Mount Kilimanjaro

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What an experience!

Sorry for the ridiculously long blog... I promise it gets more exciting toward the end. As mentioned previously, the four of us (myself, Doug, Sarah and Jared) had decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. We had talked about it in November of 2008, and had been training (lots of hiking!) since then. Coming into the climb, I felt like we were prepared and that we would succeed in our endeavor. Our family and friends had confidence in us and we had all our necessary gear.

Day One

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa (19,341 ft) and the highest freestanding mountain in the world. It is composed of three different volcanic peaks, the highest being Uhuru Peak, which we would attempt to summit. To climb Mount Kilimanjaro via the Marangu (aka Coca Cola) route is a 6-day itinerary. 4 1/2 days up and 1 1/2 to descend. We had gone through Good Earth Tours, which we also used for our safari, so we already had a great deal of confidence in the company. Our guides were very experienced. Ian, one of Good Earth's best guides, had been to the summit of Kilimanjaro 189 times. Benson had been 94, and Prosper (assistant guide) said he had been over 100 and had lost count. Needless to say, we were in good hands.

On August 1st, we drove out to the base of Kilimanjaro, a bit over 6,400 feet. We passed through the town of Moshi and up into the groves of banana plantations and lush agricultural areas. We arrived at the front gate and were swarmed by locals who were selling Kilimanjaro souvenirs. We unloaded our stuff and gave our nonessentials (sleeping bags, large packs) to the porters, who would be meeting us at our first hut. We ate lunch at the base to get some energy into our bodies. After getting checked in at the front gate and building up our enthusiasm, we started our ascent up the mountain. The first day was a trek through rain forest terrain.

It was a gradual sloping walk up to the first hut. It was one of the most enjoyable days on Kilimanjaro. We were able to observe waterfalls along the trail and colobus monkeys in the trees. Our guides pointed out the vegetation, some of which grows exclusively on Mt. Kilimanjaro. They also warned us of one of the plants. The milk inside is used to make local glue, but, if it comes in contact with the eyes, it can cause blindness within minutes. This day was a truly beautiful and enjoyable hike. It took us a few hours to reach Mandara Hut, because our guides (today Benson guided us) kept telling us "pole, pole" which means "slowly" in Swahili. Our guides were always reminding us to ascend very slowly, so that we could acclimate well and have a better chance at avoiding altitude sickness.

At the halfway point, we stopped to snack and sit for a while. There were a lot of other groups that we had seen earlier in the day who were all resting and eating lunch. There were also some large birds that were camped out next to the tables, hoping to find some food from some messy climbers. We also spotted a mongoose in the nearby bushes that was quietly observing the mass of people that had gathered at the picnic spot. After snacking and rehydrating, we moved on.

We reached Mandara hut (8,858 ft) and got settled into our 4-person A-frame hut. The huts were great! They were solar powered and had mattresses and pillows for each person. We were also surprised to find that there were flush toilets. For camping on Kilimanjaro, it felt quite luxurious. After dropping off our packs and getting comfortable, we took a short hike out to the nearby Maundi crater. We were able to observe Mawenzi Peak and also Kibo Peak, which is adjacent to our end goal of Uhuru Peak. It looked so far away and almost unreal that we would be there in just a few days time. We hiked back down to the huts, where we had wash water waiting for us so that we could get cleaned up before dinner.

Our cook made us an excellent dinner, similar to the food we had on safari. They serve us bread, a fantastic soup, and then a main course, with fruit for dessert. We ate with our guide Benson, as Ian had still not arrived. We found out later that he had stayed behind to attend his sister's "send off" as she was getting married soon. After dinner, we went to our hut and made sure to get a full night's rest, as the following day would be a longer hike through moorland terrain.

