This weekend I swam for close to five hours in water that was claimed to be 62 degrees Fahrenheit, felt like 50. I hope all had a great weekend
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As the Memorial Day weekend begins here in the USA it is the perfect time to kick off the summer season on the lake. The unfortunate part of this is that it is cold here, cold or not I still had to swim, so last night I swam for one hour. It was not bad, some cramps, could see my breath by the water, my toes started turning in weird directions but it was great! The hair on my face literally seemed to stand straight up and it was solid like nails sticking out of my face. I absolutely loved the swim. So much that I did another one this morning, while I could not find the temperature of the lake online, I am thinking it was around fifty degrees Fahrenheit.
Upon arriving here this weekend I discovered that the house was invaded by some sort of animal, and after plugging the hole and cleaning it up a bit all seemed fine. I think the word seemed is a lazy word, it means I did not track where the animals actually came in from and look for potential nests. Well the “Seemed” part was of course inaccurate and about 9:15am today, after my swim, the dogs went crazy and chased a chipmunk, or several of them, up a tree/trees. What was sad is that I learned that chipmunks have “Bad” smell glands. So it is time for a big cleanup around the house and time to get hot sauce and some more mothballs.
So my day holds about three hours reading on the Israel/Arab conflict, writing a professional blog post for 34a, and cleaning out a chipmunk nest. I am not complaining of course as there are worse things in life. So, back to swimming, I did one hour last night and thirty minutes this morning. I think I need to do another hour tonight and hopefully two hours tomorrow. I am excited about building my tolerance to cold, as I get closer to my July Trek.
Ciao,
Rob
Ernest Hemingway on safari
In my Expedia account today I noticed that my flight to Tanzania is in seven weeks. It hits me that I have not trained hard enough and I have not been focused enough on general preparations. I hope to adjust this over the next week. In my final month I think I will spend much time around Mount Washington. There is nothing like actually hiking up a mountain to prepare you for hiking up a mountain, yup that simple. It is somewhat appropriate as well because it was on Mount Washington that I first developed my love of hiking. I believe there are things that we do in life that stay with us forever and for me my first hike to the summit of Washington was one of those life events.
Since that first hike up Mount Washington I have hiked in many places and on every continent. So now it is time to change up “the game” a bit and the change is to make it a bit more unique. Kilimanjaro is unique and a place to go to test yourself, I will be taking the western approach. It should be noted that Kilimanjaro is the highest free standing mountain in the world. Ernest Hemingway’s book “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” has a great couple of lines in it:
“Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called the Masai ‘Ngaje Ngai’, the House of God. Close to the western summit there is a dried and frozen carcas of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.”
What am I seeking? From starting in a rain forest, my path, has me continuing up to more barren surfaces to points where you no longer see life all around you and of course glaciers. I think that this hike is going to be an eventful trip and I feel this way because of experience. Just as Antarctica was a view into a strange crystal desert – I believe Kilimanjaro will provide a view into my soul.
Any lover of telescopes will tell you that for the best viewing you will want to get away from the light pollution of cities and they are right. As for the hike, with getting into the wilderness you get rid of the pollution of civilization. I particularly like the idea of not showering until you come back down from the mountain, as it is hard to get away from nature when you are covered in her. It is funny, as we try so hard to keep nature out of our lives, we have climate controlled houses, cars, and even public transportation no stone is left unturned to save us from actually dealing with nature. Well, while on Kilimanjaro that will not be an option, hiding from nature that is. I suppose my next hike of any magnitude post Kilimanjaro will be in southern Azerbaijan in November or in Armenia as a tack on to this year’s IGF Conference in Baku.
So, I am prepared, as my boots are broken in and my mind is settling in on the task at hand. I am wondering what my travel clinic will say, what shots I will need and what pills I should take along with me. I will not be worrying about what is on my iPod because I think it will get as much use on kili as it did in Antarctica. That would be none. I suppose the last thing to say in this post is,”Let’s go Sixers, Let’s go”, have a great holiday weekend everyone!
Cheers,
Rob
p.s. Do not forget today is the last day to get my eBook “Going to Antarctica” for free.
