Sacrificing Cheetahs for a migration

There was some misunderstanding at the start of the day. We declared that we had not yet
seen a cheetah so that would be outstanding if possible, before heading up to the Mara river
to see a possible wildebeest migration. Our guide took that to mean we would be content if
we saw a cheetah. In the end we did get the first part of the equation correct.
405,418

.

.

Thereafter when it became evident that we were not heading north the day was spent reflecting on
the fortunate sightings we did have. can't fume about what-if's forever. There's always next
trip!

Serengeti Dreaming - Is another dusty, long, uncomfortable safari worth it?

After the mountain we spent a couple days relaxing in Moshi and Arusha, very necessary steps
considering the bronchitis diagnosis that we got from the clinic. So rest was paramount.
In the end, considering all this again in a once-in-a-lifetime context, we figured the
Serengeti was more than worth a run through. The part we missed is that with the slightly
abridged version of the route we would have a long day of travel up to Serengeti National park,
not all that deflating until you get on the roads and realize they are even worse than expected.
The tracks inside the parks were better than the roads to get there so after 8 long hours
and some obligatory feeding stops we did an afternoon game drive at the northern section of
the park. Lobo lodge here is idyllic in terms of its location, hidden amongst the rocks and
its lack of fences. So giraffes, buffalo, everything was at your doorstep which we were
used to by now...

.

.

Dusty and unruly

got settled in at the lodge for another of those pleasant sunsets in the middle of nowhere

Done and Dusted

We pretty much raced down the hill in the morning through all the mud and there was lots of it. Did the early bird catches the worm race so we were in the first lot down at the office at the base of the trail. That was good because it got us our certificates and everything needed so that we could take our leave quickly and head off for a shower to get rid of a week's worth of grime and punishment.
All smiles in the end though so it was worth it to do it at least once. Only real advice is to just do some proper hiking beforehand (we couldn't given our travels) and do your best to summit at night. That way you can avoid that debilitating feeling of knowing you're not there yet when you look up.

Building Rome in a day

Widely accepted knowledge suggests that you rest for a bit and have some grub before continuing down. But as we plopped down in our tents for a brief, J started having some breathing problems. The incessant coughing that had been a fixture of this week we had originally attributed to the dust during all those safaris. Now it was getting worse and the hacking was producing liquids now.

Tired and irritable we now had to make our way back down to 3000m without any rest. In all it was about a 17 hour day when we finally made it to camp. Can do anything if you put your mind to it no?
Exhausted and deflated at least Jeanna's coughing had improved if that's the right word. At least there was no liquid accompanying it here at the lower elevations.
Still though it made for another sleepless night sucking on lemons in the cold and hoping for the best.

I'm glad it's dark...

Not too happy about the cold though. Set off at the bewitching hour to make our ascent. Loaded with ginger tea and salts and water this could easy be a short 4 hour stint or a much longer 6-7 hour numb wandering. It happened to be the latter. That mini fitness we thought we had achieved was put to rest by the harsh reality that we really hadn't done any hiking of note in the past 6 months so this is the price you pay for preparation.
No one was going much faster because only a couple people went past but small consolation when you can't breathe and can barely move.
Full credit to Baltazaar for keeping us in a rhythm so that in the end we finally got to the crater, albeit in a daze, so that we could see the summit and make a final break for it on mental strength alone.

.

.

.

.

That was the easy part. Our guides decided to lead us down in leaps and bounds down the loose gravel slope because...well why not. That meant quite the opposite of the slow easy paced ascent. By the time we got to camp it was time for a well deserved rest...or so we thought.

Tortoise or the Hare

So in two hours we were at camp already feeling pretty good about ourselves and thinking that the past few days got us into temporary enough shape that we could do this easily. At about this time it's still early in the morning and the set of people that hiked the summit last night are beginning to descend...it is not a pretty sight.
From the catatonic to the unintelligible everyone looks ragged and worn out and dehydrated. Everyone. This one girl, poor thing, didn't know where she was, clothes falling off, dragging her feet half dead to the world as she was carried down.

So in the spirit of positive thinking we tell ourselves that there were many others who had already made it up and down so we were only witnessing the unfortunate stragglers. Whatever personal pep talk works well enough for me at this stage. J is cold and complaining that she can't wait to get off this mountain to be warm again. Almost there.

It really doesn't look any clsoer

Trick of light and shadows means the summit doesn't really look all that inviting from this side of the morning. Hoping that once we round our way past this section the slope looks more like a steep hike and less like a technical climb.

.

.