I recently climbed Kilimanjaro and it was an awesome experience – I highly recommend it. However, I wished that I could have found a simple quick list of tips ahead of time. I figured I would drop in a few of the things that I think can make the whole experience easier.

• Yellow fever vaccination. Have this way ahead of the actual trip because it is likely to make you feel a little unhealthy for a few days. Many of the guys in our group (myself included) reported feeling unwell up to 6 days after receiving the vaccination.
• Wet wipes. There isn’t much water up there, so you won’t be washing at all for 5-7 days. We were disgusting by the end and wet wipes do allow some welcome relief.
• Diamox. There was a lot of debate about taking diamox. I feel that it didn’t make any difference at all, but I still took it to be on the safe side. Imagine how bad it would feel to get AMS and to wonder if Diamox would have saved you. Take it with.
• Wet gear. We had some rain and snow – trust me you want gear that is totally water proof. Make sure of this.
• Bags. You should take 3 bags. One for the gear you will leave at the hotel – lock this one. A waterproof duffel bag which the porters will carry for you – lock this one every day. A backpack which you will carry – this one is for warm clothes, snacks, water, etc. Make sure it’s waterproof.
• Plastic bags. I found it extremely useful to separate everything in my duffel bag into plastic bags – they also increase water resistance.
• Toilet paper. You will be using pretty dirty ‘long drops’ all the way up and you should bring your own toilet paper or you’re going to be very unhappy.
• Camelback. Makes drinking much, much easier. Will freeze on the summit attempt so bring along a thermal water bottle too.

Enjoy! It’s a really great experience.

On Saturday I took part in the Table Mountain Challenge and it was one of the coolest things that I have ever done. You can check out the route here but basically, the run goes all the way around Table Mountain – 35km. I can’t emphasize enough how cool it was – try to do it if you can.

I took part in a team of 3 with two girls I know from Knysna. I did the third leg which is about 17km with some serious climbing and descending (more info on the race site). We came 87th out of 411 and 4th in our category which was a great achievement considering we had no expectations.

I really enjoyed the run and came away with some awesome memories. The weather was great (overcast but not too cold), the scenery was unbelievable, and the rest of the participants were in high spirits. I enjoy running and I love hiking so I knew that I would enjoy the run, but I was surprised how much I loved it.

My favorite mental image is getting to the top of the mountain at Llundudno corner with a view of the ocean on my left, stunning yellow flowers on the fynbos all around me, and a long line of fellow runners stretching out ahead.

It turns out that I am an OK trail runner too – I came 27th out of 361 for my leg. I beat my target time by 25 minutes!

This pic doesn’t involve me but it shows some of the beautiful scenery we were running through.

Jules and I went for a cool walk on Table Mountain on Sunday. There had been quite a lot of rain over the last few days so there was a lot of water on the mountain. We got these cool pics at a point where the path went behind a waterfall.

This was at a point where I had watched a tourist being rescued by helicopter a week before (I posted about it here). We looked down from the point where she had fallen – very hectic. She must have been pretty careless or unlucky, but I suppose that accidents do happen.

I recently went on the excellent Olifants Wilderness Trail in Kruger. Ahead of the trip I was looking for information on what to expect and I was surprised to find almost nothing available on the internet.

I thought that I would knock together some information for those of you considering doing the trip – which I definitely recommend.

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I was running on Table Mountain on Saturday morning when I came across a rescue operation for an American woman who had slipped and tumbled 15m down the mountain. It was a beautiful day, but the rocks were slippery after heavy rains recently and she wasn’t the only person hurt on the day.

Paramedics got to the scene first and were about to go up to get her when the rescue helicopter arrived on the scene. The chopper paramedics were winched down to the injured lady and she was later lifted out and taken to hospital. I believe she is stable with broken bones and head and spine injuries.

While I was watching the whole scene it was interesting to see how many people were involved and how little value a lot of them were adding. There were at least 7 emergency services vehicles on the scene including a huge fire engine. Once the helicopter arrived nobody left, they all just stuck around to watch.

I was sitting next to about 7 paramedics who were sitting around, chatting and taking photos of the helicopter. When a pretty reporter arrived they briefly (and unsuccessfully) concentrated their energy on getting her number. Everyone was still sitting around when I left after the helicopter had flown off.

They were fun guys and girls, but it all seemed like a waste of resources.

The weather was great on Sunday so I decided to try out a new hike. See the map below for the route I took (click for a more interactive map).

It was a cool hike although pretty steep at times and quite long – I would say count on about 3.5 to 4 hours. There was a noticeable difference between the mainstream and lesser known routes up the mountain.

On the route up the back side of the mountain I saw:

• Two other hikers having a quiet lunch

On the route down Platteklip gorge I saw:

• About 100 exchange students
• A whole British rugby team
• Some Americans struggling along in their jeans and slops
• An American girl who was hiking in her bra and shorts
• An Italian girl hiking in bikini bottoms and a t-shirt

Check out some of the pics I took below.