Our 7th Wedding Anniversary on the Summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro!

August 29, 2022 - Tanzania, Africa

Spoiler Alert: We made it! Don't worry if you know us and also didn't know we climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2022, we didn't tell many people. Also, fair warning that this is a honest, detailed, and personal experience that includes topics of bodily functions associated with our altitude sickness. Enjoy!

How Mt. Kilimanjaro came to be on our Bucket List.

In 2013, I volunteered for 8 weeks at an orphanage in Tanzania. I had opportunities to also go on safari, and visit Zanzibar, both of which I highly suggest you add to your Bucket List! Jesse and I were dating at the time and he had dreams of possibly climbing Everest one day. I mentioned I had the opportunity to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (or Kili as experienced climbers say) and he asked if I could wait and we could climb it together in the future. My typically stubborn, "I want to do this on my own" side, actually agreed to this and onto the Bucket List it went.

Why now?

Fast forward now, it's 2022 and we are married and living in Germany. Between the pandemic and some big and little personal struggles, at the start of 2022 we decided to make a change and work towards a new, big goal together. We looked to our Bucket List, and of course Kili was on there but so were many other incredible locations and experiences. However, we chose Kili because of our perceived ability to climb it at other times in our life. Factors we considered included our own health, the health of our parents/future children, the financial burden, the amount of time that was needed to climb, acclimate, and time zone adjust. After all the considerations we decided this was the perfect time for us to make this dream happen!

The preparation.

A trekking company is required to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and no one is allow to climb without one. The mountain also can only be summited in a minimum of 5 days with most routes and companies offering 7-10 day routes. We chose to go the 8 day Lemosho (Le-moe-show) Route. It was described online as a beautiful and scenic route, less crowded than some of the more popular ones, and had a high percent success rate.

While on the mountain, you are responsible for carrying your day pack and daily water, but everything else including, tents, sleeping bags, personal luggage, food, etc. is all carried by porters. Porters, guides, a cook, a server, and even a designated person to set up and maintain the bathroom tents, are all people who come up the mountain with you. For me, choosing a company that treats every one of these people above and beyond the minimum porter standards by the Mt. Kilimanjaro Porter's Society was important. I did weeks of research and reached out to a few companies that I liked for quotes. We were looking to climb anytime is August, September, or October of 2022 because of the typical weather on the mountain at that time of year. ClimbKili got back to me stating that they had a 2 person opening on a trek starting on August 22nd. I did a little quick math and realized we would be summiting on our 7 year wedding anniversary. I was sold!

Now that we had a date and company, we had to get a few more things in order. I had been dealing with a constant pain in my ankle (partial tendon tears and swelling) that actually prevented me from walking some days. This was definitely something I needed to address before climbing a mountain! I worked with an orthopedic doctor and while I am still to this day having issues, I was able to get it to a place where I could hike and actually had zero pain on the mountain (thank you wonderful hiking boots!). Speaking of hiking boots, we were given a very detailed list of items that we should (and shouldn't) bring on the mountain. Jesse and I spent many hours scouring our closet and clothing tags checking to see if we had the correct blends of T-shirts and socks that were recommended for the mountain climates. Once we figured out what we had, we then went shopping to fill in the gaps. One of these gaps being hiking boots. We chose to go the budget route with almost everything except the boots and we are so thankful that we did. However, Jesse still likes to point out that he did find his boots 50% off. :)

Next I had to find travelers insurance. This was definitely not something I thought would be an issue since there are a million and one companies out there. Unfortunately, us being in the unique situation of being American citizens living in Germany disqualifies us from many travel insurance providers. After closely reading the Terms & Conditions as well as confirming with the company over email, we finally chose to use TrueTraveller. Most travel insurances cover trekking up to 4,600 meters (15,091 feet) and require additional coverage for anything more. Mt. Kilimanjaro is higher than that at 5,895 meters (19,340 feet), however with True Traveller, they include Mt. Kilimanjaro in their lower cost Adventure Pack.

The last few things on our prep list were vaccines and visas. Between us both having been to India and Africa in the past 10 years, we already had most of our vaccines and simply updated typhoid. I completed the visa applications online. If you want to visit: be sure to use the official website and not a third party. The total cost will be $100USD with a US passport, $50USD for most other nationalities. I recommend filling it out 1-2 months in advanced because it can take longer than the 2 weeks stated on the website. We ran into this issue and had to spend an hour resolving it when we landed in the country.

