African Odyssey

African Odyssey

Photos

This trip has been on my bucket list for decades and, once again, it was Derek who got me to put it on the calendar and “buy the ticket.” The trip originated, I think, as a guys’ trip with Derek and Jake and morphed into a couples trip with Jake as the ninth wheel. Sheri and I were thrilled to be joining this team of youngsters. All of the males were Minions, and one of the things that I cherish most about the Minions is the common bond of adventure that spans generations. I have good friends in that group who are nearly forty years younger than me. I am always so impressed with their patience and generosity to team with me.

Africa is a long way away. And you need a bunch of shots to go there. The barrier to entry is so high that we wanted to get “everything” in one trip. Everything being Mt. Kenya (2nd highest in Africa and a super cool technical summit), Mt. Kilimanjaro (the highest in Africa and one of the "Seven Summits"), and a safari (because the big mammals, among other things, make Africa a unique continent). In retrospect, with such a tight schedule (one weather day), it was unlikely to get both summits. Spoiler alert, we didn’t. 

Tuesday, December 17th

Derek and Renee flew from Seattle to Denver on Monday, arriving at our house past midnight. This worked out great for Sheri and me because we got to travel with them all the way there and back. Derek, Renee, Sheri, and I were picked up by a shuttle bus at our house and taken to the regular bus stop at 10:30 a.m. 

Once at DIA, we met with Jake, Ryan, and Alex. We all boarded an 8.5-hour Air France flight to Paris at 3 p.m. Note to self: no more window seats — I felt trapped. I watched a movie or two. They must have been bad, as I don’t remember them.

Wednesday, December 18th 

We arrived in Paris in the morning (Sheri’s birthday), severely jet lagged. We met up with David here to complete our group of eight for Mt. Kenya. David’s girlfriend Zoe wasn’t meeting up with us until after our stint on Mt. Kenya.

We had a 3-hour layover before boarding another 8.5-hour flight to Nairobi. We spent this entire day traveling. We left Paris at 11 a.m. We landed in Nairobi at 9:30 p.m. It took a long time to get through customs and then we had to wait for David. He was five minutes behind us getting off the plane and an hour behind us after customs. He was at the back of the plane. This set a tone for the rest of the trip: long, long waits. 

Travel is a series of standing in lines and waiting. My mom is a travel addict and I don’t know how she does it. I love being in new places, but the work of getting there is very unpleasant. This is why I have no interest in Everest from Nepal. That’s a queue as well. An entire vacation of waiting in a queue is not for me. I understand that some waiting is necessary and I endure it, but it is very unpleasant.  

We got to our cute cabins at a beautiful, quaint, gated place called Severine at 1 a.m. and to bed by 1:30 a.m. 

Thursday, December 19th 

Strava - Mt. Kenya, Day 1

Our cabin was really nice. Just one room and a bathroom, but each couple had a completely separate structure. Our cabin was called Giraffe. Derek and Renee were in Cheetah. Appropriate.

Our team for Mt. Kenya was Ryan (“Re-in”, as Paul Safari called him), Alex, Jake, Derek, Renee, Sheri, and myself. Just the guys were planning to rope up for the highest summit of Mt. Kenya: Bation, but we all planned to hike over Lenana, the “trekking summit”, the day before our climb. 

We paid the balance for the rest of the trip here. We’d have to visit ATMs a few times throughout the trip, but it wasn’t a big problem. There was a limit to how much we could pull out, but it went smoothly. Sheri and I did start with $1000 in cash, which helped with this final (not really) payment.

Ryan brilliantly handled all the arrangements with the guides. It was great seeing him in a different capacity and how truly capable he is. I'd known him mainly as a fit, fast scrambler and as an extremely experienced and solid rock climber. And as a tireless trail breaker on my 100th ascent of Longs Peak. But now, he was a project manager, too. I know he had founded an engineering company and was an expert tunneling engineer, but on this trip I could see some of his intellectual heft and was grateful for it. 

I'd only met Alex, his live-in girlfriend, a couple of times. The only time we had talked before this trip was at a late breakfast after climbing Mt. Sniktau a few weeks before leaving on this trip. She was smart, joyful, and strong without being boastful. Ryan had been mentoring her in rock and ice climbing, but she wouldn't join us for Bation. 

Our guides for Mt. Kenya would be Paul, his right-hand man Dennis, and Geoffrey. We’d find out later that Geoffrey ran a 64-minute half marathon and he looked the part. Paul had to give up his dream of being a runner, as he was too slow. All he could manage was a 30-minute 10K. In Kenya, this is barely called running. To them, my running appears to be standing still. Our guides were incredibly friendly, as everyone we’d meet would be. It is remarkable how nice people are here. Granted, most of the people we met were part of the service industry, but the smiles and joy seemed very genuine.

We then drove five hours north to Mt. Kenya National Park. Driving in Kenya is…frustrating. Driving their highways is like driving very busy, 2-lane, back roads in the US, but ones with countless speed bumps, big, slow trucks, and countless motorcycles, with tons of pedestrians alongside the road. The highway we took to Mt. Kenya alone probably has more speed bumps than exist in the entire state of Colorado.

We had a hot lunch of soup and other stuff at the entrance to the park at 2700 meters (8860 feet). While eating lunch we saw numerous baboons and on the hike up we saw a couple of Colobus monkeys. We also met a new team member, Daniel, from Germany. He was added to our group and was fine. He didn't intrude into our dynamic much. After lunch, we walked three hours to Camp I — Old Moses Camp at 3300 meters (10,800 feet), mostly up a dirt road. I hiked with Paul, and he told me about some of the animals we’d see on safari: Geeloffs and Reopads. Any guess what those are? 

We arrived at the hut -- a dim, depressing, concrete bunker. We'd spend three nights in such structures. It's nice to have shelter and lots of tables and chairs, but I much prefer the tents we were going to be using on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

We played some cards, ate dinner, and chatted with some of the other hut residents. I got into a heated climate-change discussion with a German, specifically about Germany's response to it. The guy was passionate and not completely ignorant, but no one can defend Germany’s actions with logic and reason. Germany has elected to build two parallel grids. One composed of thermal generation (coal, natural gas) and one from wind and solar. It has been phenomenally expensive and is currently losing support among the German people as industry flees Germany. They also shut down all their nuclear plants. This is shockingly stupid if they do indeed care about reducing CO2, and from the hundreds of billions they’ve spent, it appears that they do. But apparently, not really. Eventually, physics will win and it appears to be starting to turn that way, not just in Germany but across Europe.

