Kumuka Venture, April 2005, Travel to Peru, Trek to Machu Picchu

It's always hard to settle back into the office after yet another mind blowing trip with Kumuka, this time to Nepal – I really do have one of the greatest jobs!

In this months edition of Venture, to keep you high, we take you to the roof of Africa with Stuart Darnley, help you with mind battles when hiking on the Inca Trail, give you valuable tips for climbing up Mt Kinabalu and investigate the largest pyramid in the world.

Keep your eye on your inbox for the next Rex Express for more Nepal updates and the latest news on Rex as he makes his way up Mount Everest!

Happy travels everyone,

Meg Hall
General Manager

Trekking to Machu Picchu – its all in the mind. I worked as a tour leader on the road for three years, one of which I spent in South America traversing the continent.

On our trip from Lima to La Paz –known as Inca Heights - we would hike the famous Inca trail to Machu Picchu as a highlight of the larger itinerary. From day one passengers on tour would be talking about the up and coming trek, some with trepidation, some with bravado, all with excited anticipation.
One of the unique aspects of a Kumuka tour is that we carry passengers from around the world. Everyone has different reasons for travelling and different expectations, which makes campfire talk all that much more interesting.

When it came to organising activities on the itinerary it was more of a challenge taking into consideration each passengers different expectations and meeting them.

This was to be my third time on the Inca trail. I had two passengers with me on this trek who still stand out in my mind, they were very enthusiastic. They could challenge any of the others in the bar and told some great stories around the camp fire, but when it came to physical exercise, lets just say it wasn’t their forte. So I was a little concerned when they piped up and said they would still tackle the 4 day Inca Trail instead of taking the less physical option of jumping on the train to Aguas Callientes then joining the bus to Machu Picchu. After a discussion with them and the local operator we all decided that they should have a go, they seemed to have coped with altitude quite well so far, weren’t completely physically unfit and demonstrated the most important asset when it comes to a challenge – determination. I’m a bit pig headed myself so understood where they come from, plus the local partners we use for the Inca Trail are second to none in organization, experience and patience. I knew we would be in good hands and we had a good chance of meeting our passengers expectations.

The walking on day one is not so difficult and all passengers managed to make it to camp in good time. It was with cheers and smiles that we all sat around our camp surrounded by the Andes patting each other on the back and waiting for our dinner to be cooked. I looked at my “enthusiastic” clients and felt a warm glow to see them so pumped and excited. Their first hurdle had been tackled and conquered – the first baby steps.

Day two is the most challenging part of the trek, for about 5 hours we walk up and up and up to a spot called Dead Woman’s pass at 4200 mtrs above sea level. Normally people start to feel the effects of altitude at about 3000 mtrs above sea level hence at this point the going is slower for most, though the views compensate for the hard work. I made sure an experienced local guide was bringing up the rear of our group and I waited for all clients periodically. I wouldn’t say the slower of the group appeared to be having a wow of a time, the cheers and smiles from campfires past weren’t there, but that glint of determination in their eyes never ever waned, I could see them putting one foot in front of the other, slowly, slowly, baby step by baby step and they progressed toward the prize, Machu Picchu.

For the next two days they adopted the same approach coupled with an undying positive attitude, they managed to take in their surroundings and enjoy the magnificent views along the way. I was very proud to be standing at the Sungate on the last day with them looking down on Machu Picchu, where the Inca’s had stood centuries ago. They made it and were ecstatic! They proved that with positive attitude and determination, obstacles that may seem unobtainable can be achieved by simply putting one foot in front of the other.

Though I would never recommend anyone who finds themselves suffering at altitude or anyone who is particularly unfit to attempt the Inca Trail, for this reason the non-physical option of the train and bus can be pre-booked. I would say to all passengers thinking of hiking, remember half the struggle is in the mind.

This attitude can be applied for venturing a little further on all of Kumuka’s tours worldwide. What may seem like an adventure only for the lucky few - may in fact be just the trip for you, Kumuka tours are all about real people having unreal experiences.

Tip – If you are planning to hike the Inca Trail on your Kumuka tour, get fit prior to arrival, you will enjoy the experience a whole lot more.

Cheers Meg

Visit the Inca Trail with Kumuka. Find out more on the following tours:
• Inca Magic (42 Days) • Essence of the Andes (35 Days) • Inca Heights (21 Days)

We were 2 hours from the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world standing at 5895m.

Behind us, as we walked up this shear plain of frozen scree were thunderstorms firing off sheet lightning over the African savannah, a magical sight as the storm clouds lit up. The view gave us strength as we pushed onwards and upwards. The moon had not risen that night, however a blanket of stars more vivid and clear than any I had seen before, were lighting our path up the mountain. During rest stops we took joy in spotting and pointing out the mass of star constellations clearly visible above.

As we continued to climb, we were re-assured by our guide that we were “nearly there.” The answers to our eager questions “are we there yet?” like kids in the back of a car. Our experienced guide whistled as we walked, occasionally breaking into son. Most of us were too tired to speak, walking at a snails pace winding our way back and forth up the rocky slope.

Looking behind us we could see the lights of other climbers far below us dancing like fireflies in front of the silhouetted Mt Mawenzi (5149m). This certainly helped fuel our determination as we could see just how far we had already walked.