Now that all the paperwork was taken care of, we also needed to get ourselves in shape for the climb. We spent many weekends in the months leading up to it doing 4-6 hour hikes with Zoey and using this time to break in gear and learn our equipment. We actually used to fill our backpacks with random clothes and things lying around the house to add weight on our practice hikes. Looking back, we should have done more hikes back to back. We only did one or two long (3-4 hour) hikes on the weekends but on the mountain we hiked 5-6 hours everyday and our bodies were used to days of recovery between. We were totally fine, but a lot of muscle soreness could have been prevented with this training.

Landing in Tanzania.

Even having done it before, landing in Tanzania and literally walking off a 747 parked on the tarmac outside a tiny building is such a strange and surreal feeling.

Like I previously stated, we had not received confirmation of our visas approval through email yet so we waited in the visa line in order to sort it out. First they said we needed to reapply and also repay the fees but after I showed them copies of all the documentation, they took the documents in back and were able to locate our visas in the system. I truly believe they were delayed in the overwhelmed system, nothing more. Once we had the visa sorted, we proceeded through customs and grabbed our bags. Mind you, all of these locations are in one large room called the airport.

We landed in Kilimanjaro Airport late at night and once we were through the airport, we found our ClimbKili driver who brought us to the hotel in Arusha an hour away. This was our first experience of many with the "african massage" as they lovingly call their bumpy roads.

We had arrived a few days early so we could explore Arusha a bit and I could show Jesse around some of my old stomping grounds. The ClimbKili staff was not keen to let us explore on our own so we brought a local staff member with us on our outings. Once out of the hotel grounds they allowed us to explore on our own if we wished. We took a driving tour of the town, explored the massive cultural center and art museum, and wandered through a local market. I also had them take us to "muzungu square" as I knew it, meaning "white people square" since that is where many safari companies would bring their clients for groceries, banks, coffee shops, and the one Pizza Hut in town -HA! Here is where in 2013 I would call Jesse and my parents, so it was fun to bring him back to that place. We also ate a plethora of samosas (which cost about $0.25 USD each). I've tried samosas from a few different cultures and Tanzanian beef samosas reign supreme to me. One of the other places we went in Arusha was Shanga.

"Shanga is a social enterprise, which employs people with disabilities to create unique and high-quality handmade jewelry, glassware and homewares incorporating recycled materials."

I love the mission of Shanga and that they provide people who normally would not be able to work, a great opportunity. They also teach sign language and provide resources to their employees that are not widely available in the country. They encourage you to visit with the workers and try to do their projects with them. I say try because we went up to the station where they were using a needle to string up beads, the gentleman with no hands let Jesse try his station and Jesse I think got three beads total. While this man could easily string the whole bracelet in the same time! They truly have a talent and don't let their disabilities limit them. I love the hand blown glass I have from the last time I was there so it was very special getting to share that again with Jesse and pick out new things together.

The day before we left for the mountain, we got to meet the other climbers in our group at the prep meeting. We were talked through what would happen, collected any gear we were renting, and did a bag weigh in (limited for porter safety). We also spent that evening before the climb learning Swahili phrases like: please (tafadhali), thank you (asante), and coffee (kahawa). You know... the essentials.

THE CLIMB

Day 1 - LONDOROSSI GATE to MTI MKUBWA CAMP

• Distance: 5.5 km / 3.5 miles

• Camp Elevation: 2820 m / 9252 ft

• Hiking Time: 3-4 hours

• Zone: Rainforest

We met Mary and Pat the day before at our prep meeting. They would also be summiting on their (35 year) anniversary! The rest of the climbers we met that morning loading up the bus because their flight got in late the night before from Canada. Funny enough, all of the other climbers were from Toronto, Canada area. The "Canada Boys" aka Anthony, Jamie, Mike, Luke, Mitch, were a group of friends in their late 20's who mostly knew each other but hadn't all travelled together like this before. Our group's mountain climbing experience was widely varied, but everyone's enthusiasm and personalities made the adventure an incredible one.

