We got ourselves settled into our new apartment for the week. It's okay, except that it has no WiFi, and the cooking supplies are not the best. Ruth showed me one of the fry pans, and I said "you wouldn't use that in your own house" so why are they supplying us with it? But, that's what you get for $20 a night!
And we realize that. But in looking at more expensive places, you really need to spend double that and even then you have to be selective. The problem is that many Airbnb rentals are used by people on holiday, and generally people on holiday eat in restaurants.
Here's a few pics of where are are until December 15th...
It's actually a nice big bright apartment.
On the 4th floor... no elevator.
Old TV, but we haven't turned on a TV since we've been in Turkey.
Almost every place we've looked at has its own washing machine.
Pretty basic bedroom. Nothing fancy.
Decent enough kitchen.
It's the accessories that need some work!
Nice view of the mountains.
So, I know you can't wait for the news.
We are going to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania on January 10th!
We fly out of Istanbul that Sunday evening on Qatar Airways, (voted World's Best Airline in 2019) and connect in Doha, Qatar, land in Dar es Salaam for an hour, then on to Kilimanjaro where we arrive at 9:40am on Monday January 11th. The airfare cost $485 CAD ($379 USD) for the one way flight, per person. Not a screaming deal, that's for sure. But it's not a popular route, and at least we are on a top rated airline.
Istanbul to Doha to Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro.
We've decided we are going to climb both of Tanzania's highest mountains. First as a warm up, we will do the four day Mount Meru hike that will bring us up to 14,980'. Then a week or so later we plan to do the seven day Kilimanjaro hike that will bring us up to 19,341'.
The highest we have ever been was 16,400' in Peru.
I think we are in good enough condition to do both hikes. The problem can be the altitude. Good physical condition is a prerequisite, without a doubt. But the altitude affects different people in different ways, even those in good shape. I remember when tennis star Martina Navratilova attempted the climb at age 54 in 2010. She was in good shape, but her system just couldn't handle the altitude.
And yet, just last year an 89 year old great grandmother succeeded as the oldest person to ever climb Kilimanjaro! Wow!
And we plan to remain in Tanzania until around March 22nd. There is lots to see and do there, so we will keep busy with other interesting things.
In the meantime, we still have another month in Turkey!
Yesterday, we walked from the apartment to the waterfront, bought an ice cream, bought another internet package, and made our way to the local weekly fruit and veggie market to pick up a few things.
There are three canals through the town that all have walkways by them.
It's really pretty.
Scenery along the way.
Calm day at the waterfront.
These two dogs were enjoying running in the water.
Waterfront walkway.
No, it is not very busy!
It turns out that Finike is a pretty little town!
Did I mention it was another beautiful day?
Looking back at the harbor.
We found the big Turkcell store and put another 44 lira ($7.20 CAD, $5.60 USD) package on our phone. That was supposed to be for 10GB of data, but sure enough once again it went through and credited me with 20GB. They obviously have some kind of bonus program going on. We'll take it!
The fish market area.
Made it home, and found that we had done 9.1 kms (5.6 miles). All flat walking though.
We have now walked 358.3 kms (222.1 miles) since we arrived in Turkey October 13th.
The sky was on fire last night!
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Gillette 5 Men's Razor Blade Refills. Record low deal, time to stock up!
And in Canada...
Kids love Play-Doh.
Brilliant, I thought it would be Tanzania. Very exciting.
ReplyDeleteWe are super excited about going to Tanzania, especially me! When we were in Africa back in 2013/14, I had wanted to go to Tanzania then but the distance was to much between Namibia and South Africa so we gave it a miss and I thought that I lost my opportunity to go. :-)
DeleteHow exciting!! I have no doubt you too will do well on your climb! I agree, pretty little town you are currently in.
ReplyDeleteYep, it sure is exciting! We will definitely give it our best shot. Hopefully by doing Mount Meru first and then doing Kilimanjaro we will be acclimatised enough that we will be able to succeed in the climb. I have no doubt that we can do the actual hike itself, it is the altitude that worries me because you just never know how it will affect you.
DeleteI was pretty sure you'd go for Tanzania (I took a bet with myself on that)! Good for you! That will be exciting experiences! And a nice place to spend time until March. Meanwhile, keep enjoying the beauties of Turkey!
ReplyDeleteLol, you would definitely have won the bet then. :-)
DeleteWe are so looking forward to this trip. We really enjoyed our time in Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho back in 2013/14 and we think that Tanzania will be a nice mix of all three of them. Now we have more research to do because we want to do lots of off the beaten path type of stuff there, that most people don't see.
