from yesterday plus couple of excellent blisters on my toes but nothing worse. Only a couple of hours of hike to Marangu gate where I tipped my mountain crew, checked out from the national park and jumped into a car to take me back to the comfort of Springlands hotel.

Flights:

• HEL-AMS, 23.8.2009, 0645-0815: KL1164
• AMS-JRO, 23.8.2009, 1020-1945: KL0567
• JRO-DAR, 1.9.2009, 2050-2145: KL0571
• DAR-AMS, 1.9.2009, 2255-0700+1: KL0571
• AMS-HEL, 2.9.2009, 1030-1400: KL1167
• My airline: KLM

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South-East Asia 2008

Me and my collegue from work decided to travel Southeast Asia to get rid of our overtime hours - and so we did...
We started off with PADI open water diver -course at Indonesia. Bunaken was a perfect place for doing that - everything was organised with finnish precision and added with Indonesian twist.

After a week at the spectacular underwater walls of Bunaken we moved to other end of Indonesia - Sumatra. We got a minibus from Medan to Lake Toba where we stayed for one week and checked out most of the Samosir islands sights - I recommend the hike to the waterfall although the climb there is not totally safe.

Next we headed for Cambodia to see the amazing temples of Angkor and the capital Phnom Penh where we saw the sites of genocide performed by the brutal Khmer Rouge. I must say that some places really are more depressing than others what comes to inhumanity.

All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing. (Edmund Burke)

From PP we took a bus to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City where we tasted we best noodles in Southeast Asia, saw the war museum and took a daytrip to Cu Chi tunnels.
After Vietnam we flew to Thailand with our purpose to go diving at Similan islands - unfortunately our first night at Phuket turned our stomachs so we had to recover couple of days and we missed the Similan trip. Instead we got on to diving boat for Racha Yai which was kind of disappointing after Bunaken. We also did a daytrip to Phang Nga -bay where we visited also the crowded James Bond -island. (I strongly advice you to take your earplugs with you, if you are planning on using somekind of a longtail/power boat.)

The last but not the least of our destinations was Kuala Lumpur from where we first headed for a 3-day jungle exploration at Taman Negara national park and then had some city fun before we realized that it was time to go home.

View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint

• Bunaken/Manado, Indonesia 19.-25.2.2008
• Lake Toba/Parapat, Indonesia 26.2.-4.3.2008
• Siem Reap (Temples of Angkor), Cambodia 5.-7.3.2008
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia 7.-11.3.2008
• Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 11.-14.3.2008
• Phuket/Phang Nga, Thailand 14.-22.3.2008
• Kuala Lumpur/Taman Negara, Malaysia 22.-26.3.2008

Flights:

• HEL-LHR, 16.2.2008, 0800-0910: JZF8U8, AY831
• LHR-KUL, 16.2.2008, 1050-0710+1: JZF8U8, MH003
• KUL-SIN, 17.2.2008, 1410-1505: LPCGLL, SQ109
• SIN-MDC, 18.2.2008, 0925-1305: LPCGLL, MI274
• MDC-SIN, 25.2.2008, 1345-1705: LPCGLL, MI273, Airport Tax 75000 Rp.
• SIN-KUL, 25.2.2008, 2000-2055: LPCGLL, SQ118
• KUL-MES, 26.2.2008, 0830-0825: PDTYCB, AK936
• MES-KUL, 4.3.2008, 2010-2205: PDTYCB, AK939, Airport Tax 75000 Rp.
• KUL-REP, 5.3.2008, 0700-0800: WFTNDE, AK846
• SGN-BKK, 14.3.2008, 1130-1300: JCUGRR, VN851
• BKK-HKT, 14.3.2008, 1555-1715: RFDFDD, FD3025
• HKT-KUL, 22.3.2008, 1330-1545: DEV3DL, AK873
• KUL-CDG, 29.3.2008, 2325-0640+1: JZF8U8, MH020
• CDG-HEL, 30.3.2008, 1050-1450: JZF8U8, AY872
• My airlines: Finnair, Malaysian airlines, Singapore Airlines, Air Asia

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