Cabo Verde

What could possibly be better than to go someplace warm during the cold winter months? The male part of our family chose Cabo Verde islands and I sure did not complain. Sun, beach, sea, palm trees, who could ask for more? A fleet of buzzing mosquitoes during the night and scorching heat during the day hardly affected the relaxing, peaceful atmosphere.


We are not beach enthusiasts so apart from taking a stroll along the sandy beach and a quick swim we spent most of the time exploring the islands. The island of Sal, where we arrived, is very touristy, with numerous hotels, resorts, restaurants and countless touts selling souvenirs. We flew to the capital city of Praia on the Santiago island where we did most of our sightseeing.

Although volcanic in origin the islands are not totally black from the lava as some are covered in lush tropical greenery.


There are some historical sights to see, such as the ruins of the first European settlement in the tropics.


We rented a car and drove the length of the island, all the way up to Tarrafal to spend a day on the beach with locals, no tourists in sight (except us, of course).

The most unusual sight was our visit to the local salt mines where busloads of package tourists were brought to take a swim. I stopped eating salt for the rest of the trip.

Ararat

The second part of our summer vacation was climbing the Ararat mountain. Having climbed Kilimanjaro two years ago I thought that Ararat with about 700 m less height would be easy. What I forgot to take into account is that Kilimanjaro is close to the Equator while Ararat is not therefore it is much colder on Ararat even at a lower altitude.

Climbing Ararat requires a permit and a hired licensed guide. We used a local Turkish trekking agency which took care of all the arrangements. Marko and I joined a group consisting of two French girls, a Norwegian guy and us. We were accompanied by two guides, one of whom also performed the role of cook. Our stuff was carried by horses while we had to drag ourselves up there. Once again, comparing this to my Kilimanjaro experience, this time there were no porters to serve us, put up our tents, bring us coffee in the morning, we had to take care of all of this ourselves.



The expedition started with getting us, our guides and our stuff on a truck that drove us to the start of the trail at an altitude of about 2400 m. There our stuff was placed on horses and we continued on foot to the first camp at about 3300 m. Along the way we stopped for tea at nomadic villages that are scattered on the slopes of the mountain. The locals offered souvenirs to buy and I bought a scarf because I felt I should give them a chance to earn some money as their living must probably be hard. After reaching our camp we spent the rest of the day putting up our tents, resting, taking a short hike up the mountain for acclimatization, eating dinner and getting to sleep early. The lack of oxygen at that altitude was noticeable, at least for me, but I was glad I didn’t feel any other effects - such as a headache - of the altitude.

The next day we continued our trek to the second camp at an altitude of about 4200 m. The distance was not too long but it was considerably colder than the day before and dealing with the lack of oxygen was again a struggle for me. While it was sunny in the second camp, there was a fierce wind blowing which soon forced me to find some warmth inside my tent. The rest of the day was spent resting and getting ready for the summit at night. There are no toilets anywhere along the trails on Ararat and finding a private place to go at that altitude where everything is exposed was quite an adventure. The best thing to do was to either wait until it got dark or to just duck behind a large stone (where everyone else had done the same thing before so it was quite messy).



The final push to the summit started at 2 AM. Only one of our guides was ready to go, the other one decided to sleep in. The guide made tea for us to warm us up and we had a little food although by now the altitude was getting to me and I started feeling a little nauseous. The wind was still blowing and it was literally freezing cold.

We made our way up the mountain where for the first two hours it was still more or less rocky with only occasional patches of snow. It was slow going again for me because of the lack of oxygen and I had to take deep breaths of air between each step. But I made it to the top of the ridge where there was now much more snow on the ground. Before starting the Ararat expedition we were told that we must bring crampons as part of our equipment. It turned out that the crampons were not really necessary, as the slope with snow is not too steep, the snow is frozen and therefore is not wet and slippery and we all had good hiking shoes which made the going safe even without crampons.

It was cold and getting colder. The sun started to come up at around 5 AM giving us magnificent views. The most amazing sight was seeing the shadow of the whole mountain in the morning sun. Although I was very cold and I could hardly feel my fingers and my toes, I managed to fish out my camera from my backpack. And sadly discovered that it wouldn't work, presumably because of the cold. I placed it inside my jacket pocket but obviously because it was so cold I could not sit there and wait for it to warm up. Marko and I continued struggling up the mountain to an altitude of about 4900 m where I decided that I had enough of the cold and of the lack of oxygen and it seemed pointless to continue because it was getting colder and windier by the minute. So we turned around and descended back to the warmth of our down sleeping bags in our tent. The rest of our group made it to the summit and they told us later that it was indeed incredibly windy so they also quickly turned around when they reached the summit.



Returning back to the valley after such an ordeal is always wonderful, as the going is so much easier, the sun was up, it was warm and we all anticipated the return to civilization with a hotel, clean bed and a hot shower.

We spent a few days after the trek sightseeing around the village. The agency that arranged our trip also took us to a place with hot springs where we could bathe in water that looked blue and smelled of sulphur. It felt good to soak in warm water after the expedition.

