Brad's Kilimanjaro/Tanzania trip summary

I could bore all of you with hours of stories and hundreds of pictures (480 actually), but I'll be brief with a summary of my trip to Kilimanjaro. My trip to Kilimanjaro was excellent and as I expected, it was a great accomplishment and was satisfying to check that one off my bucket list. I was fortunate to be able to share the experience with 4 good friends. That said as my time in Tanzania wound to a close, I was definitely ready to get back to my family and re-engage with my two little ladies.

After a day and a half of travel we arrived in Arusha, Tanzania. Arusha has 1.5M people and is bustling with activity. We spent our first day traveling to and visiting a primary school in the village of Kibosho at the base of Kilimanjaro. 400 kids in grades 1-7, about 60 per classroom. The rooms were in stone, open air buildings with dirt floors and bench seating. The teachers had 1-3 workbooks for any activity per class so most instruction was done on a chalk board. Going to school is a privilege, even in these conditions, as many kids either cannot travel the distance necessary or need to work (on farms). The kids are eager to learn, but have so many barriers in front of them. It is amazing the luxuries we have in the US. One other note, most kids were carrying bottles with them which were drinking water. The interesting part is 25% of the bottles were either antifreeze or laundry detergent bottles that had been washed out.

Our 7 days on the mountain was as expected. The five of us had a support crew of 22 people consisting of 5 guides and 17 porters for carrying supplies like food, tents, etc.

The porters were incredibly hard working, carrying 60+ pound loads up the mountain balanced on their head or shoulders. They do so in many cases without proper clothing and footwear for a wage of $5-$8 per day. For more information about the porters see the link here. We passed through different ecological zones including cultivated crop and forest areas, rainforest, heath, moreland, alpine desert, and the summit. The weather is very dynamic on the mountain with clouds and rain flowing in and out of the valleys and over the mountain like tides of the ocean. After 5 1/2 days of hiking from around 7,000 we reached the summit of 19,341 at sunrise on Sunday January 27th. It was beautiful with views of Mawenzi to the East, Mt. Meru to the West and glaciers surrounding the crater rim.

The next 1 1/2 days was hiking out back down to the Mweka gate where we finished our hiking. Our guides, cook, and porters took amazing care of us, allowing us all to have a great experience and successfully reach the summit of the mountain.

The rest of my party left early the next morning for a 4 day safari, but I stayed behind leaving that night for home. Having the day before my flight, I went to Arusha National Park at the base of neighboring peak Mt. Meru to do a mini safari. It was a worthy spend of time as I got to see giraffes, water buffalo, zebra, blue monkeys, baboons, flamingoes, water bucks, dik diks (small deer), and an array of birds living wild in the park.

After 36 hours of travel back from Arusha via Dar Es Salaam, Amsterdam and Chicago I arrived home at 8pm Wednesday night the 30th. Along the way I got some sleep, read the last Hunger Games book, and enjoyed all the Schipol airport in Amsterdam had to offer (dirtbag shower in the bathroom, art museum, and American food including Starbucks).

An amazing experience and one for which I'll be grateful in terms of both the mountain experience and the Tanzanian people. Tanzania is a beautiful place full of wonderfully peaceful and curious people that have optimism far beyond their conditions. It was a learning opportunity for me and the lessons from it which I'll work hard to keep close as I get back to my normal life and routine.