[Chunder]

... a photo opportunity and a half!

At the end of this month, I'm off on a trek up to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the tallest free-standing mountain in the world - almost 20,000 feet above sea level.

I'm going with a group of work colleagues (it was a "prize"!) and pretty much everything is being paid for by the company - not going to be a holiday as such, but it's going to be one heck of an opportunity of a lifetime (not to mention the great photos on the way up).
We're also doing a bit of a safari afterwards, so hopefully I'll be able to get some good pictures there too.

Keep your eyes peeled on here and Flickr around the middle of November (when we get back) as I'll be posting lots of interesting and exciting photos - from damp humid glaciers, to desert, moorland, scree and boulders, glaciers, and the volcanic caldera...

We're looking to raise money for the SOS Children's Village charity, which helps orphaned children by arranging foster families for them, and building specifically built support villages and infrastructure for them.
If you're feeling generous, please take a look at the page on Just Giving.

Note to self: get off the computer and go and do some more training

[Chunder]

Oh, if anyone knows Kili, or is generally interested, we're doing a 6 day ascent via the Lemosho route.
I'm taking my 5D+ Canon 28-300mm L IS (don't want to carry too much kit, or have to swap lenses!) plus plenty of batteries and CF cards!

[pixelpixel]

I need a new job

Looking forward to some stunning pics when you come back.

[Liquid101]

You jammy sod - can't wait to see the results. Have a great trip.

[Chunder]

Right-o, the adventure begins today, in about an hour!

Wonder if November's competition could be something mountain-y? Please? Hehe :P

[stevegreen]

Why is it a 'free-standing' mountain??.........Aren't they all free-standing?

[ush flynn]

ok idea for next competition.... Below sea-level terrain!

Mate great kit you are bringing, 28mm will be lovely on the FF body!
You have a decent UV? (and maybe a spare?) possibly look into a polariser too, handy for the snow

btw you are a jammy git...

[jomike]

Originally Posted by stevegreen

Why is it a 'free-standing' mountain??.........Aren't they all free-standing?

Not really, most are part of a mountain range, eg: Everest is part of the Himalayas and is surrounded by other mountains.
Kilimanjaro is an extinct volcano and stands by itself on a plain.

Good luck Chunder, hope altitude sickness doesn't affect you, and bring back and post lots of pics

Mike

[Chunder]

Hi all - thanks for the comments and well wishes I made it, and am now back - muscles have recovered, and I've managed to sort through all 1100 photos (!!) to cherry-pick the best ones.

It was definitely an experience - or rather, several different experiences rolled into one - and I now know that I'm not really one for mountain climbing! No nausea, but 7 days living rough (-ish) on a mountain, with 8 hours walking each day, and four days of headaches isn't actually my idea of fun
Saying that, though, I'm glad I went - I'm very happy with the photos - and if I was to ever do anything similar, I daresay that there are a lot of things I'd do differently (e.g. the Lowerpro Mini-trekker rucksack is OK as a daysack where you're returning to a car or home, but certainly not suitable for a prolonged trek where you need camera + snacks + 3L/day water + fleece + goretex coat + poncho + gaiters + poles... bulging at the zips is an understatement!)

Anyway, here's a few of my favourite pictures - there's a bundle more on Flickr (see sig) and I'll add a few more on this evening that represent the actual trekking park (I've intentionally left out all of the ones with my colleagues on them until I can sort out which ones don't show any immediately recognisable faces!)

Enjoy!

[electrolyte]

Wow, what a trip. Not sure I could do this but amazing all the same. Some good photos there but #4 is fantastic. A great composition.

[jomike]

Some amazing pics there, Chunder, the last one is the best IMO. You also saw some amazing wildlife. Had a look on your flickr. Do you know how lucky you are to see a serval in daylight? They are usually nocturnal.

BTW, you have a few dust spots, and a hair on your sensor about halfway down on the RHS. Easy enough to clone out.

Mike

[Dennis Leighton]

What a wonderful experience with some magnificent images thrown in. Looking forward to seeing some more

[Triggaaar]

1, 2 and 5 - great, thanks for sharing.

