reallifestory
mountain sickness are HAPE (High
Altitude Pulmonary Edema) & HACE
(High Altitude Cerebral Edema). You
wouldn’t want those to happen to you.
You do need to plan your gear. At
Kilimanjaro, you’re exposed to all kinds
of weather: desert, rain, hailstorm, snow.
That’s why, you need to dress in layers,
to manage the cold effectively while
travelling light.
Hmm. More details on
clothing, please.
AH: Clothing should be generally light.
Instead of cotton tees, carry quickdrying tees and trousers. Trousers
that can be converted into shorts are
comfortable and lighter on you. As we
gain in altitude, the temperature starts to
drop, and you need more layers. Carry
just one big bulky heavy jacket, because
you’ll need it only towards the end of the
trek. The final summit which begins at
12:00 midnight is what it all boils down
to. We were told to expect temperatures
to drop up to minus 20 degrees.
The gear is split into two bags. The
trekker carries a day pack, which contains
essentials such as eatables, raincoats, thin
fleece, camera, water etc. The porters
(if you decide to hire them) take your
backpack, which contains the rest of the
gear. But carrying everything yourself
makes i H]H[ܙH