This would be equivalent to serving notice to Uhuru Peak that I am on my way to the top again. Yesterday, after what seemed to me like a millennium, I began exercising to prepare my seldom-exercised body for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in September.
With the help of a few Internet searches, I have also included a series of body building and endurance exercises, that do not require gym equipment. It is not out of choice but necessity that I am waiving time in a gym; the nearest gym is in Mwanza, about three hours' drive from Butiama.
A few days ago while buying some DVDs at a shop in Musoma, I saw some gadget that I had never seen before. It looked like a laser gun from one of the Star War movies. When I asked what it was I was told it was a piece of equipment that is used by bodybuilders to build chest muscles. You hold the two ends with the hands and bend the ends inwards towards each other. Well, I thought, if I don't succeed in climbing Kilimanjaro this time, perhaps I could consider entering the Mr. Tanzania competition.
It did not cost much, so I bought it, chipping away at my budget for buying a bicycle to build my leg and thigh muscles. I have developed my own exercises of stepping up and down part of a stairway to simulate the ascent and descent motions of mountain climbing. It sounds laughable but after waking up with some muscle pains after a one-hour workout yesterday, I know I am on the right track in attempting to strengthen my leg and thigh muscles for the next Kilimanjaro descent.
