Packing.......hate it!

The worst part of any trip is the packing...without doubt I hate it!

So this time I have a packing list to follow curtesy of Kiliwarrors....this is going to make it easy right...wrong! 

I followed the packing list to a T....with the exception of knickers.  Like really, what female do you know who can go up a mountain for nine days with only three pair of knickers ?...yes that is 3!   No way, I'm taking five pair and consider this to be light on.  However, I did the right thing and compensated by leaving out some items I'm sure I won't need.  So all should be good, it should all fit in one bag and should be 20 kilos or less.....yeah right, like that's gonna happen.

Now remember, I'm following the packing list to climb Mt Kilimanjaro.  Nothing on this list allows for my ongoing travels after the mountain.      And my bag is FULL!  Make that bags as in plural.  My main case which gets checked in, my carry on trolley bag with camera equipment and some jackets squeezed into it and my daypack carry on bag which is chocka with things I'll need during the flight....like this iPad that I am currently typing on.

Part of the bulk are the supplements I need for the climb.  I've chosen the brand Endura and have 36 sachets of drink additive to replace electrolytes and magnesium etc, 25 energy gels ...for necessary shots of energy (read caffeine) and 9 protein bars, plus 1 kilo of nuts and trail mix.  All of this takes  up valuable space and weighs heaps but the amounts are actually half of what I originally planned on taking...I had to halve it to get it in the case!

I spoke to the Endura people they helped me calculate what I needed to take...but in the end practicality made me halve it and I trust this will do.

Louise came to the rescue and offered to carry some non mountain climbing clothes for me as she will have room in her bag.  So I dropped off 3 polo shirts and camera bean bag to her...thanks Lou :)

I weighed the main bag and it came in at 24k's, I'm sure the limit is 20k but I'm over it and will face the consequences at the airport.