Single male dec2021: Mount Kilimanjaro climb/South Africa tour.

 

Vegan single male Ryan  from the US climbed Mount Kilimanjaro Dec 2021 with his guide, chef and porters.

His comments re the Tanzania Kilimanjaro climb b and a Tanzania safari.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention how fantastic Yesse and my Kilimanjaro crew were. I could go on for days. They were beyond kind and accommodating.

Every measure was taken to ensure my comfort and safety while they maintained a high morale and upbeat attitude for the entirety of the trek. I’ll leave it at that, I really can’t say enough great things about these guys.

Vegan food comments:

I don’t have other photos of the food, but I can attest that my meals were so substantial that I ended up having a massive surplus of food and snacks that I brought for myself for the hike. I just couldn’t keep up with the amount of quality food that was being provided to me on a regular basis.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big eater and can eat quite a bit, and I still struggled to eat all of the food given to me at each meal of the day.

Furthermore, Yessi, my tour guide, gauged my acclimation to the mountain by the volume of food that I would eat at each camp (as well as a variety of other factors but he made a point to tell me that he was impressed by my eating, haha), and he ultimately decided that I was progressing so well that we could attempt the summit a day earlier than planned.

How was  your South Africa tour: any favorite places, moments, guides?

Oh my goodness where to start. Now mind you that I became injured fairly early on in my travels through South Africa, but I truly took that as part of the experience and in a sick way, found a way to enjoy that series of events. I mean after all, it did make for a hell of a story to tell back home and has given me many reasons to come back to take on things that I wasn’t able to do in my injured state at that time.

Starting with my meeting of Ebrahim, I found him to be a genuine and kind individual that loves what he does. We conversed all the way from the airport to my destination in Gansbaai where we parted (until he returned to pick me up at the hospital in Hermanus).

My accommodations in the AIr Del Mar were STELLAR. The location itself was quiet and staffed with very lovely Afrikaans women that went out of their way to make sure that I was comfortable and had everything that I needed (including personally driving me to destinations!). My room was beautiful and I had a full ocean-front view. Thank you for that!

Ok, so my first cage dive was a White Shark Projects (as you know) where the staff were very professional and efficient. We gathered there in the morning for a briefing before heading out onto the water. After anchoring, it couldn’t have been more than 5-10 minutes before the sharks arrived:

Everyone had an amazing time. After returning from the cage dive, I was informed that my scheduled dive for the next day was going to be canceled due to the forecasted poor weather conditions.

The receptionist and owner of White Shark Projects then went above and beyond by helping me to find and schedule alternate accommodations in lieu of my canceled dive. I was so thankful for their efforts that I told them to keep the money for the next day as a donation to their efforts. In return, I was awarded two shirts that are worn only by their crew members which was a really unexpected and appreciated gesture!

Well, it just so happens that one of the excursions that White Shark Projects helped me schedule would be the place where I incurred my injuries…BUT… I had such an absolute blast at Fatbike Tours with owner Dave Caravias that I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I can’t describe how amazing of a human being Dave is. He’s funny, energetic, knowledgeable, and fun. He led me and one other tourist through the sand dunes on a beautiful day in De Kelders.

At times, it was absolutely surreal, and Dave kept the pace, cracked jokes, and shared his knowledge of the area and its wildlife in a unique and memorable way.

At the onset of my injury (which was 110% my fault),

Dave immediately sprung to action to offer me care and immediately set out to get his vehicle where he drove me to an awaiting ambulance.

Now, things initially appeared serious, but we all helped turn my accident into an insanely light-hearted and (dare I say?) FUN experience. I’m not kidding, look at these pictures and videos taken just before and then after my accident:

So, Steve, in conclusion.

THANK YOU. Truly. You helped me experience some amazing things and every leg of this trip was effortless and planned out in such great detail that I didn’t have to worry about any logistics and was able to focus on having fun. I will 100% be reaching out to you for future trips and I will definitely be sending clients your way when possible. If you have any other questions about my trip I’d be happy to share!

If you ever find yourself in upstate New York please give me a shout.  Thank you again, and let’s stay in touch!

 – Ryan .