Yep, we have just under a month left here in Turkey, so I am sure we still have lots left to explore. :-)
It looks like you have an oven . Does it worrk ? Btw, I also bet it would be Tanzania . You would not be able to take an RV there so it is a good time to go . Sounds exciting !
ReplyDeleteHaha - I was going to ask if the oven worked too.
DeleteWe have learned our lesson with the ovens, so now we ask if it works before booking the place, so yes it works! :-) The only other issue we have with the oven is that other than the pan in the oven there is nothing else to cook/bake with that will go in the oven!
DeleteYou are correct, it won't really be a place that we can take the RV too, having said that I doubt we would take the RV to Egypt or Pakistan either!
Wow, very exciting! The highest we've been was 16,000' in Ecuador two years ago, climbing a volcano. We think we're in great shape for our ages (now 76), and we had no trouble hiking, but we did have to stop often to breathe! We took Diamox when we were in Tibet, and I wish we'd taken it to Ecuador. Recommend. Finike looks pretty.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is exciting! :-)
DeleteSounds like you guys did great with your climb at 16,000' so you could possibly do this one too. It's great that you are still in great shape at 76, we want to be just like you two when we get to that age. :-)
We also learned that you need to take things nice and slow and take just little steps as you get up to that altitude. We managed well in both Guatemala and Peru when we were up at much higher altitudes so we will just continue to do much the same on these hikes.
It is a very pretty area here but we are finding that in most places that we have traveled to here in Turkey.
"We are going to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania on January 10th!"
ReplyDeleteThis just got exciting! Altitude sickness is no joke. Even though I've climbed many 14,000+ peaks I got AS bad when I was going over Kearsarge Pass at ~12,000 feet. I live at near sea level and we took the bus to the start off point. All night bus ride, no sleep, and then hitched a ride to the trail head at ~9,000. Had a wilderness permit for a month in the Sierra's and my pack was in excess of 75lbs. By the time I crested the pass I already had a migraine and nausea. Could not make it down to Kearsarge lake that night as the migraine was debilitating, so I slept just off trail. Took 4 days to feel better. I should have spent the day and night at the trail head to acclimate first, but alas, the exuberance of youth would have none of it...live and learn. Thankfully I never got AS again on any other climb. Climbing Meru is a great idea to acclimate/train on, and I've read when one has the time, like you guys, doing K on the longer 7-10+ day trips ups both the enjoyment, and success rates. This will be good!
We realize that altitude sickness it not to be taken lightly that is why we are wanting to give ourselves lots of time to acclimatize before doing the actual Kilimanjaro climb. We know that we can do 16,000' because we did it a year ago October when we were in Peru, and two other hikes that took us up to 15,000'that were very difficult to start with. I think for us the trick is to just get ourselves used to the higher altitudes first, so doing Mount Meru first should really help with that.
DeleteI am glad that everything turned out well for you on that particular hike, especially if you were by yourself. As you said though, when you are young you think you can do anything and survive, at least you learned a valuable lesson from the experience.
Living in the fourth floor without elevator is a good training for Tanzania. I am amazed how beautiful it is where you are now. The apartment is very nice.
ReplyDeleteWe had a cookware problem on our travels and I bought a good, light pan and took it always with me. I still have it. The prices you have to pay? We can only dream of those. But you have a good hand in finding things.
Stay healthy and good luck!
We would have to go up and down the stairs many, many times for it to give us any kind of training for Kilimanjaro. I think we will just stick to going outside and hiking some of the many hills/mountains that they have here in the area, a much prettier and more exciting way to get us prepared for that big hike.
DeleteWe actually have bought a few kitchen items that we wanted/needed while we have been here in Turkey, things that most of the kitchens have been lacking. I wish that we had bought a decent frypan at the beginning of the trip as well because that is the one thing that I find in most of the kitchens has been in the worst shape. Each place we have stayed at has had at least one if not two good pots, none of them have had a toaster though and only a couple have had a working kettle. We still manage though and can't really complain especially for the prices that we are paying for these apartments. :-)
We also expected you to pick that destination - although so many of the choices given were all wonderful - we loved our time in Egypt, even dirty Cairo, because of the museum. We lived in Zimbabwe for a while but never made it to Tanzania so will be looking forward to your perspectives on that area. In the meantime, we enjoy every post about Turkey - so many beautiful photos of areas we did not see. Your current apartment would be worth 10 times that for the view alone!
ReplyDeleteYou are correct, all of the choices were good ones and I don't think we would have been disappointed in any of them. Now looked like it was the best time to go to Tanzania though, so figured while the option was there we better take it.