Istanbul

For this year’s vacation my family decided to visit Turkey. It was our first visit to this country ever and we were thrilled! We were told in advance that the Turkish people are the friendliest people around but it was not just the hospitality that impressed us. We all love places with Asian flavors, such as the busy streets, crazy driving (we didn’t drive but we knew that this was not one of those places we would go by car), bargaining for prices at the bazaars. Of course we visited the most important historical sites of which there seems to be no end, including a few palaces, mosques and museums. We took a boat ride on the Bosphorus and ate the famous fish sandwich in the harbor.



And we made sure we also had enough time to relax, to enjoy the local food, drink Turkish tea, experience the water pipe, shop at the bazaars and mostly just forget about the hectic pace of our jobs and demands of school back home.



Our son Matej only joined us for the Istanbul part of the trip, being eager to return home to spend his last days of summer holidays with his friends. Marko and I continued our Turkey experience in the eastern part of Turkey. Due to the distance of over 1000 km we decided to fly to the city of Van as any other means of transport would have taken us two days in one direction.



Compared to the bustle of Istanbul, which is a very modern city, the eastern part of Turkey is much more remote and thus less touristic and it seems like a world away from everyday life. We based ourselves in Dogubayazit, a small town that serves as the starting point for the Ararat climb. The town is a mixture of the modern with Internet cafes and contemporary shops scattered among more rural street vendors, children carting vegetables to the market, men drinking tea on the streets. Yes, mostly men, not many women are seen on the streets. When the holy month of Ramadan began, the streets were empty as no food or drink is allowed during that time and that includes drinking tea.

Malta

This should actually have been my trip to Morocco. I registered a long time ago to attend a conference in Marrakesh, Morocco and since the location sounded so exotic I knew I had to go. But a few months before the conference the organizers announced that the location of the conference was moved to Malta due to what they cited as unsurmountable bureaucratic difficulties. I have no idea what went wrong during the organizing process although I have a vague sense of how frustrating it must have been trying to get things done on the African continent.

My initial disappointment of not getting to see Morocco was quickly overcome by my eagerness to see Malta where I had never been before and it seemed exciting enough. I was thrilled by the beauty of the small island of Malta where a visitor can see remains of Roman architecture scattered everywhere over the island. And since the island is so small it takes only a half day bus tour to see all the major sights that there are to see. Unfortunately I did not have time to explore the museums, churches and other attractions so I think a week of vacation might be just the right amount of time to see everything and not get bored.

The people of Malta are very friendly, they all speak English since it is a former British colony, their currency is Euro and the country is a member of the European Union which makes it an easy travel destination for us Europeans.

Cape Town

Kadar se pogovarjam s tukajšnjimi domačini, me radi sprašujejo, kje vse sem že bila in kaj sem si že ogledala v Južnoafriški republiki. Pogovor se vedno konča z njihovim nasvetom, da moram nujno videti tudi Cape Town, saj je tam menda prekrasno. Žal za daljše potovanje ni bilo priložnosti, zato sem se tja odpravila čez vikend, z nizkocenovnim letalskim prevoznikom Kulula. Sicer je tu več nizkocenovnih letalskih prevoznikov, saj je država zelo velika in ljudje ogromno potujejo, tako v službene kakor tudi v privatne namene. Mnogo domačinov ima namreč sorodnike v več mestih v državi in se pogosto obiskujejo. Zaradi ogromnih razdalj (recimo med Johannesburgom in Cape Townom je okrog 1400 km), je v pomanjkanju časa pot z letalom največkrat edino smiselna.

Whenever I talk to local people, they usually ask me where I have been and what I have seen so far in South Africa. The conversation always ends with their suggestion that I have to visit Cape Town because it is supposed to be beautiful. Unfortunately there was never an opportunity to go there for a longer period of time, so I decided to make it a weekend trip using the low cost airline Kulula. There are several low cost airlines in South Africa as the country is large and people travel all the time, both for business and pleasure. Many local people have relatives in various cities around the country and in order to visit them across the huge distances, flying is often the most sensible choice (for example, the distance between Johannesburg and Cape Town is around 1400 km).

Moj prvi cilj v Cape Townu je bil obisk Mizaste gore (Table Mountain), peš, se razume, čeprav gor pelje tudi vlečnica. Glede na dolgo kolono čakajočih turistov pri spodnji postaji vlečnice sem verjetno prej prišla gor peš (slabi dve uri), kakor bi se načakala za prevoz. Razgled z vrha je čudovit, morda se mi je tako zdelo tudi zato, ker sem prvič po dolgem času spet videla morje oziroma ocean oziroma natančneje dva oceana (Indijskega in Atlantskega, ki se tu stikata). Imela sem srečo z vremenom, saj pravijo, da se zaradi vlažnega zraka na gori pogosto zadržujejo oblaki in takrat seveda ni razgleda.

