Tag Archives: Adventure

A Hike through the Rice Paddies of Moshi

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Author’s note: This post is part of a series on my recent trip and climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, to read all posts click here. 

I rose Saturday morning feeling surprisingly refreshed despite the weary night sleep. Our hotel room was on the first floor next to some loud female cats in heat and finally around three am I had to shut the window to get rid of the noise and awful stink. I fell in and out of a fitful, jet lagged sleep for the next several hours lying like a princess under my white canopy bed net.

The sounds of Africa woke me up as the neighboring community outside our hotel compound walls arose. Cars honking, kids playing, birds singing and motorbikes buzzing. All the sounds of life told me that it was time to get out of bed.

Springlands hotel Moshi

Workers unloading the daily supplies of fresh produce for the Springlands hotel.

We had nothing planned that day except our gear check and meeting on the details of our hike. I knew I couldn’t spend another entire day behind the walls of our hotel. I needed to get out and explore. I spoke with the friendly hotel staff and planned two outings for the day. A visit to a nearby orphanage supported by the charity of the hotel and a tour of the rice paddy fields outside the hotel.

For the rice paddies, I hired a local guide named Kebello and set off on a land tour through the rice paddies behind the hotel and into the rich, thicket forest harboring three different kinds of monkeys. Before I laced up my shoes, I knew it was going to be an adventure.

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The first day: Arrival in Moshi

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Author’s note: This post is part of a series on my recent trip and climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, to read all posts click here. 

I began my long journey to Africa on a special day – July 8th, 2015 – my 15-year wedding anniversary. No wise wife purposely chooses to plan a two-week trip sans kids and husband on their wedding anniversary. But I had no choice. It would take me almost 24 hours to get to Tanzania and I needed to arrive in time to get over jet lag and prepare for the big climb of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Tearfully I said goodbye to my children and husband, feeling that bittersweet emotion mixed between excitement and guilt that I always feel when leaving my family to fly half way around the world. No matter how many times I’ve done it, it never is easy and I’m always a nervous, anxiety-ridden wreck before I leave on a big trip. Perhaps it is the micro-manager in me that always feels a sense of deep anxiety with leaving my organized, scheduled family life behind. Yet my bags were packed albeit five minutes before the taxi showed up outside my door, the meals were prepared and awaiting frozen inside the depths of the freezer and the endless pages of typed out notes with schedules, idiosyncrasies and miscellaneous tidbits on the daily care of the kids were left out in two copies for each one of my babysitters. I took deep breath, let out a sigh of relief and boarded the plane. A glass of wine was in order followed by another one as I settled into my seat.

There is something grand about traveling overseas, across continents and oceans. A deep, grateful wisp of anticipation, excitement and adventure always sets deep within my veins. Fortunately I have traveled all of my life and instead of diminishing, my love of wanderlust never seems to fade. Instead, it grows stronger like a huge oak tree firmly rooted into the ground and expanding upon each bit of sunlight and drop of rain.

Sunset over Africa

Every time I get in the air, I turn on the flight tracker and watch in amazement the places we pass, soaring through the sky to the next adventure. This time it would be Tanzania, not a new continent for me but a new place. The first stop was in Amsterdam where I would had a couple of hours layover before boarding my next nine-hour flight directly to Kilimanjaro International Airport, located about an hour’s drive from Moshi where I’d be staying for the next couple of days. Continue reading →

Close Up in the Clouds of Kilimanjaro

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It is better to have your head in the clouds, and know where you are… than to breathe the clearer atmosphere below them, and think that you are in paradise. – Henry David Thoreau

The one thing I will always remember about living on Mount Kilimanjaro for seven days and nights is the clouds. Every night at sunset I took my mug of hot cocoa out to a suitable rock and watched the changing clouds up close. I felt they were calling me in some strange way. Connecting me to nature and to myself.

Although I’ve done a lot of hiking over the years, I have never spent an entire week living on one single mountain. It was a rather surreal experience. Every camp site we stayed at was at an angle reminding me of what we had climbed up thus far and what remained. Every night sleeping in the tent, I’d put my boots at the end of my sleeping bag to keep my body from sliding down.