Day Two

We woke up to Bernard (our "waiter") bringing us wash water and letting us know that breakfast would be served shortly. After having porridge, eggs and toast in the dining hall, we gathered our daypacks and set out on our way up to Horombo Hut (12,204 ft). Again, the pace was pole, pole, but I didn't mind, because it meant that we didn't get short of breath or get tired out at all. Our path followed the same that we used to hike to the crater the day before. It began with more rainforest terrain and then emerged into the moorlands, which was a somewhat bleak landscape until we reached our halfway point.

Ian, our lead guide, hiked with us that day, and his pace had been slower than the rest of ours. We had talked with him a lot on the way up, and he told us about his 189 times reaching the summit, his plans to hike some of the other summits around the world (his next stop was South America) and how he had been featured on some television shows in the United States when he had visited. He was sponsored by several companies and was looking to open his own business. He had led several thousands of people up on Kilimanjaro, primarily via the Machame route, including some that had later attempted Everest. Needless to say, Ian was somewhat of a local celebrity, and was an absolute pleasure to hike with. He was a fantastic guide!

Ian said that we would be completing the hardest part of the day before we stopped for a hot lunch. The hardest part was a hill, that seemed to stretch on forever, especially at our pole pole pace. There is very little tree coverage or shade on this stretch of the mountain, and I had been feeling really overheated. I had to stop for a bit to make sure I remained hydrated and covered. My malaria medication had made me really ensitive to the sun as one of its side-effects, which had been my downfall on Mt. Meru. I noticed that I had been starting to feel the same, so we stopped to make sure that everyone had sunscreen and was drinking lots of water. After our short break, I was fine to go again and didn't have any other sun-related problems for the remainder of Kilimanjaro. The long hill finally ended and we stopped for lunch at another picnic area right off of the trail.

After lunch, our guides had told us they would catch up with us, and stayed behind to chat with some of the other guides and porters. I set out in front and found a great rhythm and pace, while the others were a little behind me. I really enjoyed hiking by myself as it was a serene feeling to be hiking on Mt. Kilimanjaro, being in in Africa and working through everything that we had trained for in the past months. It was really surreal. I noticed some great plant life while hiking along the route - the endemic giant lobelia which grows up to 10 feet in height and the giant groundsel (Senecia Kilimanjari), which can reach heights of 16-17 feet and resembles some cactus that we see in the states.

After about an hour hiking by myself, Benson and Prosper caught up to me and hiked with me the remainder of the way to camp, while we were talking about the plant life and the day to come. The next day would be our acclimatization day, where we would hike up about 1,000 feet and then descend, to get our bodies more used to the altitude. We arrived at the camp and checked in, I got settled and took a walk around the area, looking at the view over the clouds and over Moshi, while waiting for the others to arrive.

When they arrived, we checked in and took a bit of a rest before dinner. Sarah had been coughing really bad and we were worried that it may interfere with the summit night, so we were trying to make sure to get enough rest. Doug had also been coughing and Jared was feeling a bit sick to his stomach, so a rest was welcome for everyone. After a bit of resting, we had another wonderful dinner, which Ian joined us for and informed us of the schedule for the next day. We went to sleep early and because we would not be doing a great deal of hiking the next day, we were allowed to sleep in late the next day.

Day Three

Today was our acclimatization day... short but inspiring. We would be hiking to around 13,800 feet to a point called Zebra Rock. Our hike was short, but we saw Zebra Rock (aptly named) and then hiked to the top of it, where we could clearly see the view of our trail for the next day and were able to see the location of Kibo hut at the base of Kilimanjaro's steeply sloping summit. It was amazing to see how much closer we had gotten to our goal and was exciting and exhilarating to know that the next night we would begin our ascent up the mountain to the summit.

After lingering for a while on top of Zebra Rock and taking some pictures, we head back down to camp and had lunch. We would be spending another night at Horombo huts and had nothing to do but rest for the remainder of the day. I couldn't sleep at all, so I walked around the area and talked with some of the other people that were around the camp. My ipod had broken while in Arusha so I didn't have any of my Kindle books or music to keep me occupied.

