A journey of a thousand miles starts with internet research

It's  a curious fact of life that whatever journey we take we usually end up back where we started from. And the voyage of discovery into our flight options didn't shift this paradigm.

Gooner D, the World's Favourite Travel Agency, stepped up to do the research. She's good at this - very good indeed. So good that JG has previously offered to pay her to plan his holidays.  I can vouch for the many remarkable adventures that have been sorted, and the countless thousands of pounds that have been saved from the comfort of her laptop.  And so, with gusto, she cranked up the PC and got stuck in.

"I think you can go by KLM" said Bobby Backspin.
"And Air Ethiopia goes there too" I said.
Job done or so we thought. What amateurs we were!
"OK" reported Gooner D after a lot of research. "We've got BA, Air Kenya, Ethiopia, KLM, Condor and Adelweiss for short-hop - long hop (going via any combination of Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam and/or Dar Es Salaam).  And Air Kenya, BA and Virgin fly to Nairobi for a short hop connection on Fly 540, Precision Air Services, Air Kenya Express and Kenya Airways - as opposed to Air Kenya)

By now I am totally confused dot com!

"Prices start from £450 if you want to spend days hanging around distant airports in 40 degrees heat waiting on connections. Or more than £2000 for KLM's Amsterdam - Kilimanjaro return"
"£2000? I thought we were in the age of cheap air travel!"
"That's if you're stupid enough to book direct. But I've found a way to book us all the way from London via Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro on KLM for about £650. Don't ask me why the additional journeys make it cheaper, but they do"

KLM suddenly becomes interesting. Very interesting indeed. As interesting as a butcher's turd to a swarm of flies in the middle of Summer.

Kenya and Ethiopia are cheaper, but, according to the noticeboards, have poor punctuality records. Worse still, if anything goes wrong you've got as much chance of getting your money back as a teenage boy has of keeping a clean sheet after he's hacked through parental control on the broadband. Eat your heart out Ryan Air.

And so, after a jaunt around the Airlines of the World, we're back to where we started from. It's KLM and everybody's happy.

We all love the price.

Gooner D likes the civilised flight times and minimal transits.

JK is very excited about the prospect of visiting an Amsterdam Coffee Shop the night before.
("At your age?" I query
"Never been to one before, could be my last chance"
Good point - you only live once).

Bobby Backspin likes the option to fly from Heathrow at the crack of dawn and meet us on the plane in Amsterdam.

I like the fact there's no changing planes at the far end - when we'll be knackered and just wanting to get there.

And we all like the fact we get back to London early in the morning.  Especially Punky, Bobby and JG, who plan can go straight into work when we land!

Altitude Sickness tablets - a Dentist's perspective

With all necessary permissions now in place, and the trip definitely a go-er, Gooner D heads to the Dentist with the feel-good factor coursing through her veins. Quite how the subject of altitude sickness cropped up in the Dentist's chair is beyond me (the surgery's only on the 4th floor after all), but it did.

"I haven't done Kilimanjaro myself, but I climb Mont Blanc quite often" said the Dentist, before offering an interesting tip. "There are two types of tablets. Diamox is the most common. It's a diuretic, so you pee a lot, and frankly it doesn't touch the sides with me. I felt like my head had been hit with an axe"

 Ouch!

"Then there's Dexamethasone" 

Now this does sound promising. It's three whole syllables longer, and more difficult to pronounce.  

"It's a steroid, so not to be taken too often, but it really works. Although it might make you go a bit puffy"

We can also hire a personal oxygen system - a cylinder of O2 with those little plastic sticky-up-the-nose things you see on ER. Think this might be a good complimentary option.

So there you have it. Diamox - where you could be up half the night with your hat in your hand, wearing the type of head usually reserved for the morning after a night that included (but was not limited to) Red Wine, Guinness, Tequila AND Black Sambucas. 

And then there's Dexamethasone. Tena's worst nightmare, but you might look all Jo Brand in your holiday snaps.

The African Walking Company supply Diamox, but Dexamethasone is prescription only. The choice is yours, best to consult your Doctor (or knowledgeable Dentist) first though.