5985 m, Kilimanjaro - done and dusted!!

When I'm an old lady, if my brain is still functioning well, ha ha, when I look back at my life and speak of my life accomplishments, having a successful summit up Mt. Kili will definitely be up there on my list. Much closer though, when I leave Dubai and think about what I've done and accomplished, this will definitely be up there as well. Ahhh.... what an experience!!!! 

Even while I was hiking, I was thinking about this blog... and how I wanted it to be extra detailed so I remember everything. Sooo... forewarning, this will be a bit lengthy! I'll try to undo it being too too boring with some pictures :-) 

When I got back, I sent a mass email that got some surprising responses when I mentioned that Kili was "probably one of the toughest mental and physical challenges I have ever had." Especially from people that know I've done 1/2 ironman's, triathlons, and other random things in between. It's hard to describe why that is. Some of it was the novelty of the experience - I have never camped before in my life. My hiking experience is minimal at best, a few sporadic minimal hikes here and there (it's been ages since I've last done one), I've never slept in a sleeping bag or tent (nevertheless with strangers, well, the tent part, not the bag!). I wouldn't describe the actual hike itself as "very hard," which may surprise some people. There were some tough parts, like rock scrambling,

but it was kinda fun and again, not too too bad. When I say "physical" challenge, that was more my bodies reaction to everything.

Soo... here goes: The 1st day I was fine, 2nd day was less distance, but more vertical, was mostly fine during the hike, a short period I felt super fatigued, but okay. But then when we got to our base camp, we did this extra mini mini hike to this area that had a nice view, and after that started the fun.... I started vomiting... and vomiting. Felt and looked "green," and of course felt weak. Why out of ALL the side effects do I have to get that one? Vomiting and nausea is just the worst. I was drinking so much water (which they encourage you to do) that that was what I was vomiting (sorry for the details). Come dinner, I just had some bread and rice. Nighttime rolls around, and ugh, I don't think I've had a worse night in my life :-( gain, I'm in this small'ish tent with 2 others (a mom and daughter, super nice), but obviously being in such close quarters, you can hear everything. So my vomiting in my barf bag was obviously  heard and I felt bad to wake them up. Then I had a fever with sweating, then fever and cold sweats, kept on feeling like I was going to throw up, and... you can get the picture. Blah! And then comes the mental challenge.... the thoughts of why I was so sick so early? Would I be able to continue? Would I even make it to the top? Could I do this??? I tried to stay positive, and it actually was the support from all my friends and family that helped with that. The morning FINALLY roles around, thank gawd.... was feeling off and didn't know what to expect. I leave the tent... then darn it, MORE vomiting! Ughhh. Thankfully, I felt better after it... and thank gawd that was the end of that. Needless to say, I didn't have much of an appetite, but knew I had to eat so had a little carbs to hopefully sort me for Day 3. With a quesy and weak start, we started Day 3, which was much more gradual and... by late morning and into the day, I kept feeling better and better. Besides diarrhea that day (again, sorry for the details, but these are all side effects of altitude!), by the end of the day, I felt like me again - regained my appetite and energy. After a good nights sleep (almost 10 hours!), the 4th day I felt 100%! 

Then it was like the 1st and (most of) 2nd day, loving the FRESH crisp air, the atmosphere, and just being outside in nature. I wish I could take a picture of the stars, because they were soooooooooo beautiful!!! It was chilly, but still comfortable (thank you Chicago roots!)! In the meantime, some others were having their own altitude issues (mostly headaches and fatigue), so when it came down to the "summit night (the night of the 4th night, or 5th day)," where people typically leave at midnight, we made a TEAM decision to leave at 2am, just to give everyone some rest. For the 5 of us, we had 5 helpers, 3 of the guides and 2 porters (who were awesome). In order to help us, they carried our day bags with water and we just had our many layers and energy snacks. I have to say that climb was tough because it's very vertical, it's pitchblack (we used headlamps), and 1st part of the climb was almost like rock scrambling), it felt more fatiguing. After that part, our super mom 60- year old backed down :-( She was really struggling and it was really sad to see her go, but her kids were still going strong and that was motivating. I had sooo many layers on, I really looked like a marshmellow, was warm enough, but when we did our quick stops for water (and they were quick), because I was sweaty, I got really cold, and then it was hard to get started again. Although people were already at the top for this, we still saw an amazing sunrise that was really beautiful. 

