Wow, what a time we are having. It is tough to begin this blog because so much has happened since the last. First- we climbed Kili and made it to the top. This was probably the hardest thing I have ever done but also one of the best. We did a 6 day hike up the Machame route- the whole hike was breathtaking. First day, you hike through rainforest and camp at 10000 feet, this was really amazing and we had an amazing sunset over Mt. Meru. Starting the first few hours of hiking I thought it was tougher than I expected. I had decided to carry all of our gear on my back, so this made it a little tougher but still quite challenging. The next day we hiked through the Moorlands, which we were in and out of for the next 2 days. The third night we had this amazing view that we looked straight up at the summit- it was probably the coolest view we had besides the summit. The fourth day we hiked for 7.5 hours in the cold, hiking in clouds pretty much the whole day, very exhausting. We finally got to our camp- the base camp for the summit- around 5:30pm, had some tea and then dinner. By the time we were able to fall asleep it was 8:30pm but I was so excited I could barely sleep. I woke up at 10:30pm, they got Audra up at 11:30 PM!!! That is right, you summit the mountain in the freezing cold dark so you can see the sunrise on the summit.
I hike to the summit was nuts. The guides told me to leave my pack for the porters, but they tell me this everyday and I say no b/c you never see them when you are hiking and you never know when you are going to need your stuff. So, up we hiked with are headlamps on underneath the most beautiful starry night I have ever seen. I preface this by saying Audra was not feeling well going into this hike (because of altitude sickness). The hike went from 15000 feet to 19300 something feet. The first few hours we were fine off of adrenaline alone. Then you start to feel like crap and you watch lots of people turn around. Audra was starting to feel really crappy at this time and it did not help as we saw all these people turn around. Half way through the hike we were really struggling, the problem is you cannot take more than a 1 or 2 minute break because you will freeze. Anyway, the guys were saying they did not think Audra would make it she had been so sick (no one can control or predict altitude sickness). Long story shorter- 7.5hours later we made it to the top, just on time for sunset and it was amazing. One of the most gratifying experiences of our life. I am so proud of making it to the top, she really was not feeling well but kept pushing. The guides said that people as sick as her don't make it, but she did. Problem was we felt really crappy and they then told us we had 4-5 hours to our camp and then 3 hours of hiking after a 1 hour nap. No one prepares you for how hard it is on the way down. On the way down Audra threw up 5 times! After forever long me made it to our camp. This is when I got pissed- you go up Machame route and down Mweka route. My understanding was we would be coming down a different way- makes sense, right? Well, apparently you hike back to where you camped before, then you go a different way. If I would have known this I would never have carried my pack to the top. Afterwards, they told me they had never seen a person carry their pack to the top (b/c you come right back to it). B/c of this I was granted the title of Stupid Muzungo- dumb white person, deservedly so. Anyway, we made it down and the rest is history. It was absolutely amazing and we both highly recommend it to everyone. It was just such an amazing journey. There are many more stories from this trip, but they will have to be saved for another day.
The next day (though we were exhausted), we went to see my Masaii friend. We had gotten back that day from hiking and we met one of my students who was coming with us to translate. I met up with him Friday night to confirm we were going and we called our friend together. It turns out our friend was already waiting for us a a bus stop 2 hours away (he knew we were not coming that day but this is just how people are here). The next morning we began our journey- a 2 hour ride to Arusha, then a 30 minute Dala Dala ride to the middle of nowhere. Here, there are no other tourist, just local. We ended up waiting for a the patients brother to show up here so we could catch a ride to village (at this point we had no idea how far this would be because they had always walked it). After several hours the brother showed up with a driver- apparently he just got his license and is not comfortable driving yet. So, they show up with the tiniest 2 door suzuki 4wd you have ever seen- it is not comfortable to seat 4 and we had 6. We went and ate some meat at the local store and then got ready for our voyage. When we were about to leave, they decided I would be driving since there really wasnt enought room for 6 (let alone 5). So we ditched the driver and I drove a manual suzuki 4wd from the right side for the first time (It really is different shifting gears with left hand). This drive was the craziest drive I have ever been on- all dirt road for THREE AND A HALF HOURS. It was crazy- We had to switch into 4wd multiple times and trails were just crazy. I did not know what to expect when we arrived.
THEN WE ARRIVED!!! National Geographic had nothing on this place. It was a tribe of 70 Masai. Their leader was the father of my patient, a 65 year-old with 3 wives. He was the baddest dude I ever met. We got out and they live in a circle about 100 meters in diameter made of sticks. Inside there, there are 8 huts made of cow dung and some other things (all I could smell was cow dung) and in the middle of the circle they kept their cows, goats, donkeys, lamb and some other animals in the middle. They greeted us very formally then the elder set we must sit down to explain our reason for coming. We sat down and I explained how I became good friends with the patient and he invited me here. Long story short- he welcomed us with open-arms. He then gave us a tour while the sun was setting. At the end of it all this noise started to break out in the back and they starting singing and dancing. It was unbelievable, they would run around, then jump in the air making noises we had never heard before. We were the first white people to ever come there so apparently they were excited. He then had us come in to eat- my biggest fear. They had slaughtered a goat to honor us and now we had to eat it with them. To understand this goat meat- no seasoning and almost cooked rare- it was AWFUL. They gathered us in a circle of six and pulled out their machete and started cutting off pieces of meat and passing it to each of us in the circle. We had to eat close to 30 pieces of it. Some of it was really bloody so when they were not looking I would tuck it in the pocket in my shirt then go out to go to the bathroom and chunked it over the fence. Luckily we survived it.
It was then time to go to bed. We brought our tent- hoping we could use it, but they would not allow it. They insisted we sleep in their cowdung room on a bed made of cow skin. When we got in it there were bugs and spiders all over it. Though it was very hot we zipped to our heads in our sleeping bags and slept off the goat. We knew that my student was made to sleep in the hut with the chief. What we did not know was that he would have to share a bed with the chief- and worse than that, apparently the chief stripped naked to get in the bed and they had to share a sheet while the chief talked his ear off all night (this is just something cultural to them we clearly don't understand). The next morning they got us up and we walked around. I then saw about 15 patients that had come from around with varying ailments. After that we thought we had survived and were about to say our goodbyes when the chief insisted we have breakfast with him- guess what that was- GOAT!!! After that we made our way back to Moshi, which took 7 hours. It was a crazy experience.
Wow, that was a lot of typing. Most of the great stories were left out, I cannot type that much, but it was a great experience. I am now settled back into my life as a doctor on the wards here and that has been quite adventurous as well. I really enjoy being at the hospital though there are clearly many challenges here we don't face in the U.S. Last week I started rounding on the "ICU" as well. I will save those stories for another time. Audra is doing well, still working at and raising money for the orphanage. 4 weeks from today I will be starting work at Duke again. It is a sad thought, I am really going to miss this place. Anyway, enough of me. I hope you are all doing well and we love to here comments from you, don't shy from them. I promise to update again soon. I apologize for the horrible grammar, my Mom would be disappointed. Till the next time.
Cheers,
Chris and Audra
Oh yeah, enjoy the picks. The one with me shaking hands is the chief of the village. The other is Audra dancing
