Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a day set apart for giving thanks.  It is a day steeped in tradition and goes back to the roots of our country.  Who doesn't remember Thanksgiving pageants with Pilgrims and Indians in elementary school?  It is a day for family sharing a meal and spending time together. Most of all it is a day to pause and reflect; to count our blessings.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving Day is being overshadowed by Christmas - not the Christmas that celebrates "the Word made flesh" but the commercial season of Christmas.  Stores and ads seem to jump from Halloween right to Christmas. Black Friday is now becoming Black Thursday as more and more stores have pushed openings to Thanksgiving.  Sad to see Thanksgiving become just another day of buying and selling in the marketplace.  But we can make choices, and I will choose to honor Thanksgiving by giving thanks.

I am blessed with family, friends, and a church family who are always there and are a constant presence in my life.  I live in a country that does not dictate religious beliefs; I am free to worship and express my beliefs. I am thankful for health and well-being and the ability to experience God's creation.  Most of all, I am thankful for God's mercy and grace through Jesus Christ.  What a blessed assurance!

This Thanksgiving is touched with sadness.  Our church family lost one of its saints this week.  Frank Miller passed on to new life with The Lord.  He will be missed by many, but his suffering is no more. Frank was a gentle man who always looked for ways to help others.  He was a true friend and teacher, and in many ways a father to me since my Dad died in 2004.  I learned a lot about gardening and carpentry from Frank, but most of all I learned from his example.  Frank had a quiet way about him, a steadfast faith, and a generous heart.  If you drive around McDowell County and see a ramp at a home, it is a good bet that Frank and a crew of volunteers built it.   Frank Miller will be missed greatly by his devoted family, his church family, and many friends. We can honor his memory by living thankful lives, loving our neighbors, and practicing generous justice; just as Frank did.

Give a prayer of thanks this day for blessings received.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Safari in East Africa

After a night's rest at Springland's Hotel we left on a four day safari to unwind from climbing Kilimanjaro.  We drove from Moshi through Arusha and on to Taranguire National Park. The drive took us across traditional Maasai land.  The Maasai are nomadic goat and cattle herders who still live a traditional life across northern Tanzania.  They wear distinctive colored wraps mainly blue, red or green. Often a plaid cloth is worn as well.  All men and boys carry a stick or staff. These are symbols of power and used in herding the cattle and goats.  They were seen driving their herds along the sides of the roads or sitting beside the road.  We passed through a Maasai market town before arriving at Tarangire National Park.  One other note about the people, we have been strongly cautioned about taking pictures of people around a towns, villages or along the roads.  For that reason, I only have a few pictures taken from the jeep.  It was a temptation to take pictures, but respecting a people's culture is more important.

Tarangire National Park in the dry season was parched.  It is known for its massive baobab trees and herds of wildebeest and zebras, elephants and lions.  We immediately began to see the wildebeests and zebras grazing on the dry grass.  Soon we saw elephants down by the river, and then a pride of lions eating a recent kill.  It was exciting to see the male lion sitting on guard, and the lionesses eating and lying around. Eventually they began to move on.  As we drove out of the park we saw a single giraffe walking slowly along then across the road in front of us.  Another two hours and we arrived at Highview Hotel, our home for the next three days.

Our next day we went to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The crater is a collapsed volcano that resulted in a flat floor surrounded by a rim of mountains.  The highlight of the day was observing the interaction of lions, zebras, wildebeest, warthogs and hyenas.  While the lions were not actively hunting, they were watching all the animals carefully. Two males were holding a position to mark territory and later the lionesses were prowling and stalking.  At one time the lionesses were next to and on the road, seeking the shade of our vehicle.  We were close enough to se that one of them lionesses had a head injury.

Day three was spent near the hotel in Karatu.  We chose an 8 mile guided hike to the Elephant Caves. The cave is actually a place where elephants and cape buffalo go to root up soil that has nutrients they need. They eat the soil for calcium, phosphorous, and magnesium.  While we saw no elephants at the cave, there were numerous elephant trails that crisscrossed the area, and the fresh scat indicated they had been there earlier in the day.  To be walking where elephants had been was amazing. That afternoon we went to an Iraqw tribal center to learn the traditional ways the people had lived.

Day four took us to Lake Manyara National Park.  We saw a very large troop of baboons traveling from one part of the park to another.  We observed a large herd of elephants by the road. In the distance we cld see hippos standing in the water.  Lots of monkeys and ones lone giraffe grazing in the trees.  A flock of vultures were scavenging on a carcass, and more and more flew in to feed.