It was at this hut that we became familiar with the bathrooms we’d be using on both mountains and in smaller gas stations and convenience stores for the rest of the trip. The bathroom typically had a door, but that was it. Well, there was a hole in the ground. No bathroom, except for nicer hotels and restaurants, ever had toilet paper. We were each issued a roll upon starting up Kilimanjaro but had to go looking on Mt. Kenya. No bathroom on the mountain had a seat. There were a lot of these bathrooms, though, and their availability kept the mountain clear of human waste. We did see plenty of toilet paper on the mountain… Curious.

Both David and I were reading No Picnic on Mt. Kenya by Felice Benuzzi (published in 1953). I’d owned this book for a couple of decades and never read it until now, but I knew the basics of the story. Three Italians in East Africa are taken prisoner by the British during WWII. They are imprisoned in a camp near Nanuki — the town we passed through just before entering the national park. The security in their camp wasn’t too tight, as where would the escapees go? White guys roaming an all-black country would stick out immediately and it was hundreds of miles to the nearest sanctuary. The three prisoners’ plan was to break out, climb Mt. Kenya, and then break back into prison! They made their own crampons in the camp and bought and traded for additional equipment. And they hoarded their rations to take up the mountain. Then, when the time was right, they escaped. The story is fascinating and it underscored all the hardships that we avoided. Some of the most difficult going for them, besides not being recaptured, was fighting through the thick bamboo forest low on the mountain. I paid a lot of attention to how incredibly dense this was as we drove past it. Then they fought with the mountain heather. We drove by that too. Each night they took watch to protect themselves from animals, as two of the early explorers of Mt. Kenya were killed by rhinos!  

Sheri and I had adventured with David before when we climbed the Elephant's Perch in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains. David, like the rest of us, was an all-around adventurer who ran, cycled, skied, hiked, rock climbed, ice climbed, and peak bagged. David started me on my path to climb the lower-48 Ultra Proms (peaks with 5000 feet or more of prominence). I was done with the lower-48 14ers and needed a new list. Derek had already convinced me that I also needed the state high points. Sheri is all-in on the latter but is only a reluctant companion for the Ultra Proms. David exudes an air of confidence and competence -- like he already knows everything is going to be smooth. He has a nice calming effect. He is also very knowledgeable about all things geographic and I'm always learning something from him. Like the rest of the group, he's kind and easygoing. When we couldn't muster any enthusiasm late in the trip to visit the snake zoo, he voted against himself. 

I was having some serious GI issues and visited the bathroom multiple times a day. It was quite an inconvenience. I frequently have this issue when traveling internationally. I think I need to hydrate more and eat more fiber.

Friday, December 20th 

The next morning we were up at 6:15, had breakfast at 7, and we started hiking around 8. Before we left, we met the entire team of guides and porters. We were headed to the Shipton hut at 14,000 feet. We hiked by the giant groundsel trees, which are so famous on Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro. 

We stopped for a hot lunch on the trail and waited for the porters to make it. We ate on a picnic blanket. It seemed nuts to have a hot lunch on the trail, but that’s the way here and we embraced it. Our friends Katy and Ian would have loved it too, as I shot down their idea of a hot lunch during our Sierra Traverse. I'm rethinking that now. Perhaps, the Katalator was right all along... We moved slowly and took our time to acclimate. This is, of course, the strategy everyone uses and it's a good one. I've never had serious issues with altitude (besides not being able to move very fast), but that is probably because I've always taken acclimation very seriously.

We got our first real glimpse of the mountain (yes, we could see it at times from Moses Camp) on this day. It looked mighty impressive...and cold and snowy. I wasn't expecting it to look so snowy and I wondered if we had the gear to climb it. Between the five climbers, we'd only brought one tiny ice axe and one pair of crampons...

We got to Shipton Camp (4200 meters; 13,800 feet) around 2 pm. The concrete hut was cold and dismal, but the surroundings were lush. A beautiful lawn-like grass was just outside the WWII-era bunker, tended to by docile hyrax — amazingly these marmot-like creatures are most closely related to elephants!

I hiked above camp to 14,500 feet just to stretch my legs and enjoy the perfect weather and great views. I think I was wearing my down jacket, so perfect weather as long as one was wearing a nice coat... I picked 14,500 as my turnaround point so that I got higher than anywhere in Colorado. Others played cards or took a nap.

English is the official language of Kenya, but most Kenyans speak three languages: English, Swahili, and their tribal tongue. Over a hundred languages are spoken in Kenya and there are 2000 spoken on the continent. Swahili is the language used for almost all local communication, though, and is the predominant language throughout all of East Africa (Sudan down to Mozambique). It is a mixture of a Bantu language with some Arab influences (15% of the words are Arabic). The language was first written in Arabic script. Today, there are somewhere between 60 and 200 million first or second-language speakers of Swahili. Given there are 65 million people in Tanzania and 55 million in Kenya, I’d think it would be closer to 200 million. Of course, “hakuna matata”, meaning “no worries”, is the most well-known among us fans of The Lion King. The phrase we most used was “jambo”, which is “hi.” We were entertained a number of different times by the welcoming song of “Jambo Bwana”. This link has a nice translation that goes along with the song. 

Saturday, December 21st 

Sheri slept terribly and I didn’t do much better, having to get up to pee at least twice, but we were in bed a long time. We got up around 6:30 a.m. The sun was out and it felt warm standing outside in it. We started hiking at 9, up steeply to Lanana (4985 meters or 16.355 feet), the third highest summit of Mt. Kenya and the trekking summit. We were headed to the Austrian Hut at 4800 meters (15,750 feet) via Lenana. From Lenana, we’d descend 600 feet to the hut. Our porters went around this summit.

The climb felt hard even though we went slow. Clouds came in by the time we arrived at the summit. It was windy and chilly. The top had some iron cables and rings to climb. A sign proclaimed it as the highest via ferrata in the world. At over 16,000 feet, it certainly surpasses anything in Europe. After summit photos, we started down the other side, aiming for the small red hut at 15,750. 

Once there, the guys retrieved our technical gear from the duffels carried by the porters and packed it into our day packs. We headed up to the start of the North Face route (20 pitches, 5.8). This route ascends to the second-highest summit, Nelion. To get to Bation we’d have to descend to the notch between the two peaks (leaving a fixed line for our return) and scramble up to the very summit.

Two porters led the way, but they led right by the start too. Once up there, we dismissed them and they headed down. We didn’t request the escort, but the porters can’t resist helping us in any way. I fell back on the approach so that I could handle some GI issues, but I couldn't have stayed with the others regardless. David was lamenting that he had gained 20 pounds since moving to Nevada and living alone. He didn't look heavy, and he still moved fast enough to drop me easily. Derek and Jake are young, fit, fast, and strong. Ryan, coming off knee surgery, smoked me at the Tour de Flatirons. I was conspicuously the odd man out and not just because of my fast-disappearing gray hair. I longed to be on the rock climb. On complicated, moderate alpine terrain I hoped I could hold my own. Maybe I could contribute with some efficient leading. But approaching, I was just holding them up. Of course, none of them would say that or even claim to notice it. But I did. 

