The climb

Kilimanjaro from the "super highway" (which only denotes it's not a dirt road) out of Arusha. The first glimpse of our goal for week one. This was the clearest day we had once the climb began. We had every element of weather that mother nature could throw at us after this day until the ascent. Therefore, there are not a whole lot of photos to share from the climb itself. I was able to take a few here and there when it would clear up or the trail allowed.


Here is an example of the loads the porters carried to each camp. These fellows carried these enormous loads, on their heads, up this mountain with such ease. The clothing and footwear they wore was next to nothing, totally incredible. We saw one guy up higher on the mountain wearing sandals with no heel strap and no socks gracefully navigating the trail. They truly are amazing people.



This is what we called home during the climb. The porters had everything set up for us prior to our arrival at each camp. We slept two to a tent and ate in the green "mess hall" tent for all of our meals except lunch on the trail. The food was fairly good all though I'm not sure I'm ready for another bowl of pourage yet.....



This is how we were served our lunch on the trail.

We got a glimpse of the summit through a "sucker hole" ( a brief appearance of the sun) at Barranco camp.

The summit at Uhuru Peak, 19,340 feet. The summit bid began at 11:30 pm on February 1, 2007 (Africa date and time) and ended at Uhuru Peak at about 8:30 am on February 2, 2007. It snowed, which is unusual for this time of year here because it is their summer, from the time we left our tents until we reached the summit. It made for a longer and more intense ascent. At around 17,000 feet I started to feel the effects of altitude sickness, headache and nausea, and didn't think I would make it beyond Stella Point, but my guide and trip leader pushed me on. I'm glad they did because the summit cleared and the view was spectacular.

A view from the "Roof of Africa". Here is one of the glaciers or "ice fields" at the summit. What a spectacular view! We began our descent and entered high camp at about 1:30 pm on February 2, 2007.

All of our team's porters and guides the morning after the summit at the "Millionaires Camp". We woke to a beautiful sunrise with the mountain appearing in the background. It was warm and we all felt rested after the long day before. Having the sun shine on us for the final day on the mountain was glorious. The porters and guides sang a Kilimanjaro song for us to say their goodbyes. It was quite beautiful. They all were so sweet and they took excellent care of us.