White Powder Sand and Pale Blue Waters

I've been in Zanzibar for 4 days now.  The first 2 nights were spent in Stone Town bumming around.  Stone Town in OK: Some cool shops, some good eats... the night market has great food.  Watching the local boys jump into the ocean form the quay wall was amusing.  But it is very built up, in poor condition overall and, a city.  It was not why I came to Zanzibar.  OK, let's be honest: I didn't really kow why I wanted to see Zanzibar.  It's been somewhere I decided long ago I should visit.  So I arrived with no real plans.  Well after 2 days in town I headed across to paje.  It's on the SE coast of the main island.  The beaches are made up of an incredibly fine white powder.  The tide moves in and out hundreds of yards in an hour.  The water is bathtub warm.  It is the typical tropical paradise I suppose, a wonderful place to just kick it.

I managed to get a bit sunburned today.  I wore sunscreen but was out longer than planned.  Wandering around at low tide.  The sand is teeming with critters.  Far off in the distance waves crash against the reef.  Closer to shore boats sit marooned, women collect seaweed from gardens, kid play.  And while there is at least foot of water the kite boarders struggle to learn their new hobby.  The combination of warm shallow waters and a fair wind make this quite the place to learn kite boarding.  I thought about giving it a whirl but decided that can come with my next trip. 

The sand here is different than anyplace I have been.  There are shells everywhere an occasionally coral mixed in.  So it may be generally soft but yu do need to use some caution, especially around the sea urchins.  I am used to seeing them on rocks but here they are randomly strewn across the sandy bottom.  The other curious hazard was the baby sea snake I saw... just a few feet from my ankles.  And twice as I wandered about something large squiggled under my foot and as I stepped away quickly vanished.  I've no idea what it was.  It did feel pretty funny though.               

Tomorrow afternoon I'll need to head back to Stone Town to catch y flight the following day.  I'll be coming back hee though.  I need to see the national forest, go skin diving and possibly learn to kite board.  Zanzibar is a pretty cool place.

My Letter to the Uganda Wildlife Authority

Hello,

I wanted to provide you some direct feedback on my recent climb in the Rwenzori Mountains.  I am copying my outfitter as well, in case this is not the correct e-mail address to submit concerns to.

I climbed Margherita Peak on 10 Jan with Rwenzori Trekking Services.  Our two lead guides on summit day were Enoc and Robert.  If I recall correctly we were the 3rd of five groups to arrive at the second glacier, the steep one.  Our guides were world class professionals.  They knew what they were doing and were vary safe.  I have experience on both glacier climbs as well as winter mountaineering so I am not a novice to the alpine environment.

The reason I have chosen to contact you has to do with the other trekking services on the peak that day.  I don"t know specifically who they were except that they were not from RTS.  My first complaint was not a safety issue but speaks to the lack of professionalism I observed from the other services.  While waiting on our guides to place fixed ropes the next group arrived.  Their lead guide kept looking all about at both us as well as his own clients.  Being that we arrived in the dark and all were wearing headlamps this guide was blinding us each time he looked in our direction.  Headlamp discipline is a basic hiking skill, and this fellow lacked it completely.  By this point several groups were waiting to scale the glacier.  One of the earlier groups had a panicked client and were not handling it well.  We ended up being delayed nearly an hour while the situation was resolved.  Once our guides had a fixed rope in place we began up.  At this point several groups were all waiting to scale the glacier.  As I am sure you are aware climbing this glacier in the dry season creates something of a bottle neck where groups can access the glacier safley.  One of the guides from another service stepped between myself and the other 2 climbers I was to be roped with and began faking out his rope.  I mentioned that I was going to have to step around him and he ignored me.  This is significant because I was wearing crampons on bare rock which is precarious enough.  Additionally they seemed unconcerned who they leapfrogged or how so long as they were on the glacier.  A woman in our first climbing party (we were broken into 2 groups for this glacier) was just starting up and nervous, when a guide from a different service, began changing up her belay rope.  She panicked and I heard her scream for him to stop touching her rope.  She was a novice and was doing her best to follow the directions of our guide Robert who was well up on the glacier at the ice screw securing the fixed rope.  The most concerning things I noticed were other groups crossing over our fixed line in their rush to climb.  Walking across a fixed safety line with crampons is not only poor form but dangerous business for anyone who will be using that line.  Crampons can easily slice a line making it useless.  We finally made the summit but on the return I noticed several clients from other services were using our fixed line while we were descending on it as well.  Again this is a sloppy and dangerous practice that was ignored by their guides. 