So then it started to get brighter, hence warmer, which was fine, but then the fatigue REALLY set in. The guides were amazing and kept gently encouraging us and saying that it's guaranteed we will summit, which was good to hear. Of course since we started late, people were already on the way back down, which was 1/2 motivating in that "we're getting close" but also un-motivating because they had already got to the top and it seemed we were sooo far away. Besides TOTAL body fatigue, literally, just felt every muscle in my body was tired and exhausted, I generally felt okay. We were rightfully going sooo slow, "pole pole" (the #1 lesson in doing the climb, it means 'slowly slowly' in Swahili), so the top just seemed sooo far away and each step was more tiring than the one before it. But ah ha! We finally see the ridge where Stella's point is - we ARE almost there! Then the time just seemed to pass, and wah la! We were there! I was behind the guide and he turned to High 5 all of us, and I just felt sooo overwhelmed, literally like I was about to cry (maybe I did?).... I can't even describe the feeling. We sat to take it in, had some tea. One of the guys was suffering and wanted to go down, but our awesome guide Baraka convinced him to get to the Peak, Uhuru's peak - the HIGHEST peak in Africa, the official 7th Summit of the World. He (and someone else I was sitting next to) said, "it's only 30 minutes, you're really almost there." Sigh.... So after probably less than 10 minutes, we were off again. I took my position in front behind the guide (no one else seemed to want that spot) and we trudged along. It is more or less a gradual climb, but my gawd, I can't even tell you how exhausting it felt. We got to the 1/2 way point at like 25 minutes, and we didn't even stop... it literally was like a slow motion "must.... keep.... going." Then, those last 15 minutes probably was the hardest part of the entire climb. Everything just hit me at once - felt totally and completely delirious, lightheaded, some nausea, just totally out of it. I don't even know how I put one foot in front of the other, it literally was extreme effort. Every single muscle and joint in my body just felt utterly exhausted. One step.... one step.... one step.... You can see the sign, but it was sooo.....far.... away. One step closer... one step closer..... really, I can't even describe it. When we got to it, it again was one of those moments where I felt really emotional, again felt like I wanted to have a hearty cry, but also too exhausted to do so. We gave each other a group hug, all almost holding on so we don't fall over, and then sat while this group in front of us was taking a picture in front of the famous Uhuru sign. They say not to stay there for too long, most people the cold eats them, but because at that point it was... I don't even know, like 8:30am-9am? It wasn't too bad. 

OMG, I look like such a marshmellow! :-) Believe it or not, I actually lost weight, about 3-4 lbs, but it doesn't show here! 

REALLY couldn't have done it without the help of the our AWESOME leader Barka, the awesome assistant guides Denis and Peter, and the 2 porters. THANK YOU!!!!

We took our group and individual pics, soaked in the feeling and environment (nice little glacier near), and of course the altitude affects people, so we were there maybe like 15 minutes? I got a little 2nd wind up there, all of a sudden like, "YAY!!! I DID IT! I'M HERE! I"M AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD!!!!" Feeling happy, but of course utterly exhausted and almost faint. Then started the descent.... you work so hard going up, you kind of forget the down part. We did another stop at Stella's point to take pictures,

and then came what seemed like the looooooooooooooooooooooongest part of the climb. For some odd reason, the altitude hit me a lot on the way down, I REALLY felt nautious, maybe a couple of times like I wanted to get sick, but started to get a headache and just felt really faint and lightheaded. Our group kind of broke up at that point, and poor Baraka was stuck with me. Here's him, all bored, la de la, resting with me:

And BTW, this was his 201st climb! 201!!!!!! Anyway, I took sooooo long to get back down! 1st it was not feeling well and needing to take breaks, 2nd it was this bizarre thing I had for majority of the climb that I couldn't hold in my bladder!!! Really weird, but sometimes I hardly even made it out to the toilet or bush. THEN the descent was just sooooooooooooooooooooo dusty, didn't feel I could even breathe right with all the dust and.... ugh. Just not fun. Then, as most people know, it's the coming down part (eccentric loading) that is always  hard, and after that loooong tough climb up, my legs were pooped as it was, but they really felt like jello on the way back down. I was the last one to come down by far (around 1:30pm?), and hardly even made it into the tent before I stripped off my 304983208 layers of clothes (at that point, I was also boiling because the sun was super strong), and just passed out. OMG, it felt sooo good to lie down!!!! Here's a nice view from the tent, I didn't even get up to take the picture:

Unfortunately, we didn't have too much rest time because then at 3:30pm we had to start getting sorted again to leave at 4pm to go to the next base camp. Fortunately, at that point I was already feeling better and although that 2 hour hike to the next base camp seemed long, it was nothing like the climb down from the top, and of course it was less altitude and I felt much better. Phew! The next was a breeeze.... we all went to bed early that night and the next day we had a moderate 4 hour climb down to the bottom, and that was it!!!! DONE AND DUSTED MT. KILIMANJARO! I DID IT!!!!!!

Can't believe I climbed up that!!! :-) 

Here are a few tidbits of popular asked questions (SP!):

• Which route I took: Macheme route, aka. "whisky" route - 6 day total trip. 
• Medications for altitude sickness - yes! There are some and I had it: Diamox. HOWEVER, diamox is know to treat the symptoms of altitude sickness, however the side effects are the same symptoms of altitude sickness (headache, lightheadedness, nausea), sooo.... the general consensus was to not take it, which as you can imagine, was quite a discussion point among the climbers. One girl, Amber, who we referred to as "mountain goat" because she was great the whole time, took it, and got a big headache for the 1st time. BUT, an "herbal" variation of that is gingko bilboa, is supposed to help with altitude and memory (nothing wrong with that!). It's hard to tell and to know what to do and what not to do, but I would basically advise other people just to take the herbal gingko because it has no side effects. I took it those couple of days after I was sick, and I had no problems after that day. Everyone should decide invidually. 
• Malaria - I had malarone for the duration of my 3-weeks in Tanzania. There is some prevalence of Malaria in Dar Es Saeem (where I was the 1st few days) and also in Arusha (the town close to Kili) as well as Zanzibar. BUT obviously the mosquitoes don't survive in high altitudes and you don't need it in Kili. But because with maralone you need to take it 1-2 days before travel, every day during, and then a week after, I basically took mine while I was up Kili. 
• Camping: The company I went with provided tents and sleeping padding for the tents. I rented a sleeping bag from them. Kili is considered an "easy" climb because there are porters who take care of everything, they carry the tents, your own personal bag, their own belonging, cooking/kitchen stuff (table, chairs). So we only had to carry our day bags the whole time. But camping was pretty fun! There is something special about sleeping outdoors, I'll say that. Don't worry, I won't say I'll become a camper now, but I might do it for just a night or two one day... we'll see :-) 
  
