It’s the biggest question people have before climbing Kilimanjaro, and certainly the one which gave me the most anxiety before my own climb: how do I train so I’m fit enough to get to the top?
Kilimanjaro is a non technical climb, which means it doesn’t require any specialist equipment or climbing experience to reach the top. However that’s not to say that it isn’t incredibly challenging to get to the summit, and training beforehand will definitely improve your chances of reaching the top.
Here’s what I recommend; the training which personally came in handy, and the training I wish I had done.
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If you’re looking to observe African wildlife in the wild, it’s hard to beat Tanzania in terms of its sheer numbers and variety of animals.
Home to more than three dozen national parks and game reserves, Tanzania is said to boast a fifth of Africa’s large mammal population. The country is of course home to big name destinations like the Serengeti and Ngorongoro as well as national parks like Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tarangire, and the Mahale Mountains.
You have the chance of seeing every iconic African animal in Tanzania including the Big Five, the big cats, hippos, crocodiles, and all kinds of antelope species. You can even seek out reserves that are home to African wild dogs and chimpanzees.
The country’s control of poaching has enabled its wildlife to flourish and with so many animals on offer it’s hard to put a spotlight on just a few. That being said, here are seven animals that are often on every safari-lover’s bucket list.
For the best chance of spotting wildlife, I recommend traveling during the dry season which runs from roughly June to October or attempt to time your visit during the Great Wildebeest Migration.
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I’ve written a lot about how climbing Mt Kilimanjaro changed my life; it pushed me to discover my physical and mental abilities, and transformed my whole perspective on life.
Oh, and I returned home from Kili with a husband (husbands not included in this March 2022 all female tour!).
But as I was climbing the mountain for my own personal development, I didn’t stop to notice that there was not one single female porter or guide. This was 2010, and fastforward 11 years, guiding trekkers to the summit of Kilimanjaro is still a male dominated world; fewer than 1% of the total guides being female.
Glory Thobias founded Tanzania Women Guides Foundation to change this by providing training and showing a career in guiding as a viable option for women. And to support these efforts, Solo Female Travelers is climbing to the top of Kilimanjaro on an all-female guide, porter and trekker team, to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022.
Will you join to climb to the top of Africa this coming March?
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The Serengeti is an ecosystem in Africa that spans 5,700 miles and is most famous for its vast plains. It’s one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa and has the biggest migration in the world, making it one of the most impressive natural events you’ll ever witness.
The Seregneti has become synonymous with Africa, and chances are, if you’ve dreamed about Africa, you’ve dreamed about the Serengeti. The park is so wildlife rich that there are over 4,000 lions, 1,000 leopards, 550 cheetahs and some 500 bird species. In this one National Park (granted, it’s a huge park!).
This is one of the best places on earth to observe African wildlife in their natural habitats, of which include riverine forests, swamps, kopjes, grasslands, and woodlands. So, the main question becomes, how many days do you need for exploring the Serengeti? We recommend four.
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Very few adventures ring true to the cliche of ‘adventure of a lifetime’, but climbing Mt Kilimanjaro is one of them.
The highest mountain in Africa, and the highest freestanding mountain in the world, at 5,895 meters this is one hell of a climb.
Kilimanjaro is popular because it’s a non technical climb, and doesn’t require any previous climbing experience to be able to safely reach the summit. You’ll trek through some truly incredible landscapes, and unlock personal transformation along the way.
But just because it doesn’t require technical experience doesn’t mean it isn’t a difficult achievement – it is. So before you start planning, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind.
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After seeing a documentary about climbing Kilimanjaro back in early 2010 and being inspired to make the attempt, I decided to see if I too could muster up enough confidence to take on Africa’s highest mountain.
I made plans to attempt the majestic climb and began preparing myself both mentally and physically for what would become one of the most rewarding adventures of my life.
Not only is Kilimanjaro the tallest peak in Africa, it also just so happens to be the highest free-standing mountain in the world. Situated in Tanzania along the Kenyan border, the mountain overlooks the Serengeti and Maasai Mara Reserve to the northwest and Tsavo National Park to the northeast.
Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the world’s seven summits, a collection of the tallest peaks on each continent. That puts Kilimanjaro in the company of legendary peaks like Asia’s Everest and South America’s Aconcagua. The great thing about Kilimanjaro though is that unlike Everest or Aconcagua, it doesn’t require technical climbing skills or specialized equipment such as ice picks or crampons.
While Kilimanjaro may be one of the easier seven summits to climb, it still requires a great deal of fitness and determination to reach the summit. Here’s how to plan out the trek.
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A safari trip in Africa is by far, one of the most exciting getaways you could ever experience. The vast continent is world famous for its wildlife safaris, incredible landscapes, and options for adventure, from classic jeep safaris, to visiting local tribes.
However, trying to decide on the best destination in Africa can be tricky. Each country that makes up the unique and culture-rich continent provides its own unique experience, though it’s important to decide on a destination that suits your individual requirements.
Both Kenya and Tanzania are the classic options for an African Safari; they both offer breathtaking scenery, amazing wildlife, and a long list of exciting activities from walking safaris to hot air balloon rides.
But, with both destinations sharing a border, they’re both incredibly similar. So, the inevitable question is how do you decide?
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Heading out on an African safari is an incredible experience, and especially for the wildlife enthusiast, getting up close and personal with some of the most majestic creatures on this planet is unlike anything else.
If you haven’t already added a safari trip to your bucket list, now is the time to do so! However, there are a few things you should know before you set off.
Here are five things they don’t tell you about your first safari.
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Many of us dream of taking an African safari at least once in our lives. And to witness wild lions lazing in the grass, and elephants trekking across vast plains; to spend time watching a magical sunrise as the African landscape comes alive; this truly is the experience of a lifetime.
But just as there are many countries to choose from for an African safari, there are also many types of safari experience, and the key to planning a memorable trip is to choose one that aligns with your interests.
Whether you’re a wildlife explorer ready to track wildlife in a classic jeep, or a cultural enthusiast who wants to take a walking safari led by local tribes, there isn’t one set ‘African Safari’. There are a huge range of safaris suited to all types of travelers, and all types of budgets, so don’t be fooled into thinking that your destination is the most important choice to make.
Here are our tips for choosing the perfect safari experience.
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In October 2010 I traveled to Tanzania with the goal of conquering a mountain. And at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft), it was really, really tall. The highest mountain in Tanzania, the highest mountain in Africa, and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, if we’re keeping score.
I trekked through some truly incredible landscapes, transformed as a person along the way, and battled through one of the world’s most challenging journeys over 7 days.
Kilimanjaro is powerful, awe-inspiring, and an experience which inspires transformation. But if you don’t know what to pack it’s going to make your life a hell of a lot harder than it has to be.
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Fairy tales have captured our hearts and minds since once upon a time, and these imagined lands are often so vivid that they stay with us into adulthood. We dream of escaping to these fantastic, otherworldly settings to escape the bore of daily life.
But the authors who imagine these enchanting lands often draw inspiration from locations in real life. From the mountains of Germany to the plains of sub-Saharan Africa, there are many places around the world which look like they’ve been ripped from the pages of a fairy tale. And that’s because the real world inspired the story.
If you love fairy tales and have a serious case of wanderlust, you can visit these real places that inspired some of the best stories of all time. None of these destinations require a fairy godmother to reach – just a short flight!
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When I mentioned to family and friends that I planned to climb Kilimanjaro, the overwhelming majority laughed. Not in a malicious way, but in a “you over-estimate your abilities” type of way.
And honestly, to begin with, I didn’t really care if I climbed Kilimanjaro or not. I was going to be in Tanzania, the mountain was going to be there, and I had read a feature about Thérèse Rein and vaguely remembered that the climb was something you could brag about having done (I still use it as a sticking point on my adventurous resume to this day).
But for my original indifference of whether I completed the climb or not, the decision was made when I was told “it’s a lovely goal, I just don’t think you’ll get to the top.” And honestly, I thank every single person who said this to me. Because this was the motivating factor which got me to the top. Come hell or high water (I did trek through hell, just not high water!), I was going to prove every single one of them wrong.
I often write about what travel has taught me, and how travel has changed my perspective on life. However a lot of my transformation happened on that mountain top.
