Firstly, our very sincere apologies that it has taken us so long to make this feature straightforward for our climbers to use. We are aware that climbers have been wanting to blog their climbs directly to our website for quite a while now, but until now we’ve been struggling with getting to grips with some of the functionality of WordPress. We hope that everything should now be very simple to use, and we very much look forward to this next step in the live reporting of our climbs direct from Kilimanjaro, taking off. We trust that family and friends back home will value this as a reassuring and inspiring way of following the progress of their loved ones up Kilimanjaro, as authentically as possible. Please note that our Track-A-Climber on Kilimanjaro feature whereby we report live time movements of our climbing groups and publish an updated SitRep from their guide, will continue to be provided.

How to blog your Kilimanjaro climb directly to Team Kilimanjaro’s website

1.You’ll need an iPhone / Android / Blackberry / Smartphone

2. You’ll either need an international roaming data plan (which is strongly not recommended as it will be very expensive uploading photos in Tanzania), or – far preferably – your phone will need to be unlocked. If you have an iPhone and are under contract, it is unlikely that you will be able to get your iPhone properly unlocked such that it will allow data access via a foreign SIM card. There’s a very simple way to provide a temporary unlock without changing any settings or voiding any warranties.

Unlocking an iPhone using Gevey Pro

If you’re planning on blogging from Kilimanjaro using an iPhone under contract, rather than spending very large amounts on your existing roaming data plan, we suggest you consider obtaining a small metal SIM card tray with ultra-thin plastic chip-modifier from Gevey, which will allow you to use a local Tanzanian Pas-As-You-Go SIM card with data enabled. This will work out vastly cheaper and you’ll be able to justify uploading plenty of photos and even a couple of podcasts, while you climb. Once you have the Gevey Pro – or similar – you’ll need to cut a standard SIM card down to the size of a mini-SIM, using scissors or a craft knife, and simply insert it into the replacement SIM-slot tray. Following about three very simple steps on the instructions provided with the purchase, effectively unlocks your iPhone!

Caution: please bear in mind, however, that the Gevey Pro also functions as a signal intensifier. This means that anyone who is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation may suffer headaches or nausea when placing the device near their heads. (For further discussion of this issue, please peruse Mercola’s website, or similar).

Using your phone in Tanzania

3. Assuming you’ve managed to unlock your phone (if it’s under contract) you’ll need a local SIM card. Until recently, it was a simple matter to buy one from amongst a bundle carried by a street vender. Apparently, however, with Tanzania’s most recent loan from the IMF for a new gas turbine, some of the conditionalities policies imposed under contract with the loan are to cultivate a national fear / awareness of terrorism, to implement measures that better support the interests of the G20, and to close down small businesses in favour of promoting large corporate interests. Such implementation now requires that issuing a new SIM card requires the purchaser to prove a Tanzanian address, which is not usually possible for a non-Tanzanian.

Climbers will therefore need to request in advance by email, that one of our local administrators obtain a SIM card on their behalf, and ensure that it is a) data enabled, and b) charged with sufficient credit for the climb. We suggest that this amount be requested to be a minimum of USD 20, or 30,000 TZS.

Climbers should please liaise with our office as soon as they’re on the ground in Tanzania, by calling +255 76 777 5895 or +255 78 777 5895. We strongly recommend that you obtain the SIM card (cut it to size if using an iPhone – since micro-SIM cards are not yet available in Arusha), and test that the card works in their phone, both for calls and for data transfer. This will give us the best chance at trouble-shooting and liaising with local technicians, in the event that you experience any difficulties obtaining a connection.

Installing a WordPress App on your phone

(This next step would usually be done at home before leaving. This order follows what is most sequentially natural in terms of not asking climbers to complete processes that will be made redundant by failure to complete what would otherwise be subsequent processes, and is not chronologically sequential!).

4. Climbers should please ensure that they have a working WordPress App on their phone. If you don’t already have one, please visit this list of available mobile WordPress Apps and select and install one.

