Gulp. I have finally bitten the bullet and actually booked my Kili trip with Exodus, after I've read the trip notes at least 20 times and kept an eye on the reviews of past travellers and the availability of the trip, just in case I discover anything unexpected. But faced with an (unusual) free weekend, idly sitting at my computer pretending to work but looking for distraction, I decided to have just one more look at the website and found myself making the booking. My biggest dilemma was whether to pay the extra £200 to have a room and tent to myself. I've done it both ways in the past. I usually book a single room/tent but on my last trip, I ended up having to share a tent after the first night due to another person's tent breaking and them not having any repair kit or spare tents. I'm always a bit nervous of sharing especially as I don't sleep very well, which means I wake up the other person moving around and getting up in the night, and/or I get annoyed because they wake me up doing the same thing. In Morocco, however, I couldn't have asked for a better tent partner. She never stirred during the night (while I was up at least once if not several times) and she wore earplugs so wasn't at all disturbed by me. It was also rather reassuring to have someone else there with me in the rather scary howling winds which kept us awake - not just because of the noise but because of the very real danger that the tent would break or collapse (the main dining tent did exactly that on several occasions). Since we also had to erect and dismantle our own tents every day, it was a definite bonus to have someone to share that task with. But on reflection, and since we don't have to erect or dismantle our tents on Kili, I opted for the luxury of being able to sleep the way I want, move around as much as I want in the night, and arrange my kit with plenty of space without having to worry about anyone else. On top of £2,000, an extra £200 isn't that much, and I figure since this is going to be a pretty tough trip, I might as well go for a few little luxuries such as being able to sleep without someone snoring down my left ear or emitting noxious gases.
Saturday 29 September 2012
No turning back
Gulp. I have finally bitten the bullet and actually booked my Kili trip with Exodus, after I've read the trip notes at least 20 times and kept an eye on the reviews of past travellers and the availability of the trip, just in case I discover anything unexpected. But faced with an (unusual) free weekend, idly sitting at my computer pretending to work but looking for distraction, I decided to have just one more look at the website and found myself making the booking. My biggest dilemma was whether to pay the extra £200 to have a room and tent to myself. I've done it both ways in the past. I usually book a single room/tent but on my last trip, I ended up having to share a tent after the first night due to another person's tent breaking and them not having any repair kit or spare tents. I'm always a bit nervous of sharing especially as I don't sleep very well, which means I wake up the other person moving around and getting up in the night, and/or I get annoyed because they wake me up doing the same thing. In Morocco, however, I couldn't have asked for a better tent partner. She never stirred during the night (while I was up at least once if not several times) and she wore earplugs so wasn't at all disturbed by me. It was also rather reassuring to have someone else there with me in the rather scary howling winds which kept us awake - not just because of the noise but because of the very real danger that the tent would break or collapse (the main dining tent did exactly that on several occasions). Since we also had to erect and dismantle our own tents every day, it was a definite bonus to have someone to share that task with. But on reflection, and since we don't have to erect or dismantle our tents on Kili, I opted for the luxury of being able to sleep the way I want, move around as much as I want in the night, and arrange my kit with plenty of space without having to worry about anyone else. On top of £2,000, an extra £200 isn't that much, and I figure since this is going to be a pretty tough trip, I might as well go for a few little luxuries such as being able to sleep without someone snoring down my left ear or emitting noxious gases.
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