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In October 2010 I traveled to Tanzania with the goal of conquering a mountain. And at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft), it was really, really tall. The highest mountain in Tanzania, the highest mountain in Africa, and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, if we’re keeping score.
Dominating the landscape like no other mountain, both iconic and instantly recognizable, Kilimanjaro is one of Africa’s most visited National Parks. Unlike the other parks, this isn’t for the wildlife, although it’s there. Rather, coming here is all about gazing in awe at a mountain on the equator capped with snow, and to climb to the top of Africa.
There are many decisions to consider when planning your Kilimanjaro climb, but the best decision you’ll make is to combine it with an African safari.
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When you think of Africa, images of wildlife immediately come to mind. And why not, after all, the vast continent is world famous for its wildlife safaris, and is known as the land of big five – the African elephant, African lion, Black rhinoceros, African leopard and Cape buffalo.
The big five are game animals, and the term refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot.
Though gone is the day where game hunting is acceptable, and now we load our cameras instead of guns.
The best-known countries for African Safaris are Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Get ready for the best African safari experience at any one of the following parks.
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Water is the most crucial condition for life of all kinds. All living organisms need it in order to survive, though there are more than 780 million people worldwide without access to clean drinking water. 345 million of them live in Africa alone. Every 21 seconds, a child dies from a water related sickness.
Instead of turning a blind eye, Charlie Christensen decided it was time to do something about it. On May 18 2015 he freed himself of his job, his apartment, and most of his possessions to begin Walking for Water; a philanthropic pilgrimage, on foot, from Denmark to Tanzania.
This means walking for 18,000 kilometers, through 28 countries, over 2.5 years. It is a journey to inspire the beginning of a movement meant to combine the trends of explorations and self realizing journeys with the noble cause of supplying the world with clean drinking water, wherever needed.
Almost one year in, he will cross the straight to Africa on the 18th of May 2016 to continue his journey.
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Francis Tapon is an extreme adventure traveler who has hiked across America four times, walked across Spain twice, and has traveled to 100 counties. An incredibly inspiring traveler with a thirst to see more of the world, he is currently on a four-year voyage to visit all 54 African countries.
And he’ll be filming his four year journey along the way to bring us a groundbreaking new TV series with footage and film from the places that CNN and Nat Geo don’t show you. His aim is to show the world the Unseen Africa.
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This week has been an account of my time climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, and while the first two days were recorded in excruciating details for you, the last 5 days were unfortunately not – sadly I guess I was too exhausted as the climbs became more difficult to keep a diary.
So this is an overview of the best and the rest!
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An African Safari is generally quite high on the bucket list of any traveler, and between Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Zambia, there is no shortage of options or availability!
Each country is a popular safari destination in their own right, however when Mike and myself had the opportunity to spend two weeks traveling through one of these countries, we opted for Tanzania.
Figuring that we couldn’t go wrong on safari in the Serengeti National Park, we chose an absolute classic African Safari setting which pretty much guaranteed that we would spot the “Big Five!”
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The majority of the previous night had been spent continuously waking up after spending the night rolling up and down my tent…upon reflection probably wasn’t the best idea to have set up my sleeping bag horizontally in a tent which was on a slope!
After being served Milo and tea in my tent (almost as good as breakfast in bed!), I stumbled out to breakfast with extremely low expectations of what I was about to consume.
Previous to leaving for Kilimanjaro we had heard horror stories about the breakfast ‘gruel’, so you can imagine the pleasant surprise when our porters walked in bearing platters full of eggs, sausages, tomatoes, cucumber and toast! For some reason I decided the ants would appreciate the first real breakfast I’d had in weeks more than I would so proceeded to drop my food in the dirt…fantastic!…lucky there was gruel available!!…it tasted like an extremely watered down, grainy chocolate porridge with the tang of light and tangy potato chips.
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Ascended 1500 m on day one, or 18km in 4 hours, to reach an altitude of 3,000m. Climbed through rainforest and camped in the desert. Very grateful for climbing boots…should have done more physical fitness training before coming! That being said, made excellent time and even though exhausted was in good spirits at the end of day 1 from a challenging but not unbearable climb.
Have an excellent group of climbing buddies and we’re now all fantastic friends. Glad I don’t have to carry the port-a-loo!
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