We had a very knowledgable guide and driver. He knew where to go to find animals and took us all over the parks.  Pictures will follow when I get home. 

Success!

Along with 25 others I successfully reached Gilman's Peak on Friday September 14. 18 of us continued on another hour and a half to Uhuru Peak, the highest peak on Kilimanjaro.  It was the steepest, most challenging climb I have ever done. Four days of  hiking to Kibo Hut, then a climb that lasted from 11:00 pm Thrusday until 11:00 am on Friday.  12 hours on Mt Kilimanjaro climbing from 15,500 feet at Kibo Hut to 19,340 feet at Uhuru Peak and return to Kibo.  After a two hour rest we hiked another 6 miles to Horombo Hut for the night. Today we hiked 8 miles out to Marangu Gate and a bus ride to our hotel in Moshi. Pictures are coming later. It is time for dinner with the team and a night's sleep in a bed.

Ready to Climb

The saga of the lost bag is over.  My bag was delivered to the hotel at 10:30 Sunday night. Having all my own gear will make the climb better. I now have a duffel bag with my overnight gear and warmer clothes packed and my daypack with water, snacks, rain gear, and an extra layer for the day.  Our first day will start with a two hour drive to the trailhead, signing in at the trailhead gate, and hiking five miles.  We start at 6,000 feet and camp at a little over 9,000 feet.  There are 26 hikers, our leader, 4hiking guides, some assistant guides, and a number of porters.  The porters will take off ahead of us to set up camp and we will hike at a slower pace.  "Pole, pole" - pronounced pol-eh  -  meaning slowly, is the operative word for the hike.  Hiking too fast will not get you to the top of the mountain any sooner that day 5 and it helps,conserve strength for days when the altitude gets much higher and the miles are longer.

Imwill be able to give a summary when I come off the mountain, and there wil be tots of pictures  when I return home.  Meanwhile, thanks for your prayers and support. I'll "Shout to the Lord"when I reach the top!

Moshi, Tanzania

This morning we drove from the hotel to the city of Moshi. The city has a population of 200,000 and most of the buildings are concrete construction of 2 to3 stories.  The road from the hotel to the city is a dirt road. Since the rainy season begins in October, it is very dry and dusty.  We saw several goat herds along the road. Many of the homes along the road were mud brick and wood.

In the city the roads are paved. There was a large market where people spread vegetables or whatever they were selling in the ground.  Once in the city we went to Union Coffee for a mid-morning cup of coffee.  Coffee prices are fairly low. A 1 kg  (2 pounds) of coffee is $11:00 US. After the climb a souvenir bag will be purchased.

There is the smell of wood smoke throughout the area. There were lots of small fires along the road and people cook on wood fires.  The Springlands Hotel is gated for security and has outdoor eating and sitting areas in a garden setting.  Rooms are small and have few amenities.  Our room has three single beds with mosquito netting.  I tried to get a picture, but the room is so small I could not get the room in the view finder.

All the people at the hotel are helpful and very polite.  Simon has gone to the airport to see what he can find out about my missing bag.  Hopefully I will get some good news this afternoon. In the meantime, I have looked into renting a sleeping bag and other gear if my bag does not get here. Also, several in the group have offered extra clothing and gear they brought.

In Tanzania

It was an 8 hour flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. We arrived at 7:30 pm and were met by the bus to the Springlandst Hotel, a 45 minute ride from the airport.  Everyone is tired from long days of travel and ready for a goods night's rest.

That is the good news. The bad news is that my bag did not make it on my flight to Kilimanjaro.  KLM is going to track it and let me know something tomorrow.  There are daily flights from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro, so it should make the next flight.  Not sure how good the communications between Tanzania and Amsterdam.  Best case, I will get my bag tomorrow night and pack my duffel and daypack for the start of the climb on Monday.  Worst case, I will have to rent some equipment to make the climb.

So I am off to bed and will get goodw news on my bag tomorrow.

