I have had a spat with Dar. A couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t get enough of Dar. However, at the moment, I am looking forward to getting out of Dar over Christmas and recharging my batteries.
While we were hiking Kili, my friend’s apartment was broken into. My friend lives in the same apartment building as I do and his apartment is one floor above mine. The break-in was unfortunate for him because the perpetrator made off with stacks of his stuff. It was unfortunate for me because my friend had borrowed my laptop while I was away and it was one of the items that walked out of his apartment. My laptop had all my pictures, music and documents for the past 4 years. Needless to day, I was a bit upset by it all. For a variety of reasons, we think our security guards are responsible for the break-in. However, our landlord refuses to do anything about the security company and I think the possibility of the police retrieving my laptop is zero. It is a frustrating situation that is unlikely to have any positive resolution.
I also had a small work issue. My supervisor forgot to tell me that there was a November deadline for submitting the first draft of the human rights report. I first heard about the deadline when people started questioning me about the status of the report. It was rather awkward, as I tried to figure out what they were talking about. After a couple of conversations with my supervisor and the executive director, I think we have sorted it out. However, I was not impressed at being put in that situation.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Raising the Roof
At Gilman's PointI’ve split this post into two sections because goodness knows that I dislike reading posts that are 5 pages long. The first section is all about the final ascent to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, while the second section is the other 4.5 days of hiking to get to the final ascent and back down. Somehow, it is sexier to talk about the final ascent first. Pictures from Kili can be accessed through the link in the Pictures sidebar.
On Tuesday, we did a heart-pounding, rapid-breathing, eight hour hike from Horombo (the second hut on Kili) to Kibo (the hut at the base of the final ascent). We hiked through a lunar landscape, carefully placing our dusty footprints in the beaten down line winding its way up the mountain. It was pretty much all uphill, all the time. This stretch took me ages to do because I was helping one of my co-workers who was more than a little under the weather and we were going “pole pole” (slowly, slowly). On reaching Kibo, we had a light dinner as altitude sickness had quashed our appetites and it was off to bed at the late hour of 6pm. As they say, early to bed, early to rise. In our case, we had to get up at 11pm to make our final preparations before setting off for the final ascent at midnight.
The final ascent is a 5 km hike up an almost vertical hillside that typically takes between 5 to 7 hours to complete. During the hike, you gain almost a 1,000m in altitude. Of the 21 people in our group who started Kili, 16 set off for the final ascent. During the hike, my focus narrowed down to the dim pool of light that spilled from my headlamp onto the feet of the person in front of me. I blindly followed the feet up switchback after switchback, as I concentrated on bending my leg, taking a step and then breathing. Breathing was a bit of an issue due to the altitude. At one point, I had to sit down on a rock for a few minutes in an effort to calm my steam train breathing. This brief break gave me an opportunity to admire the parade of lights steadily bobbing their way up the hillside.
After my break, things were peachy for about an hour or two. I joined forces with the Executive Director of the LHRC and one of our guides, Alex, and we inched our way up the mountain together. Unfortunately, I was getting colder and colder by the minute and starting to feel the effects of altitude sickness (a pounding headache and constant nausea). I had a bit of a morale breakdown at 4:30 am when I sat on a rock and cried. My guide was having none of it. He stood me up and vigorously rubbed my arms, back and hands to warm me up. I felt like I was a toddler. He then issued a firm “we go” and we went. We continued to go until we reached Gilman’s Point. Gilman’s Point is 5685m above sea level and it is on the crater rim of Kili. The summit, Uhuru Peak, is about an hour or two hike from Gilman’s Point. I didn’t make the summit, as I was done and done by the time we reached Gilman’s. Instead, I enjoyed watching a hard-earned sunrise and listened to three guides randomly break into a song about Kili. It was awesome.
After a 15 minute rest at Gilman’s, we embarked on a slipping, sliding descent. After 8 hours of hard hiking, we arrived back at Kibo hut and our sleeping bags. An hour long nap and a bowl of soup, and we were on our way back to Horombo. I was somewhat dazed on the hike back to Horombo, as I was exhausted. It became a matter of moving my feet and hoping they hit the right spot.
All in all, six people from our party made it to the summit, where they placed a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and two people made it to Gilman’s Point. It was an amazing experience to stand at Gilman’s Point and look out over the world. However, I think it will be a once in a lifetime experience for me, as I’m not overly keen to give it another go.
