Conquering Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

For the next couple legs of our trip my brother Jason is joining us! Jason arrived in early August and our first order of business was to tick a little something off our bucket lists in the form of the tallest mountain in Africa – Mt Kilimanjaro. Before tackling this 5895m monster Jason came and spent a few days at the orphanage with us to get to know some of the wonderful kids and to bring 2 massive, overflowing suitcases full of clothes, supplies, toys, etc. to the kids and aunties at Good Hope. Big thanks to my family in Canada who made generous donations to give all these people a little something extra! Everything went over amazing and everyone was very grateful!

Finally the time had arrived to make our attempt to conquer Kilimanjaro…… I don’t think any of us really knew what we were getting into!

Day 1: Starting Out

Pick up was at 9am at Good Hope and then it was off to the town of Moshi to the start gate of the Machame Route, our chosen path to Uhuru peak, the summit of Kilimanjaro.  After making stops for water, snacks and essential supplies (aka toilet paper) we arrived at the gate right around lunch time. While our guides and porters filled out paper work and weighted our supplies, we feasted on our lunch supplied in cute little lunch boxes, this was just a preview of the amazing meals got over the next 7 days.

After the paper work was done and supplies were divvied out across our crew, which consisted of a head guide, assistant guide, cook and 11 porters…….yup that’s right we had a 14 man crew to take the 3 of us up the mountain, we hit the trail.

Fresh faced starting out

The days trek was about 5 hours of pretty gradual uphill with a few more difficult parts, but all and all an easy day of walking. We made camp at 3000m, where after settling into our tents and washing up in the hot water basins supplied by our crew (nice touch), we feasted on popcorn, soup, bread, potatoes, veggies, chicken and mango! No wonder we needed 11 porters to carry all this stuff.  After dinner we chatted with our guides, Daniel and Joshua, for a while and they briefed us for the next day before we headed to bed.

Day 2: Steep but short

6:30am wake up & tea in the tent, 7:00 wash, 7:30 breakfast and 8:00 hit the trail loaded with our trusty lunch boxes. Day 2 was when they really started to drive POLE POLE into us. Pole pole means slowly in Swahili and you hear it non-stop while you are on the trail as many people forget that as you start to get into high altitude you can’t move at normal speed, there is just not enough air to use that kind of energy. Day 2 was filled with some pretty steep uphill but we ended early and by 2:15 we were resting comfortably at 3840m for the night.

Of our our porters on the trail 

Starting out on day 2

Jonny enjoying his lunch box

Day 3: Acclimatization

On day 3 I felt like absolute shit. I had woken up with a massive headache and all around lethargy that I just couldn’t shake. This was a day for acclimatization; we started the day by heading up to 4600m where we stayed for a while and ate our lunch boxes before heading downhill again to 3950m to camp for the night. Our campsite was buried deep in a valley and was amazingly picturesque but upon arrival I pretty much collapsed into our tent as the headache and fatigue got to me.  Luckily Jonny and Jason were still feeling good. After a couple Advil and a nap I had acclimatized and was feeling much better. At night we feasted again on a huge meal. With how much they feed us the first couple days it almost felt like they were fattening us up for the slaughter (in hindsight maybe they were).

Resting after lunch before our descent

My brother Jason washing up at camp

"The Wall" we had to face

One of our very large breakfasts

Day 4: The Wall

Day 4 started with us facing this massive rock wall that had been looming over our campsite. Around 8am after some tent side tea and breakfast we set off to conquer “the wall”. Turns out it looked a lot worse that it was and after only an hour of total uphill we had reached the top at 4200m. The rest of the day was pretty easy and gradual as days 3, 4 and 5 are meant to help us acclimatize and conserve energy for summit day. By 12:30 we had actual reached our camp for the night. We had a lunch and dinner feast this time, played some cards and then went to bed.

Getting ready to face the wall

Resting at the top of the wall with the team

Day 5: Base Camp

Another short day today to conserve energy for summit day and acclimatize since tonight we will be sleeping at our highest point, base camp at 4650m. That means we still need to get to 5895m and back before breakfast tomorrow! Day 5 was mostly uphill, but not killer and we pulled into base camp around 11:30am. Walking into base camp was like a scene out of some end of the earth movie, the landscape has no vegetation just shards of broken rock, no buildings just a sea of tent villages with some people manning the tents and other people looking like they had just come out of battle (these were the people who has just come down from the peak).

View of base camp

Jason and Jonny at Base Camp

View to the peak from base camp...... still so far!

