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5 Novels about Kilimanjaro

There are plenty of guidebooks out there to buy and read about Kilimanjaro but fancy something different? Looking for a contrast, these novels provide a different genre and an interesting insight!

 

 

This short story is praised as one of Hemigway’s greatest books. A film was released in 1952 starring Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck. The book tells the story of a writer who is at the end of his life after he contracts gangrene from a scratch on his leg. The writer sees his life flash before his eyes and how he reflects on the choices he has made in life.

 

The Amazon summary states this is “a Fast-paced novel relating the adventures of an ex-patriate American trying to con his way through politically explosive Tanzania”

 

 

 


This book tells the story of a Swedish couple who travel to the Great Rift Valley in East Africa in the late 1970’s. It explores the development and evolution of humankind in Africa.

 

 

 

 

This book is a non-fiction novel and was posthumously published from an unfinished manuscript. It is based on Hemingway’s diaries that he wrote on his last safari.

 

 


This is described as a spectacular photographic book. The author takes the reader on a journey into Africa to look for the elusive unicorn living on Kilimanjaro.

Everest Base Camp, Nepal

How to cope with the altitude on your trek

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Coping with the altitude can make or break any expedition to a mountainous area at higher altitudes.  There is no rhyme nor reason why some people cope better with the altitude than others. One thing for certain is that everyone needs to acclimatise well. Follow the tips below to help you understand the reasoning and to develop your strategy. 

At sea level, the air is more dense due to the air pressure. As you ascend you often hear the phrase that the air is ‘thinner’, this is because as you climb up a mountain the air pressure decreases and becomes less dense. The thinner air means that there is less oxygen molecules in the atmosphere to breathe at altitude, although the percentage of oxygen remains static at 21%.

Altitude sickness or AMS (acute mountain sickness) can effect individuals differently and the research indicates there is no particular pattern related to gender, age or fitness as to who will be more susceptible.

Altitude sickness can develop when you travel to a high altitude too quickly. Certain individuals may feel the effect of altitude at around 2500m. However, it’s usually above 3000m when symptoms start to develop. Early on you may feel a little more breathless than normal as you are ascending. As you get higher the signs and symptoms to look out for are a persistent headache, dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, disturbed sleep, weird dreams and fatigue.

That’s why when you are trekking it’s extremely important to acclimatise slowly and properly. Acclimatisation is the process in which your body adjusts to the change in altitude and the thinner air. Generally, on treks you ‘climb high, sleep low’ whereby you climb higher during the day then descend to a lower altitude for the overnight stop, which helps with the acclimatisation. It’s important than you drink plenty of water, little and often, as keeping hydrated helps with acclimatisation.

When trekking, it may feel very slow, sometimes too slow, to begin with but there’s a reason for this as it helps your body to adjust. On treks such as Kilimanjaro or Everest Base Camp, the guides will employ tactics to ensure that you don’t set off too fast. It’s all too easy when you have lots of energy at the beginning of the trek to go like a rocket. Howver,  this may lead to failure higher up on the trek. Did you know the demographics for the highest failure rate on Kilimanjaro is men under 30! Push your egos to one side 😉 It’s not a competition!

On Kilimanjaro, we take an extra day of acclimatisation on the trek as this increases the summit rate success. It makes it a more enjoyable experience for yourself as you can stop to take in the panoramic views, and to enjoy the nature and your surroundings.

The guides will monitor your health for the effects of altitude sickness and if your symptoms persist, will ensure that you retreat to a safer altitude.

There are drugs, such as, Acetazolamide or commonly known as Diamox, which can be obtained from your doctor. It can help you adjust and acclimatise quicker, but it will not reduce the symptoms of altitude sickness completely. If you still feel unwell, it’s important that you mention it to the guides so that they can keep you under assessment. The only only way to relieve the symptoms of altitude sickness and the guides will make a decision on whether it would be safer to descend.

Success! 🙂

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Goal setting in your training preparation for Kilimanjaro

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So you want to get fitter to climb Mount Kilimanjaro? What are you going to achieve this? How are you going to train?

It’s a common fact that those who set themselves goals are much more successful in life. Why?

Setting targets gives you something to aim for. It’s motivational and provides focus.

When setting yourself goals, you need to set them at the right level to be effective. Too challenging and you won’t complete them so they will have the reverse effect and be demotivational. Research indicates that when setting goals they should be moderately difficult to achieve, thus providing a challenge, but not too easy that you achieve your target quickly without any effort at all.

Goals should focus on the positive such as what you are aiming to achieve rather than focusing on the negative that is what behaviour you want to give up.

If you are unfamiliar and have never set yourselves any training goals previously, you need to ensure that they are SMART.

Specific – your goal shouldn’t be vague. It should target what you want to achieve.
Measureable – the goal should have some measureability in it so you know when you have achieved it.
Achievable – your goal should be challenging but not beyond the realms of reality.
Realistic -it should be real and meaningful. Don’t set yourself up for failure.
Timebound – your goal should indicate when you want to achieve it by.

If you are unfamiliar with trekking and want to set yourself targets to getting fitter, set yourself some SMART goals. These should be progressive and linked to each other.  Examples are given below:

1) to walk three days a week for 30 minutes for the first 4 weeks;
2) to walk three days a week for 1 hour and climb a mountain every Saturday for the following month;
3) to walk four days a week for 1.15 hours and to climb two mountains at the weekend for the next month.

This provides you with an action plan and a progressive set of SMART goals to help you achieve your objective of getting fitter to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. These are an example. You can adjust your goals accordingly to increase your own personal levels of fitness.

 

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