When I woke up on Day 4, at Barranco camp (3,900m), I was feeling much better than the previous day but not 100%. I had to however suck it in because this morning's hike was going to be challenging, as we were practically rock climbing a wall. This was also the day where the group was splitting. Those who were completing the hike in 6 days had a 7 hour hike to base camp today, whereas we were hiking 4 hours ...

Day 3 was no fun! This was the acclimatization day, where we were hiking to the Lava Tower at 4, 590m to then sleep at Barranco camp at 3,900m. The purpose of this day was to acclimatize to the altitude, considering that you can begin to feel altitude sickness at 4,000m. What began as a good hike quickly shifted to a very demanding one. That morning, we woke up as any other morning. It was a beautiful morni ...

I woke up on Dec 22nd freezing! It was only once I woke up that I realized that I only closed the screen of my tent when I woke up to go to the bathroom that night. Since we were encouraged to drink between 3-4L of water per day, frequent bathroom calls were inevitable, at any given time of the day. We woke up at 7:30am that morning, packed our sleeping bag, mattress and duffel bags before heading to the ma ...

When Dec 21st arrived, I was definitely nervous. I will never forget this date because it was the day the hike started. By that morning, I met a few people who had hiked Kilimanjaro and made it up. But I was nevertheless nervous to begin my 7-day Kilimanjaro hike. The mini-bus arrived around 8:30-9am to pick us up at the hotel. We loaded the bus, hopped on and we were ready to go. On the bus, it just so hap ...

To follow-up with my last post The Maasai, a Tribe in Tanzania, below are some Maasai dancing videos. Enjoy! Below is a clip of the Maasai men jumping, a fundamental part of the traditional dance. You'll quickly notice that sounds being made. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPKIXL7pgeQ] This second clip shows the Maasai dancing, and of course, I joined them! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m ...

On my third day in Moshi, the base for the Kilimanjaro hike, I decided to visit a Maasai Boma to better understand one of the largest ethnic groups in Tanzania. I was on this tour by myself with a guide so it was perfect. It felt less like a tourist trap and I had some quality time with the tribe, with my guide being the translator. The Maasai are a very distinctive semi-nomadic, patriarchal tribe in Tanzan ...

What an adventurous day I had yesterday! The day began at 11am when I met my friend Marie. We had a quick bite to eat and walked to the main road. From there, we hopped on a minibus full of locals and got off at Kinyasini town to then hop on a dala dala to head to Pwani Mchangani beach. The dala was completely packed so we sat on the floor. It was quite an experience being on it with full of locals. I wante ...

This is my third day in Zanzibar and so far so good. My flight from Kilimanjaro actually left earlier than expected on the 2nd so I was at the beach by 3pm that day. No complaints! I met Marie on the beach that day. An Irish girl who works in Nairobi. Her friend recently left so she's flying solo for a few days. I'm really glad a met her because she's the only person I met who's traveling alone and friendly ...

Jambo everyone! I can't believe two weeks have passed. I'm having an awesome time in East Africa, specifically Tanzania. The Mount Kilimanjaro hike was really difficult (especially summit night) but the experience on the mountain was fantastic, regardless of the altitude sickness on day 3 and frostbite incident on summit night. I'll go into more details about my adventure on the mountain when I get more tim ...

Today is my third day in Moshi. I spent the morning with the Maasai tribe. When I got there, they took me by the hand, brought me into their very small home and dressed me up like them. Then I met various members of the family and danced with them. It was the funniest thing ever! And lots of fun! The family was extremely nice and smiling. I don't know how they can live the way they do but they probably don' ...