If anyone is thinking about doing Kili, I met a couple of great guides who are keen to go up Kili as many times as possible and can arrange everything for you. If you are interested in contacting them, send an email to:
Zephania Mbwambo zephaniambwambo@yahoo.com
Dida didassm@yahoo.com
On Tuesday, we did a heart-pounding, rapid-breathing, eight hour hike from Horombo (the second hut on Kili) to Kibo (the hut at the base of the final ascent). We hiked through a lunar landscape, carefully placing our dusty footprints in the beaten down line winding its way up the mountain. It was pretty much all uphill, all the time. This stretch took me ages to do because I was helping one of my co-workers who was more than a little under the weather and we were going “pole pole” (slowly, slowly). On reaching Kibo, we had a light dinner as altitude sickness had quashed our appetites and it was off to bed at the late hour of 6pm. As they say, early to bed, early to rise. In our case, we had to get up at 11pm to make our final preparations before setting off for the final ascent at midnight.
The final ascent is a 5 km hike up an almost vertical hillside that typically takes between 5 to 7 hours to complete. During the hike, you gain almost a 1,000m in altitude. Of the 21 people in our group who started Kili, 16 set off for the final ascent. During the hike, my focus narrowed down to the dim pool of light that spilled from my headlamp onto the feet of the person in front of me. I blindly followed the feet up switchback after switchback, as I concentrated on bending my leg, taking a step and then breathing. Breathing was a bit of an issue due to the altitude. At one point, I had to sit down on a rock for a few minutes in an effort to calm my steam train breathing. This brief break gave me an opportunity to admire the parade of lights steadily bobbing their way up the hillside.
After my break, things were peachy for about an hour or two. I joined forces with the Executive Director of the LHRC and one of our guides, Alex, and we inched our way up the mountain together. Unfortunately, I was getting colder and colder by the minute and starting to feel the effects of altitude sickness (a pounding headache and constant nausea). I had a bit of a morale breakdown at 4:30 am when I sat on a rock and cried. My guide was having none of it. He stood me up and vigorously rubbed my arms, back and hands to warm me up. I felt like I was a toddler. He then issued a firm “we go” and we went. We continued to go until we reached Gilman’s Point. Gilman’s Point is 5685m above sea level and it is on the crater rim of Kili. The summit, Uhuru Peak, is about an hour or two hike from Gilman’s Point. I didn’t make the summit, as I was done and done by the time we reached Gilman’s. Instead, I enjoyed watching a hard-earned sunrise and listened to three guides randomly break into a song about Kili. It was awesome.
After a 15 minute rest at Gilman’s, we embarked on a slipping, sliding descent. After 8 hours of hard hiking, we arrived back at Kibo hut and our sleeping bags. An hour long nap and a bowl of soup, and we were on our way back to Horombo. I was somewhat dazed on the hike back to Horombo, as I was exhausted. It became a matter of moving my feet and hoping they hit the right spot.
All in all, six people from our party made it to the summit, where they placed a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and two people made it to Gilman’s Point. It was an amazing experience to stand at Gilman’s Point and look out over the world. However, I think it will be a once in a lifetime experience for me, as I’m not overly keen to give it another go.
If anyone is thinking about doing Kili, I met a couple of great guides who are keen to go up Kili as many times as possible and can arrange everything for you. If you are interested in contacting them, send an email to:
Zephania Mbwambo zephaniambwambo@yahoo.com
Dida didassm@yahoo.com
Step by Step
Before heading to Kili on Saturday, we started the day with a march around Moshi to draw attention to the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the campaign against gender-based violence. I loved that our march was headed by a brass band in full gear, which trumpeted our arrival at every corner. After the march and speeches by various dignitaries, we headed back to the hotel to collect our hiking party and start our journey. However, our take off was slightly delayed by the arrest of one of party members for littering. Apparently, it is illegal to litter in Moshi and this provision is strictly enforced.
The hike from Marangu Gate, one of the gates into the Kili National Park, to Mandara, the first hut, takes place on a relatively gentle path that breaks its way through the forest. On our hike to Mandara, we briefly flirted with a jumbled rock road that is used by emergency vehicles to take people off the mountain. This road ends before Mandara. If you get ill or injured on Kili, you have to either walk yourself down to this road or be carried down the mountain on a stretcher by two porters. Kili is not a good place to be ill or injured.
Day one and two of hiking up Kili on the Coca-Cola route were pretty easy going and we didn’t hit any altitude problems until we reached Horombo, the second hut. Don’t get me wrong, it was still pretty hard work, as both days involved 6 to 8 hours of hiking uphill while carrying a 5-6 kg pack. I know it’s only 5-6 kgs, but I have not been working out enough for that to be a comfortable weight. Luckily for us, we had porters who were carrying our main bags, which were significantly heavier than our daypacks.