My first destination in Cape Town was to ascend Table Mountain, on foot obviously, although there is also a cable car. The queue of tourists in front of the cable car was so long that I probably made it to the top on foot (it took me less than two hours) sooner than if I had waited for transport. The view from the top is magnificent, probably more so because I saw the sea or rather the ocean or rather two oceans (Indian and Atlantic) again after such a long time. I was lucky with the weather as often there are clouds at the top of the mountain when there is no view.

Na pobočju Mizaste gore je botanični vrt Kirstenbosch, katerega sem šla pogledat zlasti zaradi velikega nasada avtohtonih rož iz skupine Protea. Te vrste rože uspevajo le na jugozahodu države in nikjer drugje na svetu. Menda jih je zelo težko gojiti izven njihovega naravnega okolja, zato jih recimo nimajo v botaničnih vrtovih v okolici Johannesburga.

The slopes of Table mountain host the Kirstenbosch botanical garden that I visited especially for the vast plantings of Protea flowers. These flowers grow only at the southwestern tip of the country and nowhere else in the world. They can't be cultivated away from their natural habitat and are therefore not found in botanical gardens, not even in Johannesburg.

Odpeljala sem se po Kapskem polotoku (Cape peninsula) do rta dobrega upanja. Sicer tam ni nič posebnega (sploh ni najjužnejša točka afriškega kontinenta, kakor sem prej zmotno mislila), razen nekega mogočnega občutka ob pogledu na dva oceana in misli na vse pomorščake, ki so skozi zgodovino obpluli ta del sveta. Na polotoku leži kar nekaj ostankov ladijskih brodolomov iz starih časov in z zanimanjem sem šla enega izmed njih pogledat, no, kup starega železja pač. Videla pa sem tudi pingvine in tjulnje, ki tam živijo v naravnem okolju, saj je cel polotok naravni rezervat.

I drove down Cape peninsula to the Cape of good hope. There is actually nothing special to be seen (it's not even the southernmost tip of the African continent as I had mistakenly believed) except for a grandiose feeling when overlooking the two oceans and thoughts of all the seafarers who went that way through history. There are a few shipwrecks on the peninsula and I walked to look at one of them. It's just a heap of rusting iron. I saw penguins and seals that live there in their natural environment sine the entire peninsula is a national park.

Zanimivo, da se v Cape Townu najpogosteje govori v afrikanščini, saj je to domač jezik številnih potomcev sužnjev in ljudi mešanih ras, katerih predniki so bili tam že od samih začetkov naseljevanja. Prvi beli priseljenci, ki so prišli na celino skozi Cape Town v 17. stoletju, so si pripeljali sužnje iz Malezije. V okolici namreč ni živelo prav veliko črncev, ki bi bili primerni kandidati za sužnje, tam so živeli le pripadniki ljudstva San oziroma bušmeni, ki pa so bili prebrisani in se belcem niso pustili podrediti, še več, celo medsebojno so trgovali. V Cape Townu tako še danes obstaja Malezijska četrt, imajo restavracije z malezijsko prehrano, med tem ko se je malezijski jezik skozi generacije pozabil.

I found it interesting that the most common language in Cape Town is Afrikaans. This is the language of the descendants of the many people of various ancestries and races that have lived there since the beginnings of foreign inhabitation. The first white people to settle Cape Town in the 17th century were slaves from Malaysia. There weren't many black people in the area who could be used as slaves, there were only the San people, also referred to as bushmen, who didn't allow themselves to become enslaved, in fact, they even traded with the white people. There is a Malay quarter in Cape Town to this day, there are restaurants serving Malay foot, only the language has been forgotten through the centuries.

V enem vikendu je bilo to vse, kar sem si ogledala v Cape Townu in na koncu je to mesto ostalo še eno izmed tistih na mojem spisku, kamor bi bilo treba oditi še kdaj, si vzeti več časa in pogledati še vse tisto, za kar tokrat ni bilo časa.

This was all I was able to see and do in one weekend in Cape Town. The city remains on the list of those places that, time permitting, I would want to visit again and see everything else that didn't get my attention this time.

Serengeti & Ngorongoro

V drugem delu našega dopusta v Tanzaniji smo si ogledali nekaj safarijev oziroma naravnih rezervatov. Serengeti je najbolj znan po dvakrat letnih množičnih selitvah zeber in gnujev (žal nismo bili tam ob pravem letnem času, da bi videli selitve), zraven njega leži krater Ngorongoro, poln velikih čred raznih živali, blizu pa je še jezero Manyara. Imeli smo najeto vozilo Toyota Land Cruiser s šoferjem, ki nas je štiri dni vozil naokrog. Izkazalo se je, da je imeti šoferja velika prednost, saj nam je prav on mnogokrat ustavil in pokazal kakšno žival, ki je sami skoraj zagotovo ne bi opazili.

