Kenya and Tanzania

Lessons Learned: Why and How I failed to summit but you won’t.

When in Rome. When in Tanzania.

When in Rome, eat pizza.

When in Tanzania, climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

If you're going to Kenya to visit Serengeti National Park, you might as well hop the border and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania! You're so close, and ask yourself...when do you plan on ever coming back?

Chances are you already waited 20 plus years of your life come to Africa, so do you really want to wait another 20 years to return (and climb)?

Here are some tips for you to make your experience a success.

1. Do Kilimanjaro first then do Serengeti!

You want to be at your best shape when you hike the mountain. Experiencing Serengeti first comes in the way of that. You will be sleeping in floor tents in hot weather, eating basic and non-nutritious foods, and sitting your butt on long drives. All of these activities will deplete your energy quickly. You will get used to playing an observatory role rather than an active role of climbing a mountain. Then after not walking for an entire week, you will be expected to walk 20,000 plus steps right away. Not the best idea. Save the wonderful landscape experiences after the hike as celebration.

2. Don't slack off the final week before departure.

After training for Kilimanjaro for so months, you may want to take the final week off. Perhaps this is to avoid a last minute injury or you just want an excuse to enjoy yourself and stop torturing yourself from hard activity. Resist the temptation! Keep training and maintain a great routine all the way through. Since I was going away for the entire summer, I started catching up with friends and family. As a professor, I started celebrating the end of the semester and graduation with students and classes. All of this took me off my clean, healthy diet and as a result, I gained unneeded and detrimental weight right before the trip. Couple this with one week of dormancy in the Serengeti safari and I lost my edge for Kilimanjaro.

3. How to train

Granted you are taking the advice from someone who FAILED to summit Kilimanjaro. But sometimes failure is the best teacher. Thus, I am that teacher shedding light on the errors of my ways. To acclimate to the elevation, use an elevation training mask and be prepared to set it to the highest setting of 18,000 feet. Jump rope for one hour nonstop, with as little breaks as you can. Your heart rate will fly. Start walking around with a forty pound weighted vest, 40 pound sandbag, and ankle weights. Walk as many stairs as possible. This got me all the way from being 15 pounds overweight in January to 5,000 Meters height by June. But I struggled in parts because...

3. Phone in your pocket

Avoid having your phone in your pant pocket! These days phones are large and with cases like the otter box it is a brick weighing you down. Every step you take, which will be 30,000 plus per day, will have the added weight of your phone (and case). Additionally, every step you take will have limited mobility and range of motion because your phone will restrict leg movement. This is such an honest mistake, but no one tells you. Once your remove the phone, you will be liberated and walking significantly better. Put your phone in a chest or jacket pocket if you must instead.

4. Brick of water

Yes, having water is essential. But distribute the weight evenly. Carrying a 50 ounce container of water in the bag weighs down like another brick. All the weight is stored in that one container and it will slow you down. Rather, have a water bladder so the water is distributed evenly where gravity will be kinder to it on all sides.  

5. To pill or not to pill?

I did not summit, and I did not take the altitude sickness pill. I always wonder if I did, would I have made it. If you are not experiencing symptoms, don't take it. But then again, if you are, it is too late, so it's an awful catch twenty two. I have no excuse for not summiting due to altitude sickness. If anything, along with with the brick water and brick phone, it certainly slowed me down.

6. Take electrolyte pill

The one pill I certainly should take, rather tablet, would be electrolytes. You need that extra salt and hydration, which I lacked. I pretty much drank just water, and that just goes in and out.

Overall lesson relating to speech

1. Organization and Order

As you organize your main points, organize your itinerary. Attempt Kilimanjaro before accepting Serengeti.

2.  Comfort Zone

If speaking is out of your physical comfort zone, literally put your body into a serious physically uncomfortable zone. You will see the invisible links between a physical and psychological comfort zone and learn to deal with both simultaneously. There is no "getting out of comfort zone", there is only making everywhere your comfort zone.

3. Purpose

Too often, speakers have to reach a time limit so they babble words into sentences to just make the timing. Like writing a paper with a requirement of 500 words or 5-7 pages when a student repeats themselves or changes fonts/margins to make it appear longer and more voluminous. Every step you take you should know your purpose, otherwise what is the point.

4. Alacrity

Too often, speakers lose consciousness while speaking because they become too self-conscious. You do not want to go into autopilot while hiking. Miss a step, sprain an ankle. You want to be one with nature while hiking, just enjoying the view. This only comes by avoiding unneeded distractions and having confidence in your ability to make the hike. Recognize that there will be obstacles such as temperature, humidity, grime, etc. Remember, if it were easy, everyone would speak, and everyone would climb.