Log in
Join travelers community
Your Profile
Logout
On 8th April we set off from Cotonou in Benin to Lagos, the capital of Nigeria. We had arranged to rejoin the overland tour in Kano in northern Nigeria. After considering our schedule carefully we decided that we would fly from Lagos up to Kano since the journey sounded boring and time consuming. On arrival at the domestic airport in Lagos we found that there was a flight to Kano leaving in twenty minutes. We frantically rushed around to change money on the black market and buy the tickets. A few minutes before the scheduled departure time Paula and I were running across the tarmac to get to the waiting jet before they pulled away the boarding stairs. Exhausted we rushed up the stairs, the crew closed the main door behind us and before we could find our seats the plane was taxiing to the runway - only in Africa!
1992 Diary - Africa (Part 2)
Gjcmcclurg2005-12-23 14:25:40
Displayed times (last time: )
an exhausting 4 hours of scrambling up loose scree we reached the Hans Meyer Cave at 5,180m. After a ten minute rest in the freezing cold it was time to set off again - the altitude was too much for some people and 5 out of the group of 10 turned back! After the cave the path steepened further and the loose scree sapped our energy. I could feel my heart pounding and I was gasping for air as the sun rose and we could finally see our goal. Another 2 hours later we reached Gilman's Point on the crater rim at 5,680m. We were now well above the snow line and had great views across the crater to the glaciers on the other side. From Gilman's Point it was a further 2 hours across the ice cap up to the Uhuru peak. We were all gasping for air and my head was spinning as we set off towards Uhuru. Two more people decided that they had had enough so now we were three. Walking around the rim to Uhuru was spectacular with awesome views of the ice fields and plains of Africa below. Finally at 10.00 the three of us reached the Uhuru Peak at 5,900m - the 'Roof of Africa'! From the peak it took us only 7 hours to descend right down to the Horombo Hut. After 15 hours of hiking I had used up every once of energy in my body when I reached Horombo, so it was a very early night for me. I had been the most physically demanding day of my life and I felt content knowing that I had reached the summit.
Day 6. Today it was a 25km hike down to the park gates, which we managed in about 6 hours. From the gates we took a taxi to Moshi, where we caught the overnight train to Dar es Salaam.
After Tanzania we crossed into Malawi which is one of the smallest and poorest countries in Africa. Malawi has several strict rules for example men must not have long hair and women cannot wear trousers - this meant many of the girls on the truck had to change for their entry into Malawi! The people seemed very hospitable and it was easy to see why
...
See photographs from:
Zambia Gallery
,
Tanzania Gallery
,
Malawi Gallery
,
Kenya Gallery
,
Zimbabwe Gallery
,
Cameroon Gallery
,
Burundi Gallery
,
Botswana Gallery
,
Nigeria Gallery