Day 5 night/ Day 6: Summit Day

Bed time was early since the wake up time for starting our push to the summit was 11pm for our midnight start. I found myself in bed at 5:30pm, sun still shining in our tent, willing myself to fall asleep. No luck. Instead I found myself thinking of everything under the sun, including naming all the characters from Beverly Hills 90210 (original of course) to myself - I think I got them all including Jim and Cindy Walsh. Finally around 9pm I drifted off to sleep to be abruptly awoken at 11:10pm. After tea and a couple crackers we packed on our layers and started our ascent. They don’t serve a big breakfast before the summit because if you had that much food in you then you would puke.

Our ascent was estimated to take about 6-7 hours. Now we knew this was going to be hard, but nobody could have really prepared us for the actual level of difficulty. It’s a damn good think that you actually climb this thing in the dark because if I had seen this terrain in the light of day I would have taken 1 look and said HELL NO!

But like good troopers we set on our mission to conquer Kili one very Pole Pole step at a time. The 1^st hour was ok, the 2^nd was manageable but for me once3:30am hit I thought I was done for. By this point our guide had already started carrying my backpack because he could see I was struggling, and after needing to stop 3 times in under a min because I thought I was going to faint I really thought there was no way I was going to make it up. Our guide made the executive decision to split the so that I could go at my own pace. So with much trepidation Jonny and Jason headed on with the assist guide Joshua and I stayed with Daniel and Lison and summit porter.

Somehow I was able to continue on with wobbly steps, shallow breaths and many many stops, although the stops had to remain really short so we didn’t freeze to death, especially as you get close to the top the cold and wind can be vicious. The only way I can explain the cold is if you have ever spent 6 hours outside in Ottawa on a -30 wind-chill day when the wind is blowing so hard that it feels like it is slapping you in the face. That’s what it’s like.

Finally around 5:30 we reached Stella Point, the last major milestone before the peak, about an hour left! In most cases you would like that at this point adrenaline would just kick in but in my case my tank was so empty that the only thing keeping my going was repeating left, right, left, right in my head telling my feet to take steps. After a while I could see a peak in the distance…..I would make it! And just as the sun was about to rise too! Psych……not it. But after I hit the top of that peak I could actually see the real thing off in the distance about 100m (flat) away. Tears started to well up in my eyes partially because I knew I was going to make it and partially because I still wasn’t there!

 As I approached I found Jonny and Jason who had arrived about 10mins earlier. Jonny headed back to the peak with me while Jason and Joshua headed down. VICTORY!!! All this work for just 10mins at the top but really by the time we made it up there we just wanted to snap a few pics and get back to our tent lol. It sounds crazy but it was totally worth it.

Jonny and Jason at the peak 

Jonny and I celebrating at the top

At the top overlooking one of the glaciers with my note from the Good Hope kids

To add insult to injury after you have climbed all this way in the middle of the night you still need to head back down to base camp and then another 4 hours down on top of that.  After that we were at final camp and were 100% exhausted. We rested, said our goodbyes/thank you’s to our crew and then went to sleep before one last trek down on this journey.

Back at base camp after climbing down

Day 7: Finale

We hit the trail early on our last day so we could make it off the mountain and get safely into a bed where we could SLEEP! The last trek was about 3 hours downhill before making it to the exit gate. Hugs and high 5’s ensued as we finally crossed the finish line and signed the exit book (first ones of the day!). We hopped back on our bus for the hour long ride back to Arusha where we were dropped back off at Good Hope to reunite with the kids and then we very quickly went to BED!

Saying Goodbye to the entire crew

Just a few steps away from the end gate

Making a run for it at the end

We can safely say that we are incredibly proud and happy that we conquered Kilimanjaro and got to see all the amazing things along the way………….but we are NOT doing that again lol! Thanks to all the crew at Focus in Africa (http://www.focusinafrica.com/) and Jungle Adventure tours for getting us to the top!

OOO_Talia & Jonny

Maasai Village Chilling

Most tourists will come to Arusha to catch a safari or attempt a shot at summiting Mt Kilimangaro……Then there is us. We were lucky to get to know some great people while helping out at Good Hope Orphanage. We have seen throughout the year, the closer you can connect with locals, the more likely you are to experience some very authentic and wild times.

And when it came to visiting some of the famous Maasai people, one of the oldest African tribes, authentic and wild is exactly what we got.

It all started at a coffee shop chatting with a new friend who had spent nearly 2 years living near a traditional Maasai village for work. We became close friends with the people of the village and the chairman of the entire clan and was now working on some development projects to help their village. Conversations turned into concrete plans and next thing you know, we are in a safari van, headed 1.5hrs outside of Arusha to visit and spend the night in Massai village.