  
  
  
  Nice dry view of Kili in the background.
  
  
  
  Our last camping night, nice view of Kili in the background, we CLIMBED THAT!
  
  
• Toilets: Umm.... well, heheh, an important question! All of the camp sites had toilets, but either they were these disgusting outcrops or a squat toilet. When we were hiking, we did bush toileting, and sometimes, again, because I somehow had this weak bladder, I even did bush toileting at the camp site (hidden of course). Of course, we had no showers the whole 6 days. 
  
• Time for the climb: To get up it took almost 5 days, and down (a different route) took 4 hours the last day, and 2 hours the day before. All and all, 6 days! 
• Packing: The porters, who are rail thin and soo strong, by law, should not carry more than 15kgs (about 30 lbs) and they had proper weigh in points to make sure that they didn't exceed that, which I thought was really good.
  
  For us and our day-packs, around 6-7 lbs was recommended. Key words: PACK LIGHT! For yourself and for someone else! It's almost a must to have 'soft luggage,' aka. a travel backpack (which I had, borrowed from my friend). 
• Company: I went with Good Earth Tours, an agency out of Canada, had an office in Florida and an office in Arusha. In my group there was a mom, Terry, 60 year old librarian, her two kids, Amber (28 y/o geologist but now becoming a teacher) and Andrew (30 y/o, construction worker) - all from Alberta, Canada, myself, and then YZ (abbreviation for a hard spelling and sounding name) from Malaysia, 33 y/o that was in IT.
  
  
  
  
  Fortunately, Terry and Amber, my tent-mates, not only loooved camping and hiking, but they also lead and taught groups about camping! So they were excited to teach me a few tricks as I was to learn about them (Andrew too). I definitely recommend the agency, had a great experience, all the equipment I rented (down jacket, hiking poles, leg gaitors, fleece pants) was in good condition. They were also very organized, efficient, and the staff was great! We stayed at Planet Lodge, this quaint nice hotel in Arusha. 
• Success of the climb: As I mentioned, Kili as an 80% success rate. We right on with 4/5 of us making it (Terry was with us in spirit). 
• Water: Staying hydrating helps greatly with altitude. It's recommended to have at least 2 L/day hiking. I probably averaged 2-3 L, thanks to my handy camelback! How did we get water? The 1st day or so we had our own stashes of water, then the porters would take the fresh water from a stream close by, boil it and there you have it! I didn't have any stomach issues from that and no one in my group did. Some people (in other groups), bought iodine tablets, and I'm sure that is fine, but we were all good with the 'natural way.'
• HELP on the mountain, the porters: So for 5 of us, we had 19 porters (including a head porter, a cook, and 2 waiters) and 3 guides (2 assistant and 1 head). They ALL get tipped at the end, and these porters, I can't even tell you how amazing they are! They leave after us, load up all our gear, rush past us (all you could hear sometimes was "porters coming!" -  meaning, get out of the way), then would get to the next site before us, have everything set up, and dinner would be almost ready. AWESOME!!!! 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Above and below are the group shots we took our last day, everyone happy that it was DONE! They sang a little song, "hakuna matata" (no worries) song for us :-) 
  
  
  
  
  