It had taken us only 35 minutes to get up there. We found the start and a few of us scrambled up the first 5.2 pitch. The terrain above looked complicated but moderate to easy. Most of the route was 5.6 or easier and we could envision at least the first few pitches. We had about 1200 vertical feet to climb, not counting the descent, re-ascent to Batian (and the return to Nelion). That sounded so manageable, even with the altitude. After downclimbing back to the ground, we stashed all the climbing gear in a big trash bag to protect it from any moisture. This turned out to be prescient, unfortunately. 

Back at the hut, Sheri was feeling terrible. She had a bad headache and nausea. She couldn’t eat dinner. Paul decided that if Sheri didn’t feel better in the morning, we’d have to descend a different route than planned — one that would get Sheri lower quickly. We still planned on attempting Batian, but Sheri might not be at the hut when we returned. 

After a marginal dinner, we all went to bed, four across each level of a two-tier sleeping platform in one of the three small rooms in the hut. I had to get up to pee three times, the first at 9:45 p.m. when I discovered it was snowing outside. When I joined Sheri for a pee at 11:15 p.m. the snow had stopped falling, but covered everything.

Sunday, December 22nd 

Everyone slept terribly with hardly anyone acknowledging any quality shuteye. We were up at 4:20 a.m. for a quick cup of coffee, a bite, and then out the door. I was surprised that all the girls got up too. They wanted to see us off and wish us good luck. Of course, with us all moving around sleep wasn't to be had anyway, but it still felt great. Sheri was feeling much better.

Headed up, via headlamps, with slippery, snow-covered talus to negotiate, the mood was somber. We had to go up there, but I don't think any of us believed we'd be climbing. It was too wet, too snowy, and too cold. We knew verglas had to wait for us above. Then it started snowing again.

Once again, I lagged behind a bit, though not too far. At the base, things looked grim. The ledges were snow-covered and water flowed down the rock. We could climb the easier terrain in these conditions and I pulled out the rack and even put it on. I desperately wanted to do something I was good at. But it was futile. This is when going with experienced, tough climbers is such an asset. These guys aren't turned back easily. I'm usually the first guy to quit in questionable conditions so it was comforting to hear the voice of reason from the likes of Ryan and David. The young guns, Derek and Jake, would have climbed if someone pushed the matter. I wanted to be that guy, but I knew it would just mean turning around five pitches up. Ryan pointed out that then we'd have our gear all soaked for a try the next day...

Knowing we had a weather day built into the schedule, we decided to hope for better weather and return the next day. We re-stashed the gear and headed back down. None of us were eager to spend another crappy night at the hut, but what choice did we have? The ladies would rightfully descend without us and who could blame them? 

The day before, I eyed another summit: Thomson Point (4995 meters; 16.388 feet). Yes, this is a higher altitude than Lenana, but that is what my guidebook reports (Kilimanjaro & Mount Kenya: A Climbing and Trekking Guide by Cameron M. Burns). It looked to be no harder than Point Lenana. I suggested bagging it before returning to the hut and no one needed any convincing. We traversed over to below its northwest rib and stashed our packs, figuring it was going to be a relatively quick jaunt to the summit. It was and soon we were taking photos of our second summit. 

Ryan pulled out his phone and he had service -- enough to get a weather report for the next few days. Not that we had a few days. We had one. It didn't matter. The weather for the next few days was more snow. It was over. It was a bummer to come this far and not even get in the game, but traveling and adventuring with this team was a joy. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to do another adventure with any of them. On the other hand, my window for being an acceptable partner to these guys is closing. I need to continue to "get things done." Will I be back for Mt. Kenya? I'm not sure. 

After retrieving our packs, we returned to the base of the route -- our third trip up there. This would be our last. We were retrieving the gear and turning our attention to Mt. Kilimanjaro. But not before heading to a bed and a shower.

Back at the hut, the girls were doing great. Sheri recovered quite well and had spent the morning reading her book. It was great to return to them and their positive, uplifting attitude. And their desire to get the hell out of this hut and down to more clement conditions. It was still early. After breakfast, we started down at 10 a.m.

It was 12 miles to the cabins, but we were promised beds, hot showers, and wifi, so the motivation was high. We stayed together for maybe half of the hike and then splintered into the fast group and the slow group. Sheri and I were in the latter, but we had Derek and Renee for company, along with a guide, of course. Before splitting up, we did a short side hike to a cliffside overlook of an incredible valley. Far below us was a pristine lake and the vertical walls rising to meet us invoked ideas of climbing routes.

The lodge was almost like a motel, but we had to walk to the building from the parking lot. The place also had a bar and we hung out there as it had the Internet. The showers were indeed hot, but scaldingly hot. It was a challenge to get the water at a tolerable temperature. We had a light dinner at 7:30 p.m. and were glad to hit the sheets after a long day.

Monday, December 23rd 

In the morning, we had a tipping ceremony for the porters and bade them goodbye.  We got in a Land Cruiser — all eight of us, plus a driver and then two of our guides riding on the roof with all our bags. It was packed. We drove first to Chogoria where we ditched the Land Cruiser for a bus. We continued back to Nairobi. 

I got sick on this day. Or maybe the night before. It was a head cold and caused me to generate a few liters worth of snot. I remained sick for the rest of the trip and even a couple of weeks after returning, I still haven’t fully kicked this cold.

We got to experience the joy of driving in Kenya again. It wasn't any better this time. The bumpy ride was very tiring to even just ride, as the vehicle never stayed in one lane for longer than 60 seconds…for five hours!

We returned to the Severine Cottages, where we’d spend a couple of nights — one of which wasn’t expected, as we returned from Mt. Kenya a day early. Which means we had to do something. And we decided on a safari in Nairobi National Park. Unfortunately, Renee got food poisoning, along with Ryan, Jake, and Alex. Renee had it bad though and spent the next day in bed healing. Ryan had it bad as well, but...Ryan didn't want to miss the safari the next day because he was returning home immediately after Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Tuesday, December 24th

We'd decided to spend our "weather day" touring Nairobi National Park. This was a great compromise for Ryan, Alex, and Jake who weren't staying for the 3-day safari after Mt. Kilimanjaro. We enjoyed a lazy morning and headed out in two safari vehicles after lunch.

These vehicles are specialty vehicles where everyone has a window seat and the top opens up for the drivers and all the passengers. We spent a lot of the tour standing up in the vehicle and looking out over the top. At the gate, I got roped into "dancing with the Masai warriors”. I realized it was a con job, but I didn't turn them down when they pulled me out there. I'm sure it was my obvious dancing and leaping ability that had them selecting me over my companions and not my gullibility. I gave them 1000 Kenyan shillings ($7.50) and they asked for 1000 each! I stood firm.