The working conditions of the porters are a contentious issue. Legally, a porter is supposed to carry a maximum of 20 kgs. However, if some money gets slipped into the left pocket, a porter may end up carrying upwards of 25kgs. Being a human rights organization, we did a very informal fact finding while we were hiking up Kili, which revealed other issues regarding porter’s rights, such as: poor sleeping facilities, inadequate food, poor pay and a lack of health or life insurance. The LHRC intends to arrange for a formal fact finding to occur so that the specifics of these issues can be nailed down.
Day three of our trip was an acclimatization day so we spent an extra day at Horombo and visited a place called Zebra Rocks. Our hike up to Zebra Rocks was the first time that I became conscious of the altitude change and the thinness of the air. I also started to appreciate my bite-sized chocolates, which were giving me bite-sized amounts of energy. If I were to do Kili again, I would pack double the amount of chocolate. Days four and five were spent getting to the final ascent and back down to Horombo.
Day six was a 4 am wake-up call so that we could hike from Horombo to Marangu Gate for a press conference at noon. We all made it to Marangu Gate at noon for our 15 minutes of fame in our sweating, unbathed glory.
The hike from Marangu Gate, one of the gates into the Kili National Park, to Mandara, the first hut, takes place on a relatively gentle path that breaks its way through the forest. On our hike to Mandara, we briefly flirted with a jumbled rock road that is used by emergency vehicles to take people off the mountain. This road ends before Mandara. If you get ill or injured on Kili, you have to either walk yourself down to this road or be carried down the mountain on a stretcher by two porters. Kili is not a good place to be ill or injured.
Day one and two of hiking up Kili on the Coca-Cola route were pretty easy going and we didn’t hit any altitude problems until we reached Horombo, the second hut. Don’t get me wrong, it was still pretty hard work, as both days involved 6 to 8 hours of hiking uphill while carrying a 5-6 kg pack. I know it’s only 5-6 kgs, but I have not been working out enough for that to be a comfortable weight. Luckily for us, we had porters who were carrying our main bags, which were significantly heavier than our daypacks.
The working conditions of the porters are a contentious issue. Legally, a porter is supposed to carry a maximum of 20 kgs. However, if some money gets slipped into the left pocket, a porter may end up carrying upwards of 25kgs. Being a human rights organization, we did a very informal fact finding while we were hiking up Kili, which revealed other issues regarding porter’s rights, such as: poor sleeping facilities, inadequate food, poor pay and a lack of health or life insurance. The LHRC intends to arrange for a formal fact finding to occur so that the specifics of these issues can be nailed down.
Day three of our trip was an acclimatization day so we spent an extra day at Horombo and visited a place called Zebra Rocks. Our hike up to Zebra Rocks was the first time that I became conscious of the altitude change and the thinness of the air. I also started to appreciate my bite-sized chocolates, which were giving me bite-sized amounts of energy. If I were to do Kili again, I would pack double the amount of chocolate. Days four and five were spent getting to the final ascent and back down to Horombo.
Day six was a 4 am wake-up call so that we could hike from Horombo to Marangu Gate for a press conference at noon. We all made it to Marangu Gate at noon for our 15 minutes of fame in our sweating, unbathed glory.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
To the top of the world Africa-style
This week, the LHRC is travelling to Moshi in Northern Tanzania for a three day retreat. At the retreat, the LHRC will assess its performance for 2008 and develop its work plans for 2009. As all the lectures and planning are in Swahili, my participation in the retreat will be limited to the social activities and continuing to write the Human Rights Report.
After the retreat, the LHRC has arranged for its employees and members of other civil society organisations to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to support a campaign against gender-based violence. At this point, I think there are 30 people climbing. We are starting the climb this Saturday and winding our way up the mountain on the so-called Coca-Cola route. There was a fair amount of back and forth as to whether the climb was going to happen, so I left my preparations for the climb to the last minute. Basically, this means that I spent last night knocking on my neighbours' doors to see whether they had any Kili-appropriate gear and I'll be making a quick trip today to Mr. Price to buy an extra pair of pants. Thank goodness, I brought some of the important stuff with me, like long johns, a toque and altitude sickness pills. Everything I can't find, we will rent when we get to the mountain.
In about ten days, I will be able to tell you whether I saw the top of Africa or if I just got a really good idea of what the top of Africa may look like. Wish me luck.
