All right. If that last post about the 7 year old boy climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro wasn't enough to inspire you, along comes this article I stumbled across today. A one legged teenager from Massachusetts named Nico Calabria has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with his father. He is the youngest disabled person ever to reach the mountain's summit.
Nico consistently rejected offers to be carried by the Tanzanian equipment porters who accompanied him and his father, Carl. The only time he felt like turning back, he says, was when his father developed acute mountain sickness and had to halt his ascent a few hundred feet from the summit.
Truly inspiring.
That mountain sickness that his father suffered from is also known as altitude sickness. As you ascend Mt. Kilimanjaro the air becomes thinner and thinner, holding less oxygen. Meanwhile you are exerting yourself and your body is demanding oxygen in a way it never would at your day job. In very rare cases extreme altitude sickness can be fatal if the person is not given oxygen and descended down the mountain as quickly as possible.
Experienced and reputable safari outfits that lead expeditions up Kilimanjaro always carry oxygen and medicine for just these kinds of emergencies. The good guides can recognize the early signs of altitude sickness and know how to handle it so it doesn't become acute. They know when the mountain sickness is becoming dangerous and will quickly get you down the mountain.
Reputable safari outfits always plan for enough days of climbing to allow your body time to adjust to the change in altitude. The more time you have to climb the easier it is for your body to adjust to the change in oxygen. A good minimum is at least 6 days. I would recommend that if your tour company's itinerary for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro doesn't accommodate for at least 6-7 days of climbing, from start to finish, then you probably should reconsider your options and find another company.
Another thing to worry about is that disreputable safari companies sometimes pressure you to climb quickly. Even though the itinerary they stated to you says 6 days, they may try to get you to climb quickly so as to finish in 5, or less! Climbing quickly means a higher likelihood that you will get sick and need to descend. What could be worse than traveling all that distance and paying all that money only to have to turn back because a dishonest safari company wanted to make more money by forcing you up the mountain too fast? Befor going, please do your homework and find a good company with a good reputation and lots of experience.
Geoff
Nico consistently rejected offers to be carried by the Tanzanian equipment porters who accompanied him and his father, Carl. The only time he felt like turning back, he says, was when his father developed acute mountain sickness and had to halt his ascent a few hundred feet from the summit.
Truly inspiring.
That mountain sickness that his father suffered from is also known as altitude sickness. As you ascend Mt. Kilimanjaro the air becomes thinner and thinner, holding less oxygen. Meanwhile you are exerting yourself and your body is demanding oxygen in a way it never would at your day job. In very rare cases extreme altitude sickness can be fatal if the person is not given oxygen and descended down the mountain as quickly as possible.
Experienced and reputable safari outfits that lead expeditions up Kilimanjaro always carry oxygen and medicine for just these kinds of emergencies. The good guides can recognize the early signs of altitude sickness and know how to handle it so it doesn't become acute. They know when the mountain sickness is becoming dangerous and will quickly get you down the mountain.
Reputable safari outfits always plan for enough days of climbing to allow your body time to adjust to the change in altitude. The more time you have to climb the easier it is for your body to adjust to the change in oxygen. A good minimum is at least 6 days. I would recommend that if your tour company's itinerary for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro doesn't accommodate for at least 6-7 days of climbing, from start to finish, then you probably should reconsider your options and find another company.
Another thing to worry about is that disreputable safari companies sometimes pressure you to climb quickly. Even though the itinerary they stated to you says 6 days, they may try to get you to climb quickly so as to finish in 5, or less! Climbing quickly means a higher likelihood that you will get sick and need to descend. What could be worse than traveling all that distance and paying all that money only to have to turn back because a dishonest safari company wanted to make more money by forcing you up the mountain too fast? Befor going, please do your homework and find a good company with a good reputation and lots of experience.
Geoff
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