5895 Meters oh my

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So we climbed Africa's highest peak! And we both made it - a few headaches, some slight dizziness and a little stumbling - but we did it! The highest point, Uhuru Peak, is at 5895 Meters. That's really high. We camped on the sides of the mountain each night on our way up, we had an amazing group of porters, cook and guide to help us along the way. On the 5th night, the alarm went of at 12am and with the wind howling we dressed for our climb. After some porridge and coffee we started our climb. We started around 1am (our guide said we were fast so we started late relative to others) and walked by the light of the moon to the peak. Pole pole (slowly slowly in Swahili) we walked. It was so cold and so windy but in the end we made it!

We just arrived back in Arusha and took really long showers. Glad we are not at home so we don't have to feel guilty about using so much water - we were really grimy.
With that, enjoy the photos!
Alyssa and Andrew

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Photos

Machame camp
We spent our first night here - around 3100 M

Into the Heather Zone
Day 2 views started like this

Day 2
Us with our guide Ben

Shira Camp
Night 2 - in the moorland at 3840M

Day 3
Walking into the desert zone above 4000 M

Day 3
And that means day 3 without showers...

Porters
Amazingly strong young men always leaving camp after us and arriving before us.

View from Barranco Wall
Clouds - typical view when we looked down.

Day 5
On our way to base camp and desperately in need of a shower.

Basecamp
2nd highest peak in the distance

Uhuru Peak
Holy cow we made it!!!

Breakfast
Typical breakfast - and we booked the budget version. Way above and beyond our expectations.

Our crew!
Amazing guys! Who would have thought 2 people would need 8 porters, 1 cook, 1 guide and 1 assistant guide... We sure didn't.

Bad way to get down
This is what you get towed down on if you get too sick or injured. Not a good idea.

Comments

[Paulena Croley]

Congrats on making it to the top of the mountain!!!

[Dad]

Congratulations
Congratulations on your successful climb. I really like your picture of the two of you on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

[Dad]

Congratulations
Congratulations on your successful climb. I really like your picture of the two of you on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

[Jim Lund]

Thank You for Your Always Educational and Enjoyable Blogs!
Hi Alyssa and Andrew, I hadn’t read your blog entrys about your Africa trip until today (due to a combination of things including lack of Internet access). But today I read them. I very greatly enjoy, as always, your written descriptions of places and experiences – and your many wonderful photos too! Over the past couple of years, I have developed a great interest in Africa, although I don’t know much. So for me, it’s so good to hear, see, and learn about Africa through your travel experiences! P.S.: Re your most recent blog entry: Your climbing to the very top of Mt. Kilimanjaro was a great accomplishment! Congratulations! Jim (Lund)

[Jim Lund]

Thank You for Your Always Educational and Enjoyable Blogs!
(Alyssa and Andrew: The following corrects an error in what I think I previously submitted. So please accept this instead.) Hi Alyssa and Andrew, I hadn’t read your blog entries about your Africa trip until today (due to a combination of things including lack of Internet access). But today I read them. I very greatly enjoy, as always, your written descriptions of places and experiences – and your many wonderful photos too! Over the past couple of years, I have been developing a great interest in Africa, although I don’t know much. So for me, it’s so good to hear, see, and learn about Africa through your travel experiences! P.S.: Re your most recent blog entry: Your climbing to the very top of Mt. Kilimanjaro was a great accomplishment! Congratulations! Jim (Lund)

[Rose]

Congratulations!!!
Can't wait to hear more when you are back. You two are awesome!!