DeleteZimbabwe is another country that we would like to visit one day, just don't know when or if that will happen. Our issue is, that there are too many places that we want to visit and explore and not enough time.
We really have been enjoying our time in Turkey and we are so happy that we will have had three whole months here, by the time we leave. It is so much better than we had ever expected.
We are loving the views from our current apartment. We have views in three different directions here!
Great views all around.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on visiting Tanzania. You'll definitely get your workouts in.
Be Safe and Enjoy your adventures.
It's about time.
Yep, there are views from the apartment in three different directions and all of them have mountains in them.
DeleteNo, we certainly won't have any issues with not getting our exercise in each day! We are so looking forward to this new adventure. :-)
I also thought you would go to Tanzania.
ReplyDeleteReally like all the waterfront paths there are in Turkey. That's the kind of walking I like!
I didn't realize that we were so predictable, lol! It is hard to turn down a hiking opportunity like that. :-)
DeleteThere are definitely lots of pathways in the towns and cities by the coast, that is for sure. There weren't any when we were in Denizli, which is inland though.
Wow very excited for you 3 months in Tanzania will be awesome. I did Kilimanjaro a few years ago and often remember “pole pole” slowly slowly is what gets you up the mountain and less likely to get AS.
ReplyDeleteIt is actually going to be close to 2 1/2 months in Tanzania but it will still give us lots of opportunities to get out there and explore the country and see some of the amazing places that are there rather than just Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti which is what most people see when they go to Tanzania.
DeleteNice to hear that you have climbed Kilimanjaro, we don't really know many people that have. When we were climbing a volcano in Guatemala, the locals would pass by us as they were coming down and say "poco a poco" which means the same thing slowly, slowly and we have never forgotten that. When we were hiking up at 15 and 16,000 feet in Peru last year those same words went through my head and I took many, many little steps and it really does work! :-)
Wow, that is cool where you are going! Look forward to the this country, and we know you 2 will find the interesting photos, and adventures a wait! Rawn Stone
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty cool to think that we will be going to Tanzania and climbing Kilimanjaro. It has always been a lifetime goal for me. No doubt we will be off exploring lots of new places in Tanzania, we love showing everyone places that aren't talked about or visited very often in this country. There is always more to a country than just the "tourist" places. :-)
DeleteThat would be amazing when you 2 climb Mount Kilimanjaro, I know you will take a lot of pictures!
DeleteYes, I am sure there will be lots of pictures. :-)
DeleteI'm so looking forward to you're hiking up the mountains. We learned really fast we didn't carry enough water with our hike in Mt Evans, CO. Take plenty of water. lol Have fun we'll be following.
ReplyDeleteIt is certainly going to be an adventure. Having climbed three different times over 15,000 a year ago in Peru we knew to carry lots of water and we always remembered to drink it too. I believe that the porters bring water with them or that there is a source along the way because I don't think we can carry seven days worth of water with us. We will find out more as we get closer to the date and we will get a warm up hike first when we do the four day Mount Meru hike.
DeleteI too thought you would choose Tanzania/Kilimanjaro. So excited to view your next adventures there. Turkey has been outstanding! Yes, “Poco, Poco” as you ascend the mountain tops. Take care. Larry & Nancy
ReplyDeleteI guess we are just too predictable. lol!
DeleteTurkey really has been a fantastic trip, I don't think we have gone a day where we haven't seen or done something that wasn't amazing in one way or another. Sorry, I take that back we had our two curfew days last weekend where we couldn't go out and do anything and now we are into another curfew weekend but that just allows us to get our energy back for another week of fun.
Yep "poco a poco" is the best way to reach the summit! Fingers crossed that we will be able to do it. :-)
Yay! I just commented on your previous post that I hoped you picked Tanzania. I swear I didn't cheat and look ahead! I wasn't sure you'd pick it because of the cost and touristy aspect, but I am so glad you did. Can't WAIT for your posts from there.
ReplyDeleteLove your new location; such a pretty setting. I was going to ask about the oven too!
Lol, we are sure you didn't cheat either, you have just read us enough to know what our passions are. :-)
DeleteWe have to admit that we are having a hard time trying to wrap our heads around the money that is involved though, this is just a bit out of our comfort zone in that aspect but we scrimped and saved over the last few years just so that we can have some extra money to do something just like this. Having said that we still are going into this with trying to get the best deal we can on everything we do, so that we can keep our expenses down to a minimum at least but still have a fun and safe trip.