Here is my leg in full tropical attire (tons of mosquito bites keeping me indoors whenever not on a day tour or hike...its feels worse than it looks btw). I got a whole bunch more when I sneaked out late tonight (after taking this picture) for an easily-prepared dinner of toast with tomato and cheese. Quite a few climbers that are coming to the hotel tonight, others leaving tomorrow are braving a bottle of beer or two outside as well. Wonder what they'll be thinking tomorrow, same time?
What I should have been wearing are my gators and socks. day in and day out -all week long
As for my battle with Insomnia this week...
Most of the day I would hear the call to prayer which would resonate loud and clear for a good km sq. In the wee hours of every morning, chanting started precisely at 4am straight through to 5:45am. What is interesting is that there are about 3 chants going on at the same time in this random unison. Two chants are so calming, but one chant usually becomes more of a strong delivery of words and not melodious at all, sort of a paternal command so unless I was dead tired from a full day hiking off the slopes of Kili, I would be tossing and turning, not sure how else to fall asleep. I'm a super light sleeper which means, when I hear the occasional cockerel cock-a-doodle-doing thing happens or there is talking or chanting, I could never sleep through it.So that's the way it went for most nights, eyes staring up at the ring that joins the seam of the mosquito net so it can stream down and around my bed.
But, on the upside, those sorts of nights would be soon forgotten the very next day because I'm back in bed after breakfast for a full day of daylight sleeping, all while others are tanning or reading leisurely by the poolside. But at least I'm not having more visitors that want to bite me during the day :-)
Somehow I dealt with the tropics, culture shock brilliantly this week but what I really need now is to get on with the show!!! Tomorrow I'm going to find out who's I'm sharing a tent with so that I can have first say which side of the tent I'll be sleeping on.
What I think I use to be (sorry dad but...)
What I think I'm suppose to be (my mom is going to just love me!)
Super good and feeling fine. Time to go kiss the sky.
Manny I love your blog. I love the historical information abou Mt.Kilimanjaro, as well as the land and it's ppl.
ReplyDeleteClearly you are not your typical jet setting kind of girl. Your trips are adventures that ppl dream of or see in movies. Not many get to see the world as you are seeing it now and you should be proud of yourself for the courage you've found to climb this mountain.
I love the pics btw and can't wait to see more.
Be safe and have fun.
Occupy Mt. Kilimanjaro is in full effect!
And don't scratch those bites!
Nicole!!! Firstly, I'm glad to see that my blog is now accessible:-))
DeleteAll those sleepless nights turned into productive ones on my part :-D
Your words are kind, thank you my friend. An opportunity to kiss the sky sounds better to me than watching it on HD, ;-) Travelling style - i agree, always playing it safe doesn't really give you a wide-enough perspective, want to broaden my own experience, always in my OWN way, so thanks for that. Nikki, you can be my travel partner anytime :)
Our favourite kale juice isn't anywhere to be seen here haha.. food here is actually quite good. ok off to make our "occupy" sign. hope i get to the top!!! LOVE (say hi to the team 4 me)