After laying around camp for a few hours, we had dinner. We talked to several other people who would be heading up to Kibo hut the next day and ended up meeting some people from Fullerton (close to where I live). There was a scout group that had been doing amazing escapades together since they were little, and they were out here doing service projects in Africa and decided to all climb Kilimanjaro together. One of the leaders was a lawyer at a civil law firm in Orange, and gave me his business card in case I ever wanted to clerk at his law firm doing civil litigation. Networking never takes a break I guess. =)

We went to bed early again, as this would be the last solid rest we would be getting before making our summit attempt the following night. The nights were getting colder as we got further up the mountain, and it was projected to be well below freezing during summit night.

Day Four

Today was filled with excitement but hesitation for me. I was excited to reach Kibo hut (15,420 ft), but hesitant about making the summit attempt. I know that I have a poor ability to sleep, so anticipated that I would be making the climb on zero sleep, so I didn't want to wear myself out during the day.

After a hearty breakfast, we set off on the way to Kibo hut. The trail was relatively gradual (lots of flat spots too), and an enjoyable trek through arctic desert. The arctic desert is relatively barren, with rocks scattered about but very little plant and animal life. It is a roughly 6 hour hike to Kibo hut and the lower route passes by the last watering point, where the porters gather up enough water to sustain the hikers for the next two days. We passed a porter who looked like he was pretty exhausted, so Jared gave him a Snickers bar and his mood seemed to lift a little bit.

It was noticeably cooler as we were hiking (which I was thrilled about, as the sun and I didn't necessarily agree with each other this trip). The trail was pretty easy, which was a relief, as we wouldn't be exhausted going into our summit attempt. We took a few breaks on the way up and ate our lunches when we reached a rock formation about 2 hours from Kibo Hut. Again I hiked on my own for a little bit, just so that I could shut my brain off and concentrate on my rhythm and breathing, making sure that I was getting enough oxygen and water to my body. I hadn't been feeling the altitude much besides not being able to breathe as easy, so I wasn't wanting to start then.

We reached Kibo hut with ease around 2:30 PM. This gave us a bit of time to get settled in and try to rest a little bit before having an early dinner and trying to get some sleep. The huts had been overbooked with all of the groups on the mountain, so there weren't enough beds for all of the hikers, including the porters and guides. Our guides tried to find some of their friends and share their tents to rest in for a while. We were put in the room usually reserved for porters and guides with roughly 20 other hikers, including a guy from Dublin who was hiking on his own and several of the other groups we had talked to previously.

We had our usual tea and popcorn and then later around 5 PM had our dinner. After we finished dinner, we talked about our summit attempt and what to expect. We would be waking up at 10 PM and aiming to leave around 11 PM to try and get up the mountain before the sun got too strong. We went back to our beds and attempted to get some sleep. As expected, I didn't get any sleep. We had several other hikers in our room that were excitedly talking about the summit attempt for a while and there was noise throughout the room. Sarah only got a little sleep because of Doug's coughing and Doug didn't rest too well either. Jared was the only person who got any bit of sleep, but it still wasn't much.

We got out of bed at 10 PM and started getting our gear on and getting ready. Bernard (who is awesome and loved calling me Dada the whole trip) brought us tea and cookies to give us a bit of fuel before heading up the mountain. I had lost one of my gloves and my gaiters were having problems, so I was a little agitated with zero sleep and malfunctioning gear. Ian kind of disregarded this and pushed us to start heading up the mountain.

Day Five (exhaustively continued from day 4) aka "Longest Hiking Day Ever"

We were hiking for a while, but it was slow going. I was sleepy and heading up at a slower pace than the rest of the group, but we all stuck together. We were one of the first groups to start, and were hiking without our headlamps because there was a beautiful full moon out that was illuminating our path. We stopped to rest at a few cave areas along the way (Williams Point around 16,000 and Hans Meyer cave at 16,900 - roughly halfway), we refueled (snickers bars, Gu and water), took a few bathroom breaks (thanks to Diamox, our altitude medication, which is a diuretic), and continued hiking. Whenever we would stop, the cold would take over. For the first part of the ascent, I couldn't feel my toes, but Ian told me to constantly wiggle them within my boot to keep the blood circulating. This slowed my pace a bit, but enabled me to feel my toes after an hour or so. Taking breaks was bittersweet, because we would get to sit down, but our bodies would be shaking from the cold... also made going to the bathroom a bit unpleasant, ha ha.