A Bonus Day in Amsterdam

If you watch th.e Amazing Race you always see the participants racing through airports, just making connections, and hopping from plane to cars, buses, or trains.  Reality (no pun intended) is a little different. When you have a tight connection because of a weather delay, everything goes slowly when you arrive at the airport.  We arrived at JFK/New York at 4:35 instead of 3:00. Our connection to Amsterdam departed at 6:00.  As we landed we thought we could pick up our bags, go to KLM ticketing, get through security, and get to our gate for the last boarding call.  This is where everything slowed down.  The jetway was not ready for the plane, the full plane emptied so slowly, and they changed baggage carousels on us.  Once we had our bag we waited for a train to get us to the KLM terminal.  We arrived there at 5:30 and went to the first agent available. When I said we wanted to check our bags for the 6:00 flight, she said "you won't make it.". International flights need baggage an hour before the flight, and security was between us and the gate.  After searching on her computer for options she suggested flying standby at 11:00 that night, and get to Amsterdam at noon Friday. The downside to that is we would miss our connection to Kilimanjaro by two hours.  We opted for the overnight flight and planned to finds a place in Amsterdam to stay until the next Kili flight on  .

To our surprise we were met in Amsterdam by a Rotary member from Charlotte who grew up in Amsterdam. She came early to visit family.  She saw on FaceBook and emails that we were arriving late.  She took us to a nearby hotel and will give us a ride to the airport in the morning.  She will be climbing Kilimanjaro with the group.  So everything worked out.

We spent our free afternoon walking around Amsterdam, a city of bicycles and canals.  It was good to walk in the sunshine.  Kilimanjaro is only an hour different from Amsterdam, so today allowed us to adjust to the time change between legs of travel.  So we had a bonus day in Amsterdam!

One other note. It is ironic that a couple days before we climb Africa's highest peak, we walked around a city that has much land below sea level. Netherlands has been reclaiming land from the sea for centuries.

Internet access will dictate how frequently I can update the blog.  The six day climb is Monday - Saturday.  I will meet my fellow climbers tomorrow.  Looking forward to seeing the mountain tomorrow.

Final Packing for Thursday Departure

I have packed and repacked a couple times and check and rechecked the suggested packing list for Kilimanjaro.  Everything is in a large duffel bag and a carry-on backpack.  The challenge has been to divide up clothing and gear for two parts of the trip. First clothing and gear for the climb.  Since we will start out in warm weather and have the potential for sub-zero temperatures on summit day, many layers are needed.  Next, clothes for a 4 day safari need to be packed (assuming I will not want to wear my hiking clothes on the safari).  Add in travel clothes and the clothing piles up.  I thinned the stack a couple times, so I think I have enough.  My gear includes a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, rain gear, water bottles and Camelback, snacks, energy bars, insect repellant and sunscreen, hiking poles, and camera.  It all mounts up.

Once at the hotel in Tanzania, I can repack the duffel bag the porter will carry with most of the items, and pack my daypack with water, food, rain gear, and any layers I will need for the day.  Each night at camp I can use what I need from the duffel, then repack for the next day.  My packed duffel weighs 25 pounds and my daypack weighs 15 pounds, most of which is water.  The daypack will get lighter as I consume the 3 to 4 liters of water each day.

I am sure I will find I forgot something and will find I brought some items I won't use.  That is true of any trip.  I believe I can get by with what I am taking.  The main thing is I have sufficient layers to keep warm while hiking and a down sleeping bag that will ward off the cold in camp at 12,000 feet.

Posts that follow will depend on Internet access in Tanzania.  Just keep checking.

Thank you for words of support and prayers for me as I travel and climb Kilimanjaro.  Pray for Janice while I am away.

Preparations for Kilimanjaro - Part 2

Physically getting ready for climbing Kilimanjaro has been a challenge.  I try to hike with the Carolina Mountain Club regularly, but summertravel and being in Burlington for a couple weeks has prevented me from those weekly hikes.  My friend and fellow Kili climber Rich and I have tried to fit in a few conditioning hikes, and I have gotten a few climbs in during the past two weeks.  In addition to that, I try to get to the YMCA a few days a week.

Many of the Charlotte area climbers have trained at Crowders Mountain State Park.  Since I have mountains close by, I have trained a little closer to home.  My aim has been to do some steep climbs that match the mileage and elevation gain that I will have on Mt. Kilimanjaro.  That means a gain of 3,000 feet or more over a distance of 5 - 6 miles.  A couple hikes that fit the bill are:

• Mt. Cammerer in the Smokies: 3,000 feet gain over 6 miles (plus 6 mile return)
• South Mountains State Park loop: 2,800 feet gain over a total of 12 miles
• Graybeard Trail in Montreat: 2,400 feet gain over 3.7 miles (plus return)
• Black Mountain Campground to Mt. Mitchell: 3.600 feet gain over 5.8 miles (plus 5.8 mile return)

The one thing training hikes in Western North Carolina can not do is provide the higher elevations I will be hiking on Kilimanjaro.  The climb is done over 6 days to allow for acclimating to increasing elevation.  Days 1 - 4 cover 5 to 7 miles each day and 1,000 and 3,000 feet gain each day.  Time at each camp allows the body to adapt to the higher elevation.  Day 5 is the summit day with a 7,000 feet gain to the Uhuru Peak at 13,340 followed by a long descent to 12,100 feet.