Early in the drive, after Dennis' vehicle (he has a tremendous eye for spotting animals and wasn't in our Land Cruiser) had gone by, Alex unleashed an excited scream. It was so pronounced that the driver immediately started to back up. Alex pointed to the bush and we just caught a glimpse of a lion before it sat down in the grass and all we could see were a pair of ears. Dennis' vehicle turned around and came back to us. Just then a pair of cape buffalos chased the two lions (a male and a female) straight toward us! Dennis immediately said they were a mating pair because that's the only time you see just a male and a female. And, uninhibited by the many observers, the lions got busy right in front of us on the road. Ah, so that's what they mean when they say "lion style." I get it now. It was cool to see lions so close and this would be the highlight of the day and, probably, of all our safari days.

We saw lots of gazelle, giraffes (at a distance), a couple of rhinos (a bit far away), ostriches, wart hots, giant eland, elephants, monkeys, hippos, a couple of crocodiles, and more. 

Even at our cottages we experienced wildlife.

Wednesday, December 25th 

This morning we left on a bus packed with us and all our luggage. I left all my technical climbing gear behind at the Severine Cottages, as we’d be returning here before traveling home. We were headed to Moshi, Tanzania, at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

The drive time, according to Google, was about six hours, but, including the 3-hour suffer-fest at the border, it took us all day. We stayed at a hotel that mercifully had AC. It was one of the only places with AC, but it was also the only night we wanted it. Moshi was our lowest location and it is still at 3000 feet above sealevel. Just before we arrived in Moshi, we had tremendous views of Mt. Kilimanjaro, 16,000 feet above us! We were awed by its size and surprised to see so much snow in the upper part of the mountain. We wondered aloud if we’d need Microspikes, but Dennis and Paul assured us we did not. 

Driving across East Africa we saw numerous baobab trees. These are iconic African trees known as “upside-down trees” because of their peculiar shape. They have a trunk nearly as big around as a sequoia but are not that tall. It looks funny to see such a huge trunk on such a short tree. The branches so quickly resolve into tiny twigs. These trees can be very old, thousands of years old. They are the oldest of the flowering plants. One of the guides told me that you can see these trees all distributed linearly along a path from the interior to the coast at Zanzibar, which ruled by Arabs in the 1800s, because the slaves would eat the fruit of the tree (considered a superfood) and then…deposit the seeds along the way. The slave trade is speculated to be how the trees got from Africa to India and the Caribbean.

Thursday, December 26th 

The day is spent in Moshi. After breakfast, we walked to get some cold medicine for me (it had no effect). We were then notified to return to the hotel to meet our Tanzania Kilimanjaro guides.

Our lead guide was named Goodluck. That sounded promising. Then we had Moshe from Moshi (the town we were in), Juma, and Isaac. After we got our gear inspected by the guides (they wanted three layers on our legs for the summit push!), we walked 2.5 miles to lunch at the Moshi Delight Restaurant. 

On our way, we stopped at an ATM, and Sheri pulled out one million (!) Tanzanian shillings (about $400). In Tanzania, everyone is a millionaire! This is the beauty of a minimum wage. With this strategy, we can all be millionaires in Boulder, too. It doesn't make life easier, though.

Lunch lasted three hours and was a rough experience. I ordered a milkshake and after 90 minutes they told us that no cooking had started but they sent someone out to get some ice cream. When I eventually got the shake, it was a glass of milk with one dollop of ice cream in it. Two hours after I ordered, they asked me what my order was…obviously, they had not started to cook my two scrambled eggs. Three hours for eggs. It wasn’t how any of us wanted to spend three hours. Not recommended.

We had dinner at the hotel and I had spaghetti bolognese. It was quite good, but I had a stomach issue the next morning. 

Friday, December 27th 

I got nauseous at breakfast. I tried to eat some eggs but hurled everything up. After throwing up, I felt better. The long ride to Kilimanjaro went well, and I was able to eat lunch later.

Before leaving town, we drove to a bank (David had his card swallowed by an ATM the previous day), an ATM, to a gear shop, and finally to Kilimanjaro National Park at the Machame Gate, where we waited three hours before we could start hiking. It was confusing why we had such a delay. I think Paul messed something up with our permits. He couldn’t start hiking in with us because he was still ironing something out. He later caught us in camp but had to hike out the next morning to handle other groups. He said he’d be hiking in to meet us on our way down, but we didn’t see him again until back in Nairobi.

While waiting, we were given a box lunch to eat, as it appeared everyone got. After eating, we watched the monkeys raiding any food left unattended for even a moment and even opening up garbage cans and pulling discarded food out.

We were doing the Machame route because we wanted to cover more of the mountain. With this route, we ascend a different route than we descend (except for the final 4000 feet to the summit, which was an out-and-back for us). We opted for the six-day itinerary instead of the seven-day on this route. We felt this was reasonable since we’d already been high on Mt. Kenya.

When we finally started up from 5400 feet, we hiked in a dense jungle, along with hordes of other people. It was difficult to pass others, but we weren’t in a hurry. Our group split into different speeds, and I stayed with Sheri and Alex. The other guys went off the front and hooked up with a fast porter that wasn’t even part of our group. 

I met Bain, from Kazakhstan, and we chatted for quite awhile. He was just 22 years old and had already graduated college with a degree in computer science, so we had something in common. He told me about his list of 100 goals for his life, and Kilimanjaro would be his first real mountain. I loved his ambition and the goal-directed lifestyle. He spoke three languages: Kazah, Russian, and English. He had applied to grad school in the US, but hadn’t been accepted anywhere, as yet, as he also needed financial aid. He peppered me with tons of questions once I told him I was a CS professor at CU. The rest of our group met him as well over the next day or two, but then he disappeared. Maybe we got ahead or maybe we just lost him in the hundreds of people.

The mountain is very crowded and each camp that we visited had 300 or more people in it. We figured there must be 3000 or more people on the mountain at any given time. 

At each camp where we stayed, we had to sign-in to a registration book at the ranger building. We regrouped there and had to wait in the hut for thirty minutes or so before our tents were ready for us. I was excited to be out of the crowded huts and to be sleeping in a very roomy tent with just Sheri. When taken to our tents, I was surprised to be led directly to the tent that had our bags in them. How did the porters know which bag went with which couple? Attention to detail.

Having my tent not only carried but erected and equipped with two giant pads was a new experience for me. I knew this was going to be the case, but it still felt strange. It got even stranger when the porters brought up big bowls of hot water and soap so that we could wash up before dinner. As strange as it was, we quickly adapted to the point where we expected no less. 