As I stated I do not know who the other guiding services were that happened to be on the mountain that day.  I am hoping you can contact them and take some form of corrective action.  They were dangerous and unprofessional and appeared to not have much understanding of alpine skills.  As for myself I will only venture into the Rwenzori"s with Rwenzori Trekking Services as they are he only safe group in the range.

All the best,

Kampala Impressions

Yesterday and today were slow.  The internet is not overly reliable so as I was trying to arrange follow on flights to Zanzibar and Moshi it became an all day affair.  So, if you plan to visit Uganda - and I highly recommend that you do - here are a few things to make the trip smother:

*  Decide on your itinerary and purchase your flights before arrival. I was dithering on my plans up to the last minute and was rather curious to see how well I could wing it.  Not a bad thing but it does waste some time.
*  Buy a SIM card for the local system when you arrive. It is possible to use WeChat and WhatsApp as well as e-mail using free WiFi services but when WiFi is out so is your ability to contact others and research next steps.
*  Make local friends.  Luckily I am pretty good at this step.  It will be your best source for info/where to go/what to pay/how to get around, etc.
*  If you decide to trek in the Rwenzori Mountains only use Rwenzori Trekking Services.  Normally I don"t endorse specific businesses but I have seen their guides as well as the cpompetition in action on a 65 degree slope of glacial ice.  Only RTS has a clue how to move folks safely in that environment.  I sent a scathing e-mail to the Ugandan Wildlife Authority about the lack of professionalism displayed by the other services.

OK, enough for travel tips.  By last night I had my tickets and this morning I booked 2 nights at an Air BnB in Stone Town, Zanzibar so I was wondering what else to do. I ended up visiting a small house where 2 gents bring in homeless kids for a few months to get them ready to travel back home and get back into school.  They were surprised to learn we also have homeless in the good old USA.  After that I had to walk to an ATM for travel funds and to pay my hostel bill tomorrow.  I could have taken a bodeboda but wanted to walk.  Not because bodabodas are dangerous (they absolutely are) but because I wanted to look around a bit.  I walked all they way to the city center about 2 miles away I think.  The air quality is pretty bad during the dry season.  There is excessive exhaust smoke, its hot and a bit humid, it's very dusty.  This is not a pretty city.  Mind you I was not in the nicer areas.  I wanted to see how the average resident lives and shops.  In that regard it is not much different than other 3rd world countries.  it is crowded.  Shops are small but numerous.  Lots of fruit is for sale along the sidewalks.  Not too may folks were smiling but I suppose that is as much a universal city issue.  Waling through traffic is a challenge I suppose.  It requires a great deal of situational awareness.  There are other, cars, trucks and bodsbodas all vying for the same space.  Bodabodas are frequently on the sidewalks as well so you really have to pay attention.  It is also helpful to learn how to pay attention to what is in your pockets and what it feels like.  Reaching for your wallet to make sure it is OK is a fantastic way to alert pick pockets what pocket to target.  I specifically left my daypack behind at the hostel to look slightly less like a backpacker.  Mind you I still stick out.  In my little jaunt I was one of only 5 mzungu (foreigners).  I saw three Chinese and 2 Indians... and then me.  So yup I kind of stood out a bit!             
 

I watched a bodaboda rider die the other day

Bodabodas are the main means of transport for much of Uganda.  They are mostly small Chinese motorbikes.  I`d guess they are 80cc as they're much slower than the 125cc dirt bikes from my youth.  I have seen them carry groups of people, lumber, coffins, all manner of stuff.  Unfortunately the riders are generally poorly trained.  On the way from Kilembe to Kampala there was a small bongo truck and a car in front of us.  As we watched a bodaboda cut directly across the highway and in front of the bongo truck.  The truck lifted as if it had hit a large speed bump at speed.  Because of road work part of the highway was dirt.  This resulted in a a huge cloud of red dust.  The car before us swerved around the truck.  Through the dust cloud, we saw bits of shattered plastic spinning to the ground.  Our driver was quick to brake to avoid the accident.  We drove past in time to see the bongo come to rest on it's side after rolling.  The three occupants climbed out seemingly without serious injury.  There was no sign of the bodaboda or it's rider.  I doubt the guy ever knew what happened.  One moment he was cruising across the highway.  The next moment reality ended for him.  Our driver was pissed that the bodaoda riders do such dangerous and stupid things. It was all over in a matter of seconds.  We continued on our journey.  The following day, a friend and I hired bodabodas to take us across town to the taxi yard, for a lift to Jinja.  Such is life in Uganda.     

