Mt. Meru (Day 1 Cont: The Reckoning)

As some of you may know, there was a little bit of a mix up at the pharmacy before my trip to Tanzania, and I wasn't able to get a new typhoid vaccine. This might have made some other people nervous, but to me, it was no big deal for three main reasons.

First, hardly anyone dies from typhoid, usually it's just stomach pains and fever. Second, my previous typhoid vaccination "expired" this past April. But vaccines aren't like on/off switches and I figured I was still partially protected.Finally, typhoid is mainly contracted by eating food that is contaminated by human fecal matter. So in my mind, I was pretty much in the clear if I stuck to only eating fruits and vegetables that were cooked, boiled or peeled.

So here I am, exhausted while only halfway through the first day of my epic hike up Mt. Meru, and the ranger finally announces it's lunch time. I drop my pack and grab my lunch bag with a speed that no one had seen me demonstrate all day. The lunch was provided and packed by the tour company, who my friend had explained no less than 5 times to that I was a vegetarian. So I felt confident that I was going to be able to dig into a hearty meal.

Instead, when I ripped open the box, I found myself face-to-face with what could only be described as a typhoid sandwich. It was a typhoid lunch really. It consisted of a cucumber, tomato and mayo sandwich on white bread; an apple; and an unwrapped veggie samosa.

It's at moments like this that you start asking yourself questions you never thought you'd have to consider. Questions like: "has anyone really ever contracted typhoid from just half a sandwich?" or "what would feel worse the continued rumblings in my stomach now or having typhoid later?"

I went for the samosa first - it seemed the safest - and then eyed around for what my fellow hikers were eating. I gazed longingly at their hermetically sealed lunches - hard-boiled eggs and bananas, roast beef sandwiches in cellophane wrap.

And as I much as I wished that I had the guts to ask for a bite of theirs, I knew I would never do it. This left me with only one other choice: I crossed my fingers, and I dived right in.

Mt Meru (Day1: The Beginning)

I realized in my last blog post that I might have given the impression that I planned to climb Mt. Kili.

This is not true.

I'm a day hiker, at best. I have a few overnights under my belt. But from the climbing friends I know (and by climbing friends, I mean Jon Kraukauer), to attack a mountain like Kilimanjaro you actually have to train -- on real mountains -- for a long time.

I opted instead to hike Kili's little sister -

a smaller mountain called Mt Meru. It takes half the time; it's a much lower altitude; and it promises fantastic views of Kilimanjaro. Sure it is billed as "technically more challenging" than Kili, which made me a little nervous. But in my mind, at three days and four nights, it was totally manageable.

When I arrived at Arusha National Park, I was met by the rest of the group that would be sharing a ranger with me up the mountain, and any doubt that I had about my physical ability quickly disappeared. They were mainly middle-aged, extra-pounds-around-the-bellies Frenchmen, one who was actively smoking a cigarette, and another who had let on that he packed cheese and port in his bag. I looked at them and thought...I got this.

Boy was I wrong.

I'm not sure when I found out that my French compatriots were actually from towns that bordered the Swiss Alps and considered hikes like these their regular weekend jaunts. I'm also not sure when it came out that like many serious climbers they were only doing Meru as a warm-up to Kilimanjaro.

But what I do know is that 4 hours into our 8 hour hiking day, I was sweaty, starving and straggling behind. And this was only Day 1.

A Humbled Traveler

I've been in Tanzania for about 14 hours now, and it has already challenged just about everything that I thought I knew about traveling outside of the U.S.

1. Things aren't cheap here

I always thought, and I believe other people have been on board with me on this one, that if you are traveling anywhere outside of Europe, your US dollar can get you pretty far. Sure, there is a serious investment in the flights, but the cost can be more than made up in ground transport, accommodations, and activities.

This couldn't be less true in Tanzania. A taxi from the airport is US$50. A night at a hostel -one that warns of water shortages - is US $47. To climb Kilimajaro is a whopping US $1500.

It wouldn't be that hard to go for broke here.

2. You actually need to plan in advance

My previous experiences has always been that planning ahead for international travel is almost uniformly a bad idea. The price tour operators from the US charge you is far more expensive than if you go with a local operator. You also lose the flexibility of learning from fellow travelers and changing your plans when hearing advice from real people in the moment, instead of five year old guidebooks. Besides, it's always nice to not get locked into something awful because you didn't really understand all of your options.

So here I go into the "tourist town" of Arusha thinking there would be lines of small shops offering safaris, treks and flights to Zanzibar. I imagined I'd see tons of people like me -solo travelers looking to pick the best of a bevy of options for guided tourism. I basically was using the Asia paradigm of travel in Africa. And it totally failed.

Tour operators looked at me like I was insane when I told them I wanted to climb Mt. Meru tomorrow. They were even more confused by this question I had of wanting to join an already existing group.If it weren't for the persistence and know-how of my friend Lisa, I might have been holed up in a hotel room all week.

3. No one cares about me.

This sounds much more dire than it actually is. Whether it's been in Asia or in South America (my two most traveled continents), I've been stared at... a lot. And people were uber-friendly to me all of the time. Not the genuine kind of friendly. The curious sort-of friendly that people put on when they are talking to someone who has a third eye or is a bearded lady. I've grown used to being like some strange alien dropped into a homogeneous land.

And the truth is, no one here thinks I'm special. Not in the least bit. Which, all things considered, is a pretty sweet pill to swallow.

8 Hours in Switzerland

So getting to Tanzania isn't easy, and in my attempts to avoid multiple stopovers on the way in (which sadly were unavoidable on the way out), I opted for an 8 hour layover in Zurich.

Apparently, this isn't an uncommon thing, because when I Googled ::what to do on a long layover in Zurich::a whole hosts of suggestions popped up.

Two important things that I learned about Zurich

1. It's insanely expensive

2. If you're a vegetarian and are afraid that you might not eat for the next two weeks, it's an amazing place to have your last meal.

Sure I could tell you about the quaint, cobblestoned streets, and the beautiful lake, and the joyous families feeding the swans and playing on slack line. But the real story is about the food.

I went to the Odena Apotheka cafe, which I can't imagine by any stretch of the imagination is an extraordinary standout place to dine. But that's the beauty of Zurich. Their medicore meals ARE exceptional. Highlights included: lightly breaded and fried cheese fondue on a salad (gorgeous), a warm cup of hot chocolate, and a finish with chocolate gelato.

This must be why everyone loves the Swiss.

Tanzania Bound!

I usually like to start trips with a little soul searching. I like to sit alone in my room and imagine what it's going to be like to travel to my next destination. I get real honest with myself and let all of my preconceived notions and expectations spill out on the page.

But things are different this time. Not only is it my first time in Tanzania, it's also my first time in Africa. And what Chimamanda Adichie so deftly explains in this TED talk, is that Africa is plagued by a "single story." The Africa Americans know is of Lion King sunsets, tribal markings and tongued languages, and children who we are told would be thankful for our leftovers.

And while I don't know much about this place that I am traveling to, I know there is more than that. I am excited for some of the world's tallest mountains, the Indian Ocean, uniformed primary school students, and meeting new people -real people- with jobs and modern music and literature and thoughts about the absurdity that Mt. Kilimanjaro will only accept US dollars despite Tanzania having its own currency.

OK, I'll admit it. I'm also pretty pumped about going on safari too.