Gear Inspection Day

Last night I met my two fellow climbers.  I had noticed these guys around the hotel a couple of times since yesterday morning.  And, going by their names which Kiliwarriors had given me, I decided the names fit their look.  I was walking past reception and saw one of them and so I went up to him and asked if he was Nick Kumar.  He is, and as we were introducing ourselves, Seth Lefkowitz also joined us.

It turned out they were at reception waiting on their luggage - yep, they were one of the unlucky ones to arrive minus their bags - something that happens a lot here.  So they had now been without their luggage for one night and one day.  Their luggage did arrive as we were talking, so we only had a quick chat - but it was long enough to put my mind to rest on one issue that had been niggling at me.

My worst nightmare was that I would arrive and find my two climbing partners were a couple of Alpha Males who were out to show the world how fast they could summit.

My preferred options were that they would be a gay couple - almost always easy to get on with and not usually Alpha types.  Or that they would just be a couple of guys wanting to try something different, maybe their wives having said no way go climb the mountain yourselves and they had nothing to prove to anyone.

So, in our first brief conversation Nick told me that they want to take the climb very slowly and they are not usually hikers.   Great...breath a sigh of relief,  I told him my worst nightmare and he laughed and assured me they are not Alpha Males....I feel so much more confident knowing that we're on the same wave length.

So, today I went on a private Safari to Arusha National Park for half the day.  I didn't see all that many animals and the ones we did see we're quite far off , however I did get my first sighting of a Colobus Monkey and tried to get a decent photo but he kept moving around.  They have beautiful silky looking black and white hair.  Apparently they are often seen near the starting point of our climb so I may get another photo op tomorrow.

Late afternoon, Wilbert of Kiliwarriors came to do our gear inspection and give us a briefing.  I had to lay all my gear out on my bed so he could check I had all the necessaries and he instructed me on which items had to go in the day pack and which are to go in the main duffel bag.  We then met Nick and Seth for our briefing and Wilbert showed us our route up the mountain on a very detailed map.  He also explained there is a change of one camp from Sheffield Camp to Lava Tower Camp as the park has closed Sheffield Camp.

Wilbert told us that he will set the pace based on his assessment of our capabilities and we can tell him to slow down but we can't tell him to speed up.  He stressed there is a maximum pace he will not let us exceed as we need to go slow to acclimatise.  Seth said there was no chance they would be asking for a fast pace and more than likely asking him to slow down......ditto on that from me and I'm liking these guys already!

I asked about Diamox - medication for Altitude Sickness - and Wilbert's advice was that we start taking it tonight and take 125gms twice a day as a preventative measure.  He said it speeds up the bodies ability to acclimatise and is highly recommended.   Based on that, I'm following what he says.

Seth said he didn't bring any, I think he just wasn't sure about it's worth and Nick said he brought some but was not intending to use it unless he actually got sick.  So I think they are undecided on take it or not.

Dr Mullan had prescribed me 250gm tablets to be taken three times per day, I have now cut these in half  to make the 125gm dose .  So I figure that I can start on the low preventative dose and always up it if I still get crook.

Wilbert gave us our duffel bags and helmets and set us off with instructions to be ready to leave at 8.00am and to have an early night......woops better sign off :)