• Equipment (ME):
• Things I couldn't have done it without: 
• Electrolytes! Luckily I'm an athlete and have these things, but they proved soo helpful to me and my group: Gu gels, shot blocs, jelly beans, energy/protein bars - most all with electrolytes. They really gave a boost and was the perfect quantity and energy I needed. It's a MUST!!!
• Compression socks: I have yet to run with these, but a few weeks before I left, got a wind of it, and bought some and boy, was I happy I did!!! As my body is not used to 6-8 hours of climbing a day, it would have been guaranteed I'd have some kind of calf soreness, BUT the compression socks really helped with that and I didn't get it at all!!!
• Facial and cleansing wipes: Soooooooo glad I had this! Obviously we can't shower on the mountain, so this was my 'dry' cleaning. They did provide us with a small bucket of hot water, but because you're always in public, it was cold in the early mornings and nights and evenings, it was just more comfy and suitable to do cleansing with these wipes.
• Anti-bacterial gel: Yesssssss. Self-explanatory :-) 
• Headlamp (thanks Lal!):  A MUST! Obviously for night-time but also imperative for "summit night." You needed 2 hands sometimes to climb up, and a flashlight won't do.
• Iburprofen: Ahh.... soo happy about that! Myself and my fellow climbers. It's guaranteed you will get some kind of headache, and normally I don't like taking tablets unless I have to, but those came quite in handy!
• Melatonin: Campsites can be loud, and the tents are paper thin, so you are bound to either here people talking or someone snoring. This was another BEST.THING.EVER.
• Leg gaitors (rented): Came REALLY in handy for bush and squat toilets, but also the 1st and last leg are in a forest-like area, kinda muddy, so it was great. As well as the climbing and the dust! Kept the shoes and pants less filthy. 
• Camelback: Really, probably the most important thing! I had a camelback/backpack, which was awesome! To have the easy access of the water was a good reason why I had a successful summit. Others had their water inside their backpack, and although we stopped frequently, you need water more than that. We (well, Amber) made a game that every time we tripped or stumbled, lost footing, yawned or sneezed, we would take a sip!
• Sunglasses! This is obvious, but thanks to my mom, I had these great UVA/UVB ones that had a slight covering above the eyes and to the sides, so sun couldn't creep in. It got obviously extremely sunny, and I felt well protected in my eyewear!!!
• Ziplock gallon sized bags and plastic small baggies - this just came in handy for weather protection, for storage, ease of packing, just really great to have! 
• Merino wool liners (long-sleeve shirt and leggings). Can I just say BEST.THING.EVER! This is a total and absolute must. Not only does it keep you warm, very warm, but also i you are sweating, it kinda absorbs in the material, yet more or less keeps you and it dry. OMG, just awesome!!!!
• Puffy vest - Thanks to my friend Lal, got a puffy down vest, which was AWESOME! It was great for evenings having dinner, and also I used it as a pillow :-) It kept me warm summit night, and I just loooved it. Sooo soft and nice! 
• Solomon hiking boot - Can I just say (again), BEST.THING.EVER. I can't say enough how happy I am with these hiking boots! I got them a month before the hike, used them a little bit, NEVER got blisters or NEVER felt uncomfortable, and when I did the hike, it really felt like it fit better than a glove. Sooo comfortable!!!! It absorbed sweat well, didn't get too stinky (hehe), and are just AWESOME! I almost want to go hiking again just so I can wear them! 
  
• Toilet paper :-)
• Scarf - okay, I do happen to love scarfs, but really - they are so great! Came in handy for that in-between weather, when my feet or head got cold at night, they are great!
• Eye mask and ear plugs - I know that is a bit comfy, but sometimes my tent-mates would read at it night with the light, so hence the eye mask helped. AND then the ear plugs really helped for getting some sleep! 
• Things I WISH I had:
• Blistex. Oh dear, if I only knew. Because of the sun and dry air, my lips totally got sunburnt and blistered, to the point when I actually managed to use someone's blistex, it hurt to touch. Well, at least now I know what I look like if I ever decide to get Angelenia Jolie lips. I usually always have some kind of vaseline, but it was really stupid to not have that.
• Electrolyte tablets - used to put inside drinks. I think they are helpful and we all felt good when Amber let us take some.
• More toilet paper! I had to take an extra roll from my fellow climbers. Went through it a lot quicker with all my altitude issues! 
• Overall packing list:
• Shoes: My awesome hiking shoes (MUST) and old worn out gym shoes for evening times and just to get out of those boots! Some people had flip-flops to change into, but it was cold at night, so closed-toed were better for me.
• Socks: I had 2 compression socks, and then 2 regular hiking socks.
• Accessories: Wool warm hat, liner gloves, my ski gloves (summit night), a gator (summit night). p.s. glad i go skiing!
• Pants: 2 pairs of hiking pants (wicking, UVF), the merino wool bottoms (yess), fleece pants, ski waterproof liner pants.
• Tops: Merino wool long-sleeve top, 3 short-sleeved coolmax tops, 1 long-sleeve cool-max top, one t-shirt (pajama), a light long-sleeved fleece (with thumb holes), a rain-jacket (only used once when it drizzled), a puffy NorthFace down vest, a  puffy downjacket. 
• Comfort: pillow case, blow up neck cushion x2, yes, I had an airport one and one for an air mattress, ipod and kindle, 
• Meds: I had everything from ibuprofen to immodium to sleep aides to things for blisters to antibiotics, so felt good in that department. The only thing I used was the ibuprofen, immodium, and melatonin.
• Other: Headlamp
• Miscellaneous: Flashlight (which I never used), extra batteries for the headlamp and flashlight, a cocoon silk sleeping inner liner (from my backpacker days)
• Daypack/camelback: water, sunscreen, anti-bacterial gel, rain jacket and pants, energy gels/bars snack stuffs, toilet paper. ibuprofen (yes, I kept this handy!).
• Stuff I rented: Hiking poles, down jacket, fleece pants, leg gaitors, sleeping bag (good for -15 C! Was SUPER warm!) - all super useful and in good condition.
• sdfsdfs
• Food: Umm... can I just say delish? As I've never been camping, I was expecting canned beans and other ... bland foods. But alas we had quite hearty meals (all prepared by the cook porter). Breakfast usually omelette, porridge, toast, sausage. Lunch was often packed: egg, chicken, a chocolate bar, some kind of sandwich, and some kind of cracker/cookie. Dinner always was soup (I love soups! Carrot, potato, leek), pasta, rice, veggies, salad. We had all the right condiments and also had ample supply of teas, coffee (which we tried to avoid because of its a diuretic, and I don't drink coffee anyway, and hot chocolate (which i had a lot of!). They also frequently had my fave snacks - popcorn and ginger snaps. Yummy! 
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Weather: Only once on day 3 I think it rained a little bit for a couple of hours, not a downpour, just a light rain. It was rather refreshing (again, I don't see rain in Dubai), and glad that my rain jacket and rain pants got some use! Other than that, the mornings and evenings were brisk, in the 20's F (around -6 C) and during the day it got up to 50 deg F (10 deg C). The summit night->day, it was probably about that starting and at the top it was in the 30's F (-1F)... which was actually really nice because some people have said it was frigid and couldn't stay on top because it was so cold (my friend got frostbite). Being that we were at the top (Stella to Urhu's point) for over an hour, weather and the cold was NOT an issue. And no, there was no snow at the top :-)
• Terrain: From foresty at the start and finish to barren to seeing a glacier at the summit to ending at the forest again. They say this is one of the more scenic routes of the other hiking options.  
• 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The hike: Start at Macheme gate, end at Mweka gait). Key to success - climb high, sleep low, we did that on the 3rd day. 
  
