Gorillas in the Pouring Rain

Well, we've joined the tour. We had a day in Kampala, although that really wasn't all that exciting for me and mom as we had already spent a couple days there. Next day was a driving day to Lake Buyoni in Uganda. Next day a lovely boat ride across the lake where our driver and guide met us for the drive into Rwanda. Funny - our driver has spent three seasons skiing in Fernie, know a few of the same people. Anyways, possibly the bumpiest road I have ever been on until we got to the border and then - heaven - real roads. Rwanda is an absolutely beautiful country and it is so sad to think what took place here 13 years ago. We are staying in Ruhengeri in Northern Rwanda. Yesterday we went to visit a pygmie village. Although, they were barely shorter then your average person. They have a distinguishable facial structure and are extremely discriminated against. They are also the ones primarily responsible for gorilla poaching. It was a very eye opening experience. Interesting though - their chief is a woman. Elected by all adult members of the community running against a man from the community. Probably the first time I have seen a woman openly in charge of a community. We then went to visit the corrination site of the northern Rwandan kings and then to see how banana beer is made (doesn't taste great). I had a lazy afternoon while mom went and visited an orphanage.
Today was the big day. Off to Parc de volcanes Rwanda, one of the last refuges in the world for the mountain gorilla. Mom and I split off from the rest of the group, just to make numbers easier. We ended up with a Brit and an American who are on a tour. An American couple and their grand daughter (her graduation gift) and a Dutch woman. 8 people can visit each group each day, for one hour. We began our trek in. Definately interesting, and definately muddy. Lots of ducking down under branches and bamboo shoots and such. Fun though. We had to wait for a bit because the silver back of our group was having to deal with a lone male who was trying to take one of his females. So after an hour or so, we left our packs with the trackers and around the corner was 220kg of pure mountain gorilla. Our silver back is the oldest and largest of the entire park (8 family groups) and I have to say he did not disappoint. He was an impressive sight. He ever stood up and pounded his chest, although we all missed the photo op as it was quite startling. The group had 10 members (one of the smaller families) up until last night. The most recent baby passed away last night. It was interesting because they were quite docile I think partly because of the death as well as because of the rain. We ended up seeing only 4 of the family. The youngest female and 3 males. It was a pretty neat experience though, something I can't really even explain. The hour went by way too fast and then we had to trek through the mud some more. Pretty sure our guide was slightly lost on the way out, but we finally reached the rock wall at the edge of the park. It was a fantastic time and I can't wait to show you all the photos. Tomorrow we are heading into Kigali which should be quite an experience at the genocide memorial. Walking down the streets here though, you would never know of the terror that this place was in 1994. Anyways, Jim congrats on the amazing showing in Calgary, wish I could come cheer you on at the Pan Ams. I'm starting to get excited about coming home and showing everybody my pictures. Can't wait to see you all!

Seriously - 13.5 hours?

Hey, so we are now in Kampala after quite a day yesterday. We caught the bus at 7:00 in the morning. We were expecting a 10 hour drive. Well, apparently East African roads aren't up for that. We travelled 500 km in 13.5 hours. If you would like to do the calculations, we were travelling at an average speed of around 40 km an hour on a primary hiway. Are you kidding me? To say the least, at 8:30 that night I was a little short tempered. We arrived at our hostel around 9, got something to eat and then off to bed. Mom got her first glimpse into the world of overlanding - as there were two other overland trucks already there. I am excited becasue tomorrow is the end of us having to plan things. Somebody else will now be responsible for our travel arrangements and getting guides. Should be nice.
This morning we headed to the Kasubi Tombs which was actually quite interesting. A little history on the Buganda people and their kings. Anyways, it's raining right now, so it will probably be a pretty relaxed afternoon. Happy Father's Day Dad!!!!

PS Both pictures are from Nairobi.

Mom's here! and lots more

Hey everybody, sorry I haven't written in awhile, it's been busy. After hanging out in Arusha for a few days and being adopted by a group of American profs, Mom arrived last Sunday. So good to get to tell her about the trip so far in person, rather then email and blog. We just did some wandering, she was still getting adjusted to the African ways of doing things. We had an amazing dinner at our hotel (the Jacaranda). Ad, the chef, is amazing. We met a woman from Seattle that is working for the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation here. Her mom was visiting and they had just come back from the Gorilla trek in Rwanda, so they swapped some advice. Next day it was a geeky poli sci day as we trundled off the international tribunal for Rwanda. Very educational. And an interesting look into the field that I am starting in a couple months. Anyways, next day we were off on safari to the Ngorongoro. I was excited for mom to see this amazing place. We saw 4 of the Big 5 (missed the rhino), but it wasn't the best game viewing day. Although it was nice to finally have a guide who knew his stuff. We were then dropped off at what I would consider paradise. Gibb's Farm may be one of the most beautiful places on earth and any of you who can, should go. Quick reasons why it was so good - 1)the best outdoor shower on earth 2)the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen 3)amazing food - I even ate spinach 4)the very fresh food - everything comes from their farm 5)the wonderful staff and mom would add 6)the best coffee she had ever had. I will gush more when I talk to you all face to face.Yesterday (after two nights) we left Gibb's Farm sadly and headed for Nairobi. Horrific roads, horrible traffic and a very uneasy feeling sum up the trip to Nairobi. Once in Nairobi, a lost reservation made it for a bit of a frantic night. But we are safe and sound. And if you heard about a bombing that took place here on Monday, no sweat, we are safe and sound and far from that area of Nairobi. Today was a neat day out in the area called Karen (after Karen Blixen - from Out of Africa). We went to an elephant orphanage where they rehabilitate baby elephants to return to the wild. Very cool and definately worth the visit. Mom and I both enjoyed ourselves so much and learned a ton. Then we headed to the Karen Blixen museum, also good - I am starting to read Out of Africa. And finally to the Rothschild Giraffe center where we got to feed giraffes and I got kissed by one. Did you know Giraffes have prehensile tongues? it is crazy. So tonight is getting everything sorted for the long trip tomorrow. One more border to cross I guess. Although crossing these borders, you realise what a bonus it is to have a Canadian passport. Anyways, talk to you all soon.