We spent the second part of our vacation in Tanzania on safaris in national parks. Serengeti is best known for bi-annual zebra and gnu migrations (unfortunately we weren't there at the right time of year to view the migrations). Nearby lies the Ngorongoro crater, full of herds of various animals and there is also the Manyara lake. We hired a chauffeur-driven Toyota Land Cruiser who drove us around for four days. It turned out that having a driver was an advantage over going by ourselves as he often stopped and pointed out an animal that we would never have noticed.

Na začetku, prvi dan, smo navdušeno fotografirali vsako žival, ki smo jo zagledali. Tako sem usmerila fotoaparat tudi proti čredi krav, ki so se pasle na travniku zraven zeber. Pa sem se zdrznila, kaj neki delajo krave v safariju in zakaj jih sploh fotografiram? Šofer nam je pojasnil, da v rezervatih živijo Masaji in da so to pač njihove domače krave. Kasneje smo res videli tudi v rdeče in vijoličasto ogrnjene masajske pastirje.

At the beginning on the first day we excitedly took photos of every animal that we saw. I caught myself pointing my camera at a heard of cows that were grazing next to zebras. Then I asked myself: what are cows doing in a safari and why am I photographing them? The driver explained that Masai people live in the national parks and that these are their domestic cows. Later we saw Masai shepherds dressed in red and purple blankets.

Ceste skozi rezervate so izrazito luknjaste, zato nas je v avtu premetavalo sem in tja. Na poti smo srečevali številna podobna vozila kakor naše, polna turistov. Občasno smo videli ob cesti ustavljen avto, kjer se je šofer mučil z menjavanjem kolesa. In ni trajalo dolgo, da smo bili tudi mi na vrsti. Naš šofer je ugotovil, da je nekaj narobe z amortizerjem na levem sprednjem kolesu, zato je ustavil avto in se lotil popravila. Med tem se je ustavilo še nekaj drugih avtomobilov s turisti, saj so šoferji navajeni, da pomagajo drug drugemu in tako so se šoferji ukvarjali s popravilom, mi turisti pa smo stali okrog in opazovali mehanike pri delu. Od nekod se je prikazal masajski pastir, ki se je nemo približal skupini opazovalcev in tudi sam gledal, kaj se dogaja, nekoliko kasneje pa sta se skupini gledalcev priključila še dva masajska pastirja.

The roads in safaris are full of holes and we bounced up and down in our car. We passed many vehicles similar to on the roads. Occasionally we saw a driver by the side of the road changing a flat tire on his vehicle. Soon enough it was our turn. Our driver noticed a problem with the shock absorber on the left front wheel and he stopped to repair it. A few other vehicles with their tourists stopped as the drivers generally help each other when someone has a problem. So the drivers worked on our vehicle while the tourists stood around and watched them. A Masai shepherd appeared from somewhere and silently joined the audience and a little later two more Masai shepherds came to watch.

Ena izmed turistk, Američanka, je Masajem ponudila žvečilni gumi in naredila veliko sceno iz tega, da jim je kazala, kako naj le žvečijo in ga ne pogoltnejo. Masaji so mirno žvečili in si verjetno mislili svoje, namreč prepričana sem, da glede na številne trume turistov, ki se dnevno prevažajo skozi rezervate, verjetno ni bilo prvič, da so videli žvečilni gumi in da jim je bilo najbrž jasno, kako se žveči. Ko je navdušenje nad žvečilnim gumijem minilo, je Američanka iz svojega vozila privlekla nekaj, kar je izgledalo kot hamburger (ni mi jasno, kje ga je dobila sredi afriške divjine, verjetno so jim morali narediti hamburgerje v hotelu, kjer so prenočevali), in ga ponudila enemu izmed Masajev. Ta ga je vzel, pogledal, in spravil v culo, ki jo je imel pod ogrinjalom. Potem je Američanka iz avtomobila prinesla še nek blok z nalepkami in se lotila lepljenja nalepk na roke Masajev. Ti so mirno gledali in ji pustili veselje, mi pa smo se zgražali, ker se nam je zdelo njeno obnašanje do Masajev precej nespoštljivo. Komentirala sem nekaj v zvezi z neumnimi Američani, pa so me slišali, in so bili tako užaljeni, da so se obrnili in odkorakali stran. No, vsaj Masaje so potem pustili pri miru.

One of the tourists, an American woman, offered the Masai guys chewing gum and made a big show of demonstrating how they're supposed to chew it but not swallow it. The Masai chewed quietly and probably secretly rolled their eyes. I'm pretty sure that considering the masses of tourists that come their way every day it wasn't the first time they saw chewing gum and probably knew how to chew it. When her excitement over the chewing gum waned, the American woman produced a hamburger from her vehicle (I have no idea where she got a hamburger in the middle of African wilderness, she probably had it made at the hotel where they were spending the night) and offered it to one of the Masai. He took it wordlessly and put it away in a pouch under the blanket in which he was wrapped. Then the same woman took a sheet of stickers from the car and stuck the labels onto the Masai's hands. They just stood there and let her have her fun while the rest of us tourists were appalled at her inappropriate behavior. I muttered something about stupid Americans and they heard me and took offense, turned their backs and walked away. At least they then left the Masai alone.