Obtaining a user name and password for TK’s blogging feature

5. Please write a very short email to info@teamkilimanjaro.com requesting a username and password to access the dashboard on our WordPress site from where you will be able to create and edit new posts.

Logging onto Team Kilimanjaro’s Community Blog area

6. Using your WordPress App:

a. Please select the option ‘Add self-hosted WordPress blog’

b. Please input:

• URL: www.teamkilimanjaro.com/blog
• Username: xxxxx (this will be provided in an email)
• Password: xxxxx (this will be provided in an email)

c. Please select the Geotagging option (if you are happy for your movements to be reported), and click ‘Save’ and the application should connect to the blogging page.

Please note that you will be set up as an ‘author’. This means that you will not have access to Pages, Comments, or Stats, and will need to select the ‘Posts’ option.

Blogging your Kilimanjaro Climb!

1. From the menu options on your WordPress dashboard (if using the non-mobile option), or from the menu at the bottom of your screen if using amobile App , please select ‘Posts’, then ‘Add New’.
2. Please begin blogging and uploading images of your climb! You are welcome to begin your blog from home and discuss your last minute planning or preparations, flights and transitions admin, or indeed your training details. Please also feel free to hyper-link to training schedules, training route maps, etc, such as are generated with the Garmin Fit App or TrainingPeaks Walk Tracker Pro.
3. Please consider emailing friends and family to suggest they follow your blog and send words of encouragement.

That’s it! We hope you’ll find most of this obvious and user intuitive, and inevitably, much simpler than we’ve made it look.

Updated information on how to obtain a SIM card in Tanzania

Previously we discussed the need to have a local person be willing to obtain a SIM card on behalf of the visitor. We are pleased to be able to advise, however, that the system has become much simplified.

This is how to get a SIM card that can be used to create a blog and upload live-time photographs directly through WordPress, to your own blog site, to Facebook, etc, etc, with very little hassle or cost.

1. Go to a local office of AIRTEL (as they seem to have the best overall coverage wherever you are likely to need it with TK / STT).
2. Request a 3G data-enabled SIM card. The cost for the card itself is still very low – around 2,000 TSh (about USD 1-2).
3. Now you have a data-enabled SIM card in order to get a data bundle, you will simply need to recharge your phone with credit, and then text a special code to 15444. These are your options:-

Available Pre-Paid Data Bundles with Airtel, correct as at 25th January 2012:

A. If you just want data for 1 day:
Text the word ‘datasiku’. 500 TSh will be debited from your balance and you’ll have 20 MB to use within 24 hours.

B. For a weekly bundle text ‘datawiki’ and you’ll have an allowance of 300 MB that will expire after 7 days. 3,000 TSh will be debited from your balance.

C. For a monthly allowance of 8 GB, text ‘full data’ to 15444 and your balance will be debited 70,000 TSh.

D. For 90 days and 24 GB, costing 200,000 TSh, text ‘data90′.

E. For a 96 GB allowance that lasts for 365 days, text ‘data365′. This will cost 750,000 TSh.

How to check your balance:

*102 then press the hash key

OTHER USEFUL TASKS

How to transfer balances between accounts, maximum of 25,000 TSh per transfer – using an iPhone:

1. Go to settings
2. Select ‘Phone’
3. Select ‘SIM Applications’
4. Select ‘Me2U’
4b. Select ‘Change Password’
4c. Enter the old pass word, which is default set to ’1234′ and press send.
4d. Enter your new chosen password, but be careful as you will not be offered a second chance to enter the same number, so you will have to be sure that you write perfectly first time! And press ‘Send’.
5. Select ‘Send airtime credit’
6. Select the amount in TShs
7. Press ‘Send’
8. Select ‘Enter phone number’ and enter the number of the person with an Airtel account that you wish to transfer credit to.
9. Press ‘Send’
10. Press ‘Accept’
11. Enter password and press ‘Send’.

That’s all. The recipient should receive the credit you have sent and your balance will be debited. It’s worth double checking that your balance has indeed been debited, as this is tantamount to proof that the recipient can start using the sent credit.

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