The porters and crew loaded up the bus and we headed from Arusha to Mt. Kilimanjaro, a 3 hr drive, picking up a few more crew members along the way. One more "african massage" bus ride before we were solely reliant on our own two feet for the next 8 days. When we arrived at the gate, our guides took care of all the paperwork and permits while the porters set us up lunch. We felt very fancy as the rest of the climbers starting the climb that day too were handed brown paper sack sandwich lunches and we were sat at a proper table and served a hot meal. Then it was time to start the climb!

The gate is at 2,100m (6,890ft). This first day is mostly rainforest climate and with that climate came some unexpected wildlife - monkeys! We saw probably 5-10 Colobus and Blue monkeys on our hike. It was such a pleasant surprise on our first day. We made it to camp in record time, the porters hadn't even finished setting up the camp yet. I think we were all a bit excited and not knowing each other, none of us wanted to be the "weak or slow one". But after evaluating how we felt that first day, our group discussed and decided to pace ourselves better the next days. "Pole, Pole!" is the mountains mantra for a reason. "Slowly, Slowly" will get us there.

The camp was set within the forest with lots of tree cover and when it got cooler and darker at night, the curious monkeys came to explore the camp and we could hear them all around. I had my first touches of feeling the altitude the first night with some finger and heel tingles overnight. Water was my nemesis and best friend on the mountain because of the bathroom situation and the altitude.

Day 2 - MTI MKUBWA CAMP to SHIRA 1 CAMP

• Distance: 10 km / 6.2 miles

• Camp Elevation: 3610 m / 11,483 ft

• Hiking Time: 6-7 hours

  
  

This was our first camp wake up. As a group, and with advice from our guides, we agreed on a time we wanted to start hiking each day, and therefore a wakeup time. Singa was the server on the crew. He was in charge of the wake up and bringing coffee/tea to our sleeping tents, and he was always present at meal times to explain the food or restock items in the dining tent. Singa would come knock on our tent, say good morning then ask what hot drink we would like today. Jesse switched between coffee and tea depending on his stomach and I had a coffee with cream and sugar each morning. It was a wonderful way to get your internal body temperature up before having to get out of your sleeping bag, redress, and repack for the days climb on the chilly mornings.

Today we started hiking at 7am after a hearty breakfast. Our meals almost always had a "watery starter" for breakfast that meant watery oatmeal before toast, eggs, fruit, and sometimes meat and for lunch or dinner it meant a soup before our entrees. All of which were delicious and I still am not sure how they did that all on the mountain. The "watery starters" were meant to add calories as well as another source of water to our diets to help counteract the altitude.

After breakfast we hiked out of the rainforest and into the Heather and Moorland zones. Here the vegetation gets much more sparse than the dense rainforest but still covered in tall grasses and heather bushes. The trail was also quite dusty that day so we wore face coverings to breath easier.

While it was chilly when we left camp in the morning, the no tree cover and the sun warmed everyone up quickly. We all stopped about an hour into the hike to shed layers and apply sunscreen. This would become a daily occurrence but today was a first. I applied it to my face and hands since they were the only exposed areas but when we arrived at camp hours later I would discover I had made a big mistake. While hiking, I got warm and rolled up my sleeves, remember how I didn't mention my arms in the sunscreen application? Yup, scorched. Especially, because when using walking sticks, your forearms are more exposed. Not only was I dehydrated from the altitude and the hike itself but now my body was also dealing with a sunburn. 6+ months later and I still have the tan line where the burnt part peeled, whoops. Jesse also was effected by the sun and heat that day. He didn't drink nearly enough and only after drinking about 3 L of water and cooling off when we arrived to camp, did he start to feel better. While these sound like bad experiences that could have ruined our trip, they definitely were not. We were actually really happy to learn about the sun exposure and amount of water our bodies needed on the first few days and before we were at the really high altitudes.

Each night we would hang out in the dining tent after dinner. We really got to know each other well through talking on the climbs each day as well as in the evenings. This night, we stayed up and played euchre (a card game) with Jamie and Anthony. Jamie and Jesse are both great players and have played alot in their lives while Anthony and I are newer to the game. Needless to say, they crushed us and we demanded a rematch another night.

The hand tingles were persistent again today on the hike along with short headaches that could be dealt with easily by drinking water, focusing on my breathing, and slowing my pace.