This wasn't like the standard massai village visit that most people get on safaris (i.e fake Boma’s set up with some massai hanging around selling crafts) - This was the real deal. You think you know, but you have no idea.

After pulling off the highway and off-roading for another 30 minutes into the bush, Massai boma’s (huts made of mud and cow dung) started to pop up. Then ours popped up.

A typical Maasai Boma - sleeps about 5-7 people

We were greeted by Ruben, a beauty guys and chairman of this village (about 1000 spread out all over the area). We met some of the women, children and warriors and were welcomed with open arms. We also got to meet a warrior in training. As part of Massai tradition the boys wait until they are anywhere from 13-18 before they are circumcised after which they head out into the bush for 3 months to live off the land and learn to be warriors.  Leading up to the circumcision the boys where all black and with white paint on their face……so they are pretty easy to pick out. Sadly in Maasai tradition they still usually practice female circumcision when the girls hit puberty, although it is illegal in Tanzania. Apparently they groups are working hard to educate and help evolve tradition away from female circumcision toward alternatives.  Typically, Massai aren’t keen on photos being taken, but because of our newly developed relationship with our guide, we got some of these beauties.

Cuddling with one of the Maasai babies

Child at the entrance of the Boma

Maasai woman

Jonny with a future Maasai warrior

Jonny and I with Ruben, the chairman

Off to the weekly Massai market we went. This is the market where all the Massai go to make their purchases for food, supplies, etc . On the way we also made a stop at the Maasai school for the area where Dom, our new friend, was raising funds to build a playground. Typically in a Maasai family not all the children (or any) will go to school as it is the school age children that typically heard the cattle and goats. Visiting the children was amazing and they were surprised and curious to see a bunch of Muzugu’s (aka foreigners or white people in Swahili). Back at the market we picked up a beauty blanket and then our special gift for the families that were hosting us - Bill Cosby… The goat (more on this in a moment). We also went for the sole purpose of smashing banana beers, a local liquor made from banana plants that you can pick up for 50 cents a pop, and getting in the banter that comes with it.

Dom with kids at the school

Maasai school children

Crowds at the market

New friend I met in the market

Enjoying a Banana beer

A Maasai gentleman who had a few too many Banana beers

We made it back to the village after a few Banana beers we took a hike with the crew and Ruben up moon hill to a look out for sunset. The whole hike up and down took about 2 hours and then it was time to go back for our goat.

Sunset from Moon Hill

One live goat costs about $30 and feeds the entire village so we figured - why not. It was the least we could do for having us in their home for the night.  The girls weren’t as down with watching the butchering as JJ and I. So they played with the children and we got amongst it. I will save you the details, but it was wild, such a strategic form of butchering leaving little to no mess.

To show respect to the animal and the Massai ritual of slaughtering the goat, we had to “enjoy” raw kidney freshly cut out of the body during the butchering. You know those times when you were watching Fear Factor, and you thought “I think I could do that”. You were wrong. Much respect to those contestants. I’m happy to report thought that JJ and I kept it down.

The legs and ribs were speared and placed around the fire for cooking. Everything else was used to stew or eaten raw. They waste ABSOLUTELY NOTHING on this goat.  After about 30 minutes of cooking we had some fresh goat, sitting around in the circle feasting on our goat, pretending to understand what Ruben and his warriors were talking about, and joining in on the banter as much as possible.

Sorry no photos of the slaughtered goat to share

Then it was off to bed in the mud huts. JJ, Kait and I snuggled in one while the rest of the team were babies and slept in the van.

Preparing to take the cattle grazing in the morning 

All in all, there was no (fake) welcome choreographed dance, there was nobody pushing Massai art or décor that you didn’t want. We got to take part in a truly unique experience, living amongst some real Massai going about their business, who were just as interested in us, as we were in them.

A big thanks to Dom, Ruben and the whole clan.

OOO_Jonny and Tals

Our time at Good Hope Orphanage and School

Ok we have admittedly been very delinquent on our blog since we have been in Africa but I swear it’s been for good reason.  For the last month we have had the pleasure of spending all of our time getting to know and falling in love with the wonderful people at Good Hope Orphanage and School in Ngusero, Tanzania. So to catch up on blogging and fill in interested parties on what we have been up to we thought we would share some information on the organization, the people and our life here.

The story of Good Hope is a touching and heart-warming one. Unlike many of the orphanages or volunteer “organizations”  ( I use the word organization lightly because really some of these places should be called volunteer businesses since they are often started and run by international people charging over 1000$ a week to volunteer there, while nearly none of that money actually gets to those that need it……sorry I will save this rant for another time), Good Hope Orphanage and school were started by a local family that was compelled to help others in their community.

