Kili, Kenya, Cathy, and Silver Back

Well, I am glad that the internet computers, and all other electricity, went out during my blogging 2 days ago. That is because yesterday was absolutely amazing. And, painful.

But, first, Kili. Well, I certainly got exactly what I bargained for. I was expecting one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I got that and more. The 6 day hike began with our "team", which consisted of our porters/cooks/servers, 3 to a climber, and then Wilson, our guide. Our porters put our packs, their packs, the food, water, tables, chairs, and I'm sure a sink somewhere in there as well, right up onto their heads and/or upper backs and literally ran up the hill. We were paced by Wilson, to help our acclimatization. Wilson is a 60-year old, senior guide, who has been climbing Kili for over 18 years. He claims we were his 902nd group he has taken up the mountain. As, he was huffing and puffing just minutes into our walking, we had our doubts. All of us actually looked at each other and asked if he was going to make it up the mountain. He did. We camped at proper camp sites, in tents, and were fed "gourmet" meals of chicken curry, fresh fruits (esp. mangoes...), porridge, tea, coffee, etc. etc. Quite a bit above what I was expecting. There were hard days and then there were harder days, but with Wilson pacing us, I felt pretty fresh at the end of every day. Mark and Tracy were the other two people in my group, and they experienced headaches and a bit of nausea and appetite loss; signs of altitude sickness. Thankfully, they were only mild. We arrived at the last camp and prepared for our summit push, which would start at about 11:00 PM to allow for a sunrise on the summit. Well, we did exactly that, but were immediately caught in a major blizzard. January is summer and "the best time to climb Kili". We found about 80+ mph winds and major snow. We battled for about 4-5 hours, but due to the extremes, we had to turn around or we would have come back with fewer appendages. I had minor frostbite on my fingers, basically just really rough skin, that has since flaked off. We got back to camp at around 6 or 7 and fell into our tents. We woke up at about 09:00 to crystal blue skies and sun. I asked what the chances of getting Wilson to try it and he agreed pretty easily. Mark was spent, so he declined, but Tracy decided to give it a go. We all set off. Mind you camp was about 15,000 feet, higher than anything in North America. We plodded up the slopes at Wilson's pace. Around16,500 or so was the level where I started to really feel the altitude. By 18,000' I was literally using accessory muscles, gasping as deeply as if I had just popped out of a pool in which I had held my breath for 2 minutes... every 5-10 steps. We made it to Stella's Point, the second highest peak on Kili, just 300' feet or so below the true peak. We took pictures and got congrats from every one there. But, Tracy started to vomit horribly and she definitely had to get down. I waffled about going the extra 45 minutes to the peak, but decided knowing I could make it was enough. We all went down as quickly as we could manage. Tracy stopped vomiting the next day, and in all, it was one of the best things I have ever done, and certainly the most physically demanding. Knowing what high altitude does to me, I have my doubts about Everest... 19,000'+ will be enough for me.

As for Cathy and Kenya, I am sure you guys know that there is still violence happening. I have not been able to get in touch with Cathy or her family for some the past couple of weeks. I will obviously continue to try for updates. Prayers will suffice for now.

And now on to Silverback and my tour. I have started my overlanding tour, which is basically a huge 4x4 trucks specially outfitted to carry a bunch of people to all the sights of Africa. Mark and Tracy are still here, as well as another 12-13 people from Canada, NYC, Britain, Japan, Cyprus/Turkey. Others will join in a few weeks. Our first stop, after our starting point re-routing from Kenya to Uganda, was Jinja. Jinja is Uganda's adventure sports mecca, and it is well-deserved. Here is the beginning of the Nile. Here is major white-water rafting. Oh yeah!
Grade 6 is the most extreme and can only be done non-commercially. Grade 5 is over-the-top nuts, done to Grade 1 which is like the log ride at an amusement park. In a raft of 6, plus our river guide, and numerous kayak rescuers, we set out for a full day of rafting the White Nile. We hit a couple of Grade 2 and 3's and we were primed, excited and fully oblivious to what awaited. The first two 5's were awesome, huge crests, whirlpools, and crazy speed. Super-thrilling. Then came SilverBack. Each graded rapid gets a name, and this one was appropriate. There were 4 consecutive parts to this section, each crazy by itself. We made it upright in our boat through the first 0.3 seconds of the first wave before being shot out of our boat as it flipped crazily. I was sucked under the water for what felt like about 15 seconds, though I was told beforehand, that the max recorded time ever was only 12 seconds. While underwater, I met that big hairy gorilla's fist about 20 times, being spun end over end and then around and around, being sucked this way then that, all in pitch blackness with no end in sight. Then, just as they said, I was shot out of the water. I gasped for a breath and was met with the next wave. After asking what I did in life to deserve all of this, I then realized my kayak safety guy was there to save me. He pulled me to the waters edge, where it was calm and I slowly recovered my breath. It was then that I noticed I couldn't hear very well. When I banged my head to the side, water came from my nose. As I thought that peculiar, I tried the other side. Normally if I have a problem that is symmetrically bad on both sides, I feel better thinking that, as a set, it must have been there all along. But, with river Nile exiting my nose, I concluded that this was bad. After SilverBack we had an easy 6 km on the water to eat lunch and relax with no rapids. My right ear cleared mostly, but my left ear still had a bit of residual muffled-ness. So, I carried on with a couple more 4's and one last 5, in which of course, we flew into the water again. It was on this one that I got smacked by the boat across my nose. I only am scrapped a little, nothing big. At that point it started to hurt, so I abandoned the last Grade 5 and walked to the truck. Today, there is no more nasal-Nile thing going on, but I am still muffled in my left ear. I think it is going to heal fine after a few days, and this is what all of the professional rafters said. Something like severe swimmer's ear. Anyway, all of the rafting was videoed by a professional on the shore, and we got to watch it last night at the camp. It is absolutely nuts, the water we went through. It is absolutely one of the most fun things I have ever done. Added cool factor, is the fact that NO ONE will ever get to do it again after this season, as they are damning this section of the river for power. So, I am banged up, but smiling from ear to ear! We move on from here to Rwanda to meet a real Silver Back. I am really hoping this one treats me better than the first. We will also get to see the genocide museum, which I am really looking forward to...

Finally, though a bit vulgar, something that we laughed so hard at...

Our river guide would tell us and prep us before each wave, telling us what to expect and what to do, like "I will need you to paddle really hard to get to the wave" "the wave will take us this way" and "I want you to lean to this side of the boat" then "I will scream 'HOLD ON'" etc. etc. David, one of the brothers from NYC, said for SilverBack, the only orders should have been "paddle hard towards the wave, then stand up turn around bend over and grab you ankles..."