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On top of Mount Kilimanjaro

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I did it! I made it all the way up to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro during seven grueling days and nights climbing, sleeping and living on this majestic mountain. The experience was surreal. I have so many stories to share about this amazing journey and the friends I met along the way. But for now I need to get home and rest.

I will leave you with this short video of our second night on Kilimanjaro, a view of sunset from outside my tent. It felt like we were floating high above the earth and clouds. If there is a heaven, I believe I saw it.

Stay tuned….

Author’s note: This post is part of a series on my recent trip and climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, to read all posts click here. 

Leaving the Andes

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Saying goodbye to a trip is always hard. Over four months later I am still writing about Bolivia and today is the very last post. Life has been so busy that it all feels sometimes like a blur. That is what has been so rewarding about having this blog. It has been a way to remember special moments in time and relive that experience through pictures and words.

As we left the Condoriri Valley after two wonderful successful hikes, I felt a sense of pride. I made it and wasn’t so sure I would given a hip injury that had kept me from running. But I did make it and I felt great, physically and mentally. Even more important is I made it with my dad.

Packing up our gear

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Morning has broken in Condoriri Valley

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“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty”. – Winston Churchill

Sleeping in a tent at 15,500 feet is not for everyone. In fact, after the first night I had the unfortunate realization that it was not for me. After a restless, freezing cold, tossing and turning night of sleep I rose to the sound of a barking farm dog feeling completely exhausted. How on earth was I going to make the first big hike? I felt like hell.

It quickly dawned on me why we were the only ones stupid enough to be at the campsite. Instead of the usual 100 tents or so during high season, there were only three and they all belonged to us.  Sleeping with rough winds, thunder and a deep burning freeze of 15 degrees farenheit on frozen solid ground was not my ideal way of spending my vacation. Apparently the others who were not there figured that out way before us.

But again, every negative has its positive. We had the entire, beautifully serene place to ourselves. And perhaps it was worth the temperamental weather. Obviously camping and hiking with hordes of people was no where near as special and amazing as being completely, utterly alone.

The first night, I did learn a few important things about sleeping so suddenly at altitude. First of all, you simply don’t sleep on the first night. It is impossible. Your body tosses and turns and you wake up a million times throughout the night while you struggle to acclimatize to the lower amounts of oxygen. At one point, my heart was beating so fast I was scared. But then I remembered the test for altitude sickness. Nausea, severe headache, dizziness and an inability to sleep. I had only one symptom but my worry about getting altitude sickness when I was hours on foot away from civilization unfortunately kept me up more.

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Base Camp: Condoriri Valley

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“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open”. – Jawaharlal Nehru

Author’s note: This is a continuation of my post The Drive to Condoriri Valley. To read post click on link. 

We had reached our first test of adventure getting to the base camp at Condoriri Valley when we arrived at a collapsed bridge. Heavy rains that are common during the early summer season of November had washed it away and Javier, our guide, informed us that in rural Bolivia, infrastructure like roads and bridges are the responsibility of the village. Therefore, everyone in the neighboring community was required to spend the day repairing the bridge.  No one in the community was excluded from helping out, even the women and children had a role.

Thankfully we had a land rover that enabled us to drive off road otherwise we would have been stuck. The bridge is essential for the community as is the gravel road that is a five-hour walk from the base of Condoriri Valley to the main highway. For those without cars, it is a long commute to civilization either on foot or bicycle. I learned that rural Bolivians are hardy people.

As we drove further and further away from the main road, the dramatic scenery became even more breathtaking. We passed traditional rural homes made of mud bricks layered tightly one on top of the other, covered with thatched roofs, and the brownish-green rolling hills of the glacier moraine that rest below the mighty Andes.

Back on the gravel road headed toward Base Camp

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Getting to Bolivia

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When I checked in my bags at the airport on November 25th, I let out a huge sigh of relief. Unless the plane broke, I was going. It seemed like some kind of minor miracle after all we’ve been through trying to plan this crazy one-week trip.

A year ago, our trip was booked and planned. We had our plane tickets, hotel reservations and trek booked for October however our trip had to be placed on hold indefinitely while my dad battled cancer. Fast forward a year later, he thankfully recovered and got himself back into tip, top shape. We rebooked our trip and were overjoyed that it was finally going to happen.

