Exodus

We used Exodus to book our holiday, a trekking holiday specialist. We found them to be well priced, good for information before, and on the trek we were well fed and we had our own group 'toilet tent'. Only problem was that our bags got lost between Nairobi and Kilimajaro airport, so we had to start the trek in clothes from a 'hire shop' (small hut with old clothes they'd found left on the mountain), which wasn't nice, but wasn't really their fault either. The company on the Tanzanian side, African Walking Company, didn't really seem to understand our apprehension at walk up to 6000m in someone's old stockings and a t-shirt, which was a bit frustrating. We got them in the end though, and even though we must have spent an extra £150 on the hire clothes and porters to bring the bags up, it was worth it to have my own gear (especially my North Face Greenland down-jacket which I love to bits and I think actually saved me from getting hypothermia several times).

The holiday also included a few days in Zanzibar, which was a lovely place to relax after the walk, but I wouldn't go there again. I think you get better value, beaches and service somewhere like Thailand. Can't complain though as I did get proposed to on the beach!!! :-)

I quite like the Exodus website. You can see other travellers' reviews of that exact trip, and if you sign in can access community forums to meet the other people on the trip before you go. the forums are a bit clunky at the moment but the idea is there. They also have videos of the trip, and Google Earth videos to show you the route which is a nice touch and got me really excited before going!

Only problem I had with it, although you can book online, you can't then manage your booking or go back and check the details easily. I would have liked to have seen a screen with my booking details, showing dates when I had to do things by (pay deposit, get visa etc), and dates for when I could expect things from Exodus (final joining instructions, kit bags etc). This could be integrated with the existing 'my exodus' part which currently is really only useful for accessing the forums. I did mention this to one of the guys there (I do like to give feedback!) and hopefully they will implement that soon.

Kilimanjaro!

My fiance (Adam) and I recently went on a trip to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro. I trained hard but didn't make it right to the top due to altitude sickness. According to wikipedia it's caused by the low atmospheric pressure giving low CO2 levels which causes a rise in blood pH. To me that meant nausea, really dizzy with an awful headache and generally feeling like I was about to die. After walking for 4 days with no problems, on the summit night (we got up at midnight to start, and the temperature dropped to minus 20!) we started at 4700m and at about 5000m I started to have the problems, I carried on to about 5500m, but could continue up to the top (5,895m).

Anyway, I enjoyed the rest of the walk apart from that night. It was an amazing experience, the landscape was like nothing I'd seen before, we got to see a bit of the local culture (the porters are incredible) and the others in our group were a really nice bunch. I got into the camping more than I thought I would, it was nice to be away from everything, but I have to admit I enjoyed the first shower back at the hotel after 7 days!

I would like to try a high hike again sometime, maybe something in the himalayas. Although I'm not sure I'm quite as addicted as Adam who wants to go for a 7000m next!