Dinner was held in our communal dining tent. Each meal was 2-3 courses and always started with soup. We almost always had some fruit as well. The main course was frequently a stew with copious vegetables. Most everyone loved the food. I tolerated it, but I’m a problem eater. However, most of it was good enough that I got the necessary calories ingested.

Saturday, December 28th 

This day started with a special treat: hot coffee served to us in our tent! It was decadent for me, but this is the usual state of affairs for Sheri, at least when we backpack together. When we did the John Muir Trail and when we biked across the country, I'd get up first, get out of the tent, fire up the stove, make a cup of coffee and serve it to Sheri still in her sleeping bag. Nice, huh? Then she'd spend the rest of the day serving me.

We ate breakfast in our tent at 7 a.m. and were hiking at 8 a.m. The terrain on this day was very steep, especially in the first two miles (Green Mountain steep -- we always compared the day's activity to local Boulder peaks, like Green or Flagstaff). We only hiked a total of three miles to our next camp. Since we'd already climbed up to 12,600 feet it was time to stop for acclimatization. 

We had lunch in camp and then relaxed in our tent. We played a lot of cards in the dining tent too. At 4 p.m. we did a one-mile hike up to a viewpoint just to stretch our legs. After dinner we hit the sack at 8 p.m.

We had awesome views of Mt. Meru (4566 meters; 14,980 feet) to our west. This peak can be trekked/climbed as well and is usually done over three days. Just like when I climbed Denali, the views of the nearby lower mountains are more impressive than the views of the mountain you are actually on because you are so close to it.

Sunday, December 29th 

Once again, our day started with coffee in the tent. I think this was the last day for that treatment, though.  Sheri slept badly and I didn't do much better. Each night I'd take some sleep aid. Advil PM if I was feeling achy and otherwise melatonin. The only thing that really worked for me was two Advil PM. Sheri took some generic sleep drug later in the trip and it supposedly worked great.Sheri's throat also was bothering her. She had a similar sinus cold that I had, though the symptoms weren't identical.

The sun shown early this morning. It was glorious to be hiking with that light and warmth. I was never hot on either mountain. I occasionally wore shorts but mostly long pants. I wasn't cold that much either, with the exception of stopping in the wind and rain and summit day.

 

We stuck to our schedule of hiking at 8 a.m. and went uphill steadily for four miles to the Lava Tower Camp, but then continued downhill to the massively crowded Barranco Camp (3979 meters) -- only a 100 meters higher than the previous camp. Our tent was right on top of one of the minor trails that crisscrossed the camp. The bathroom was far enough away that when I visited it before turning in, I wasn't positive I'd be able to find my way back to the tent in the dark. I took careful note of some landmark tents to aid my return.

It was rainy this afternoon and we stayed mostly in the tents. We went to bed a bit early because the next morning we had to go up the technical crux of the route and the guides expected huge traffic jams. We turned in at 7:30 p.m. with our alarm set for 5:30 a.m.

Monday, December 30th 

We awoke in the dark and ate in the dark, but by the time we started to move, we could see. Already there was a big line of trekkers heading for the wall. As usual, we didn't have far to go, so we weren't in a big hurry, but noone enjoys just standing around waiting.

It was just a few minutes before we were ascending the “Breakfast Wall” or the Barranco  Wall — a very impressive cliff when viewed head-on. I was surprised we were going up something that involved legit 3rd-class climbing. It was technical enough where the biggest hold up, and there was a huge holdup, was not the bumbling tourists, but the heavily laden porters.

Above the wall we continued to the Karanga Camp where it was cold and windy. This camp is huge as well, with tents everywhere. We visited the bathroom and took shelter amongst some huge boulders to wait for our porters to erect our dining tent so that we could have lunch. So crazy. It was nice to take a break out of the wind, though.

After a long break, we continued up the mountain, all in a line and moving slowly. I was happy with the slow pace and feeling the altitude. We were headed to Barafu Camp at over 15,000 feet. We got there at 4 p.m. and had to wait 45 minutes or so for our porters to erect our tents. It was rough, but we survived. We wouldn't be here that long before we were moving again. We had dinner at 6 and laid down in our tents at 7 p.m. hoping to sleep.

Tuesday, December 31st

"Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down"

-- Mal, captain of Serenity, a Firefly-class ship

We started this day by waking up the day before, at 11 p.m. No, this isn’t a Monty Python skit. That hurt. We were quickly ready and then in the dining tent by 11:30 to have coffee and biscuits. Our lead guide, Goodluck, took the lead for the first time on this trip, and he showed his experience immediately. He ushered all the women to the front, with Sheri right behind Goodluck. I fell in behind Renee and the rest of the guys behind me. We started slow, with good reason. We were already at 15,200 feet. We had 4100 feet to climb and hoped to be on top for the sunrise, which meant the entire climb would be in the dark. That’s a long time to exist within the small circle of headlamp light. We were moving just past midnight.

We took a break at 16,000, 17,000, and 18,000. I didn’t know it at the time, but Sheri was requesting all these mini-breaks. Goodluck might have marched to the summit without a single break if it hadn’t been for Sheri. 

At the 18,000 stop, Sheri felt dizzy and looked miserable. I feared she wouldn't make it. We have plenty of guides to accompany her if she has to retreat, but I don’t relish continuing without her. Not getting the summit after coming this far will be crushing, especially if she is the only one not to make it. Before this day, I’d have guessed that Sheri was the first or second strongest female on the trip, but now she was in trouble. If I was forced to pick someone who was going to have trouble on this climb, I’d have guessed Zoe first. Then me! The one time Sheri climbed over 19,000 feet before was on Cotopaxi and there she was stronger than me.

But salvation was at hand! Miraculously, a porter pulled out a giant thermos -- the same one we used at the dinner tables. He poured hot tea for everyone. Of course, he had cups too. Insane. The liquid revived Sheri and we resumed our ascent. Once again Sheri was behind Goodluck but now I followed right behind her. It was cold, dark, windy and our labored breathing made it all but impossible to encourage her. I remained ready to help if I could. I fully expected us to take a break at 18,500, but we marched on. Sheri was going great. We got all the way to Stella Point, about 19,000 feet, before taking a slight break. It was cold and windy here. I needed to squat and went around the ridge for some privacy. By the time I returned, some had already moved on — trying to keep warm. Sheri was still there, trying to eat something, but we were quickly going again.

We were on snow now and would stay on it through to the summit. Jake could hold himself back no longer and dashed to the summit. The rising sun lit the final ridge on fire. I wanted to stop and admire the view, but I knew we had to push on to the top before I would take time for it. Cold and tired, we trudged onwards towards a summit that kept moving away from us. A couple of times I thought we were there, only to see people further ahead. I was thankful for a very spry and energetic Ryan, who furiously captured the moment with fantastic photographs.