Then came the issue with my passport.

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On Top of the World at Nepal’s Thorung-La

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I will never forget the moment I was on top of the world. I was trekking around the Annapurna through the world’s largest pass – Thorung La. We rose in darkness and anticipation of our two-hour ascent up to the highest point of our Himalayan hike, the pass at Thorung La at an intimidating 17,769 feet (5,416 m). 

We had spent a sleepless freezing cold night at Thorung Base Camp to acclimatize before our morning ascent. I remember being so utterly cold during the night in our barren, unheated room that I emptied every single item of dirty clothing out of my pack and slept in everything I had along with three wool blankets. Unfortunately I was still frozen to the bone and could hardly sleep that night due to the high altitude and apprehension about the next day.

Would I be ok? Would I get altitude sickness? Would I make it to the top? These were all the worries and concerns that were racing through my restless mind and keeping me up in the middle of the cold, dark night.

Our last day-long hike up to the top of Thorung La Pass in Nepal.

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“Race Me To The Pole” Expedition: One Man’s Journey to the North Pole for Charity

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Sometimes you get one of those emails in your inbox that make you smile and burst with enthusiasm. Last week, I received just that kind of exciting email from a woman named Hannah who reads my blog, and asked if I would be interested in sharing her friend Gavin’s story. Without hesitation, I instantly agreed as Gavin’s adventure to the North Pole rates right up there with the kind of amazing travel and giving back philosophy that prompted me to start blogging in the first place.

I asked Hannah to put together a brief write-up and send me more details on Gavin’s trip which I edited below. I can already tell that this is going to be an amazing journey that I’m betting some of you will love to follow along. I know I will be!

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The curious things I found in Honduras

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I’ve only been in Honduras for three days now yet I’ve already managed to see a lot of surprises especially since I’ve come to the mainland. I will write more about my trip later however in case you are curious to see the curious things I found to date in Honduras, here you go….

First stop, the lovely tropical island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras which is more like the Caribbean than Central America.

My new friends include….

A scarlet macaw, the national bird of Honduras.

And my favorite new pal, a white-faced monkey who was enamored with the smell of my hair. He was so fluffy that he reminded me of one of my children’s stuffed animals.

And although this picture is ridiculous, I had to include it as it makes me laugh. You will also notice that all the photos are a wee bit foggy. That is because it was so insanely humid that my lens fogged up!

Next stop is the mainland. Yesterday I took the hour and a half ferry ride to La Ceiba and was probably the only foreigner on the entire ferry. Nothing at all like touristy Roatan! I met my lovely host family who has graciously welcomed me into their home and slept in the torrential rains. Little did I know it is rainy season here in Honduras thus very hot, humid and wet. As a Minnesotan in the heart of winter, I am literally roasting here but that is half the fun.

Today, I witnessed another novelty. We went to a restaurant on the beach a little bit outside of town and here was my view….

The cows on the beach.

Apparently they roam the beach every afternoon! This is my favorite picture of all. The cows go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah.

So far it has been an extremely fascinating experience. Honduras is very different than what I expected yet I have to remember that I’ve only been on the mainland for 24 hours. Tomorrow I start my volunteer work at a local orphanage and continue with my spanish classes. I forgot how hard it is to be completely immersed in another language, especially one that I don’t know very well. I continually slip in my french for some reason but I’m slowly picking it up. Should be an interesting week!

“Hasta luego!”

Hola Honduras!

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Hola! I made it to Honduras! After a brutal 3 am wake up for a 5 am flight, I finally made it to paradise early this afternoon. I had no idea what to expect of Roatan, one of the popular, touristy Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. But wow I’m surprised. It is absolutely beautiful and nothing like I imagined. In fact, it is hard to believe I’m even in Central America. It has a very Caribbean feel with loads of tourists to boot. I have read that the Bay Islands, which host the second largest barrier reef in the world, are nothing like mainland Honduras. The dichotomy between reality and fantasy is going to be very interesting.
Tomorrow I’m taking the ferry over to the mainland where I will begin my volunteer work in La Ceiba, a port town. I’m sure it will be interesting.

In the meantime, here are a few photos from the sunset in Roatan. I took many more which I will share later but wanted to let you know that everything is great!