• Macheme Camp - 9,900 feet 
  
• Shira Camp - 12,600 feet
• Baranco Camp - 12,950 feet
• Barafu Camp - 14,901 feet -> Summit - 19,340 feet (5985m) ->
• Mweka Camp - 10,010 feet

Phew! Have I covered everything? I think so!!!

Overall, an experience of a lifetime! A few more pics to finish...

Hmm..... I need to climb THAT?

Above and below... so cool to be above the clouds!

Next (I need some rest after this one!), I'll talk about the other 2/3 of my trip - safari's and Zanzibar! 

Kilimanjaro training in Dubai

You read the subject line correctly... I am officially going to attempt to climb one of the 7 great summits in the world! Okay, fine, according to true mountaineering people, it is one of the "easiest' of the climbs (it's still hard), but hey, it's a life goal and dream, and THIS is one of the reasons I came to Dubai.

So how does one that lives practically 50 m above sea level prepare for such a feat? Good question! Pretty much everyone I talked to that has done it and everything I read said that even the fittest of the fit sometimes don't make it, it's how your body adjusts to altitude. Hmm... how does my body adjust to altitude? Good question #2! I really don't know! Yes, I've gone skiing and sometimes have had a little bit of nausea from quick turnovers (coming from Chicago and landing in the evening to Colorado and then skiing the next day), but always very mild symptoms and it's a fraction of the height of this Summit. What to do except hope for the best! Really, I'm telling everyone (and myself) I'm ATTEMPTING to do the climb. If I make it, it will be amazing. If I don't, I still think the attempt and the experience will be amazing. I actually have never camped before, never slept in a tent, and never done hiking/trekking of this rigor, so it will be quite a challenge all the way around. So again, even if I don't make it to the top, it will be an accomplishment just to do those things. :-)

This is what I AM doing though:
-Training: I can comfortably say I have a decent baseline of fitness - since about May, I've consistently been running 3x/week (endurance), swimming 2-3x/week, doing pilates 1-2x/week, hot bikram yoga 1x/week and strength training 2x/week. I honestly don't have time for much else with a 50 hour work week. BUT conveniently and coincidentally, Ramadan started earlier this month and now I DO have more time to train. So oopsy, some training programs call for at least 3 months of preparation and training, Ellen's Kilimanjaro Training is just about going to be 4 weeks. Alas, in addition to the above, I added stair climbing to the mix. Besides Ramadan hours (working 20 hours less a week), I am especially grateful that Dubai is ALL about tall buildings. My friend lives in a building practically next door that has 80 floors, and yes, I've gone up and elevator 1/2 down, then up again, then same. Quite a good workout and my new camelback has come in handy for that! Again, almost by chance, a regular patient of mine went on an on about these intense spin classes. She had mentioned it before and I kinda brushed it off, but this one day she particular went on a tangent about it AND I had a recent conversation with 2 people that had climbed and said that spinning classes really helped. Sigh... here comes another addiction! So now I am going to FlyWheel Dubai 3x/week - it is 45 minutes of intense, and i mean INTENSE, like dripping with sweat like you just got of a shower and shaky legs afterwards, intense. I've had spin classes before, but this is at another level - it has this rating system that has you (if you want) compete with your other spin-mates, so that competitive twist makes it more challenging (today I almost almost won in the class. Darn "Anna" for taking the lead at the very end. Hmph). It also has REALLY high impact and fun music that has different music set to the workout - slow beats for climbs, fast rhythms for fast RPM's. Really, it's intense!!! Soooo..... although it is still a couple of weeks away, by just adding those 2 things (and some treadmill incline walking and running when I do run and some extra butt workouts), I am feeling fairly strong.

-Drugs: Okay, sounds funny, but I am all set with malaria medications (malarone), altitude sickness tablets (diamox), stomach illness medications, and antibiotics (I already have yellow fever). And.... again, back to the convenience of Dubai, except for the antibiotics, I got all of those things at Emirates Hospital. The malarone was a killer on the budget, 37 dh ($10 USD) PER tablet. Ouch!!!!, but obviously worth it. Oh, and another thing I got at Emirates Hospital is 100% deet. Then of course have the usual aspirin.