We got to the summit at about 6:20 a.m. Sheri was greeted by Derek, standing with arms wide and eyes misty (and my eyes too! SW). He hugged her long and hard and choked out, “I’m so proud of you.” Watching this was the highlight of the climb, heck, of the entire trip for me. I got my turn with Derek. And with Sheri. Everyone hugged everyone else. The love flowed freely amongst us. Jake spoke poignant words into my ear such that I knew we’d be bonded for life. He climbs for the same reasons I do: love of our partners. Mountains are cool, and elegant routes are grand prizes, but by far the most rewarding part of climbing is the shared love between partners. 

I was so impressed with the patience of all the guys but especially Jake, as he had no significant other on which to dote. And I was impressed with the ladies. By the time we arrived at the summit, Renee and Alex were clearly stronger than I was. Zoe surprised me again. She was so tough. And kept a good attitude always. Renee wasn't a surprise. She's run multiple marathons, most recently the Berlin marathon (with Derek) a few months before this trip. She's a skier (downhill, backcountry, Nordic) and a mountain runner and is taking a months-long climbing course. She's a badass and Kili was just the start for her. Many mountains are in her future. 

We took numerous photos at the summit, but I didn't take hardly any because it was so cold. I was fine with my big mitts on, but I had to remove them to manipulate my phone and they quickly became painful. Even at the equator, 19,000 feet is cold. 

For Derek and I, this was our third “Seven Summits”, all done together (we'd also done Denali and Aconcagua). I hope we can do a couple more (Elbrus and Kosciuszko) together. So far, each one has been a grand and unique adventure. 

We broke into pairs for the descent, all going at our own pace. Except for Jake. He bombed down the ascent, which had taken us almost 6.5 hours in 43 minutes! He went with a speedy guide who could keep up (easily). Part way down, the guide remembered that he was supposed to be "guiding" and made Jake drink a juice box. Then they were off running again. I was so impressed with Jake's performance at altitude. I could not have run down. Certainly not the top 1000 feet and even then, at best, it would have been a shuffle. 

On the way down I had a chance to admire Mawenzi (5149 meters; 16,893 feet at the top of Hans Meyer Peak, the tallest point), the third highest summit in Africa (after Kibo and Mt. Kenya). This peak is rarely climbed. My guidebook says only one or two ascents a year, mostly because there are no trekking routes up it. It seems to be similar in difficulty to Mt. Kenya. I could see coming back for that peak and Mt. Kenya. In tents. No huts. And backpacking food. With minimal guides/porters. I wonder how small of a team you can bring to these peaks.  

Back at our camp, Abdul, Sheri's favorite porter, greeted us. "Mama," he said to Sheri, as this was her nickname for the entire climb (Papa was mine), and took her by the hand. He led her to our tent, took off her pack and when she sat down, he took off her boots. This service happened to Sheri almost each day.  

We rested in our tents. It was still just 9 a.m. despite being up for 10 hours. We packed all our summit gear and prepared to continue our hike down. We still had to drop another 5000 feet (9000 feet of descending in all on this day). We had lunch before starting down.

The hike down started smooth and pretty easy. Sheri and I hiked mostly with David and Zoe and we played various games like Twenty Questions and going through the alphabet naming a country or a musical group. It was fun and passed the time. After a bathroom stop at a lower camp (mysteriously deserted and the only one we saw not covered in tents), we continued on. As the trail got steeper and rockier, with large steps down, the four of us fell off the main group. Then, per the yuzh, David and Zoe will slip further back. I kept track of our descent on my watch and kept Sheri informed on our progress. She was more than ready to stop hiking.

When we arrived in camp, our tent was erected, of course. It still was early in the day and we had a few hours to rest and nap before dinner. This camp was small, with only a couple more groups like ours. We were back into the forest and it seemed so calm here. It was nice to breathe thick air again (down here at 10,000 feet!). Dinner was eaten without a lot of enthusiasm. I waved off the soup on this final night. I'd had enough of that. I wasn't that hungry. We were all thinking beds, showers, Cokes, and restaurants. We turned in early.

Wednesday, January 1st: Hike Out and Night in Arusha

This marked the last day of eating pre-chosen meals on the mountain, which was rough for me in two different ways. First, I was eating a lot of food I don’t normally eat and don’t particularly like. The quantities were so large, though, that even when I only wanted to eat one or two different things, I could fill up. But no meal was a joy to eat. They were a chore to eat. But eat I did, as I needed the fuel to get up these mountains.

The second aspect was the disapproval of my diet by my companions. I’m a picky, plain eater. It’s a flaw in my character, I fully acknowledge that, but having it on display so often was tough. Sheri is a plain eater as well so at least I wasn't alone. I was so thankful that this was mostly over.

This was a mountain like no other I’ve done and in a style I wouldn’t repeat. That doesn’t mean I regret doing it. Far from it. I bonded with eight other companions and felt I got to know each of them pretty well. Under such trying circumstances, people reveal their true character. Every one is tough. Every one doesn’t quit. And I believe everyone is a high quality person that I’m proud to call a friend.

But climbing a mountain with hundreds upon hundreds of people is not my thing. This is, by far, the most crowded mountain I’ve ever climbed. Yes, that includes Longs Peak and Bierstadt. I wish I could have climbed by myself, carrying all my own gear and food. Alas, that is not allowed. Tanzania has a unique resource in Kilimanjaro and they are doing everything they can to exploit it fully. The permit alone is $900 per person. Our nine-person team required 30 porters and guides. While I didn’t see much human waste on the mountain (due to numerous and necessary bathrooms), there is a lot of little trash. People drop their GU packets on the ground. We were frequently in queues on the mountain. That is not my idea of climbing. On the Breakfast Wall I was thinking about the famous photo taken by Nims Purja on the final ridge on Everest — with no one able to move and everyone dependent upon the weakest climber for their survival. I’d never do that. On the Breakfast Wall we were in no danger and in no hurry, so it was chill. I knew the drill and kept my place in line. But that’s not what I seek.

The upper part of the mountain is very cool, with some interesting and challenging looking ice and mixed routes. Even the route we did was fine and no one limited my speed on summit day. Goodluck led us by many other parties and kept us moving. I felt no urge to go any faster and probably couldn’t have managed much more anyway. 

The culture on the mountain is to always cede right-of-way to porters. But no one is letting other climbers by. Guides sometimes will let other climbers by but sometimes not. They feel little pressure to let climbers who have caught them pass. The best way to pass is to tack onto the end of a porter chain and go by. This is harder than it sounds as these porters move very quickly.

