Kilimanjaro...Tanzania

What a fantastic week! I had thought about staring this post from the beginning, taking you through every moment, each detail, leaving you hanging until the very end...did she make, didn't she make it, what happened. Then I thought...no way, I can't hold it in, I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and I want to scream it from the rooftops!

I flew into Tanzania last Saturday morning and by the evening had met the other 8 members of 'the group.' I just happened to be the only American surrounded by English, Irish and French, sounds scary? More like highly entertaining. Not only did I learn Swahili, but I learned English as well. Pericetimon, loo, bugger, I could go on for days, but that's for another day. Anyhow, Sunday morning it all started...camping, no showers, no running water...we did get a bowl of hot water for 'wash wash' almost every day. We were woken up each morning with hot tea or coffee in our tent, we had our very own green room (loo...toilet) in camp each evening and we had by far the best chef known to mankind. Honestly, the food was amazing and even though we were burning thousands of calories a day, I'm pretty sure nobody walked away any lighter than we started. The guides were incredibly knowledgeable, never wrong, very kind and oh so helpful. Oh, back to the food thing. The guides talked a lot about signs of AMS, acute mountain sickness...saying lack of appetite was one of the signs...not a problem with our group...who ranged in age from 25 to 50ish (I think)...Georgi and I were the only girls and I'm happy to report we held up our end up just fine.

The higher we climbed, the colder it got...duh. But 'brrr, its cold outside' has new meaning. Each morning we were up around 6:30 and on the road by 7:30 or 8, climbing poli poli (slowly, slowly). We soon figured out that our chief and guides (Samuel, JT, Elli and Joseph) knew what they were talking about and if we listened to them we'd be just fine, it seemed to really work that way. If you are familiar with the mountain, then you know that there are many different routes and timetables you can follow to get to the top, so remind me to tell you all about that in the next posting. Its super late (ok, not really), its about 10:30, but we were going to bed around 8 or 9 most evenings and then there was the final push...we hiked for a very, very, very, very long time. Besides, if you've read this far, you must be falling asleep, so next time...the route, the scenery, the nitty gritty....until then here's your second Swahili word of the day...Jambo! Anyone know what it means? Here's a hint...it should have been at the beginning of this post, not the end.

Good night!

Nairobi!

Hi everyone! I made it to Nairobi! I had a great flight to London, flying will never be the same...the great seat did not continue on...but the flight to Nairobi, 8 hours wasn't bad once we left...two hours late. The 8 hours to London was sheer bliss! It took about an hour to get my VISA last night, but hopefully it shouldn't take that much time on the way back through next weekend. I got a good nap beginning about 1:30am and I woke up every 20 minutes to make sure I didn't oversleep and miss my flight to Kilimanjaro :) I repacked all my stuff, stored a giant bag at the hotel and met Jimmy, to drive out to the airport...it rained pretty hard this morning and they say its cool out...It's supposed to be hot, hot, hot! There are maribou storks flying all over the place, they call them scavengers out here. Oh, get this, on the flight to Nairobi, I met someone that knows Sarah Higgins, the woman taking me in come February! He thinks the world of her and says she is great. He is putting together a film, a documentary on a friend of Sarah's who was murdered. Ok, it's time to get some bottled water and find my gate...which is admittedly a two minute walk...but how much would it suck if I missed my flight because I was busy writing all of you?! Now that could be quite a sotry! Miss you all, take care...

British Airways

Aha! I bet you were thinking...finally, a few minutes of peace...not so much!! No, I am not in London or Nairobi, I am in The Lounge at DIA (denver int'l airport). Thank you 'dad.' It appears I will be flying in a class that I've only dreamt about until now- at least to London. Hey, I'll take it!

Now that I have a few minutes to eat whatever I want, drink whatever I want and sit in giant, plush chairs, I can think back over the last 48 hours and breathe....finally. It's amazing how I planned ahead, wanted to be packed days ago...and was. And yet, I repacked about a hundred times. What is up with that? Like I'm going to make more room? No, because every time I thought I was packed, I found more stuff to take...what started as one backpack, morphed into two when I wasn't looking.

Aaron wrote me the nicest note, he's the best brother ever! Really, I am making it public... no take backs... do you see that Aaron? Ok, what that means for you...you must keep Shadow alive... play nice you two! And take care of yourself too! (hey aaron, you can put the 20 dollars in my dresser drawer :))

To all those wonderful friends who have sent me well wishes over the last few days, thank you. It is so nice to know I've got such incredible energy coming from you all as I embark on this adventure.

I'm not sure how often I will have internet access, but I promise to keep everyone up to date as often as I am able, feel free to keep me up to date as well, I'm only a few clicks away. I love you all!

Melissa

Sleeping bags, winter and summer clothes oh my!

I woke up this morning still in the linai and I wasn't an icicle! I had only planned to spend a little bit of time in the bag, but apparently I wasn't too cold. I think the sleeping bag will be just fine.

Packing all my stuff is quite the challenge. As some of you know :) I tend to over pack a bit when I travel. I am or at least was... determined not to do that this time, but I need to pack for summer (the base of Kilimanjaro is about 95F) and for winter (the top of Kilimanjaro is cold, about 20F today and snow). Oh well, there's always next time. Oh! And I have to pack for London.

Thursday I leave Denver for Nairobi, Kenya. I should arrive around 10pm on Friday night (Kenya time...I think its 10 hours ahead). Saturday morning I jump on another plane to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania and then transfer to Arusha, which is where the climb begins. On the 24th I head back to Nairobi to meet up with my friends who I am going on safari with, we all jump on a plane the next morning for Lewa Wildlife Conservancy , in northern Kenya. Feb 5th I begin some volunteering...I am sooo excited. I will be doing fish eagle tracking and research and helping care for some raptors that can't be released into the wild because of injuries. There is an amazing woman who has taken on these birds and thinks she can learn from me, ha! I bet I'll be the one learning from her. Either way, I am so excited! I will be living with the hippos about two hours north of Nairobi...Lake Naivasha. I just learned that over 400 species of birds have been reported at LakeNaivasha. Finally, on my way home, I'll meet my mom in London for a week, now there's a transition...

In the meantime, the camera is all set...the batteries are charged, the cards are empty, the lenses are cleaned, the extra point and shoot camera is ready (thanks Aaron)...just in case. Can you imagine being in Africa with only one camera and it breaks?? Forget the warm clothes, malaria pills and Imodium...the camera MUST work :)

And with that, my nice cozy bed is calling me...no sleeping bag tonight. Good night (ahem...morning)
Melissa

65.5 hours and counting...

Sleeping bag...is it warm enough?

Welcome to my very first blog...ever!

Right now, I am laying in my sleeping bag in the lanai wondering if this is what it will feel like at about 19,ooo feet...the temp. is hovering around 17F. Will the sleeping bag be warm enough? Will I be wishing for more layers, will my toes fall off? OR will I be toasty and happy in my mummy bag? These are the questions I will have answers too...eventually.

In about 65.5 hours, I will be getting on a plane bound for Africa. First I'm attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, then I'm joining some friends for a safari in Kenya and finally, I'll be doing some volunteering north of Nairobi...more on all of that later. First things first...testing the bag...good night!