-Gear: Thanks to my friend Lal, he's "renting" me a backpack, head torch, thermal vest, and liner gloves. The only things I bought of necessity are hiking boots (obviously a must), a camelback, smartwool inner-wear liners, compression socks (which will come in handy for running later) and special hiking socks. I brought ski gloves, neck gator, my down jacket, a rain jacket, rain pants from home BUT am renting a bunch of stuff from out there (trekking poles, parka jacket and more rain gear, etc etc. They provide tents, etc). This is great because I don't want to spend money buying all this winter stuff when I live in a summery place and have all my winter stuff at home in storage. So I'm happy that is an option and can pack a little lighter :-)

I think that's about it for that!

FYI, here is my itinerary for this big o (expensive!) trip to Tanzania come August 2013:
4 days - Dar Es Saleem (visiting a couple of friends)
7 days - Kilimanjaro hike (Macheme route), including a night before and after in Arusha
7 days - Safari time! Serengeti (the great migration!), Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park!
3 days - Zanzibar! 2 days of scuba diving, a 1/2 day to visit Stone Town and the rest with some well-needed R&R on the beach.

So with some travel time, 3 weeks exactly!!

Soo... wish me luck! Don't know if I will do another update before I go, but I definitely will when I get back!!!

Summer #2 and 15th month update

Ah haa... so some time has passed. I realized my blogs have mostly been travel updates, so just wanted to tune in to My Life as an Expat being 15 months in.... almost hitting the 2 years mark. Wow! Where does the time go?

But 1st off, thanks to Ramadan (Ramadan Kareem everyone!), I now am working 20 hours less a week and I have to say it's soooooooooooo sooooooooooooooooooo nice. Not having to drink or eat during the day hasn't been that big of deal just knowing that I can see so much more daylight and have so many extra hours free. Niiiiiice! I really feel for people who are fasting because Ramadan this year falls smack in the middle of summer, and it must be really REALLY hard to not drink water ALL day in this heat. Respect to them. I don't know if it's because I'm more used to the heat, but this summer really doesn't seem too bad to be, it hasn't been as humid as before. BUT of course I can drink throughout the day (just hidden) so it makes it a wee bit easier.

So here are some updates:

Home life: REALLY loving my apartment! I REALLY hope they don't raise the rent next year. Eeek! It really feels like "home" to me. I'm keeping it basic and REALLY trying to not accrue too much extra stuff. I learned my lesson when I literally and figuratively broke my back cleaning up my old home to come out here. I don't want to make the same mistake! I live right in the downtown area and a majority of my friends live almost walking distance AND a lot of my activities are also close by. Really happy with it!!! Being so central is great and makes me even consider downtown life when I get back to Chicago :-)

Activity life: I will be going into more detail of this in my next blog (hehe), keeping fairly busy with sport and exercise. With most of my friends being from various sport groups I am involved in, it's easy to get more and more involved in different activities. Some days I am even doing 2 sports and really have to think about what I am doing each day. I enjoy it, feel in good shape, and it definitely keeps me busy.

Dubai life: Ahh.... the one word people sometimes describe Dubai is convenient. Not to say everything is easy, because it's not, but it is a convenient place to live. Just the other day my car battery died, and all it took was a phone call and next thing you know the battery people came to my work, changed it, and it was done! I didn't even skip a beat with work. I think it's easy for people to feel lazy too because they have delivery for everything, food of course, tools (Ace delivers here), pharmacy, you name it! Now that I look back, I feel my 1st year was so/so, not bad, not excellent, just... okay. Now I feel much more comfortable and adjusted and even considering prolonging my initial "2-3" years. Most everyone says that when they come, but really, this place kinds sucks you in. We'll see!!! As usual, things are always changing here, internally and externally (always construction!), so always new and interesting things popping up.

Expat life: Although yes, this has become a bit of "home" for me, I of COURSE totally miss my parents and family, my friends, and the city. Summer's are always hard because the summers in Chicago is aaaaahhh-mazing. I definitely go through moments when I feel REALLY homesick (more than when i was traveling)... even for silly stuff, but then life goes on and you become more and more adapted to this "new" life, which is now not seeming so "new."

Social life: It's been good! I don't have nearly as many friends as I did back home, but the friends I do have are good people and I'm happy to have them in my life. Although mostly British (there are a lot of Brits here), it's nice to add some diversity to the mix. Like me, they are not into clubbing and the high end stuff that Dubai is famous for, and are into the low-key gatherings. Such as this weekend we are going to the Spice Market (local nut shopping!) in the old part of Dubai and then Heritage Village for some local eats. And then the next night getting together for light food and drinks at this cool restaurant/Cafe with a group of people.