The 10K hike out to the gate, while descending 4500 feet, felt smooth and gradual. Sheri was “done” with hiking but moved along quite well. We split into groups again, with Sheri and I with Zoe and David until they slipped further behind near the end.

Reaching the gate was heaven. We all had a coke. Used a bathroom with not only a toilet seat, but toilet paper! And a sink with soap to wash your hands. Luxury. I got my shoes washed for two bucks and talked some of the others into it as well by showing off my shiny shoes. 

We drove back to Moshi, picked up gear at the hotel and then went to lunch at…the same place as before! I couldn’t believe it. I vowed to never return. But we had to, as that was where we’d get our certificates (the only time I’ve received one of those for climbing a peak) and would tip our Tanzania guides and porters.

This time lunch was the same for everyone: chicken and chips (fries) and it came in a reasonable time. It was touching to tip the guides and porters and hug and thank each one of them. They are so nice and so thankful that we’ve come to their mountain. To a man, and they were all men, they encouraged us to send all our friends to Kilimanjaro. This is their livelihood and they generally love what they do. They get paid to climb a beautiful mountain. Yes, it is hard work, but it is gorgeous and outdoors and sure beats the Tanzanite mines. 

We then drove to Arusha and checked into a hotel. We met downstairs 30 minutes later and walked 2.5 miles through the city to a very loud dining spot. There was no menu. The waiter told us we could order beef, chicken, or fish. That was it. My chicken looked good but it was nearly impossible to get off the bone. And we were given no knives to assist with this. You’d need the jaws of a hyena to fully devour this meal. Sheri ordered the beef and was served a plate that was 90% fat. Not our best meal. But then things got really interesting and really good.

We split up to take two cabs back to our hotel. We got into a minivan driven by Peter. If you are aware of the Dos Equis beer commercials featuring “the most interesting man in the world”, then you’d recognize Peter as the “most interesting cab driver in the world.” Let me make my case.

Peter was a bit shorter than me but with twice the muscle. I don’t know how we got started on his story, but we quickly learned that he had four wives, each having their own home in a complex. He bought his first wife for 20 cows and that’s his favorite wife, but, as he says, his wives don’t need to know that. His next three wives were a bargain at 10 cows each. Where did he get the cows? His dad was a former Masai chief, and he had tons of cows. Peter goes to this dad as soon as he can support another wife. He’s already looking forward to number five. How does he support them? By setting up businesses for them to run. In addition to driving a cab, Peter has his own tour company (it seems like about everyone that speaks English, which isn’t nearly as common in Tanzania as it is in Kenya, where it is the official language, wants to or has a “tour company.”). Peter also has an electronics store and a salon and his wives work in these. Peter has three kids — one with each of his first wives and is working on getting the fourth pregnant. Peter rotates through living with all his wives on a weekly basis. One week with wife one, then one week with wife two, etc.

Since Peter was Masai I had to ask him if he had killed a lion, which they all do, supposedly, at age 14. Alone. Peter had killed a lion with a spear, but he said nowadays it’s different. He went out with 30 or 40 warriors to help and protect him, but he had to strike the first blow, which he did, and got a scar across his face from the lion’s claws. Also, he was 18. But he did mention that he was circumcised at 14 years old…without anesthetic! The guys in the car had a collective sphincter-tightening moment. 

Because of the extravaganza taking place in the streets around our hotel, Peter couldn’t drop us there directly. Instead he parked at a gas station and walked us there. On the way, we spotted an ice cream shop and Peter took us all in there to  get ice cream, which was great. Peter waited for us all to get served and then we walked back to the hotel, eating our ice cream with him. That was cool.

Back at the hotel we hung out in the lobby a bit and bid goodbye to Ryan, Alex, and Jake. We interrogated both Dennis and Paul about their wives/girlfriends without coming to any definitive conclusions. Paul certainly has at least one wife. Dennis might have a wife. He certainly has multiple girlfriends. One was pole dancing at the festival and Ryan, Jake, and Alex went off to find and question her. Once Dennis heard of this, he took off in pursuit. Sheri and I headed to bed.

Thursday, January 2nd: Tarangire National Park 

We got up at 5:30 and met in the lobby at 6. Met our safari guide, Innocent, and helped stow our gear into our safari vehicle. It was just six of us now, plus Dennis and Innocent, and we barely squeezed into the vehicle with all our gear. We got some coffee and a small bite to eat before hitting the road for Tarangire National Park. Two hours later we were at the park entrance. We got to walk around and tour the facilities and displays before getting back into the vehicle. 

The first animals we saw were elephants. This time much closer than at Nairobi National Park as they were only a couple hundred feet away in the trees. We stopped and watched and waited and they moved towards us and then crossed the road directly in front of us! We'd see elephants all day long, eventually parking next to a small group and within ten feet of them for ten minutes or more. They were very habituated to people and vehicles and felt no inclination to move from their chosen spot. Elephants are huge. Strange, I know, but it's true. They can weigh up to ten tons! That's the equivalent of 20 huge grizzly bears. Or 14 bull moose! It's more than twice as big as the second biggest animals (rhinoceros and hippo). 

I kept a list of the animals we saw: Zebra, Lion, Cape buffalo, Impala, Warthog, Hartebeest, Ostrich, Giraffe, Hyrax, Baboon, Monkey, and Black rhino. And birds. And we saw giant elands, the largest antelope at up to 2000 pounds, which can jump a two-meter fence! That's incredible power.

We ate lunch at a picnic spot with lots of other tourists. Innocent warned us all to keep an eye on our food because the monkeys will grab it. I was fascinated at the athletic feats of the monkeys. Humans must have invented parkour after watching these monkeys. The concept of getting pumped must be completely alien to them. They can hang from their arms all day. It's like us getting pumped from standing. I was so enthralled that it wasn't long before a monkey swooped in, grabbed my yogurt and was gone so fast that I had trouble identifying the monkey before it leaped into the trees.

 

We left the park in the afternoon and drove a couple more hours towards our glamping spot at Karatu. Glamping is probably a misnomer. Each couple had a spacious cabin to themselves, with a porch and a big bathroom. Technically, the upper part of our walls and our roof was canvas and therefore, I guess, a tent, but didn't feel or look anything like one. 

On our way to this site, we stopped for a break at a shop to stretch our legs, do some shopping, and get a drink. We bought tanzanite earrings for Sheri, and Derek bought tanzanite earrings for Renee! Tanzanite is a gemstone that is only found and mined on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It's a bit pricey, but Sheri had been admiring the gem at more than one location, so it was time to purchase them. These are beautiful purple/blue stones.

We had dinner at Karatu in their dining hall. The menu is set for every meal, but it is a buffet and each meal offered some delicious food. Sheri took one of her magic sleep-aid pills and was out cold.