I did it!!!

Hey everybody! So great news, two days ago at 5:53 am, I was standing on the top of Africa. Now for those of you who pay attention to dates, you may realise that was a day earlier than planned. When John and I arrived in Moshi, we found out that John had not booked the extra acclimatisation day that I had. We would start the trek together but split up after the second day. So that was going to be fine. Our first day went pretty well, up through the rainforest to the first set of huts at 2700m. We had some monkey's go a little crazt above our hut that night. Monkeys make a horrible racket when they are fighting. Anyways, second day was up through the Moorland which is kinda like what we would call alpine meadow. 6 hours and we reached Horombo Huts at 3720m. It was here that our guide Milton sat down with me to discuss summiting. He basically said that if I wasn't having any altitude issues, he thought that I could probably push on instead of waiting around at Horombo an extra day. Then if I had issues at the next huts, I would stay there an extra day. If not, I would summit a day early and come down with John. He said that he was 90% sure I would be able to make it on the earlier summit. But, weather permitting, I would make it no problem the next day. Well I took this all into account and decided that instead of being freezing cold waiting at Horombo, I would push on to Kibl. So, the next day was through a saddle and the true alpine desert. It was pretty similar to the moonscape on the Tongariro Crossing in New Zealand, although the weather was much more threatening. After reaching Kibo Huts (4700m), we were sent straight to bed, awoken for dinner and then sent back to bed. At 11 pm, we were woken up and we had some snacks, at midnight, we bundled up, put our head torches on and headed up for the summit. The first portion was all volcanic ash, scree slope. Absolutely miserable. Every second step you took, you would slide a little bit down the mountain. Luckly, we had great weather, cold and clear, with an almost full moon. At the mid point of the ash, you reach Hans Meyer Cave where we had a quick break, but I had to keep going cause my hands and feet were getting cold. So more ash, and then into the boulder field. Well I tell you, my legs have never been so tired. A couple times, Milton had to pull me up cause me legs were too short to make the big steps (again, the problem with hiking/climbing with tall men). I definately hit my breaking point in the boulders and was pretty close to saying I had had enough and wanted to turn around, but Milton and Ngowi (our assistant guide), kept pushing us. I had to stop for a quick break, and then maybe 15 steps later, we were at Gilman's Point, the entrance to the crater. I was so happy to see that sign. It was also our first glimpse of the actual summit point of Uhuru Peak. We had a quick cup of tea there. John and I were both starting to get headaches, so we each popped an IBprofune. John was feeling really good, I one the other hand wasn't feeling quite so good and didn't want to eat or drink anything cause it just made me feel worse. After a few minutes rest we headed on along the side of the crater past Stella's Point, where we past the first summiter of the day (he was coming from Machame route). We had a little break at Stella's and headed on. I started to feel quite unwell just past Stella's, luckly Ngowi held my hair back as I threw up on the snow. I tell you though, I don't think vomiting has ever felt so good. After that I was ready to go. Well, 15 minutes after throwing up, we came to the sign welcoming us to the highest point in African (5895m). Unfortunately at 5:53, it was still dark. We were just getting the orange line on the horizon. My coldness started to not matter though and we stuck around for a bit until the sun came up enough to take some photos. It was super cold, but I think I got some good photos of Andre (the monkey) and I at the 'Roof of Africa'. We were the second summiters of the day, the first from Marangu route. We then turned around and boot skied down a bit of the glacier, John had a big fall that made me laugh so hard I cried. Then we passed Jemma and Mike (to Brits) on their way up to the summit. We were on such a high still that it didn't matter that we were super tired or cold. It was absolutely amazing. Such a beautiful place. The hike down to Kibo was one of the most physically exhausting things I have ever had to do. Especially after being on such an emotional high. We had a nap and some soup at Kibo and then headed down to Horombo where we stayed the night and yesterday made the final descent to the Marangu park gates. It was a pretty exciting thing to do, but already it feels like forever ago, especially because today it is quite hot in Moshi. Anyways, I have a few days to hang out in Moshi and Arusha and then Mom arrives in 4 days. I can't wait to see her. OK, notes for different people. Katie - congrats again, I am so happy for you and Dustin and can't wait to see your handsome son in person. Thane - I need you to send me your address. Robin - I finally got your postal code, so there are some post cards on there way (at least I sent them from overseas, even if I have been hauling them around for a month). Dad - I was hoping to talk to you yesterday morning, but Tanzania's phone company doesn't always like calling Canada. I talked to Mom and hope she passed on my birthday wishes. I will try calling tomorrow, but if not Happy Birthday! Love you tons and make sure Robin gives you my card that I left with her. Uncle Norm - thanks for the Kili advice and encouraging words, I appreciate it so much and can't wait to show you the photos. OK, I think that's it everybody. Talk to you all soon!