Work life: And this is where the mostly positive things come to an end. Wah wah. If anything has given me high blood pressure, it is this. It's too long of a story to explain here, but let's just say I am now "keeping my options open." Some things have been total crap, to put it nicely, and other things are "that is so Dubai," which is the negative side of Dubai life. It's definitely been a BIG BIG learning lesson for me, I've prematurely aged and now have more grey hairs, but still trying to just stay calm and positive. Thank gaaawwwwddddd that I looooove what I do, otherwise I would probably be home back in America. So that gets me through the day, at least I am independent with my work and have good relationships with my co-workers (well, most of them). I'm just now going through a particular unfair and unjust situation that I need all the positive support I can get... 'in shallah' I get through it... my poor heart! I know I'm being vague, but I'm sooo disheartened and upset about the whole thing, don't have energy to write it all out. All and all, as a colleague told me, things here in Dubai can be about lessons, and although it's not clear what this lesson is because I did nothing wrong but somehow got the short end of the stick, I'm sure one day it will come to me :-)

Travel life: Ah ha! You know I can't go too long without a travel plan! To be talked about in my next blog....

To be continued....

A little bit of PARADISE - Maldives!

Aahh... there are times in life when everything comes together.

As per my last post, there was ??? about going to Maldives after my parents had to cancel their trip here and Europe after everything was already paid for and booked. Well, to make a long story short, it basically worked out best for me to have a detox R&R for a few days out there. I still went although it is not known to be a trip for independent travels, but hey - that hasn't stopped me before!

What can I say? Maldives is really deserving of all the hype - isolated island, totally picturesque with the crystal clear waters and clean white sand, and just a calm and soothing place. I stayed at Velassaru, which I later found out was just rated as one of the top Small Luxury Hotel in the Maldives. Go me! The staff was amazingly friendly, helpful, and professional. They were all totally at your service. When I went scuba diving, I couldn't help feeling totally spoiled because unlike most dive trips when you have to lug all your equipment around, everything was all ready for me on the boat when I boarded and when it came time to dive, I literally sat there, lifted up my arms, they put on my BCD, I did the dive, they took it off and ... that was pretty much all the work I did except for the dive itself. Ha! No carrying all this equipment, no washing the equipment, no checking of the equipment - it was all done for us! Not too shabby :-)

The time went by quickly, 2 days I did diving, 1 day I did a massage, and the rest I read, relaxed, read some more, napped, caught up on stupid American TV, had some "deep thoughts about life" time (i.e. there may be some work changes soon!), and before I knew it, I was already back on the plane to Dubai. It truly was a magical (EXPENSIVE!) trip, but I am soo glad I went and it worked out that I could go. I of course was sad that my parents couldn't be there with me to enjoy it, but hopefully we can go another time. I would def go back!

So nothing describes it like a few pictures, so here goes:

Enough said :-)

Unpredictability (and bdays!)

It's that time of year.... MY BDAY! Just a couple of days ago on April 27th, and can't believe that a year has flown by. Last year I was still a "newbee" to Dubai and spent the weekend in Ras Al Khaimah (another Emirate) to see another Emirate and also just to have a little getaway. Now life in Dubai is more established and although still lots to learn, I'm definitely more settled and comfortable.

This year, after much debate, I decided to stay in Dubai. My bday fell on a Saturday and wanted to take advantage of the weekend and not travel too much (especially that I just took a continuing education course that took 2 weekends in a row and I just needed a full weekend!). 

Now comes my topic of Unpredictability.... a bit different than the "Changes" one I wrote about a little awhile ago (hmm... am I getting more philosophical? haha). A few things happened over the weekend that reminded me how unpredictable life can be and how to take things in stride.

1.  On Friday before my bday I was on skype with my parents and after a little catch up and a few happy bday singing to me, came "welll...... we have some bad news." Ugh oh. When parents say that, you know it's not good. Just like that my heart fell. Then came "we have to cancel our trip to Belgrade, Dubai, and Maldives (which was going to be a little belated bday present) in May." My heart fell a little more. To make a looooong loooooong story short, my dad's hospital had an unexpected emergency situation, some management and restructuring, and because my dad is on the board of the hospital and chairman, he basically was chosen to lead discussions on all these topics, deal with media, lawyers, etc. As this JUST happened and he is somewhat in charge, there is no way he can leave in the midst of a crisis. Although my heart fell with the news that they can't come, which I was really looking forward to their visit, it swelled up again knowing my dad is a true true leader and hero. The situation sounds like a true mess, but he is staying calm, staying positive, and trying to pull everyone together to get through this crisis. I am so proud of him! I can imagine how tough it is with all the pressure around and all the changes, but he is being proactive and again, leading by example - keeping spirits up and bringing "courage under fire" as they say. They are hoping when things settle a bit, they can come later this year or early next year. "In shallah" as they say here, translation "god willing," or "I hope so!"