Update: “Going to Antarctica” Download or Read in the Cloud from anywhere. Free on May 22 & 23, 2012
Going to Antarctica is an eBook designed for use with the Kindle. If you do not have a kindle you can still read the book using the Kindle Reader. To get one of the free Kindle Reader Applications go to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kinh_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771
To get your the book now: Book Download: http://www.amazon.com/Going-to-Antarctica-ebook/dp/B007BNEQEK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337682624&sr=8-1
About the book:
Going to Antarctica is the story of a seasoned traveler preparing and then setting out for the trip of a lifetime. Told from the perspective of a global adventurer, Going to Antarctica provides a delightful mix: on the one hand, practical travel tips, suggestions and advice; and, of course, the anecdotes, colorful descriptions, and stories that made the journey so memorable. The excursion follows the ship as it navigates through the Drake Passage. Then the team sets out on land, through the wilderness, and encounters the wildlife of the southernmost desert in the world. The explorers have some amazing experiences along the way, including camping in Antarctica. This is a must-read story for anyone contemplating a trip to the crystal desert, for lovers of wildlife, and for anyone fascinated with this foreign, frozen wonderland. Topics covered.
- Camping in Ice
- Whales
- Penguins – my favorite
- Hiking
- Adventure Travel
Your choices for readers other than the Kindle are:
Kindle Cloud Reader: Read instantly in your browser
Smartphones
Computers
Tablets
You can get the book for free today as part of a promotion, normal price is $3.99. I hope you enjoy the book.
Cheers,
Rob Yonaitis
For about sixty days I have been working on my new travel book with a constant nagging problem. The problem is age, at time of visit, and the fact that I have been to most of the continents and cities at least twice. In itself this is not bad but consider Rome Italy, a 20 year old versus a 40 year, you can be sure that the location is not the same for them. Having a good memory leaves me with two strong memories about locations and that is problematic. Some things are easy, like Naples Italy, the first time I went there were no skyscrapers, the second time I went there were. It is a matter of perspective, for example, when I first went to Rome it was not common for someone to travel or hope to travel to Rome – we in general would not have considered it, Rome was so far and unreal to most. Today we not only travel but it is not actually considered distant anymore? If I said to someone I was going to Beijing today they would say cool, 20 years ago they would have said, “What!” I am sure I will find a formula to fix this problem – but I am not going to solve it today!
LH 3700 Departing from Frankfurt to Fictitious Point [sic] at 8:30 – will be leaving from Gate Z06.You cannot make this stuff up. I wonder if I can get a seat to Fictitious Point? I could meet fictitious people – I hear they are great. but wait. This gives me an idea, I mean, I know I am board here but wouldn’t it be cool to be able to board a plane and go to some Fictitious Point. Maybe it would make a good sci-fi show. Kind of like Star Trek but the plane goes somewhere different every time they take off… Different Worlds.. One of the worlds outfits the plane with cool super tech so Jet-A fuel is not required. Maybe a few fictitious people join the crew. And they are blue people, yeah blue people – not smurf blue but devil blue. And there is a fictitious animal, it can turn itself inside out when scared. It eats fictitious food and its name is d’artanian….. The pilot asks me to take right seat and I tell her that I am ready to help! Later, I learn she is Fictitious and d’artanian becomes my best friend… Thank You Frankfurt for your flight status board….
I have been concerned that I was not working out enough when on this trip to southern and Eastern Europe. Well Spain was a great deal of walking and Lithuania was both more walking and lots of hill hiking. Today is my last day in Vilnius and it was a great day for exercise. I had just one thing to do today and when done I went on a two hour walk around town. You know you have walked when you are happy to take a seat if even for a few minutes. After my two-hour walk I went for another two-hour walk up to the Museum of Genocide and it was closed today, but it was a good walk. By three o’clock I was back in the room for a second and then back out to do a hike up the hill of crosses. In the end I walked and hiked for six to seven hours – not bad for a Tuesday in Vilnius.
The highlight of the day was that I duplicated what you would get in a Vilnius city tour but I added a bit more. I did two new things on this trip. First, I went to the National Museum of Lithuania. This was a great spot and I wonder why I missed it in the past but I am glad I went this trip. Second, I hiked up the hill of crosses. These crosses are the subject of some of my past artwork and it was great to see them up close: Here is a link to some photos: http://yonaitis.shutterfly.com/14448 . I also was able to get some great shots from my morning walk: http://yonaitis.shutterfly.com/14391 .
Perhaps the biggest surprise this week was the Trakai Island Castle. This was a tour and it was a good one. A very pleasant tour guide made the difference. What a nice day in general, perfect weather for a long walk in and around the castle. There was some great beauty to see – as there often is around a lake. I took some photos that I hope can communicate the beauty of the Island Castle: http://yonaitis.shutterfly.com/14277 .
If you have never been to Lithuania you should consider going. As for me I have to be up in nine hours to hop in a taksi and head to the airport. I will be in Madrid tomorrow afternoon and then I have to cut my trip short and head back to the states on Thursday.
Cheers,
Rob
2012-05-14 0- Trakai Island Castle (Lithuanian Trak salos pilis) click through for album
Click through for more photos from Madrid