In 2005, the founder, Mama Asha found a young girl named Rayah living on the streets of Arusha. She had lost both her parents and there was no one around to care for her. With deep compassion, Mama Asha and her family took Rayah in as her own daughter. In time, Mama Asha’s daughter, Fatma, became Rayah’s foster parent. Meanwhile, Mama Asha and her family devoted their lives to establishing a full-time orphanage for other street kids in Tanzania, taking in children who lost their parents because of a disease, accident and poverty or whose parents could no longer care for them, at present there are 15 kids at Good Hope where they are provided with a stable and loving home. They receive clothes, toys, a bed each, 3 meals a day and an education, which actually is a lot more that many of the kids in the neighborhood who have both parents.  Good Hope Orphanage really is a family for these orphans and provides a stable and loving home for them

Mama Asha with Rayah

From 2005-‘10, Good Hope Orphanage used a rented house for the children, staff and volunteers to live. Thanks to many donations from around the world, Good Hope Orphanage was able to build their own house. The Good Hope Nursery and Primary School is located on the same property. The school was started 6 years ago with just 6 students and is now up to 150 students from the neighborhood. It ranges from baby class (nursery school) up to class 5 and as we speak they are building another classroom so they can go up to class 6 next year. This way the current class 5 will have somewhere to go next year to continue their education.

Current property with Mt Meru in the background

Local kids at the school

Over the course of the month we really got to know each and every one of the kids and in a short time had fallen in love with all of them.  Many, Many times I caught myself longing to have a massive house back home that I can bring them all too – but there is no way I could care for them better than they are here!

The Girls

Rachel – The youngest of the girls, is the smallest, tiniest little thing ever. Even at 6 years old she is smaller than the 4 year olds, I am pretty sure she still fits into toddler clothes. She has been there almost 2 years and speaks English quite well. She is a fearless little thing; she can watch scary movies with the boys and will attempt things on the monkey bars that used to make me cringe.

Anna – She is one of the most gorgeous little girls I have ever seen and loves to play with all the volunteers.  You can’t go one day, barely one hour without her saying “come to play, come to play”. If she sees you doing something with one of the kids you can bet that you will do it with her too!

Usthra – She was definitely the quietest of all the kids and you rarely heard a word out of her, but she loved to cuddle! You wouldn’t hear anything from her and then all of a sudden she would have her head on your leg. She also fell asleep this way all the time and would need to be carried to bed!

Nusura – One of the most fun loving of the girls who had one of the best laughs I have ever heard. She always had something positive to say! She loved to play hair saloon on me and showed me the proper way to hand wash socks.

Rayah – She was the original child for whom the orphanage was started and she clearly holds a special place in the hearts of all the founders. She is a super sweet little girl, and number one in her class!

Janet – She is both the mom and the joker of the kids group. Almost every day you could find her helping the aunties with dinner, helping clean up or helping out with the younger girls. But she also loves to joke around and pull pranks on everyone.

Prisca – She is such an amazing girl; I often had to remind myself that she is just a kid. She is probably one of the smartest kids I have ever met (also first in her class) and 100% fluent in English. She always would play translator between us and the Aunties since they only spoke Swahili. She is also funny, sweet and sensitive!

From L to R: Prisca, Rayah, Usthra, Rachel, Nusura, Anna, Janet

The Boys

Gifty – He is one of the absolutely most adorable kids I have ever met. First off he is just the cutest thing, but on top of it he is also super sweet. I swear I contemplated emptying my entire backpack so I could put him in it. He loves puzzles (and for 4 years old is really good at them), is afraid of pretty much all movies, gives big hugs and kisses, and if there is music on he WILL dance to it!

Jonny – Jonny is not actually a child at the orphanage, his mother is one of the aunties who work there, but since she is there working from 6am to 9pm 7 days a week he pretty much lives there and we got to spend as much time with him as the others. He is still working on his English and learning volunteer names so he pretty much just calls everyone teacher lol! He loves to do puzzles too, but is still figuring out to concept (i.e. not just mashing pieces together).

Freddy – He is the fasted kid ever and will beat absolutely anyone in a race.  Even though you will often catch him with what looks like a scowl on his face deep down he is a really funny kid and really lovable - even though he hates girls lol! I couldn’t convince him to give me a hug before leaving but he did cave and give me a high 5.

