Dad's Kilimanjaro diary, Part 1

Dec. 29 - Jasmine and I flew to Istanbul on Wednesday morning and checked our bags at the Nippon Hotel in Taksim Square right away. We took the Metro to Kabatash and walked to Dolmabahche to squeeze in a little site seeing. While it was in some respects impressive the tour was sort of a rambling monologue highlighting the weight (in tons) of the crystal chandeliers and size of the carpets. As they hustled us through room after room I couldn't help but think of how many short cuts they had taken and how this must have bankrupted the country. It was freezing cold and trying to rain so instead of racing to Topkapi Palace Jasmine suggested we go someplace for lunch and get warmed up.  

The Bosphorous and Jasmine from Dolmabahce.

After lunch and coffee we looked for shoe inserts and hand warmers, two things that don't seem to have hit mainstream Turkey. We probably visited a dozen ski/sports shorts making hand motions as if we were sticking a very small pillow into Jasmine's gloves. The search took on the flavor of a mission as we explored every little store in every little alley that looked like it might have some potential. We basically admitted defeat but just as we rolled into Tophane our hopes went up again as the train passed two ski stores. Sure enough, the second shop sold us 10 for 45 TL or about $30. Pricey, but worth it if it keeps Jasmine from freezing her toes and fingertips.


Jasmine is excited and nervous about the climb but in a way the orphanage has become almost as important as Kili and has turned into a great experience already. She's writing personal notes to friends of mine with jokes about having to haul the old man up the hill which is a nice way for her to enter the community of adults who care about each others' kids. Personally I can't wait to visit the orphanage which has sort of stolen the show at least in my own mind.


Dec 30 & 31 - We woke up at 3 a.m. this morning to catch our KLM flight from Ataturk airport to Amsterdam and for much of the day Jasmine and I were both in a daze. We had nearly five hours of delay in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to read, look at chocolates, sample cheese and then chocolate and then more cheese. The flight itself was fairly uneventful but landing in Kilimanjaro was sort of everything we had been looking forward to. A strong tropical breeze was blowing and at 10:30p it was still 26 degrees Celsius. The airport was tiny but had great looking mahogany floors and ceiling fans churning away. Visas cost $100 each but I guess we knew that and outside we found our driver, william, who was just great. I wish he was leading our guide but he told us he had been promoted (after climbing Kili 128 times) and is in charge of organizing things now from HQ. The Ilboru Lodge is spartan but nice and I'm on the patio of our room writing while Jasmine answers sponsor emails and eats mangos that we bought at the market in Arusha.

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