Day 3 - SHIRA 1 CAMP to MOIR CAMP

• Distance: 14 km / 8.7 miles

• Camp Elevation: 4200 m / 13,8000 ft

• Hiking Time: 6 hours

  
  

We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise this morning! The color changes that happened in the sky just before the sun peaked over the hill were unreal.

Today's hike was mostly across large plains. Still a general trend up but long distances across more than up and down. The plains provided a beautiful and humbling view of the mountain. It was so interesting to me to see the landscape and vegetation change over the coarse of the day.

I was definitely feeling my sunburn from yesterday and paid for it in chills during the hike and a loss of appetite at dinner. Loss of appetite is a common altitude sickness issue and we were warned ahead of time this could happen. Luckily mine was just uncomfortable and I was still able to eat.

Today was also the first day that I had trouble finding a semi private place to use the bathroom on our hike due to the vegetation becoming sparser. Since the group was 90% males they could all just walk over to a cliff or rock or bush, unzip and do what they needed to do in about a minute. Us women however had to trek off to find a location, take off multiple layers of clothing, pack out our paper, and have hand sanitizer at the ready. Luckily the guys never minded getting a few more minutes break waiting for us.

When we arrived at camp today, the staff must have known it had been a tough day. They greeting us with songs, chants, and dancing! It was so fun to see them so excited and it definitely raised our spirits too. The guy who's role was bathroom attendant was also the most passionate song leader. You wanna see a guy that can be handed a shitty job and does it with true joy, this was it! (yes, pun intended).

A few of the other crew members we got to know quite well on the trip included the guides. Our Lead Guide's name was Emanuel, he was incredible! Our Junior Guides were a young guy named Manny, one of the extremely rare female guides on the mountain who we called Sunshine, and another lead guide who took a junior role for this trip, Serafini. Serafini has actually summited more than 200 times and is pushing 65 years old!

Tonight we slept at Moir Camp. It is one of the highest elevations we will sleep at before summit at 4700 m / 15,420 ft.

Day 4 - MOIR CAMP to LAVA TOWER to BARRANCO CAMP

• Distance: 7 km / 4.3 miles

• Camp Elevation: 3962 m / 13,000 ft

• Lava Tower Elevation: 4600 m / 15,092 ft

• Hiking Time: 5 hours

  
  

The higher in elevation, the colder it gets in general but especially at night. As you may know, I am a total wimp when it comes to the cold. I would much prefer to sweat than shiver. So in preparation for these cold days and nights, I read up on all sorts of creative solutions. One of which being to fill a water bottle with hot water before bed and sleep with it in your sleeping bag. Let me tell you... GAME CHANGER! I felt like a new person in the morning after a few long stretches of uninterrupted, non-shivering sleep. It was glorious!

I would say today hike was my best day yet! Unfortunately, it was Jesse's worst. He experienced his first bout of altitude sickness resulting in many stops for less than ideal bowel movements while on the trail. Our biggest concern was dehydration, but Jesse did a great job managing his water intake and an Imodium at dinner did the trick to nip it in the bud.

Today's hike was filled with absolutely stunning views as we made our way up to Lava Tower for lunch. Most days our group chose to hike the whole way to the next camp without stopping on the trail for lunch. Today was the exception because Lava Tower was the highest elevation we had been to yet and the guides wanted us to spend some time there acclimating. After lunch we hiked back down and around to Barranco Camp for the night. Because Jesse was under the weather, he preferred to be left alone. This gave me a great opportunity to get to know the rest of our group a little better. I had some wonderful conversations with just about everyone while on the trail. It was so fun and a great way to pass time on the long hiking day. I learned about people's careers and aspirations, their relationship status and how they met or what they are looking for in a partner, and all sorts of favorites: movies, music, food, etc.. This was one of the last days of lengthy conversations on the trails because after today the altitude dampened our ability to have long winded conversations. Not that it truly stopped us. ;)

Barranco Camp is situated just below the Barranco Wall which is aptly named for its close to vertical assent. It was cool to be able to see so clearly the first part of the route we would hike in the early morning. The clouds rolled in and out over camp and we were able to catch glimpses of the summit too.

Day 5 - BARRANCO CAMP to KARANGA CAMP

• Distance: 3.2 km / 2.2 miles

• Camp Elevation: 3992 m / 13,100 ft

• Hiking Time: 5 hours

  
  

The first part of today's hike was the most technical and hand over hand climbing and I LOVED EVERY SECOND! It was by far my favorite part of the entire hike and my energy spiked afterward the climb because of how fun it was.