Glede teh Masajev pa tudi nisem povsem prepričana, ali so resnični, ali so le nastavljeni za ogled turistom. Namreč ko so se na nekem počivališču Masaji približali našemu avtu in nam ponujali spominke, je pihal veter, ki je privzdigoval njihova ogrinjala, tako da sem prav dobro videla, da so imeli pod ogrinjali oblečene termo velur puloverje, ki so izgledali precej novi, enemu pa je privzdignilo krilo, pod katerim so bile vidne kratke hlače iz odrezanih kavbojk. Ne vem, ali se pravi Masaji pod ogrinjali res oblačijo v puloverje in kavbojke. Ponujali so nam tudi ogled masajske vasi, za katerega so hoteli zaračunati po 50 USD na osebo, kar se nam je zdelo preveč in se zanj nismo odločili. Mislim pa, da vsaj nekaj Masajev zares živi v teh rezervatih, saj se je med turističnimi vozili na cestah skozi rezervate znašel tudi avtobus, ki je izgledal kot redna linija, videla sem, da je bil na njem sprevodnik, ki je potnikom pregledoval vozovnice.

I'm not sure whether the Masai were real or just some people dressed up as Masai as tourist attractions. At a rest stop where Masai approached our car to sell us souvenirs, the wind was blowing and it raised the blankets in which they were wrapped to expose new looking fleece sweaters and cut off jeans underneath. I don't know if real Masai wear fleece and jeans under their blankets. They offered a visit to a Masai village for US $50 per person which was too much for us and we declined. But I do believe that locals really live in the villages in the national parks because I noticed a bus that looked like it had a regular route and a conductor was on it to check tickets.

Za razliko od južnoafriških safarijev, kjer smo največkrat videli le posamezne živali, so v Tanzaniji rezervati mnogo večji, gostota živali v njih je prav tako velika, tako da smo lahko videli živali v zelo velikih skupinah. Med drugim smo videli zebre, gnuje, bivole, slone, Thomsonove gazele, impale, opice vervet, pavijane, žirafe, nilske konje, hijene, flaminge in še marsikaj. Najbolj sem bila navdušena nad levi, ki jih je bilo večkrat mogoče videti, tudi prav blizu avtomobila. Na enem mestu smo imeli priložnost opazovati levinjo, ki je sedela ob cesti in gledala proti čredi zeber v daljavi. Verjetno si je izbirala, katero bi najraje pojedla. Drugo levinjo pa smo videli v pozi, ko se je pripravljala na lov, saj je bila usmerjena proti čredi antilop. Žal je bilo v bližini preveč avtomobilov in hrupa, ki jo je zmotil pri koncentraciji in je misel na lov opustila, raje se je ulegla in se začela po mačje umivati. Prepričana pa sem, da bi z malo potrpljenja in na kakšnem manj obljudenem delu rezervata verjetno lahko videli levinjo pri lovu.

As compared to safaris in South Africa, where we usually saw individual animals, the safaris in Tanzania are so much larger and the animal density is higher so that we usually saw animals in large herds. We saw zebras, gnus, buffaloes, elephants, Thomson gazelles, impalas, vervet monkeys, baboons, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, flamingos to name a few. I was fascinated by the lions that we saw often, sometimes very close to our car. One time we were fortunate to be able to observe a lioness who sat by the side of the road and observed a herd of zebras in the distance. She was probably selecting the tastiest one. Another lioness was in a hunting pose, facing a herd of antelopes. Unfortunately there were too many cars and noise that probably affected her concentration so she gave up hunting and rather laid down and starting washing herself, just like a domestic cat. I'm sure that with a little patience in a more remote part of the national park we could have witness a lioness hunting.

Izmed velikih pet živali (lev, leopard, slon, nosorog in bivol) sem zdaj v živo videla tudi bivola, tako da mi do popolne zbirke vseh pet manjka le še leopard. Tega so uspeli videti moji sopotniki, ki so sedeli na drugi strani avtomobila, kakor jaz, saj so videli leoparda, ki je skočil z drevesa, jaz pa žal nisem imela te sreče. Torej za leoparda bo treba še v kakšen safari, čeprav ga je menda težko videti, ker je bolj nočna žival.

Among the big five (lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo) I now saw the buffalo so that the only one I still haven't seen is the leopard. Those who were sitting on the opposite side of the car managed to see one jump off a tree but I wasn't so lucky this time. So I will have to visit more safaris in order to see the leopard although it is difficult to spot as it is more of a nocturnal animal.

