African Adventures

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Jambo, Jambo….Hacuna Matata ;-))) …..Hi all there!!!!
Years after many of you have already summited Mount Kilimanjaro (5895m), this winter my turn came and in the early February I headed for Africa. Of course, I decided that solely Kili is too weak for me and put in the list the second and the third highest summits in Africa- Mt. Kenya (5199m) and Mt. Rwenzori (5109m) respectively. Radi, my friend and a wife joined this hard and exhausting trip.
Meeting the sunrise at Kilimanjaro
We arrived in Moshi, Tanzania on 8th Feb 2009. As I have planned on the next day we started to climb Kili via the steepest and challenging Umbwe Route. I believe that the steepest routes in every mountain fit better to me. Without any problems we climbed to Camp 1 (2900m) and on the next day we reached Barranco Camp (3940m). There we spent two nights with a walk to the Lava Tower (4600m) for better acclimatization. The last camp is Barafu (4600m), which we reached on 12th Feb.
On the 13th Feb we started at 1:30 AM and after 4h10 min we reached Uhuru via Stella Point (5756m) half on hour before the sunrise. It was very windy and far too cold (-15ºC) from what I expected ;-)) Forced by the cold, on the way back I reached the camp as fast as I could- 1h10 min….I wanted to warm up and sleep..;-))
After 3h in a deep sleep we packed the camp and went down via Mweka Route- it is an easy and pleasant walk. At 5PM we reached the park gate and hour later we were drinking juice and beer in the hotel….far from the cold, far from the wilderness….;-))

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The amazing world of Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Tarangire

Of course, after this climb we did not miss the opportunity to visit some of the famous national parks in Northern Tanzania. During a 3 days camping safari we enjoyed the hundreds of monkeys, zebras, antelopes, gazelles, elephants, hippos, rhinos, giraffes, lions, buffalos, hyenas, mongooses and thousands of migrating and local birds.

The mountains of the moon

Rwenzori are definitely the most impressive mountain in which I have ever been! The mountain is located on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya are taller, they are the highest range of mountains in Africa with the highest summit of Mt. Stanley reaching 5109 m. 99,000ha of the mountain are declared as a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Six massifs are raising above 4500m- Mount Stanley [1] (5109m), Mount Speke [2] (4890m), Mount Baker [3] (4843m), Mount Emin [4] (4798m), Mount Gessi [5] (4715m) and Mount Luigi di Savoia [6] (4627m).

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There is something about the range: its perpetual mists, the phenomenal flora and fauna that seem better suited for some otherworldly science fiction fantasy than anywhere that is actually real, the rime encrusted glaciers less than 50 kilometers from the equator, its long and fabled history or the difficulty of access and frequent political instability around it that make this place one of the world's greatest treasures.

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Itinerary of our accent and descent

Day 1
21.02

Ibanda - Nyabitaba Hut (2600m)
3h, denivelation +1200m

Day 2
22.02

Nyabitaba Hut - John Matte Hut (3515m)
5h, denivelation +915m.

Day 3
23.02

John Matte Hut – Margherita (5109m) – Elena Hut (4560m)
13h, denivelation +1600m, -550m

Day 4
24.02

Elena Hut (4560m) - Scot Elliot Pass (4372m) - Kitandara Hut (4050m) - Freshfield Pass (4215m) - Guy Yeoman Hut (3450m)
8:30h, denivelation + 300m, -1010m

Day 5
25.02

Guy Yeoman Hut (3450m) - Nyabitaba Hut (2600m) – Ibanda
5:30 h, denivelation + 100m, -1650m

Rwenzori is an unforgettable experience which I wish to everybody!

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More pics here http://picasaweb.google.bg/boyanpp/RwenzoriUgandaFebruary200902#
Almost to the summit of Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya was the last summit to climb during this trip. Following the Naro Moru track we reached Mackinder’s Camp (4300m) for 6h from the gate. On the next day we relaxed and went to the Austrian (Top) Hut (4790m). The plan was to climb Nelion (5188m) by the Normal Route from SE and if the time and the weather allow to reach the highest summit- Batian (5199m). We started climbing the wall on 3rd March 2009 at 7AM. Most of the climb is grade II-III UIAA but the biggest challenge was the route finding.

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The crux is the so called “De Graaf’s Variation”, IV+. Considering that you climb at 5000m, it seemed to me as VI UIAA. The rock is mainly a solid phonolite, with excellent microstructure, which offers great opportunities for good protection. There are neither mosses nor lichens. I climbed with comfortable big wall climbing shoes but on the next day I found out that the tip of my left thumb have got frozen (at present the tip is dark brown but recovering).
In the early afternoon we were high on the wall at about 100m from the summit of Nelion. However I already had the idea how much would take us to get down and decided to descent. The experience of Radi was too modest to allow her climbing faster, efficiently handling with the gear and rappelling without fear. It took us long 5h to descent and we reached the Austrian Hut at 9PM. On the next day I climbed Point Lenana (4985m), descended to Shipton’s Camp (4200m) from the north side of the twins Nelion and Batian and following the Mackinder’s valley we reached Sirimon Gate later that day.
More pics here http://picasaweb.google.bg/boyanpp/MountKenyaMarch2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCKenoZOsquPaWQ#
Diabetic and other health issues in Africa
Dynamics of my glucose levels was not that different from my previous trips. This time I was more flexible with the insulin delivery and give small doses (3-5 units) of Humalog every 3-4h during the day. I put full 9 units only at the dinner time. After putting 18 units of Humulin (or Levemir, this time I had both of them) at 9PM on the next morning I had between 4 and 5 mmol.

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I had experienced a deep hypo only once. We seat in a restaurant in the hotel in Kasese (Uganda), ordered a meal, I put 9 units of Humalog and started to wait. After 40min or so, Radi noticed that I am already out in the space, applied a shot of glucagon and turned me back just in time to meet the waiter who was serving our dinner (1:20min after we have ordered). Luckily, I had never had deep hypos in the mountains. I often find my self hiking fast with low glucose levels (3.2-4 mmol) but I had never went down this because I always take sweeties every time I start feeling low.
During this trip I took several times Alpha-betic vitamin complex (http://www.alphabetic.com/ [7]) especially marketed for diabetics. I found that if taken in the morning before hiking/climbing these pills low down your blood glucose far to fast than normally. Thus I started take them only at the evening or in the days without exercises.
Malaria was our major concern during this trip. We took once a day Doxycycline every time in which we were in areas below 1800m. The only side effect from this prevention treatment was the increased skin reaction to sunlight. Only in 2h I got severe sunburn at my arms and face.

Acknowledgements
First of all I would like to thank my sponsor ELI LILLY Bulgaria, who believes that my achievements inspire many other diabetics from Bulgaria to follow my way of active living. Special thanks go to David Panofsky who is maintaining this site and a week before I started this trip I got as a present from him- rotating bezel for my watch, which I have lost while caving in Kosovo in January 2008. The support of Radi, my partner and wife is greatly and warmly appreciated ;-)