The rest of the day felt like we went up and down over about 6 hills. There was very little low grade hiking today. We were either climbing up and over the next hill or descending into the valley with the next accent in sight. At one of the peaks there was a cliff and with the cloud cover it looked like we were standing at the edge of an abyss. Jumping photos with tons of gear on and at high altitude take a lot out of you if you can't get it in one shot. Luckily, I turned on my live photo feature and we nailed it in one shot! Poor Mary was terrified of heights (the irony, I know) so she was the only one missing from our group photo.

Because Barranco Wall is so vertical, that also makes the climb mostly single file. We were lucky as our guides had us start early enough that we didn't wait at all on the wall, but the rest of the day the route was fairly crowded. Every group goes at different paces, takes breaks at different times, so its very normal to pass and be passed everyday of the climb. Today there was another group who we passed and passed us numerous times. We always knew it was them because of how incredibly loud, boisterous, and Irish they were. Haha! We could here their strong accented singing for miles as it grew closer and echoed across the valleys. It was such a wonderful spirit lifter and made us all laugh every time we heard them come up over a hill. We also had no idea how they managed to sing that loudly while climbing as most of us were sucking air hard this day.

When we arrived into Karanga Camp there was considerable cloud coverage. Almost like a fog that didn't allow us any sort of view. After a few hours however, the clouds cleared and we were rewarded with incredible and some of my favorite views of the trip. We were well above the cloud line below and were able to see Mt. Meru in Arusha as well as watch the sunset from camp. Once the sun was down we also had a spectacular view of the stars. I don't care how many times I see the expanse of the Milky Way, it always amazes me and takes my breath away. Tonight, most of our group stayed up late playing a card game called President. It was incredibly competitive, hilarious, and such a great way to end a wonderful day. Our faces hurt from smiling and laughing so much that night.

Day 6 - KARANGA CAMP to KOSOVO CAMP

• Distance: 3.5 km / 2.6 miles

• Camp Elevation: 4876 m / 16,000 ft

• Hiking Time: 6 hours

  
  

We woke up to a significant amount of frost this morning and I was more thankful than ever a hot coffee was delivered to me in my sleeping bag. After we packed up and ate breakfast, we started out on the trail. The guides were finishing up a meeting so the lead guide, Emanuel, told me to start the group on the trail and he would catch up to lead. The other guide would bring up the rear. Well I got too excited with my new found responsibility and paced us too fast. Luckily, Emanuel caught up after 30 min and relieved me of my post (haha, it's harder than it looks).

The terrain at this point is mostly loose, soccer ball and smaller sized rocks. It makes leaving the trail somewhat dangerous as everything is loose. This was confirmed as we were walking and the guides pointed out an avalanche currently in progress. It was far enough away that we were not in any danger, but it was fascinating to see.

Now this is the last day before summit and there are a few different options for camps depending on the trekking company you book through. Barafu Camp is open to all trekkers, however, it's situated about an hours climb lower on the mountain. Our company is one of the few that has permission and books at the next camp up called Kosovo Camp. Our guides explained that since our climb to summit starts about midnight, most of it is done in the dark by headlamp. The climb between Barafu and Kosovo is a tricky one, even in daylight. It's mostly made up of large slanted flat rocks that I'm sure in the early mornings can be slippery if you aren't careful. The other reason I was happy was because of all the camps we went through or stayed in, Barafu was the least clean. It makes sense being that high up, people are more concerned about safely getting to summit and back down without extra weight, but it did make me sad to see all the trash. That being said, I would say that was about the only place we ever saw trash. Our group and many others made it a point to pick up any bits of accidental trash along the trail and to pack it out with us. Overall the entire trail was mostly without trash which is why I think Barafu was so startling to me.

When we arrived into Kosovo camp, we were exhausted but yet again, our group of guides and porters sung us into camp. The songs they sing are so full of energy and pure love and thanks for the mountain that provides so much for all of us. We had dinner that night with our usual but most nerve-wracking oxygen check yet. Some of us were checked more than once, advised to supplement our altitude meds, and then we discussed departing in separate groups in a few hours. Since some people were having a harder time with the altitude and pace, it was decided that four people would start at midnight and the rest would start at 1:00 am. This would allow the groups to go at their own pace but then hopefully summit together.