After the retreat, the LHRC has arranged for its employees and members of other civil society organisations to climb Mount Kilimanjaro to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to support a campaign against gender-based violence. At this point, I think there are 30 people climbing. We are starting the climb this Saturday and winding our way up the mountain on the so-called Coca-Cola route. There was a fair amount of back and forth as to whether the climb was going to happen, so I left my preparations for the climb to the last minute. Basically, this means that I spent last night knocking on my neighbours' doors to see whether they had any Kili-appropriate gear and I'll be making a quick trip today to Mr. Price to buy an extra pair of pants. Thank goodness, I brought some of the important stuff with me, like long johns, a toque and altitude sickness pills. Everything I can't find, we will rent when we get to the mountain.
In about ten days, I will be able to tell you whether I saw the top of Africa or if I just got a really good idea of what the top of Africa may look like. Wish me luck.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Teacher for a day (or two)
In the time I’ve been in Tanzania, innumerable, young, black children have walked past me and thrown a very polite “Good Morning, Teacher” my way. Their politeness and their assumption that I am a teacher always make me smile. This week, I almost deserved that greeting, as I became a teacher of sorts.Roughly six weeks ago, I was meant to travel to Stone Town to give a two-day course to the Zanzibar Legal Services Centre (the “ZLSC”) on how to write the human rights report. For some reason or another, the training date fell through. After a fair amount of to-ing and fro-ing, it was decided on Wednesday that I would spend this weekend doing the training in Pemba.
Zanzibar is made up of a number of islands located off the coast of Tanzania. The largest inhabited island (and most popular) is Unguja, which is home to Stone Town. The next biggest island is Pemba. Pemba is fairly underdeveloped, its economy is dominated by agriculture and its power goes out on a regular basis. I stayed in its capital city, Chake Chake. Chake Chake is a one cow town and the cow is in pretty bad shape. Rumour has it that the Zanzibarian government funnels very little money to Pemba because it is a stronghold of the opposition party, the Civic United Front. The ruling party and the CUF are still arguing about whether the 2005 general elections were free and fair. You could say there was some animosity between the parties.
There are two ways to get Pemba: (1) take the once-daily 12-seater plane, or (2) hitch a ride on the somewhat random fishing boats going from Unguja to Pemba. I took the flight option. The flight gives you a bird eye’s view of beautiful beaches and underwater islands reaching for the sun. On my arrival in Pemba, I was greeted by a quick “Miss Sela” and whisked away by an eager taxi driver who the ZLSC had sent to pick me up. I was pretty glad that the ZLSC had arranged transportation for me, as there wasn’t another taxi in sight and, according to my guide book, it was unlikely that one would come along.
On Saturday morning, I looked around at a table of eight serious faces and we started our two day session of unpacking the process for writing the Human Rights Report. For the past three years, the ZLSC has researched and written the Zanzibar portion of the Human Rights Report. However, their portion of the report has been heavily criticized for a variety of reasons. The purpose of this training was to assist the ZLSC in getting a handle on different research methods, how to organize material, the importance of citing sources, what type of information should be included in the Human Rights Report, and the basic principles of good report writing. We also did a fairly exhaustive brain storming session on what information should be included in this year’s report specifically. Hopefully, the training and the “guide” I wrote will help build the ZLSC’s capacity to write this year’s report and future reports. There was a fair amount of discussion and Q&A throughout the training, which I think is a good sign. I enjoyed facilitating the training, although I found it somewhat tiring. I am not used to being on the other side of the teacher-student fence and the Pemba heat was intense. In Grade Six, I was told by a teacher that girls don’t sweat, they glow. She had obviously never been to Pemba when it was 37 degrees with 85% humidity. It was hot and the fan was fighting an uphill battle.
I really enjoyed meeting the lawyers of the ZLSC and the ZLSC did an awesome job of hosting me. They arranged my accommodation for me and one of the ZLSC lawyers, Aziz, had me over to his house for dinner just about every night. These dinners gave me the opportunity to try authentic Zanzibarian food, like dagaar (sp?)(1-2 cm fish, deep fried and eaten whole), chicken and coconut stew, and haluu (a gelatinous substance flavoured with spices, like cinnamon and cloves). I have to admit, my portion of dagaar was accompanied by big swallows of water. It was a little fishy for my taste. Aziz also took me out for a night on the town, which in Pemba means hitting up the local army mess where you can eat meat kebabs and dance under the starlit sky. As 95% of the Pemba population is Muslim, the army mess is also one of the very few places in Chake Chake where you can get a beer. It was a great place to spend a Saturday night.
