kilimanjaro4water – Foothold International https://footholdinternational.org Empowering Women in Kenya Sun, 17 Jul 2022 01:54:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 194901294 Medical Preparation for Kilimanjaro https://footholdinternational.org/2022/06/packing-for-kilimanjaro-the-quick-and-the-cheap-of-it-2-2/ https://footholdinternational.org/2022/06/packing-for-kilimanjaro-the-quick-and-the-cheap-of-it-2-2/#comments Thu, 30 Jun 2022 23:14:50 +0000 https://footholdinternational.org/?p=18173

When planning for a trip to Kilimanjaro, it is very important to consider your health and fitness. A year before my first climb when I began planning, I visited my primary physician, my allergist, and my physical therapist. I was 45-years old, and I was not taking any chances. While a visit to all three of those specialist may be overkill for some of you, a visit to your primary care physician will be essential at least 30 days out before your trip.

While the trip is not a technical climb, it does requires you be in generally good health and have an above-average fitness ability. With that being said, many climbers with various physical impairments and disabilities have summited successfully. Determination and preparation are key to success.

We recommend that you schedule an overall checkup, but before you do, here’s some things to read and even print off to take with you on that visit.

The button below will take you to the CDC’s general travel page. On the right side is a table of contents & links to various topics such as packing lists, medications, etc. This is an exhaustive overview of just about all the health and safety considerations for travel to Tanzania.

CDC Tanzania Travel Page

Vaccinations: Covid, Yellow Fever, & Typhoid

Covid, Yellow Fever & Typhoid are the main vaccinations to consider. However, depending on your health history and your itinerary, you may not need all three of these. Refer to the button above about vaccinations and discuss this with your travel agent or our team if you’re traveling with Foothold.

Covid: While Tanzania does not require a Covid vaccine for entry, it certainly makes travel much, much easier. We highly discourage traveling to Tanzania and Kenya without an updated Covid vaccine as part of our responsible tourism practice.

Make sure to bring your official CDC Covid Vaccine Card that looks like this:

03/30/21 – BOSTON, MA. – CDC card stock on March 30, 2021. Photo by Matthew/Northeastern University

Yellow Fever: This vaccine is only required if your itinerary takes you through an endemic country such as Kenya. If your itinerary has no layovers in Kenya, Ethiopia or any other endemic country, there is usually no reason to get this vaccine.

Typhoid: Typhoid continues to be a required vaccine. We will update this site if it changes, but always check the CDC link for most up-to-date information.

Most of these vaccines will require a visit to a travel clinic (more expensive) or a local county health department with a Travel Nurse on site (much cheaper & just as good). Ask us if you need help locating the nearest travel clinic to you.

Make sure you have the travel nurse give you this official Yellow CDC card will all of your relevant vaccine info!

It will look like this. . .

Malaria Prevention:

Vaccines for Malaria are not quite available for travelers although they are currently being developed. We do not require that you take Malaria prevention medication, but we strongly recommend that you discuss your options with your doctor. We do require that you let us know if you are taking Malaria preventive medications and which type while you travel with us in case of any averse reactions.

CAUTION: We are not doctors, but we have taken countless travelers to East Africa, and we have witnessed some serious side effects among a few of our travelers who have used Mefloquine also known as Hydrochloride. It also does not provide the same consistent protection against Malaria as other options for this region. Please bring up these concerns to your doctor before the trip.

We will be taking precautions during the trip to reduce your risk, and we will be traveling during the driest season. The area we will stay in before and after the climb is at an altitude that does not have a significant problem with Malaria. During the climb, there is only a slightest risk on the first day. Mosquitos who carry Malaria cannot survive and transmit the disease at higher altitudes.

Altitude Sickness Prevention

Diamox is optional, but often useful medication to consider. Diamox (also called Acetazolamide) is available by prescription, but there are also supplements such as Iron tablets, Altitude Rx OxyBoost (available on Amazon) among other supplements that may help reduce altitude sickness. Discuss all of these options with your doctor before the trip, and please let us know what medications you are taking on the climb in case of any side effects. See the button below for info about Diamox:

Diamox Info

Other Concerns or Considerations

Please discuss any health concerns or dietary restrictions at least 30 days before the trip. Most concerns can be addressed and resolved with ample advance notice. It is VERY difficult to hide any personal health concerns on the climb.

We want you to be safe and enjoy the experience as well as everyone else on the team, so please discuss your needs or preferences with us. We’re here to help you, but it is very difficult to make accommodations on the mountain without advance notice, so we need you to communicate with as soon as you can. When in doubt, reach out:)

]]> https://footholdinternational.org/2022/06/packing-for-kilimanjaro-the-quick-and-the-cheap-of-it-2-2/feed/ 2 18173 Packing for Kilimanjaro: The Quick and the Cheap of it https://footholdinternational.org/2022/06/packing-for-kilimanjaro-the-quick-and-the-cheap-of-it/ Thu, 30 Jun 2022 23:05:23 +0000 https://footholdinternational.org/?p=18100 There are two paths to packing the right gear for hiking Kilimanjaro:

  1. The easy & expensive
  2. The cheaper and a little harder

If you’re short on time, but not so much money, the easy thing to do is to stop in at any REI store. They will suit you up with all you need. It won’t take you long, and you will have great, reliable, quality gear. However, you will pay more money, and time is money, so this is an important consideration. The other consideration with option #1 is if you’re going to make this a habit.

Let’s say you plan to hike other mountains or you live out west near some 14ers. If you plan to do this more, it is definitely worth the investment. On the other hand, there are quite a few things that you may never use again, so you may night need the highest quality gear for an 8-day hike.

WHAT I DID SPEND MONEY ON: 2 things…

  • my boots and
  • my backpack.

I bought both at REI. And I recommend doing the same, no matter how much of a bargain shopper you are (like me). If you are an REI member (which is going to pay for itself just prepping for this), you can actually take your boots home for 3 months, break them in & bring them back if there’s anything that’s “not quite right” for you. And when it comes to boots, which is the most important piece of gear to get first to break in, REI is worth the investment.

When it came to my backpack, I made the mistake of purchasing one on Amazon…don’t recommend doing that. This isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” like your school backpacks. You actually need to be sized appropriately for your backpack. Come to find out I was on the small side, torso-wise that is. I would’ve bought a medium or a large women’s if I hadn’t have gone to REI to get sized. You will need a backpack that has a spine and compatible with a hydration pack.

If you want to spend as little as possible, I recommend a few things:

  • Facebook Marketplace: This is where I bought an excellent used sleeping bag.
  • Ebay: after being sized at REI, my husband, Brad bought his nearly-new Osprey backpack, which is really pretty for a man’s backpack. And let me just say that knowing he bought it on Ebay, REI still offered to size the bag for him because Osprey bags need you to adjust them, which is best done by an Osprey sales rep.
  • REI Garage Sale: If you’re a member, you can visit their Garage Sale section of the store where they resell items people return. This is where I found an amazing down jacket.
  • Sierra: This was formerly called Sierra Trading Post, but now it’s a part of the TJMaxx brand. If you’re in Ohio, they have a nice one at Easton Town Center where Dick’s Sporting Goods use to be. It’s a great store full of overstock outdoors gear. We bought most of our gear here. It was fun to see what we can find…the best deal on wool socks out there & you just cannot have enough wool socks for the hike. And you can order online and get your items shipped to the store for free.

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