[ghibbett]

Great pics

How did you fing lugging the camera? Did you mainly keep it round your neck, or just stop to get it out your pack reguarly?

Also, how did you find the altitude?

[senu]

Your flickr site has some amazing Photos.
I must say living rough isn't quite my thing ( now) but I remember going to the Kilimanjaro on a Boy Scouts Jamboree as a young lad .. it seemed great fun then .These pictures bring back some of those memories
It was a fantastic effort

[Chunder]

Originally Posted by ghibbett

How did you fing lugging the camera? Did you mainly keep it round your neck, or just stop to get it out your pack reguarly?

Also, how did you find the altitude?

I left the camera in the rucksack for most of the time, which was a bit of a pain as it involved a whole load of contortions to take it out Where we were walking through easy terrain, with nice weather, and scenic views, I tended to keep the camera around my neck - I bought a £10 neoprene strap from Jessops to replace the standard Canon one... probably the best £10 I've spent for a long time! Very comfortable, and really helped to take the weight off.

The altitude was a bit of a pain - several members of the group suffered bad nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite, but I managed to get by with just a dull headache for a few days. I was taking a 250mg Diamox tablet every morning and night as a preventative - it's officially a glaucoma treatment, but one of the (unofficial) side effects is to help prevent acute mountain sickness...

Thanks for all the nice comments! Makes the pain (almost!) all worthwhile

[Tobers]

Some really good photos there. I cant believe how busy that game reserve was though. I used to go to the Kruger Park a few times a year as a kid and you'd rarely see another car. Something to do with the land mining done by the Mozabiquans possibly, but it was very quiet.

Looks rather super though - a great trip to remember.

[ghibbett]

Originally Posted by Chunder

I tended to keep the camera around my neck - I bought a £10 neoprene strap from Jessops to replace the standard Canon one... probably the best £10 I've spent for a long time! Very comfortable, and really helped to take the weight off.

Hmmm, can you snap a piccie of the strap?

Originally Posted by Chunder

I was taking a 250mg Diamox tablet every morning and night as a preventative

Did you get that as a perscription from your GP? Also, how long before your trek did you start taking it? And finally (phew!), you did you find the side affects (i.e. needed to pee more)?

Cheers,
NOTE: Sorry to all that I'm going OT. However these are pretty important Qs prior to my Everest Trek in Feb. No excuse I know but....

[Alan Westy]

Ah brings back memories, I was persuaded by my son and his friends in 2000 to join them on a trip to Kili, it was only after I had said yes and the trip was arranged that the implications started to worry me, they were all in the 30's where is I was in my fifties, I had by this time scoured the internet and the prospect of altitude sickeness was worrying me. However in the event I was not affected by the altitude except for a slight feeling of lightheadedness, we reached the summit in time to see the sun rise over the african plains and I now look back on it as one of the highlights of my life. If anyone's thinking of doing it then go for it. There is no way of telling if you are going to be affected by altitude sickness but there are some golden rules, drink lots of water, your pee should be numerous and clear and aclimatisation is very beneficial. We took the Machame route which is harder than the Marangu or "coca cola " route and took advantage of an extra days camping for acclimatisation which I certainly think helped.
We took both film and digital cameras as back in 2000 1 meg cameras were the norm incidentally I'm the one in the blue jacket at the end of the row in the photo.

[ush flynn]

Chunder glad to see you made it back. I didnt know you were only taking the mini trekker on the trip! i would have advised against it if i had known! i always carry an slr in one of them triangle shapped bags then pack other lenses away within easy enough reach or carry a seperate bag around my waist for extra kit... All the camping and walking gear id have in a 60-70 litre backpack and a tripod strapped to that.... its a lot of weight mind you.

Your pics look great... im not sure if you noticed but theres an F'ING LIONESS there!! haha... i think id have been running! were you in a 4x4?