We attempted to go to bed around 6:00 pm after dinner but the anticipation was high for the 12:00 am wake up call. I was very restless, cold, and probably slept about 2-3 hours total.

Day 7 - SUMMIT DAY - KOSOVO CAMP to STELLA POINT to UHURU PEAK to MWEKA CAMP

• Distance: 21 km / 13 miles (5 km/mile ascent, 12 km/mile descent)

• Camp Elevation: 4673 m / 15,331 ft

• Uhuru Peak Elevation: 5895 m / 19,340 ft

• Hiking Time: 12 hours (7 hours ascent, 5 hours descent)

  
  

Summit day! We woke up and left camp at 1:00am. Since many groups started much earlier than us, we could already see a trail of headlights leading up the mountain. It was almost hard to distinguish where the headlights ended and the starts began. The climb consisted of two parts, the first part goes practically straight up. There is some hand holding needed and almost entirely snaking back and forth up the side of the mountain. Unfortunately, this means the altitude elevates quickly and the combo of not getting much sleep and the altitude made me throw up at one point about halfway up. I was terrified that the guide was going to call it for me and make me go back down but he looked me in the eyes for a second, watched me drink some water, then told me I was fine and to keep going. Unfortunately for the people behind me, my aim was extremely poor as I accidentally threw up on one of the convenient hand holds in that part of the climb... my bad! After the straight up accent, we reached Stella Point. This is the rim of the volcano. From here you walk along the rim to reach Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa and the worlds highest freestanding mountain. When we reached Stella Point, it was about 6am and the sun was just beginning to rise. By the time with walked along the rim to Uhuru Peak, we had clear skies and sunshine for our top of the mountain photos. The guides don't let you stay here long, partly because others want their photo op too, but mostly because there isn't much oxygen up there. Even going from Uhuru Peak back to Stella Point, a walk that feels very flat, I could tell a huge difference in the oxygen levels.

In order to get back down the mountain, you take very different route. Mostly through a shale field where you somewhat skate down with each step. It was honestly so fun and also exhausting. What took us 6-7 hours to climb up took us maybe 1-2 hours to slide down. Once back at camp, we had lunch with everyone, packed up and headed down to our final camp all the way back down in the rainforest zone. We passed the emergency helicopter pad on the way and joked about splitting the cost of that ride just to get down faster.

Once we got to camp they had a very special surprise ready for us at dinner. They, somehow on this mountain, baked us a cake for our anniversary! It was so thoughtful and just so unexpected. We slept soundly that night and felt incredible with all the extra oxygen.

Day 8 - MWEKA CAMP to MWEKA GATE

• Distance: 10.3 km / 6.4 miles

• Camp Elevation: 1645 m / 5,400 ft

• Hiking Time: 3.5 hours

  
  

Today was just about getting off the mountain. Unfortunately, Jesse experienced delayed altitude sickness. Apparently, it is very common and a reaction to the oxygen level increasing too fast. We had to make multiple stops on the way down to help accomodate him. The down seems easier in theory but we learned quickly that two solid days of downhill walking will quickly take a toll on our knees. We were all walking so funny trying to use any muscle that wasn't already sore. Once we reached the bottom, we got a round of drinks at the little shop and waited for the bus. I'm pretty sure Jesse was convinced that was the best tasting beer he's ever had. The bus stopped at a place for lunch that was surrounded by art, crafts, and jewelery shops where we were also presented with our official certificates of our summit.

That night, after what can only be called a life changing shower, we met our whole group for dinner at the hotel restraunt on the top floor. Funny thing is, there's no elevator at this hotel, just a big beautiful staircase. There were a few moans and groans getting our butts up that staircase for dinner but it was mostly forgotten after we sat for hours, eating, drinking, playing games, and recounting memories of the climb. There were others staying at the hotel that night that we had briefly met who were starting their climb the next day. They all went to bed early as we stayed up chatting and laughing. When it was time to call it a night, we all headed down the stairs. We couldn't help but absolutely crack up at ourselves because not a single one of us could take one step down without letting out some sort of painful noise. With 9 of us, I'm sure the people leaving in the morning were rethinking their decision to do this too.