The slope up the volcano to reach the summit isn't to be taken lightly. It is definitely a steep hike, and claims many that succumb to altitude sickness and exhaustion while attempting to bag the summit. I was worried, because my lack of sleep had been causing me to go slowly and, while the hike up wasn't hard, I was feeling really sleepy. I had to reassure myself though: I wasn't feeling any effects of altitude, and the only thing I was feeling was tired. I would only have to withstand a few more hours of sleepiness and then I would be standing on top of the summit. This thought was enough to keep my determination and perseverance intact, albeit my pace was still slow.

After we had passed the half-way point (about 17,500 feet, heading into the range of "extreme altitude"), the guides had noticed I was sleepy, and decided to have a conversation about splitting the group up. Some would head up with Ian at a faster pace and I would head up with Benson going pole pole. While we were standing still, shivering and talking about this at 3 AM, Doug started to feel a little woozy. He started swaying back and forth and feeling like he was going to faint. Jared sat Doug down and we all were extremely concerned about Doug's sudden onset of fainting and vomiting. The altitude was starting to take hold of him. After trying to get Doug to drink water and breathe, Ian made the determination that Doug might not be able to continue to the summit. He and Prosper tried to walk Doug back and forth to see if he could support himself and possibly continue up the mountain, but Doug was unable to rehabilitate on the hill. We told Doug that we would descend with him if he wanted, but of course he wanted us to try for the summit. We were all heartbroken that Doug had to descend, as we all wanted to share the summit together, but knew that it was crucial that he descend to avoid further sickness and potentially deadly high altitude mountain sickness.

Ian took Doug down the hill to Kibo hut, while the rest of us continued on our way. Benson stayed with Sarah and Jared, while Prosper stayed with me. We were hiking together for a while, but then got separated. We ended up hiking with a few of the scouts for a while, talking and sharing the experience of hiking up this mountain that had already claimed my brother, and apparently a few of the scouts as well. Right before sunrise, we reached Gillman's Point (18,640 ft) and watched the sunrise while sitting at the point. To get to Gillman's requires a bit of skill at climbing over rocky surfaces, something I became quite familiar with on Mount Meru. I rested for a bit at Gillman's and I later found out that Sarah and Jared had been there at the same time as me, but it was so crowded that we didn't see each other. Benson had seen me tired, and had planned to only take me as far as Gillman's Point, so they continued on without me. I like to joke around that I literally hiked half of Kilimanjaro with my eyes closed.

Little did he know the determination (and stubbornness) that lurks within me. I still wasn't feeling the effects of altitude (besides shortness of breath, which I was countering by the occasional stopping and deep breathing) and after a short rest at Gilman's Point, Prosper asked me if I was ready to continue to the summit (he knew I had it in me!). I was ready, as the hike to the summit looked far less treacherous than the past 7 hours had been. Gillman's Point is the turnaround spot for many who try to hike the mountain, and I witnessed several groups who got to the point and couldn't go any further. They decided to descend and not continue on to the summit.

As I started across the crater rim toward my now visible goal of reaching Uhuru Peak with a renewed sense of determination and exhilaration. I figured that once I made the step past Gillman's Point, I wouldn't be turning around until I had reached the summit, so now it was only a matter of time before I made my way to Uhuru Peak. The hike around the crater rim is deceptively long. It took 1 1/2 hours to reach Uhuru Peak, but all along the way, hikers were encouraging each other and pulling together, even in exhaustion, to give each other the motivation to continue trudging on. The first groups of hikers to make the summit were heading back now, and their cheers and motivation for those passing (including for me!) were so refreshing. People passing by kept calling me strong and telling me that I had a big heart (especially because now I was hiking alone), and telling me that the summit was not far beyond.