Alan...you took a digital camera up a mountain in 2000? you crazy man! how much did that cost you?
I trekked around Bolivia in 2000 and only took a nikon F60 and 2 lenses and 10 rolls of slide film. NOBODY had a digital camera back then! it was all APS is amazing you can do PANORAMICS ... er yeah... it crops your picture...nice

I just found some of the scans so might put them up later on tonight

[daveleeuk]

Really nice pics! But you need to give your sensor a good clean you dirty rat

Looks like an amazing walk

[Alan Westy]

Ush flynn,

From what I can remember the camera cost about £300.00 not bad for a 1 meagpixel!!! here''s a link http://www.dpreview.com/news/9908/99080301dc215.asp

[daveleeuk]

Originally Posted by ush flynn

it was all APS is amazing you can do PANORAMICS ... er yeah... it crops your picture...nice

[ush flynn]

woooo, i remember i used to sell those at tecno! look at the stats! what a machine! Fixed focus.. awesome! haha. Do you still have it?

Just before i left jessops we found an old tecno catalogue and there was a minolta camera rocking 3mp back when the choices were 1.3 or 2mp and it was £700!! so funny how quickly things move in the field


Anyway back on subject. Chunder i have a friend whos off to kenya on the 1st. Other than your altitude issues how hard would you rate the climb up kili? shes a girl you see.... you know what they are like!

[Chunder]

Whoa - loads of questions since the last visit

In some kind of order, then...

1) The Jessops neoprene strap is this one

2) I got diamox from the GP on NHS prescription (I've got a great GP - I paid £10 for a private prescription for the antimalarial tablets, and then £3.25 each to fill the two prescriptions at the pharmacist... bargain! I think it will be very unlikely that anyone else will ever beat this - even other people in our group had to pay more). Most people have problems getting hold of it because there's no official dosage information for use as an altitude sickness treatment or prophylactic, and some doctors outright refused to prescribe it.
I had a moderate headache for about 4 days (from about 15k feet upwards) which was controlled with 400mg ibupfrofen tablets - which were technically for treating tendonitis in my arm, but came in invaluable for both the headaches, and also when I strained a ligament in my leg on the second day!
Yes, diamox did improve throughput - plenty of "diamox breaks" were taken on the way up, which is fine for blokes, but not quite as convenient for the ladies! Most of the group had to get up several times each night to empty out, but I managed to get away with holding it until the morning... sorry if that's TMI for anyone

2) Yes, the Lowepro mini-trekker was a bad idea; I've actually got a small holster style bag that would have been perfect for just the camera/lenses that I was carrying, so in hindsight (and as a recommendation for anyone else!) I'd have taken that and a rucksack that's designed for trekking - most people managed with 35 litre ones, but of course, they didn't have chuffing great cameras with them...

3) Yes, that's a lioness there! We were in safari jeeps, so reasonably safe, although saying that the lionesses were only about 1.5m away from us at their closest (see some of the other pics on Flickr!) and I'm sure that they could have jumped up and got us if they'd been so inclined...

4) Dirty sensor? Where? It was thoroughly cleaned (pec-pads and eclipse fluid) before leaving home, so all of the crud accumulated thanks to the push-pull zoom of the 28-300 lens. Not really much I could do about it in the field (and to be quite honest, I hadn't noticed - it doesn't really show up on the LCD display) - but yes, I do need to spend a bit of quality time with an image editor to get rid of as much of the muck as I can...

5) In hindsight, now that all the aches and pains have gone, the memories of the sleepless nights, uncomfortable ground, freezing conditions (-18C up at crater camp overnight - brr!), stinky clothes, general feeling of being filthy and unwashed, etc. then I'd say it was an extremely good experience If you'd asked me a day or so after I'd got down, then I'd have said no - don't do it!
I think that it is false economy for people who try to ascend too quickly - yes, they may spend less time sleeping rough and uncomfortable, but the liklihood of not making the summit is massively higher than if you take it slow; I recall someone saying that something like 40% of the 15,000 climbers per year don't manage to reach the summit...
It's imperative that if she does do the climb, she has good kit - decent broken in boots, warm clothes, water/windproofs, quality sleeping bag, etc. - and also having bottled water was very convenient, and saved lots of unpalatability and queasiness that arises from the various water treatment processes. Feel free to bung any other q's via PM!