SAFARI

Day 1

Arusha -Serengeti

We flew to the Serengeti Airstrip in the smallest, ricketiest plane I've ever flown on. It was 1 seat and 2 seats on either side of the aisle. I got nervous during some turbulence but the flight attendants didn't even bother to look up so I figured there was nothing to worry about. Day 1 drive we saw so many animals already. Mostly the herd animals like water buffalo and zebra but we also saw lots of giraffes. By the end of day 1 we had actually seen all the "Big 5" our guide Reggie said that was very rare and a good sign for the rest of our game drives. We were with ___ and stayed tonight in the Kilima valley Tented Camp

Day 2

Serengeti

More game driving through the Serengeti. Hippos and Cheetah cubs were the morning highlights. In the afternoon we saw lots of lions and even lion cubs. Hyenas chilling in a mud puddle on the road and some very interesting (to me) gazelle behavior. Though I could have sat and observed them for hours, I don't think my vehicle mates shared my intense passion for observing animal behavior.

Day 3

Serengeti - Ngorongoro

Ngorongoro Crater is the largest intact crater in the world and acts as its own unique ecosystem. Some species only live within the crater and some migrating animals don't migrate from within the crater. On our drive into the crater we came across a bull elephant and he walked and stood so closely to the vehicle that I could have reached out and touched him. Our guide was very cross with Mary who was talking/exclaiming loudly. Bull elephants can be very temperamental and territorial and his behavior (peeing, pooping, making his "5th leg" appear, and posturing with his head and ears) was already indicating he was in charge here. Thankfully she quieted down but wow was that a cool experience looking this elephant in the eye!

Day 4

Ngorongoro - Tarangire - Arusha

Tarangire National Park is known for a few things: 1. The large number of elephants that live within the 3000sq km park. 2. The termite mounds that are found everywhere. 3. The lions who climb and sleep in trees due to the biting ants that inhabit the park. Lions are not typically climbers but the prides in this park have adapted due to this ant species.

Heading Home

-We cleaned up at hotel, repacked, then Reggie took us to the airport.

-Lounge in airport was new and fantastic!

-Flight from Kili to Dar el Saleem, then to AMS, drive two hours home.

-We immediately took our bag with dirty clothes in it outside, opened it, then left it outside for a few hours to air out before washing everything thoroughly.

What would we have done differently/how you can learn from us when you go

• Visa - give yourself plenty of time before your trip.

• Train multiple hard days (4+ hours) in a row.

• The extra sleeping pad is worth it.

• Bring your own coat/parka.

• Under layers are key and you will wear them every day.

• Bring high value snacks (and some to share) like skittles - don't worry if they aren't "healthy".

• Tums are a form of currency, Aquaphor too.

• Altitude sickness is normal, your guides are insanely knowledgeable .

How we feel now.

Jesse: "The people of Tanzania were so welcoming into their beautiful country and culture. Their energy and friendliness were contagious. The climb and summiting of Kilimanjaro was a surreal experience. There were days where I thought "how am I going to make it, we have so far left to go". Then I would turn around, looking down the path, to see all of the distance we covered from the day before. Reaching the top was a challenge, but worth every sore muscle and pain. I have only felt that level of accomplishment a few times in my life. The summit was made even better by finishing it with my best friend, on our wedding anniversary. After the climb, I went on my first safari. We saw many great animals, but the greatest joy for me was watching the excitement and pure happiness on Kelly's face. She was glowing with joy and that filled my heart."

Kelly: "Because this was on my Bucket List for so long, it feels almost surreal now to say that we've done it. I wasn't sure of my abilities to climb at that altitude or for that many days in a row, but it was just as exhilarating as it was an exhausting experience. I am so proud of myself and us for doing this, and am truly humbled by this mountain and the locals who climb it regularly. Even with the altitude sickness and the cold, I genuinely look back on my experience with overflowing happiness and the feeling of pure freedom."

When being asked if we would climb it again, we have a two part answer. First reaction, "yes!" However, the "no" comes into play with the costs. We have already done it and while we loved it and would absolutely do it again, we also have so many other adventures on our Bucket List that we would rather put our time, energy, and finances toward (at this time, going forward, for the moment).

All the Love,

Asante Sana,

Hakuna Matata,

Pole, Pole!