Friday, January 3rd: Ngorongoro Crater Nature Reserve

We were up at 6 am and had a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, sausage, etc. Innocence and Dennis arrived around 6:45 a.m. and we left at 7 a.m. for the Ngorongoro Crater Nature Reserve. Though world famous for its animals, this isn't a national park. You still need to pay an entrance fee, but there are Masai villages within the crater, though well above the floor of the crater. These are grandfathered into the area and the oldest village makes money by charging tourists entry to the village. We didn't fall for this. I would have, of course, but our guides knew better. We were here for the animals anyway.

The crater itself is amazing and the largest unfilled volcanic crater in the world. It is 20 kilometers in diameter and drops 2000 feet from the encircling rim. It’s a natural enclosure that resists influence from the outside world, though there is no fence of any kind. This is actually a cause of concern due to the lack of genetic diversity, specifically of the 5-10 lion prides.

After driving up to the rim and along it for a ways, we dropped in, past the Masai villages and then steeply down a paved road dotted with the occasional dung of an elephant. Apparently elephants sometimes walk up out of the crater. 

We saw some elephants but after our experience at Tarangire, if we weren't actually touching the elephants it was a bit ho-hum. Our first big excitement was the size of the herds we saw. Hundreds of zebras, wildebeest, and water buffalo. We saw the water buffalo very close. These are serious animals and they know it. They don't take shit from anything that isn't an elephant or a rhino.

We spotted lots of cool birds, some very large and walking on the ground, including the heaviest flying bird. And the largest bird: ostriches. We saw lots more gazelles and impalas and even a couple elands. We saw three or four lions but from a couple hundred yards -- nice through the binoculars. We saw a couple of rhinos but at an even further distance. The only one of the big five we lacked was the one we lacked the day before: leopards. 

We had lunch on the edge of the lake that filled a lot of the crater. Dennis warned us that there were no monkeys here to snatch our lunch, but that we had to watch the eagles that were flying all around, as they would swoop in on an inattentive diner and steal their food. "Inattentive diner?" I resemble that remark. And sure enough, while eating my chicken kabob, I became absorbed with some colorful birds that were circling near our vehicle and even flying into. While wondering if they were going to snatch anything, an eagle dive bombed me, expertly tucking its wings tight just before its talons closed on my kabob and then flying away, all within a single second. I'd never survive in the African veldt. 

On the plus side, we saw the tops of many hippos just offshore in the lake and we were visited by a huge stork and strided around as if it thought it was supremely camouflaged or knew it could peck the living crap out of anyone who tried to mess with it. 

Around 2 p.m. we headed back towards the rim and back to our "tents". We got there at 3:45 p.m. and relaxed, read our books, took a shower and all met up for dinner at 7 p.m. As dinner was wrapping up and the staff knew we were leaving in the morning, they dragged all of us out on the floor to dance around in a circle to a rousing rendition of the now familiar Jambo Bwana. Sensing my musical acumen, they handed me a drum to play and pounded out a scintillating rhythm...that, unfortunately, had little overlap with the rest of the drummers. 

After dinner we sat around a campfire and chatted with a Dutch couple and their two young kids. 

Saturday, January 4th: Safari at Lake Manyara and Drive back to Nairobi 

This was our least successful safari, but we still saw cool birds, some elephants, a monitor lizard, gazelles, some monkeys, and hundreds of baboons in troops of 20-30, with lots of babies. After driving around for a few hours, we started the hellacious drive to the Kenyan border, where we transferred to a roomier bus and left behind Innocence.

Seeing all of these animals reminded us of The Lion King. This Disney movie was the first VHS tape I ever owned. Danny watched it a lot when he was young and it has a special place in my heart because of this. Derek and Renee rewatched it after these safaris and Sheri and I did the same upon returning home. It’s amazing how much the opening of that movie parallels what we saw on the trip.

The movie opens with a sunrise shot of the ubiquitous acacia tree — where we looked haplessly for leopards and what the giraffes eat. Next, it shows various animals lifting their heads to the sun: black rhinoceros (check), gazelles (check), meerkats (nope), cheetah (nope), Marabou Stork (check), elephants (check) walking in front of Kilimanjaro (check), flamingos (check), impalas (check), giraffe (check), ants (check), zebras (check), guinea fowl (check), wildebeest (check), lion (Mufasa, check), hornbill (Zazu, check, though Zazu is a red-billed hornbill and we saw a much more dramatic hornbill the the double upper bill), kudus (nope), cape buffalo (check), and a baboon (Rafiki, check, though Rafiki is a super cool mandrill baboon and we only saw the olive baboons). And that is just in the opening 3 minutes of the movie. The evil hyenas, monkeys, and the lovable Pumba (warthog) were also seen by us. So, we got that going for us… 

Sunday, January 5th 

We had a lazy morning and it was so nice. We lingered at breakfast (two lattes), read books, and relaxed. Sheri and I walked to a cafe next to a gift shop for lunch. I wanted some bookends and bought an elephant bookend, carved from ebony — one of the densest woods in the world (black ironwood is the most dense) with a density of 1.3 g/cm3, meaning it does not float! It is so heavy, you’d think it was made of stone. I also bought a hippo made of teak which was also quite heavy.  

Before dinner, Sheri, Renee, Derek, and I did another walk of about three miles to check out the Giraffe Center, where I wanted to go the next day. We got caught out in the dark a bit but no big deal.

Monday, January 6th 

After breakfast this morning, and with a late checkout granted, all six of us headed to the Giraffe Center where we all fed giraffes by hand. They were all so gentle. Giraffes are so cool. We fed six or seven different giraffes with the youngest being seven months old. This tot was “only” about 12 feet tall. That’s crazy. 

A bunch of warthogs rooted around at the feet of the giraffes. They are apparently quite symbiotic species that congregate together in the wild as well. The giraffes serve as an early predator warning and the hogs serve as the most likely victims. Also, the warthogs like the shade provided by the giraffes. 

We came back, showered, moved out of our cabins and had lunch. We then lounged around all afternoon waiting to go to the airport. Our flight left Nairobi at 11:30 p.m. so we had plenty of time to kill. We read books and I wrote some of this report. None of us were looking forward to the 27-hour trip (Severine to my house). We hoped to sleep on the 9-hour flight to Paris and then read, write, and watch movies on the 9-hour flight to Denver.

Tuesday, January 7th

We got to Paris around 8am. I had a significant amount of sleep -- at least a few hours. After a 3-hour layover we boarded our flight to Denver at 11:45. We landed at 1:30 p.m. and after clearing customs and picking up our luggage, we took an Uber home. Whew! It was 27 hours door-to-door. That's onerous and the biggest barrier to returning to Africa. But...what a trip!