Update

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Hi everyone,

I really do have more thorough blogs to post about Africa, as I've been journaling about the experience, but I have limited internet time, so unfortunately, it may be a bit still before I can get anything solid up. To update:

We went on a safari on the Serengeti, and it was fantastic. We saw all of "the big 5" and could not have been happier with our tour company! We camped out under the stars of the Serengeti, we visited a Masai village and saw tons of animals!

Our volunteer placement went really well. Our group got divided into different orphanages, so we each got to experience something different. I was placed in an orphanage/school that was little more than a tiny stone room in the ghetto of Arusha. The children have zero supplies and are living in extremely hard circumstances, so being at the school was great for them. They are always so excited to see mzungu (white people). We got them supplies and helped teach while we were there and are hoping to continue to raise money for the organization so they can move to a new area with a better facility for the children.

We took one weekend to climb the nearby Mount Meru, which is the 5th highest peak in Africa and definitely one of the steepest. It is said to be harder than Kilimanjaro. It was a fantastic climb (until the way down) and we were able to see the sunrise over Kili, which was good inspiration for what comes tomorrow...

Kilimanjaro. In less than 12 hours, our group starts the climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa and the tallest free-standing mountain in the world (19,340 ft). We've been looking forward to this for months and months and have been training for it like crazy! We'll see how that ends up.

Anyway, that's just a very brief update from Africa. Hopefully, the next time I write, we will have successfully summited Kili. 'Til then...

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Comments

[Brian]

Sounds like great trip....
Can you recommend Safari tour company for Tanzania? How was your Kili climb?