Now that I've been back at work for 5 months, I'm reminiscing on my 3-week trip to Tanzania last December/January. My second solo backpacking trip, first one in Africa, was a complete success! The greatest achievement of all was reaching the Kilimanjaro summit, fourth of the top seven summits in the world. It was tough but I accomplished it. It was a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget, but ha ...

Unlike the other days, Day 6 or Dec 26th 2010 began at midnight. At midnight, our guides came to see us and we had to get moving quickly. With nothing but headlamps and the moon shining, we began a 6-7 hours ascent to Uhuru peak. It was steep, dark and cold. All we saw were the rocks in front of us and the reflection of other headlamps on the trail. It was nice, I have to admit. The toughest part was to rea ...

Day 5, or Dec 25th 2010 was the big day! While most of you were eating abundantly, I was about to lose every ounce of body fat. By day 5, I had suffered from altitude sickness, loss of appetite and the regular unwanted bathroom calls, which all led to some weight loss. I tried to eat as much as I could, a mix of cooked food and energy bars. I had to make sure to have enough energy for summit night. The nigh ...

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 ...

If you ask me if I'm scared of the Kilimanjaro climb, my answer is no. Sleeping in a tent for 6 nights, no available bathrooms on the mountain, hiking every day for 7 days or being exposed to the cold  doesn't bother me. I know I can deal with the uncomfort I may be facing. But if you wonder what my biggest fear is. Here it goes: I'm worried about experiencing altitude sickness once I reach a certain altitu ...

Today is a special day! After two weeks of pure procrastination, I booked my flight! I began searching for flights a few weeks back and found one itinerary that I liked for a good price. Now, good price when flying Montreal-Kilimanjaro doesn't mean exactly cheap but let's just say it was the most affordable option. I've never really been a procrastinator when it comes to booking travel until it was time to ...

Now when it comes to deciding your backpacking route it can be a little difficult. Well that’s if you have long list of places to see, like me. I have cut down that list to consider a few things before now choosing where to go next. I find with our climate changing consistently you especially need to be aware of what destinations will disappear sooner than others. I am for real about this, check out these a ...