Soon the glow of the African dawn appeared. Being so high up at over 5000m gave the feeling that we were peering over the rim of the earth, eagerly awaiting the suns arrival to light our path. Many photos were taken and if it weren’t for our guide we might have forgotten about the summit, too busy admiring the amazing view. We continued and it wasn't long before the sun broke through in a brilliant flash of pink, purple and blue. We were suddenly aware of our surroundings, to our left were the huge western glaciers, now shining like huge white castles in the sky. The colours of the morning light were dancing off the tops of the clouds below us; we really were on the roof of Africa.

Stuart Darnley from Australia climbed Kilimanjaro before travelling on Kumuka’s Africa in Focus tour.

Adding a Mt Kilimanjaro climb to the beginning or end of your Kumuka safari gives you the opportunity to see Africa literally from top to tail.

From the base of Mt Kinabalu to the summit it is only about 9 kilometers but the elevation is the killer, the trek starts at 1800 mtrs above sea level, takes you up to 4095 mtrs and back down again in 24 hours.

I had heard that Mt Kinabalu was a challenging trek but I figured I’d give it a go anyway.

On day one we shot off at a terrific pace in the lush jungle, ignoring our guides suggestions to take it slowly and made it to our evening stop in good time, though a little tired, it had been all up hill, not one undulation. Sleep was fitful and we were woken at 0230am the next morning for the summit push, we hiked from 0300 – 0600am again all up hill and made it in good spirits. The view from the summit was spectacular, we were lucky to have a crystal clear morning and could see from one side of the island of Borneo to the other. It was a surreal feeling to be wrapped in fleeces bracing ourselves from the cold in an alpine climate looking over dense tropical jungle.

Then we went down hill, literally. Whilst you may think an uphill slog is the hardest, it pales in comparison to an 8 hour steep down hill descent. Again we took off at a terrific pace excited by our achievement and eager to get to the bottom. Our guide was taking it easy and trying to slow us down but we convinced him we were OK. It wasn’t until the 3rd hour of constant steep decent that we started to notice our legs. Our muscles were not used to such constant strain and started to protest. By the time we reached the bottom we were walking backward or sideways down the stairs and hanging onto the rail in order to use different muscles. Our bodies protested for days afterward.

Would I do it again – absolutely! It was a fantastic experience walking from the tropics to an alpine environment, viewing the ever changing fauna. Our guides were second to none, informative, caring and a lot better than others I had seen on the mountain, but next time, Id be fit and I’d listen to my guide.

Tips for fitness: In the months prior to climbing ensure you are partaking in Aerobic exercise to improve general fitness and use steps and stairs (lots of them) to gain strength in your thigh muscles.

Margret Dearth, Australia

All Tours to Sabah with Kumuka offer the option to climb Mt Kinabalu as a part of your itinerary or can be booked as a stand alone.

Meet Helen De Cent – Dettol Petal

Helen is our operations manager for the Middle East and Asia, based in London. Born and bred in New Zealand she moved to London when she was only 20 years old to try her hand at fashion design but the travel bug bit so she replaced her needle and thread with a backpack.

Since then she has been seen in such far flung continents as Asia, North America, Europe and Africa.

Not challenging enough, Helen decided to throw her backpack in for a big blue truck and worked for us as a tour leader on our overland tours in the Middle East, then gathered up all of her experience and brought it into the Kumuka operations department.

Helen enjoys:

Washing her hands in Dettol! (a hygiene habit from the road, hence her nickname)
Anything Indian
Elephants
Travelling to mad destinations
Mums roast chicken, thou’ New Zealand is a long way to go for a Sunday Roast!
And of course… Sheep!!

Watch out Borneo and South East Asia, Helen has her sights set and might be venturing a little further for her next break!

Impress your friends at dinner parties with Kumuka facts.

Did you know that the Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing.

So what are and what happened to all of the others?

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon – Iraq, historians still search for concrete evidence of its existence.
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia – Greece, damaged by earthquake and fire
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus – Turkey, destroyed by the Goths
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus – Turkey, destroyed by earthquake and stones used to construct a castle for the Knights of St John of Malta.
The Colossus of Rhodes – Greece, destroyed by Earthquake
The Lighthouse of Alexandria – Egypt, destroyed by Earthquake

Other Pyramid facts: The great pyramid of Giza is the largest in the world and is one of the oldest constructions in the world.

One has to wonder: what would this ancient part of this planet be like today if earthquakes never occurred.

Meanwhile our Oases and Pharaohs, Middle East Overland, Caravan Route, Road to Damascus, Istanbul to Cairo and Kingdoms and Crusades tours continue to visit the remaining ancient wonder as well as many of the magnificent monuments dating back thousands of years left in Egypt today. We use local guides for each site in order to give our clients the best insight.

Comments from ...
Simon Creeger who took part in Kumuka’s Everest Base Camp trek

Hi Meg...

I just wanted to briefly email you and let you know that my trip to Nepal was amazing. I had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the trek - both Babu and Hari were very helpful and kind during my trip. I have also made some new friends in Jim, Alex and Rex (I wish Rex all the best with his summit attempt). I am sure I will want to go back sooner rather than later to Nepal - I was extremely sad to leave Kathmandu after such a great time.

Once again thanks for organising such a great trip.

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Visit www.kumuka.com - for more information on the ultimate adventure.