It was a great hike across the rim, because you could see into the crater and down the other sides of the volcano, where other hikers were attempting to climb. You also got an amazing view of the glaciers a top Kilimanjaro, which rose, towering over 100 feet in a spectacular display across the mountainside. This is one of the few places where you can see glaciers at the equator... and with good cause... it was ridiculously cold!! With the sun rising, it began to reflect and sparkle off of the glaciers, showing off their magnificence. Can you tell I enjoyed the glaciers? =)

I was getting closer to Uhuru Peak, and would be getting there shortly, when I saw a few familiar faces. Benson, Sarah and Jared had reached the summit around 7:45, spent some time at the top and were on their way down. When Benson saw that I had continued past Gillman's Point, his face lit up and he gave me a big hug! I told him it was all about having a smile on your face and a positive attitude. Sarah and Jared also congratulated me and reassured me that the summit was "painfully close" and they continued on their way. They had both felt rather sick once they reached the higher altitude and seemed anxious to get back down and rest.

I quickly understood what they meant by "painfully close." While the summit was in view, it seemed like it took an eternity (in reality: 15 minutes) to reach the summit, but when I did, it was exhilarating and almost overwhelming that I had accomplished this major feat! At 8:17 AM on August 5th, 2009, I was at Uhuru Peak, the roof of Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, towering over the rest of Africa at 19,341 feet. One of the seven summits! I climbed and conquered Kilimanjaro!! I could have hugged the welcome sign! Unfortunately, hikers aren't supposed to spend too much time at the summit, because of the altitude and the strength of the sun. I took all of my pictures, took a small video panorama of the area and talked to a few of the other people that were also at the summit. The weather was beautiful, although there were still clouds covering anything below 10,000 ft. At the top, near the welcome sign (pictured) there are prayer flags and other poems and prayers that are around the sign. On the sign itself are stickers from around the world, presumably where different hikers were from. After taking my pictures, raising the roof, and celebrating that I had accomplished what many in the world only dream of, we had to turn around and descend.

I was excited about getting down the hill and forgot that I was in the range of extreme altitude. I hadn't had any ill effects of the altitude, but I was so exhilarated that I forgot to continue deep breathing, even on descent. I started to feel really faint and had to sit down, recollect my thoughts, and remind myself that yes, breathing is important, Kristy. After taking a few deep breaths and drinking some water, I felt great and started back down the mountain. I was still really sleepy and my body was starting to feel tired so we rested at Gillman's Point for a few minutes. I gave Prosper one of my Snicker's bars and after getting some food in us, we continued down the mountain, over the rocks that we had scrambled up earlier that morning and down toward the steep scree that marked the way back to Kibo hut.

Prosper turned to me and asked "Can you ski?" and before I could get over my puzzled look to tell him yes, we were digging our heels into the deep scree and sliding down the mountain quickly toward Kibo Hut. After a long time of this, the top of my thighs and my bad knee began to hurt. We had to take a few breaks on the way down, but Prosper kept pushing to get us down the hill. I wasn't sore until our descent, so this was probably my least favorite part of Kilimanjaro. During one of our breaks, our cook had met us close to the hut and brought us some juice. We finally made it down to the hut, (in good time!) and Doug was waiting to take a picture and give me a big hug. He appeared to be feeling better and had gotten some rest when he had descended with Ian. Bernard had a picnic lunch waiting for us. Doug, Sarah and Jared had already eaten, so I brought some of the food inside the hut and ate while laying down and resting my legs.

Now, I mentioned this was the longest day ever. Well, we still had to hike back down to Horombo Hut, where we would be spending the final night on Kilimanjaro. I had developed a blister from "skiing" down the hill so walking down was a bit painful, but I ignored it after a while. Everyone seemed like they were doing well and the hike down wasn't too bad. Toward the end, my blisters were really flaring up, so Ian stayed behind to make sure I was okay while I walked slowly down the rocky path to the huts.