Eno popoldne smo prispeli do našega prenočišča dovolj zgodaj, da smo imeli še čas pred večerjo oditi na sprehod v bližnjo vas. Moja prva reakcija ob misli, da bi šli peš v vas, je bila, da je prenevarno, saj sem po devetih mesecih življenja v Johannesburgu kar podzavestno prepričana, da se v Afriki ne hodi peš naokrog, ker je prenevarno. Potem pa sem se le spomnila, da sem potovala že marsikje po svetu in da doslej še nisem pomislila, da ne bi šla nekam peš. Na poti v vas so za nami tekli otroci in klicali »give me money«, v vasi so nas takoj našli prodajalci spominkov in nas oblegali toliko časa, da smo nekaj kupili, na poti nazaj pa smo se ustavili v gostilni, kjer je bilo po pričakovanju pivo trikrat ceneje, kakor potem zvečer v našem prenočišču.

On one of the afternoons we arrived at our lodging early enough to be able to take a walk to the nearby village before dinner. My first thought when we walked towards the village was that it probably isn't safe because after living in Johannesburg for nine months I naturally assumed that it's too dangerous to walk in Africa. But then I remembered that I had traveled to many places in the world and that I never had the impression that I shouldn't walk. On our walk to the village the children chased us, yelling "give me money". The souvenir vendors in the village spied us and wouldn't leave us alone until we bought something. On our way back we stopped at a restaurant where we predictably had beer that cost one third of what it cost later that night at our lodge.

Po obisku Tanzanije sem precej spremenila moje stališče do Afrike. Prej bi za potovanje vedno raje izbrala Azijo, zdaj pa sem ugotovila, da zna biti Afrika zelo zanimiva, prijazna in vsekakor vredna nadaljnjega raziskovanja.

After visiting Tanzania I completely changed my mind about Africa. I used to believe that only Asia is worth visiting but now I know that Africa is very interesting, kind to tourists and definitely worth further exploration.

Kilimanjaro

O vzponu na Kilimanjaro sem razmišljala že pred leti, pa potem nikoli ni bilo prave priložnosti, da bi šla. Zdaj, ko živimo v Afriki, je edino smiselno, da izkoristimo dopust na tem kontinentu in ko nas je sodelavec, ki je bil pred dvema letoma na Kilimanjaru, navdušil za ta podvig, je padla odločitev, da gremo. Pa smo šli v Tanzanijo, razen naše družine še sodelavki Olga iz Litve in Linda iz Latvije.

I've thought about climbing Kilimanjaro many years ago, but there was never the right opportunity to go. Now that we live in Africa, it makes sense to spend our vacation on this continent. When a colleague who climbed Kilimanjaro two years ago inspired us for the challenge, the decision was made that we should go. So we headed to Tanzania, our family and two colleagues, Olga from Lithuania and Linda from Latvia.

Na Kilimanjaru ob večini poti ni planinskih koč, zato je treba nositi hrano, vodo, šotore in vso ostalo opremo s seboj. Kar seveda pomeni, da je treba najeti nosače oziroma prepustiti vso organizacijo agenciji, ki se ukvarja s tem. Za nas pet turistov nam je agencija priskrbela deset nosačev in dva pomočnika, ki sta nam stregla hrano, postavljala šotore, nas zjutraj budila in nam prinesla kavo v šotor ter skrbela, da nam je bilo čim bolj udobno, kolikor je na taki gori brez vode in sanitarij sploh mogoče. V odpravi je bil še kuhar, ki nas je z velikim veseljem razvajal. Nisem pričakovala, da nam bo na gori v skromnih okoliščinah recimo spekel pomfri, ocvrl pecivo, kuhal tople zajtrke, kosila in večerje s sadjem in zelenjavo. Potem smo imeli seveda tudi vodjo odprave in dva vodnika, ki so bili zadolženi za to, da so nas uspešno spravili na goro in nazaj dol.

There are hardly any mountain huts on Kilimanjaro and therefore all food, water, tents and other supplies must be carried along. Which means that we needed porters or better yet, we hired an agency who take care of everything for us. For the five of us, the agency supplied ten porters and two assistants who served us, raised our tents, woke us up in the mornings and brought coffee into our tents and generally made sure that we were comfortable as much as possible, considering that there is no water or any facilities on the mountain. Our staff included a cook who was pleased to pamper us. I didn't expect that he would be able to make french fries, desserts, hot breakfasts, lunches and dinners that included fruit and vegetables in such meager conditions. We also had a head guide and two assistant guides whose job was to get us safely to the top of the mountain and back.

Prvi dan se je pot vlekla skozi deževni gozd in čeprav je avgust mesec z najmanj padavinami v letu, nas je takoj ob odhodu spremljala ploha. Zdaj tudi vem, kaj to pomeni hodit skozi deževni gozd, saj tudi ko je nehalo deževati, je kapljalo z dreves, vse je bilo mokro in blatno, gozd pa preraščen z mahom. Prespali smo v kampu Umbwe cave, v šotorih in se čim bolj izogibali blatu, ki ga je bilo polno vsepovsod. Drugi dan se je pot nadaljevala skozi deževni gozd, a smo nekje sredi dneva prišli nad mejo oblakov, kjer se je končno zjasnilo in smo šele prvič zagledali goro, na katero gremo. Za vzpon smo izbrali najbolj strmo pot Umbwe, ta je tudi najmanj obljudena, tako da smo bili prva dva dni sami z našo odpravo na poti. Drugi večer smo prispeli v kamp Barranco na nadmorski višini okrog 4000 m, ki leži na stičišču treh poti in tam smo srečali še mnogo drugih turistov s svojimi nosači, tako da je bil kamp poln šotorov in v njih na stotine ljudi.

