African Safari

With more than 1/4 of Tanzania’s land devoted to national parks, conservation areas and game reserves, an African safari adventure was a must.  We spent 5 days exploring the beautiful landscapes of Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Tarangire National Park and Serengeti National Park.  The wildlife was diverse and plentiful and at times, it felt like we had stepped into a national geographic documentary.  Monkeys were the first to greet us and included many species, but the baboons were by far the most entertaining.  Soon after, we were spotting giraffes, zebras, antelope, water buffalo and elephants and that was just day one!

 

Final Descent

After a short rest and lunchbreak at base camp, we were back on the trail descending around 5500 ft. over 5 miles.  This part was brutal as we were going on little sleep, exhausted from the summit hike and the trail was fairly rugged as we descended steeply thru the Moorland zone and back into the Rainforest. 

Day 8, our last day on the trail, involved another steep 5000ft. descent, but we were all well rested and trail conditions much improved from day before. As we passed thru the rainforest, we spotted Colobus Monkeys playing in the tree canopy.  

After 45 miles over 8 days, we had finally reached the end of the trail after a successful summit attempt of the highest peak in Africa.  It was definitely one of the hardest physical challenges I’ve ever faced, but the experience was amazing!   We had the best guides and support team that anyone could ask for which was key for a successful summit.  And while the initial goal was to reach the summit, many of us found the journey along the way to be just as rewarding and filled with lots of wonderful moments and memories with great friends, both old and new!

Summit Day

Under a starlit sky, sub freezing temps and high winds, our final ascent began around midnight.  We climbed 3500ft. over 2.5 miles maintaining a slow pace to aid in acclimatization.  In the darkness, we saw lines of headlamps from other hikers ahead and behind us and the city lights of Moshi in the valley.  Time passed slowly and breathing became more challenging with each step with some of us fighting off varying degrees of ams symptoms and trying to endure the freezing temps. Eventually, the sun rose in the east revealing the snow covered summit, massive glaciers in the distance and breathtaking views all around us.

At 6:50am on Feb. 26, we finally reached the summit at 19,341ft.  We made it to Uhuru Peak, the highest point on Mt Kilimanjaro!!!  It was exhilarating yet surreal to be standing on the “Roof of Africa”.  We were thrilled to have reached our goal, but in reality were exhausted, freezing cold and ready to return to base camp.

We kept our celebration brief to avoid ams symptoms from kicking in worse and descended back down the trail.  Took a brief stop at Stella Pt along the crater rim to take one final look back on Uhuru Peak before the challenging steep descent down to base camp.