I've added some pics that can accessed through the link "Pemba in Pictures".
The Tourist-side of Life
The folks from ZLSC and IAs the LHRC was given rather late notice of the date and place of the ZLSC training, we could only book flights for Pemba that left one day early and returned one day later than was necessary for the ZLSC training. On the upside, the delay gave me a chance to see the sights and sounds of Pemba. On the downside, it meant spending two extra days in Chake Chake where a whole lot of nothing goes on.
One of my side trips while I was on Pembe was to Kideke Forest to see a colony of flying foxes. Flying foxes are one of the largest species of fruit bats and they are endemic to Pemba. When I was a kid, I had read various Durrell stories where the author had collected flying foxes. I was intrigued. Kideke Forest turned out to be a small stand of native forest that was hemmed in on all sides by cassava fields. Our guides were small boys ranging in age from five to twelvish who energetically clapped their hands to make the bats fly. Not exactly conservation-friendly. Literally hundreds of dark-winged, tawny-bodied bats hung from the trees, their twittering and wing beats filling the air when they burst into flight. They were a sight to behold.
On Monday, my colleagues from the ZLSC took me on a lightening quick trip of the sights and sounds of Pemba. As all good lawyers do, we started with a quick jaunt to the court house in Chake Chake. A few quick facts about the judicial system in Pemba: (1) there is only one lawyer on Pemba so if you don’t hire him first, you are out of luck and you have to import a lawyer from Unguja or the Mainland; (2) the High Court (which would be like our provincial Supreme Court) only sits once every 6 months or more, depending on their travel allowance; and (3) the Land Tribunal, which was established in 2004, has yet to render a decision. There a few issues with the judicial system. It got a bit more exciting after that, as we headed to the north of the island to visit Vumawimbi Beach, the lighthouse and the Manta Reef Hotel. Vumawimbi was deserted and we were warned by the locals not to walk on the beach, as robbers were believed to be hiding in the forest that is adjacent to the beach. Apparently, due to Pemba’s proximity to Mombasa, there is a fair amount of smuggling that goes on and the smugglers bring in bad elements from Mombasa. Our next stop was a 100 year old lighthouse, of which the most notable feature was the amazing view from the top of the northern tip of Pemba and Kenya. I really appreciated the time my colleagues took to show me around Pemba and the effort they made to ensure I took it all in. Pemba is still a bit off the beaten track, but I am glad I got a couple of days to explore what it was all about.
One of my side trips while I was on Pembe was to Kideke Forest to see a colony of flying foxes. Flying foxes are one of the largest species of fruit bats and they are endemic to Pemba. When I was a kid, I had read various Durrell stories where the author had collected flying foxes. I was intrigued. Kideke Forest turned out to be a small stand of native forest that was hemmed in on all sides by cassava fields. Our guides were small boys ranging in age from five to twelvish who energetically clapped their hands to make the bats fly. Not exactly conservation-friendly. Literally hundreds of dark-winged, tawny-bodied bats hung from the trees, their twittering and wing beats filling the air when they burst into flight. They were a sight to behold.
On Monday, my colleagues from the ZLSC took me on a lightening quick trip of the sights and sounds of Pemba. As all good lawyers do, we started with a quick jaunt to the court house in Chake Chake. A few quick facts about the judicial system in Pemba: (1) there is only one lawyer on Pemba so if you don’t hire him first, you are out of luck and you have to import a lawyer from Unguja or the Mainland; (2) the High Court (which would be like our provincial Supreme Court) only sits once every 6 months or more, depending on their travel allowance; and (3) the Land Tribunal, which was established in 2004, has yet to render a decision. There a few issues with the judicial system. It got a bit more exciting after that, as we headed to the north of the island to visit Vumawimbi Beach, the lighthouse and the Manta Reef Hotel. Vumawimbi was deserted and we were warned by the locals not to walk on the beach, as robbers were believed to be hiding in the forest that is adjacent to the beach. Apparently, due to Pemba’s proximity to Mombasa, there is a fair amount of smuggling that goes on and the smugglers bring in bad elements from Mombasa. Our next stop was a 100 year old lighthouse, of which the most notable feature was the amazing view from the top of the northern tip of Pemba and Kenya. I really appreciated the time my colleagues took to show me around Pemba and the effort they made to ensure I took it all in. Pemba is still a bit off the beaten track, but I am glad I got a couple of days to explore what it was all about.
Octupus hanging out to dry
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