Here is a graphic of the climb:

Final packing over the next two days.

Preparations for Kilimanjaro

One week from today I will be arriving in Moshi, Tanzania and preparing to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.  I will be joining 30 other climbers from the Charlotte area on the six-day climb of the mountain.  Most of the other climbers are members of Rotary clubs in the Charlotte area.  These Rotarians have committed to raise $100,000 for Rotary International's "End Polio Now" campaign.

For some of us polio is a distant memory, and many others have no recollection of the disease, except for a required immunization.  I remember getting the oral vaccine on a sugar cube at a local volunteer fire department when it was first developed by Dr. Albert Sabin.  The fact is, polio has been eradicated from much of the world, but in some places it still poses a threat.  Polio today is almost nonexistent in the Western world, but still a threat in Africa and parts of Asia.

In preparing for the trip, I consulted with the Travel office of the Buncombe County Health Department.  I was advised to get all the usual vaccinations for travel to developing countries: Hepatitis A and B, typhoid, and tetanus, which I already had from my trips to Belize.  New to me was a vaccination for Yellow Fever.  Ironically, I was advised to get a polio booster since the disease is active in parts of Africa.  A daily oral malaria pill is the only other preventive medicine I will need.

The next few days will be organizing all the clothing and gear I have laid out for the trip.  I can expect temperatures from mid 80's to sub-zero.  We will be trekking through a tropical rain forest, semi-arid desert, and finally an arctic-like zone at the top of the mountain.

At 19,341feet, Mt. Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa.  It is a dormant volcano in northern Tanzania only 3 degrees south of the Equator.

The mountain is not part of a mountain range, so it towers over 16,000 feet above the surrounding plain.  This makes Kili one of the largest free-standing mountains in the world.

More details on the trip will follow on this blog. 

The Great and the Ordinary

Every time I am in Washington, DC, I spend some time walking at the National Mall visiting some of the memorials and monuments.  Yesterday my walk took me to the Washington Monument, still closed by the earthquake last year, the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial.  I also visited the World War II and Korean War Memorials.  It was a sunny afternoon and I encountered lots of school groups and others taking in the sights.

The monuments and memorials to the Founding Fathers, great presidents, and champions of justice and human rights are striking in their grand, larger-than-life scale.  Except for the Washington Monument, each has quotes and excerpts of documents the person had written or spoken.  Reading these and looking up to the statue of these great Americans, I was struck by the fact that throughout our history, great people have responded to the times and stepped forward to lead, to voice confidence and to provide hope.  Each of the monuments honors a man who led at critical times: Washington and Jefferson at the founding of the United States, Lincoln during the greatest test of our republic, Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II, and King championing civil rights for all Americans.  Each led America during a time of testing.  They provided leadership and articulated a vision for the country, and they provided hope for the people.

Contrasted with these individual leaders were the memorials to the wars.  At the World War II Monument, the bravery of ordinary men and women is honored and memorialized.  as I walked about the monument I kept thinking of my father and his service in the Pacific during the war.  I saw dozens of WWII veterans, many in wheelchairs, at the memorial.  I thought about the sacrifice of these brave men and the sacrifices made by women and families on the home front as well.

All this got me thinking about the challenges America faces today.  We face a myriad of problems; some would argue that our problems today are as great as the ones faced in the past.  Leaders came forward during those other times - Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and King.  I wonder when the next great leader will step forward.  Who will lead providing a clear vision and hope for all people?

We have always had the ordinary people step forward and sacrifice for the good of the country, willing to sacrifice for the "greater good."  Will we have that commitment in the future?

Perhaps every elected official in Washington DC should be required to visit the monuments and memorials at the National Mall periodically and read the inscriptions and reflect on great leadership and the sacrifices of ordinary Americans.  Maybe they would remember that they are elected to serve the country.