Once we got to the huts, everyone fell straight into their beds and slept for a while. We hadn't had sleep for a long time, so the rest was more than welcome! Later, we were woken by wash water and a call to dinner by Bernard. We sleepily wandered over to the dining hall, and met up with some of the other hikers, some who were ascending, others who had been with us on summit night. It was neat to hear all of the stories about those who made it, those who didn't, and those who simply just didn't get out of bed.

After a reinvigorating dinner, we were anxious to get a solid night's rest. Litte did we know what was coming...

Day Six

Around 3 AM, Doug woke up feeling terrible. He had been coughing a lot throughout the Kilimanjaro trek, but this was different. He had been terribly cold and unable to generate enough body heat to keep himself warm. He was vomiting and feeling constantly dizzy and weak. I was worried and offered to go get Ian, but Doug wanted to wait until morning.

When morning came, Doug hadn't improved at all and his condition had worsened. Sarah and Jared went to get Ian, who called the mountain doctor. Ian had suspected that something might be wrong, such as malaria or mountain sickness, but the doctor heard Doug's symptoms and told us that Doug had HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema), which is a severe form of altitude sickness and can be fatal if ignored. Ian said that Doug would have to descend immediately. So we packed all of our stuff while the porters readied the stretcher (basically a wire basket with a bike tire attached to the bottom). Doug was sitting on a rock shivering while Sarah, Jared and I were trying to keep him warm. They brought out his sleeping bag to keep him in while they ran down the hill. Sarah and I left for a few minutes and when we came back, everyone had gone. We were told by Benson to eat a quick breakfast and that we would meet the others at Mandara Hut later.

Sarah and I gathered our bags and started down the hill, trying to quicken the pace to get down the hill and see what was happening with Doug. We were worried but I was also hurting from blisters, so we couldn't really run down the hill... plus Benson probably wouldn't appreciate more injuries. After what seemed like forever (I was really worried, which probably didn't help), we reached Mandara Hut, but there was no Doug to be found. We were told by our cook that they had already descended and were meeting with an ambulance to evacuate Doug from the mountain and take him to the hospital.

Benson had us eat a quick lunch to keep some food in us. At that point, my feet were in a lot of pain (trust me, you should see my blisters and falling-off toenails) and I wasn't feeling too well (I was really dehydrated and hadn't had much to drink since heading up the summit the day before). I knew we had to get down though, so I took some aspirin and hoped for the best (and apologized to Sarah). We took off down the final stretch of Kilimanjaro, roughly a 2-3 hour hike ahead of us. About halfway down, we tried to call Ian, as Benson's phone had regained cell service at that point. To our relief, he put Doug on the phone. Doug sounded like he felt better. After being ran down in record time by roughly 20 porters, he had been taken to one of the best hospitals in Tanzania and the doctor had already treated him and was ready to send him home. He said that Doug had a respiratory infection, which was causing him to not get enough air to his body, and caused him to develop HACE. Descending and taking diamox is the best medicine for HACE (both of which had already been done), and so the doctor gave Doug some antibiotics to help with the respiratory infection (likely caused by the horrible air quality in Arusha). They would head back to the Ilboru Safari Lodge and rest.

Knowing that my little brother was okay, it was easier to descend without too much stress. We were anxious to get down, but it was still so beautiful hiking through the rainforest. It had rained recently, so we had to be a bit more cautious walking down the path (in true Kristy style, I fell a few times). Jared said that it was raining while they were running (yes, running... with a stretcher) and that Jared kept falling while trying to keep up with the porters. I can't imagine the immense effort it took to get my brother down safely and I am forever indebted to Jared, Ian and all of the porters who took on such effort to get Doug to the hospital and probably save my little brother's life. Thank you!!!

