Poles and 'Pole pole'

I put in a few miles on the C&O Canal towpath and Billy Goat A earlier today... 6.7, but who's counting? I packed all my photo gear (12lbs worth) and 3L of water to see how my daypack would manage, and it did pretty well.

I also wanted to try out my Komperdell trekking poles. You can use them to keep your balance, but they're really good for using your arms to help propel you up a hill. When the trail is not terribly uneven, they're great. It's not a huge power boost - I've seen estimates of around 10% - but it's making use of muscles that would otherwise be along for the ride and save a bit of strain on your legs.

I was pulling them out of my pack at the end of section A - they're more trouble than they're worth on really rocky paths like that - when a hiker points to em and says "Those things are pretty good, aren't they?"

I said they were, and I had them out to see if I could get used to them. During the smalltalk, I mentioned I was going up Kili soon. "Ooohhh!" he said in an Aussie/Kiwi-sounding accent. "You'll really appreciate them there! They're great on an incline, especially when you get a good tempo going."

Turns out he had climbed Kili some time ago. I quipped that I was at least in good enough shape to go slowly. "Well, that's the secret to getting up Kili. The ones who rush it get into trouble. Pole pole."

Swahili for "slowly slowly" though the poles in my hands would help too.

I forgot about "pole pole" on the last half of Section A, and I was sucking wind. And getting a bit of heat exhaustion. In 90-degree heat. A few minutes rest (and slowing down after that) gave my second wind time to catch up.

Kili Weather Station

Some hardy UMass climate researchers parked a little weather station near the summit of Kili. It's been there just over 10 years now and apparently works like a charm.

While live or even daily data would be awesome, they only give last month's mean (average) conditions.

For April...
Air temp: -5.1°C (~22°F)
Wind:  20.4 km/hr (~12 mph)
Solar radiation: 948 W/m²  Woo! Feel the burn! ;)

Touristy Places ... in Heatmap Format

For the map nerds (and touristophobes)...
Worlds most and least touristy places

It's not hard to pick out Kili and the Serengeti, but good luck pinpointing Rome or Munich.

(Phrase)Book Review: Lonely Planet's Swahili

If you know two languages, you're bilingual.
If you know one language, you're American.

- Anonymous Foreign Twit

OK, the twit isn't entirely wrong. Many Americans only speak one language, and a lot don't have passports either. Look at a map and you'll understand why.

My American-ness notwithstanding, I can muddle through some German (took two years in undergrad, aber wer in Amerika Deutsche sprache?) and the dozen or so French and Italian words at least sounds nice. But most of that won't help in Tanzania.

So while I was dropping $$$ for a new camera lens on Amazon (at nearly $500 I better damn well get free shipping!), I picked up Lonely Planet's Swahili phrasebook. It was fairly inexpensive and I admit it's more than I bargained for.

A lot of phrasebooks are literally just books of phrases: Look up words and hope you don't massacre the language in the process. LP's guide does have plenty of phrases and a dictionary, but it's arranged by situation (dining, medical, sports, etc) and has a fair amount of cultural info to boot (it's considered good form to say hodi when you enter someone's home or office).

If you have the guts, there's also a short section on pronunciation, grammar and word order. (Unlike German, French and Italian, Swahili is more or less gender neutral.) And if you want to know what to say in, um, sexual situations, it's got you covered there too. (Tulia simba! = Easy, lion! ... there are no tigers in TZ.)

A few words and phrases I think will be useful:

jambo - hello

tafadhali - please

asante - thank you

ndiyo - yes

hapana - no

nataka - I would like 

kahawa - coffee

wiski - whiskey

asali - honey (I practically collect it)

poa - cool (as in how cool this trip will be)

pole pole - slowly slowly (as in how one should hike up Kili)

bwana - sir

Ni mei gana?- How much is it?

ghali sana - too expensive

elfu - 1,000 (very useful when it's 1,300 shillings to the dollar)

kutumia intaneti - Internet access

hatari - danger (also a John Wayne movie)

And a few I hope I don't need...

mwizi - thief

toka! - piss off!

mshenzi - bastard

mkundu - asshole

It's more respectful to tell off the locals in their language. ;)

A Shot In the Arm

Africa is home to many wonderful living things, and many that are not so wonderful. Some are a bit contagious and potentially lethal.

The CDC's Traveler's Health page for Tanzania reads like a hypochondriac's horror novel. Dengue fever, malaria, Plague (laying waste to humanity since 1347 ... and possibly longer), Schistosomiasis, African trypanosomiasis ... and many of these maladies don't have a vaccine. It's enough to make you want to stay home.

Many thousands of non-refundable dollars say I'm still going, so I'm getting a few more shots. The CDC suggests the following:

• Yellow Fever
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Typhoid
• Rabies (I'll pass on this one and just promise not to pet any critters)
• Polio (All those shots for school paid off)

Sounds delightful, no? I have to go to a travel clinic for typhoid and yellow fever, but my doctor was more than happy to start me on the Hep A/B series. Yes, I said series. It unfortunately is not a one-shot deal. Most of the others aren't either.

The first one hurt. @#$%! My arm's still a bit sore two days later. And in two weeks I get to relive the agony.