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| Injecting for lunch at the summit of Longido. |
Hiking, or tramping as we call it in New Zealand, is such a passion of mine. I love being in the forest and being on your two feet is the best way to explore. I have found this a huge adjustment living here. While people from London are in awe of the outdoor lifestyle that Tanzania has to offer, it is a far cry from what I am used to! That said, it is a goal of mine to make the effort to hike/climb a few more of the mountains here this year.
One of the things I love most about hiking in a new country are the glimpses you get into people's everyday lives. You get to see into homes, and if you are lucky, be invited in. People want to talk to you and the kids chase you. Here in Tanzania people apologise ("pole!") that you have to walk! When I was hiking in the Usambarra mountains my guide told me that the people felt pity for me that I could not afford the bus... A huge cultural difference to be walking as a luxury!
Hiking is easy in Tanzania if you are organised yet flexible. There are almost no maps, and you nearly always have to take a guide or a ranger and often pay village fees. If you are willing to do this, the country is at your fingertips.
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| Almost at the top of Longido. |
On Sunday I camped with some friends at Longido, about an hour from Arusha. The camp site was cliche Africa and I only had one scorpion under my tent and a measly 4 thorns straight through my shoe into my foot. After a night of scorpion dreaming we hiked/climbed up Mt Longido. It was 4 1/2 hours straight up with a hands and knees scramble/climb to the summit, and about three hours down. I love imagining the creatures around me in the forest as we trekked past elephant poo and a leopard footprint! It is amazing how much energy hiking uses. I miscalculated my long-acting insulin the night before so had to suck sweets constantly on the climb, and I should have carried much more sugar with me.I would love to hear from other diabetics how they adjust their insulin for all day exertion?
Here's to this being the first of many 2016 mountain hikes. Let it be the year of Meru, Oldonyo Lengai and fingers and toes crossed for Mt Nyiragongo in Congo.
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| Maasai land |
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| Maasai land. |
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| Big trees hiking in Usambarra mountains. |
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| Shimo la Mungu crater. |
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| Big mountains in Usambarra. |
Looks like so much fun! Great read Elisabeth. Thats so interesting that the locals feel sorry that you are walking. They must not see hiking as a leisure activity ha.
ReplyDeleteI also have constant questions about adjusting insulin for all day activity. I usually 1/2 my basal the night before and 1/2 my meal time boluses throughout the day for an activity like hiking. This seems to work for light to medium exertion but with strenuous all day activity like surfing I tend to avoid bolusing before all together. The issue with this is that I get really high before going out, sometimes over 300, putting me at risk for ketones. I have been playing with carb loading for awhile and am still stumped. I am currently seeking an endocrinologist that specializes in dealing with T1 athletes to hopefully learn a more precise method.
Check out my post about hiking in Costa Rica and some of the issues I faced and lessons I learned
https://travelbetic.wordpress.com/2016/01/29/hiking-in-rincon-de-la-vieja-ups-downs-and-lessons-learned/
Thanks travelbetic. Nice to hear you have the same struggles! I just got back from another trip and I also needed to avoid bolusing... But then wound up high for the initial part of the climb. Let me know how you go with that endo! Look up ExT1d and Australian website... They have heaps of tutorials on exercise with T1.
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ReplyDelete