The first day our path took us through the rainforest. Although August is the month with the least rainfall, we were greeted by a rain shower as soon as we started. Now I know what rainforest actually means,it's wet and muddy and covered in moss all the time, even when it stops raining. We spent the night at Umbwe cave, sleeping in tents and trying to avoid the mud that was everywhere. On the second day our path continued through the rainforest but sometime during the day we came out of the clouds where it was finally sunny and clear and we could see the mountain where we were going for the first time. We chose the Umbwe path to ascend which is the steepest and also the least crowded and so our entourage was alone for the first two days of our climb. The second night we arrived at Barranco camp at elevation about 4000 m. This camp lies at the crossroads of three different ascent paths and there we met many other climbers with their porters and so the camp was full of people.

Tretji dan je bil namenjen aklimatizaciji, zato je bilo le nekaj ur hoje navzgor in spet nazaj dol. Močno sem občutila pomanjkanje kisika zaradi višine, sicer pa kakih večjih težav ni bilo, razen tega, da je bilo vedno bolj mrzlo, ponoči je zmrzovalo in smo imeli zjutraj slano na šotoru. Prespali smo v kampu Karanga, na nadmorski višini okrog 4000 m. Četrti dan smo se povzpeli še kakih 600 m višje, v kamp Barafu, ponoči pa se je začel vzpon na vrh. Poskusili smo se čim bolj spočiti pred vzponom, a me je zaradi pomanjkljive aklimatizacije bolela glava in mi je bilo slabo in zato ni bilo preveč počitka.

The third day was set aside for acclimatization. We only walked a couple of hours uphill and then downhill again. I felt the lack of oxygen due to the high altitude, but I didn't have any other altitude related problems. It was getting colder and even freezing at night so that we had ice on our tents in the morning. We spent the night at Karanga camp at an altitude of about 4000 m. The fourth day we ascended about 600 m higher to the Barafu camp from where we made our summit climb during the night. We tried to rest as much as we could but it was difficult because I had a headache and was nauseous due to insufficient acclimatization.

Ob 11h zvečer smo odrinili proti vrhu, nas pet turistov in trije vodniki, razen naše skupine pa še številni drugi turisti s svojimi vodniki. Temperatura je bila pod ničlo, ko smo se vzpenjali, pa je postajalo vedno hladneje. Težko smo dihali zaradi višine in po skoraj štirih urah sopihanja v temi navzgor na nadmorski višini kakih 5300 m je sina premagala višinska bolezen, tako da ni več vedel, kje je in kam gre, zato sta se z Markom obrnila nazaj in se v spremstvu vodnika vrnila v kamp. Olga, Linda in jaz pa smo se ob pomoči preostalih dveh vodnikov prebijale naprej. V nadaljevanju je zvilo Olgo. Bruhala je, a ji je bilo potem bolje in smo šli naprej. Naslednja je bila na vrsti Linda, ki je omedlela, na srečo jo je vodnik pravočasno ujel. Vsedli smo se na skale, popili nekaj požirkov vode in pojedli košček energetske ploščice, Linda se je ozavestila in smo odrinili naprej. Dalj časa počivati ni bilo mogoče, saj bi zaradi mraza verjetno pozebli. Bilo je zelo naporno in nisem se mogla odločiti, ali naj raje bruham, ali omedlim. Razmišljala sem, da če omedlim, ne bom mogla naprej, nazaj pa je bilo tudi vprašljivo, ali bi me kdo nesel, za bruhanje pa mi tudi ni bilo preveč, čeprav mi je bilo slabo. Začelo me je zebsti v prste na nogah in me je zaskrbelo zaradi omrzlin, pa sem se spomnila, da je treba migati s prsti na nogah, da jih ogrejem. Skoncentrirala sem se na pomikanje naprej, počasi, najprej ena noga naprej, vdih in izdih, pomigati s prsti, potem druga noga naprej, vdih in izdih in tako dalje, ure in ure v temi in mrazu po serpentinah navzgor. Še dobro, da je bila tema, sicer če bi vnaprej videla, kako daleč je treba še prilesti, bi morda izgubila voljo. Voda, ki sem jo imela za pitje, je začela zmrzovati, zato sem prestavila pollitersko plastenko v notranji žep bunde. Najbolj sem si želela, da bi se zdanilo, a kar ni hotelo postati svetlo. Šele ko smo se po sedmih urah hoje končno privlekli na greben, na točko imenovano Stella Point na nadmorski višini okrog 5700 m, se je začelo nekoliko svetlikati na obzorju. Imeli pa smo še dobre pol ure in 100 višinskih metrov poti po grebenu do vrha. Poskusila sem ugasniti naglavno svetilko, ki sem jo imela prižgano vso pot, a skozi rokavico nisem občutila gumba, zato sem snela rokavico in jo ugasnila, bilo pa je tako mrzlo, da sem potem še nekaj časa ogrevala roko. Na vrhu smo se na hitro fotografirali, potem pa se obrnili nazaj, saj zaradi vetra in mraza ni bilo možno posedanje in občudovanje razgleda. Na grebenu je sicer sneg, a ga ni prav veliko, večji del poti je kopen. To, kar se iz daljave vidi kot sneg na Kilimanjaru, je v resnici sosednji ledenik.