Mohamed – Is one of the more quiet kids, but is always up for going outside to play soccer, rugby or pretty much anything you propose. He also took our typing lesson time quite seriously and caught on crazy fast! I would also catch him being really sweet to the younger boys and definitely has some older brother qualities building in him.

Aloise – A master on the jungle gym, I nicknamed Aloise Spiderman because he could actually scale or climb anything. He also lovvvvved to do card tricks, but is still working on mastering them. He is a really sweet kid who was also just entering the “I don’t like girls” phase…..but I did convince him to give me a hug before leaving!

Living – The most positive kid on earth. Period. Spending time with Living (or In Living Colour as we liked to call him) was such a pleasure. We always had a huge smile and never would get down about anything. He is a great athlete and loves to watch movies so he was always easy to please. He also loves to make jokes…..him and Jonny were like two peas in a pod.  

Amri – One of the kids who touched my heart the most. One of the oldest of the kids there along with Swaif (both 12 years old), I found myself worrying about these guys the most because they are starting to move out of the kid stage and into teenager stage so puzzles, colouring and games just don’t do the trick with these guys. Especially Amri, he is the introverted, but really sweet kind of kid. I loved spending 1 on 1 time with him.

Swaif – Full of personality and wicked smart as well (number 2 in his class), he was also tonnes of fun to spend time with. He likes to give the volunteers a hard time when they take off for the weekend and would give me the silent treatment of I was out too long during the day, but he always came around!

From L to R: Jonny, Living, Amri, Mohamed, Freddy, Gifty, Swaif, Aloise

The Aunties & Ally

Bibi Jamila – She lives at the orphanage full-time and her primary responsibility is to care of the children. She gets them ready in the morning/evening, and helps with the preparation and cooking of the meals.

Auntie Fatuma & Ma-Jonny - The aunties’ primary responsibilities are to take care of the Orphanage. They do orphanage duties every day and ensure that the Orphanage is running smoothly. They leave around 9pm and return around 6 am, working countless hours to ensure a stable home for the kids

Ma-Jonny, Fatuma and Bibi

Ally – Mama Asha’s son and all around AMAZING person with the biggest heart. As Good Hope Orphanage coordinator, he organizes and supports volunteers, handles donations and assists volunteers with planning fundraising events.

Jonny and I with Ally on our very last day at Good Hope

During our time at Good Hope when we weren't hanging out with the kids, aunts and other volunteers, Jonny helped out with some construction work that needed to be done on the medical center, sanding and painting mostly, and I helped out around the school.  I regularly taught French to class 3 and class 5.  I learned that I would make a TERRIBLE teacher haha……but the kids were great (most of the time) so that made it a lot better!

Inside a school assembly

Jonny scrapping away some vandalism 

Last day with my Class 5 French students

In addition to helping out at the school and at the medical center we also did a lot of activities with the kids and other volunteers. We took them to the movies to see Batman, went out for pop and chips Mayai (this amazing African dish that is basically an omelette with French fries cooked into it – GENIUS) and organized a weekend of Good Hope “Olympics” filled with games, medals and prizes. We also enjoyed many a days just hanging out on the playground and cuddling up for movie nights in the kids’ room.

Jonny goofing off with Gifty

Playing in the play ground

Kicking off the Good Hope Olympics

Boys 100m Race

Nusura taking the lead of the spoon/ball race

While we were staying at the orphanage we also got to check out lots of Arusha and even had the chance to hit the town a few nights for a couple Tuskers (an African beer brand) with some other volunteers and local friends we made through Good Hope. We even took in some African line dancing…..seriously I said line dancing. It is much like regular western line dancing but with a bit for style and rhythm haha.

The experience of volunteering at Good Hope is whatever you make of it. There is no “to do” list for volunteers telling you what you should be doing every day, but whatever you put into your time here, you will definitely get back 10-fold.  A lot of times we felt guilty because we felt like we were getting so much more from our time here with the kids then we actually gave. Saying goodbye to the kids after more than a month with them was really hard (yes I did shed tears…..how could I not!), but this definitely will not be our last dealings with Good Hope, these kids are in our lives now and we will hopefully get to stay in theirs.  Our time at Good Hope was amazing, fun and incredibly fulfilling, but mostly getting to meet these kids and the people who started and run this organization really showed us what it is like to give back to your own community. This is a family, and a group of people, in a place where no one really has “extra” means or resources who used whatever they had to give back to these kids and give them more than just food, shelter and clothes, but give them opportunity for the future. 

If you are interested in finding out more about Good Hope just drop us a line or check out their website directly http://www.goodhopeorphanage.org/

OOO_Talia and Jonny