Tanzania: A Tale of Two Craters

by Emily and CK

A week before the trip, I went to see the doctor to get prescriptions for two drugs. One was to prevent altitude sickness during our Kilimanjaro trek, the other was for preventing malaria during the safari.

At the end of the consultation the doctor could not withhold himself and asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Not expecting the question, I replied with the first answer which came into my mind.

"Just want to see the world."

Our trip last year to Switzerland left us hungry for more travels.

After checking Europe off the list, next up was Africa.

Excluding Mediterranean Africa (which was more Eurasian then African, both historically and culturally), and limiting to politically stable nations (which eliminated most of Africa), we were left with two candidate regions.

Either South Africa (and its neighbors) with its excellent tourism infrastructure, or the more pristine East African nations of Kenya and Tanzania.

In the end, the lure of Kilimanjaro proved stronger than that of the Cape of Good Hope.

Kilimanjaro is famous for three reasons:

1) It is the highest mountain in Africa,
2) It is the highest standalone mountain in the world,
3) Among the seven summits (the highest points of all seven continents), it is the only one which can be summitted without any mountaineering equipment. Trails lead to the peak, and anyone willing to keep walking can, in theory, reach the top.

That is the theory anyway. One out of every three trekkers fails to reach the Uhuru Peak at 5896m. The logistics challenges, like providing food and shelter for the eight-day trek, can be (partially) addressed by enlisting the help of guides and porters. However, we still had to make every step on our own. The cold, the dryness and the altitude does not make it any easier.

And yet, all these challenges simply make Kilimanjaro more alluring.

After climbing Kilimanjaro, the best way to reward the sore muscles would be a relaxing safari.

Long time fans of the Animal Planet, We all had seen pictures of the wildebeests crossing the river, and lions chasing zebras in the Ngorongoro Crater. It would be a dream to be there in real life. (Actually, the river crossing happens during the rain season, so it would be out of season for us. However, there are plenty of wildlife in Tanzania for all seasons.)

So here is our adventure of two craters: one almost 6km up, another 20km across.

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Created on 27th Sep 2006. Last updated on 8th Nov 2008.
ckchow.mbox@gmail.com