All five of us, along with our three guides started the summit climb at 11 PM. In addition to our group there were countless other tourists with their guides. The temperature was below freezing when we started and it only got colder as we ascended. We had difficulty breathing due to the altitude and after almost four hours of gruelling climbing at an altitude of about 5300 m our son succumbed to altitude sickness. He became disoriented and so Marko decided that they should return back down to camp accompanied by one of the guides. Olga, Linda and I continued our way up supported by the remaining two guides. The next victim was Olga. She vomited but she felt better after that and so we continued. Then Linda fainted and the guide was fortunately there to catch her before she fell. We sat down for a while, drank a few sips of water and ate a bite off an energy bar. Linda came to and we continued. We couldn't rest longer because we could get frostbite. It was very tough and I couldn't decide whether I should vomit or faint. I thought that if I faint, I couldn't go on and they probably wouldn't carry me back down and I didn't feel like vomiting although I was nauseous. My toes were cold and I remembered that I need to move them to increase circulation. I concentrated on moving forward slowly, first one leg, then the other, inhale and exhale, wiggle my toes and so on, hours and hours on end in the dark and the cold on the winding path upwards. Since it was dark I couldn't see how much further the path went and I'm glad that I didn't know or I might have become discouraged. My drinking water started freezing so I placed the bottle in the inside pocket of my parka. I wished so much for daylight that just wouldn't come.  Only after seven hours of going uphill, when we reached the Stella Point on the ridge at an altitude of about 5700 m, a promise of dawn showed on the horizon. We still had a good half hour and about 100 m of altitude to go. I tried to switch off my headlamp that I used during my climb but I couldn't do it with my glove. I removed the glove just to do that but it was so cold that I spent some time after that warming back my hand. At the summit we took a few minutes to take photos and immediately turned back as it was much too cold and windy to hang around and admire the view. There is some snow on the ridge, but not much as most of the path is dry. What looks like the snows of Kilimanjaro from afar is actually the neighboring glacier.

Na poti nazaj do kampa nas je vodnik peljal dol po melišču in tako smo celotno pot, za katero smo navzgor porabili skoraj 8 ur, nazaj grede opravili v manj kakor 2 urah. Za kratek čas smo se spočili in na hitro pomalicali, saj nas je kuhar pričakal s toplo juho, potem pa takoj odrinili nižje navzdol, v kamp Mweka na nadmorski višini okrog 3000 m. Tam sem se prvič po nekaj dneh pošteno naspala. Naslednji dan smo se spustili v nižino, spet skozi deževni gozd in blato, a nič hudega, saj nas je na koncu poti čakal hotel s tušem in vročo vodo in vrnitev v civilizacijo.

On our way back down our guide led us along the scree which allowed us to slide down and so it took us less than 2 hours to get down the slope that took us almost 8 hours to ascend. We rested briefly and had lunch as our cooked awaited us with warm soup. Then we continued back down to the Mweka camp at an altitude of about 3000 m. After many days I finally had a good night's sleep. The next day we continued down through the rainforest and mud, but it didn't matter because we knew that a hotel with a hot shower and civilization awaits us.

Tako torej, uspel mi je vzpon na Kilimanjaro. Saj sem zadovoljna, da sem prilezla na vrh, a če bi me zdaj kdo vprašal, ali se je splačalo in ali bi šla še enkrat, bi rekla odločno ne. Zdelo se mi je mnogo preveč napora za premajhno zadovoljstvo, saj na vrhu nisem utegnila resnično uživati ob dosežku, ampak sem si le želela, da bi se vse skupaj čim prej končalo. Morda bi bilo drugače, če bi si vzeli več dni za aklimatizacijo, tako da me vsaj ne bi mučil glavobol in slabost med vzponom na vrh. Doživetje pa je bilo vendarle nepozabno, zlasti ker so vodniki in ostali člani odprave odlično skrbeli za nas.

So I finally made it to the summit of Kilimanjaro. Of course I'm glad that I made it up there, but if you were to ask me whether it was worth it or whether I would do it again, I would say definitely no. It was too much effort for very little reward because I couldn't really enjoy being on the summit and I only wanted for the suffering to end. Perhaps it might have been different if we took more time to acclimatize to the altitude so I wouldn't have a headache and nausea. But in general it was an unforgettable experience especially since our guides and other members of our support team took such good care of us.