Extreme low power in an extreme location
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Chris McAneny
Hi Neo 1 , If you search the page you can find the fully story why I am doing ...
Chris McAneny
Chris’ big day arrives: heading to Africa
Chris McAneny
9/28/2010 2:51 PM EDT
With the months of training now completed, the weeks of deciding what clothes and equipment to take and the last week of getting more excited/nervous, we were ready to go.
I flew from London to Nairobi, Kenya, and then on to Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania. From the Future Office near Heathrow Airport, that’s about 15 hours of travel—with 10 hours in an economy airline seat! The flight to Kenya went smoothly, but when we went to the gate in Nairobi to catch the Kili flight, we were told the flight had closed. It was an hour before it was due to leave! After much discussion we got escorted across the tarmac to the plane. Wow, that was close. The bad news was our luggage didn’t make it… It was stuck in Nairobi!!
We wore our boots and big coats, and carried our sleeping bag and essentials—like the Altimeter, cameras, etc.—but all other clothing, kit, walking poles, etc. was in the case. We had an anxious 24 hours in Tanzania, as we waited for our case/clothes to catch up. Well, at least wearing all the same clothes for two days was good practice for what was to come!!
Where’s the luggage?
Getting the Lay of the Land
We arrived at Springlands Hotel in Moshi at one in the morning on Saturday. Moshi is on the same African Plain as Kilimanjaro. I had planned an acclimation day at the hotel before we set off on the trek. Just as well, with no clothes and gear until late afternoon… a very anxious wait. What relief when they turned up!
Outside hotel with Masai people
We used the day to adjust to Africa… the time difference, the food, the smells and the dust. We took a three-hour forest walk close to our hotel, to stretch our legs and get involved with our new environment. After getting back, I decided to test/power up the Altimeter to ensure the journey from the UK to Africa had not done any damage. I inserted the two AA Energizer batteries and, good as gold, the LED lit up to show everything was working fine. Not that I didn’t have confidence, but this was a great relief, as we were off to the roof of Africa the next morning!
Giving out sweets on the forest walk
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Neo1
9/28/2010 11:13 PM EDT
I guess this is not fully told. What were you going there for and what gadgets did you take?
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Chris McAneny
10/8/2010 12:44 PM EDT
Hi Neo 1 , If you search the page you can find the fully story why I am doing this trek but in Summary to raise Money and Awareness of Male Cancers and the Children of a Tanzanian Orphanage whos parents died of Aids or Malaria .
Gadgets : As well as the Altimeter , IPOD great motivator when the going gets tough !... and just to show everything isnt electronics....A Wind Up Torch that our guide thought brilliant as no need for batteries !!
Chris
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DWenn
9/29/2010 8:09 AM EDT
I learned two words of Swahili during my trip, "Jambo" (which means hello) and "Chocolate", they are usually spoken by the children and usually come in very close succession! :-)
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karen.field
9/30/2010 8:13 AM EDT
This blog post is part of a series chronicling the adventures of Microchip engineers who are building a device they'll use to track their location and take measurements as they climb Africa’s famous Mt. Kilimanjaro. See all the posts at: http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-blogs/4206378/Extreme-low-power-in-an-extreme-location
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vinyl
9/30/2010 8:14 PM EDT
What about "obuntu"! ;)
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Chris McAneny
10/8/2010 12:40 PM EDT
My takeaway Swahili was " Asante Sane"
which means Thank You Very Much .
It was very useful to all the great people that we met and who helped us to the roof of Africa
Chris Sherpa ;-)
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