After getting through the slip-n-fall rainforest, we started to hear sounds of civilization and I remember jogging on some parts of the trail, being so excited that we conquered Kilimanjaro and were about to seal the deal by entering back through the Marangu gate and claiming our certificates! We got to the gate and I was thrilled. Benson got us our certificates (including one for Jared) that showed that we reached the highest point in Africa. We sat down at a picnic table as Benson presented us with our certificates and we engaged in the tipping ceremony, while the porters, cook and Bernard sang us a song about Kilimanjaro.

We then said goodbye to everyone, and headed back to Arusha in one of the Good Earth cars. Sarah and I tired, and anxious to see Doug and Jared and how they were both doing. We made a stop at Ian's house, dropped off Bernard and a few pieces of gear, and then Ian joined us as we went to the safari lodge. We met up with Jared and told Doug that Ian was around. Doug just wanted to rest, so we went and met up with Ian, who we couldn't thank enough. After speaking with him, he invited us to his sister's wedding, which would take place that Saturday! It was such an honor to be invited to this family event. We said our goodbyes and were excited that we would be seeing Ian again on Saturday and it was great to know that Doug would get the chance to see him again too!

After checking some email and responding to some anxious family members, it was time to let the adrenaline of the day wear off and get some dinner. Sarah, Jared and I went to the Ilboru's restaurant and had some comfort food and chatted with the chef, who had heard of our Kilimanjaro trip and had sent his condolences to Doug. We took Doug some bread and waited to make sure that he got some food and water in him, as he hadn't eaten for about 24 hours. We were all exhausted and had to get some rest, however, the night didn't go as smoothly as planned. I was feeling severely dehydrated and had no drinkable water left. My muscles had been having spasms and I was feeling sick and overall terrible. I was fluctuating between being extremely overheated and having severe shivering. Around 7, I finally was able to get out of bed and get some water into my system.

We finally all got feeling back to normal after a day or two. All I needed was tons of liquids, and Doug was able to get some rest. He was back to feeling 100%!a(MISSING)fter a few days back in Arusha. He now is planning on keeping an emergency outdoor book with him whenever he does trekking, just in case of emergencies. It was a bummer that he was unable to join us for the summit, but without his dedication to our training, there's no way we would have made the summit of Kilimanjaro. I definitely owe my success on the mountain to him! Thanks, Doug, for all of your patience and planning!

So that is our tale of Kilimanjaro! Like I said: what an experience! Check back soon for more pictures...

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Photos

And it begins...
The fantastic four and our guide Ian at the entrance to Kilimanjaro.

Itinerary
Outlining our upcoming trek up the mountain.

Smiling and ready
Doug and Sarah, ready to head up the mountain.

Rainforest
Some of the scenery

Mongoose
Hanging out near the picnic area.

Big bird!
More of the wildlife around the area.

Rainforest Trail
The first day on Kilimanjaro.

Crater
View of Kibo Peak (barely visible in the background) from the crater rim.

Kili flower
We saw plenty of plant life only found on Kilimanjaro.

Zebra Rock
View from the base of Zebra Rock.

Zebra Rock
Aptly named.

Our trail...
We would soon be hiking to the summit!

Mawenzi
On our way up the mountain, this is Mawenzi Peak.

Glacier view
The view of the glacier from Uhuru Peak.

I made it!
Prosper and I at the highest point in Africa.

Success!
Such a great feeling of accomplishment!

Raise the roof!
Raising the roof of Africa from 19,341 feet!

Glaciers
More glaciers, the pictures don't do it justice.

Gillman's Point
Last point before heading to the summit! This was taken on my way down, when my fingers were unfrozen enough to work my camera.

View of Uhuru
Uhuru Peak is within that picture... trust me. =)

View of Mawenzi
View of the volcanic cone from Gillman's Point.

Kibo Hut
Coming down from Kibo hut, bye bye Kili summit...

Certificates!
Benson awarding us our certificates... we look exhausted!