2. Having my bday at the end of April and growing up in Chicago, I would say more than 1/2 my bdays have been rainy. But ah ha, NOW I am living in the desert where it hardly ever rains so I put that possibility wayyy behind me. For my bday I planned a "Beach Day" with some 15 or so of my friends, just to lounge around, catch up, go walking and swimming, just relax by the beach! The day before I did some grocery shopping and fortunately, bought healthy snacks that I would be happy to have as leftovers. So Saturday rolls around and I wake up and it is looking quite gloomy. I didn't think too much about it. Then I had to run a quick errand and I felt a few drops of rain. Hmmm??? Then a friend called me to ask me if the beach day was still going on considering the rain. Uh oh. I look up "hourly weather in Dubai" and see progressive 50% chance of rain... then 60% chance of rain... then 70% chance of rain right about the time that I was going to have people get together in the afternoon. Seriously????/ I've been in Dubai for a little more than 1.5 years and I literally can count on ONE hand how many times it has rained. Of ALL the days... my bday?! Okay, I quickly thought of a Plan B, to meet at a really nice Cafe (usually quiet and empty with good food) in my complex. So fortunately everyone still made it and we just had a nice get together and celebration. Sooo... it all worked out! It really poured that day and... I'm trying to think positive that it is a sign of good luck for the rest of the year :-) It's still odd to me to have a completely "new" group of friends because for the last decade I've been celebrating with more or less the same people from home (whom I miss!). Here's a snap of myself and my 2 co-workers, Caterina and Helen. 

3. So a friend that I  literally haven't seen in almost 6 months (for some reason, it's always impossible to get together, but we've been on contact over email, etc) popped in for my bday, which was super nice and a bit unexpected because she really wasn't sure if she could come by at all. So we were just chatting and she was talking about "desperately" needing a R&R vacation. My ears popped up, "what was that?" Soooo.... loong story short, and this isn't even confirmed yet, BUT as our trip to Maldives is paid for and booked, I HATED the idea to cancel it all (plus, this is the 3RD time I've been trying to get there, ugh), sooo..... cross your fingers that she decides to go and my Maldives dream will be fulfilled! Of course I'm sorry to not be there with my parents, and they were soooo nice about me still going, but it will always be there and hopefully we can go at another time :-)  Totally unpredictable that she not only stopped by at my bday gathering in the 1st place, BUT that she has the time off and $$ for it (that's the biggest hold back for people, it's uber expensivo). 

4. The last of the last... babies. All mom's are given an expected birth date, but it's completely unpredictable when he/she wants to enter the world. Well, my cousin Alex and his wife Amanda were expecting their baby to be born the 3rd week of May (forgot the date). Then on the 4/26 I hear that Amanda is on the way to the hospital... excitement grows that there will be 2 Pavlovic's born on April 27th! And lo and behold, I got the message after midnight (kept me up!) that baby Grace Elizabeth Pavlovic was born at 1:35 om on April 27th, after a good 30 hours of labor (wow!!!), 6 lbs and 6 oz and 18 inches. We are all soooooooooooooooooo excited!! I'm a "tetka" (auntie in Serbian)!!! Mom, dad, and baby are doing great. From Kansas (that's where they live) to Chicago (my parents) to Georgia (where my uncle and aunt live) to Nebraska (where my other cousin, his brother) to Vermont (my brother and fam) to Spain (my sister) and Dubai, Pavlovic celebrations are going on all over the world!!! Here's a picture (so cute! I had those puffy cheeks when I was born!):

Soo... there you have it, a few unexpected events, but life is unpredictable like that. Somehow things always work out!

Sandstorms

Growing up in Chicago, discussing the weather has taken up good hours and hours and hours of conversation. Especially wintertime. Even here in Dubai, I hear about crazy winter conditions and I reach out to friends from home. It has supplied endless hours of conversation for me.

Well, here in Dubai there is no such thing as a winter storm, BUT there ARE sandstorms. I have seen some here and there pass through, but nothing was like this past weekend when we had a MAJOR sandstorm. Before I go any further, I have to say sandstorms here are NOT like the Mission Impossible 3 with Tom Cruise, when you have this immediate and sudden mass of sand coming at you. Ooohhhh no (I've had to explain that far too many times). Usually it's a little cloudy and windy and life goes on. Well, this weekend not only did the sun disappear completely (hmph. Why was it the ONLY weekend I finally had time to R&R at the beach that this happened?), but it was extremely windy with sand blowing all over the place (even in places like my apt which is no where near the sand) AND it RAINED!!!! Because rain happens soo rarely here, this was quite exciting.

Just like those cold, bitter winter days when it is snowing and snowing and you just want to sit inside and cuddle in a blanket, have some tea, and veg out in front of the TV, here it was nearly the same. We are TOTALLY spoiled that it is sunny 90% of the time, so with NO sun out, it was fairly gloomy and nothing like a little hibernation for the weekend. I also have to say it's a bit dangerous to be outside because the fine sand is sooo fine that it's a hazard for the eyes and it literally gets all over the place (it can cause a lot of problems for cars too).

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but it would have shown a grey sky with like a couple hundred meter visibility. The Burj Kalifa was totally hidden, you could probably see only up to floor 25 out of 150 (or whatever it is) and the "skyline"  (the only reason I " " this is because being from Chicago, which has an AMAZING skyline, the one here is like 10% of ours) disappeared completely.

The GOOD news of all this is that 0234320432048392 years later, okay 4+ months, I FINALLY finished my photo book of Antarctica!!!! It has been quite a project and VERY time consuming, but I am proud of the end result and wanted to share: http://travellen007.shutterfly.com/pictures/8. There are also links to other photobooks I've made from my trip to Rwanda and Uganda and also my World Trip from a couple of years ago.

Sooo.... life in Dubai is NOT all about fun in the sun, it can be about no fun in the sand!

Happy April everyone!!