Day 7: The Luxury of Dry Clothing

We did a long trek today, 8 miles.  It took about 8 hours.  Distance here in the Rwenzoi's s different from distance elsewhere. For reference here are the flavors of trail in these mountains: steep muddy uphill; steep muddy downhill, rocky scrambles either up or down; flat muddy bog.  It makes for slow hiking.  But this place is magically beautiful.

After leaving camp this morning we climbed a 4500m pass on a new trail.  It was new to us but also only recently built.  We had lunch at the highlands not long after cresting the pass.  It was stark but lovely.  White quartz everywhere, deep and lush yellow moss I lay down in after eating.  The moss was soft and warm.  We transited areas that look so different: rocky highlands, bogs, forested areas that had burned, a bit of everything.  At one point it began sprinkling.  I placed my camera bag into my day pack and donned my rain shell.  Our guide asked if we wanted to put on rain pants.  silly us, we declined thinking it would not last.  Plus it had turned to small hail.  The precipitation alternated between rain and hail for several hours as our pants got quite wet.  Luckily it was cool but much warmer than it has been.  So it was tolerable. 

Now we are at our last camp.  We've changed into dry clothes which seems such a luxury.  Tomorrow we hike out to the hostle.  I don't know how long we'll be hiking but I do know a warm shower and clean hair after 8 days will be most welcome!  

Day 6: kicked my ass!

Well I m back at Hunwick Camp.  It's been an exceptionally long day.  We had breakfast at 02:15 and were on our way to the peak by 3.  Maghareta Peak is not an easy climb, especially in the dry season.  The glaciers have receded dramatically.  So what would have been a much easier climb 15 years ago now involves a 65 degree clmb up glacial ice.  Doing this climb in the wet season is easier I've been told because of all the snow.  The route involves three glacier traverses each direction.  The middle one is the steep SOB.  We were delayed at th base of that section for about an hour as other trekking services with less skill and clients with less fitnesss cloged the path.  It reminded me why I m skeptable of Mt Everest climbs.  I was honsly worried about making the summit because of the delay.  Our guides helped get us up that section in a hurry once it cleared.  At the top of the steepest part they placed an ice screw and a pully.  I didn't realize it at first but once we were roped up one of the guides was tied into our belay on the opposit end of the pully and he began running down the glacier.  This in turn basically pulled us up.  Mind you, running up a 65 degree glacier in crampons even with an assist is exhausting at 4500m!

The views were nearly nonexistant due to cloud cover.  Weather always a crap shoot in the Rwenzoris.  I was feeling like an pld man on this climb but the truth is we were the 3rd of 5 groups on the mountain and the first to summit as well as the first back down, despite the delay.  So I am feeling pretty good about that. 

After the climb we had lunch at camp then packed our stuff and hiked back to this camp.  Two of the four I joined on this adventure have decided not to climb Mt Speke and to return with me instead.  So we have two days to trek back to the Hostle at the base of the mountains.  Lfie is good. 

Day 5: Final Trek before the Summit

It's 7 AM, very early morning by Ugandan standards.  I generally wake at 06:30 so I'm bored already.  That is one of the challenges here.  We are only hiking for 5 or 6 hours a day because of the demands of the terrain.  So tht leaves quite a bit of downtime.  Although I am in Africa close to the equator it's probably in the upper 30's F right now.  A heavy frost is on everything as I sit outside the hut typing.  So we tend to spend a lot of that downtime in the dining huts.  I am with 2 Germans a Romanian and a Belgian, all in their 20's. They are friends on a backpacking holiday in Africa.  They have been playing lots of card games and I've been reading A Brief History of Time.  They are a wonderful group and have been kind enough to speak English for the most part. 

This will be a short trekking day.  The plan is to begin at 9 and get to Mahgareta camp by 13:00 or so.  Then we will go over equipment and ropes.  I'm the only one in our party who is experienced with an ice ax and crampons.  I suspect there will be well established foot prints to follow even up the steep glacier. 

I have been sleeping much better than I had imagined here.  This camp is just below 4000m elevation but the last was above that.  Even so I have been sleeping soundly.  Of course I do get up 2 or 3 times to piss.  It's necessary to stay very well hydrated at elevation so everyone gets up several times for the same reason.  Last night was completely clear so on one trip outside I took in the stars.  The moon was not yet up so I was enjoying seeing all the constellations I don't get to enjoy in LA.  I happened to look for the Big Dipper but it was  not up yet.  On my next trip into the dark the moon was now up.  I saw the Big Dipper this time and thought to look for Polaris.  It took me a moment to realize you can't see the North Star from the Southern hemisphere. LOL