Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro 2013

When I first did this website back in 2013 and 2014, time wasn’t on my side, and website design was more complex than it is today. I have been reworking the site, and as I went through my initial thoughts and reflections on my Kili climb, I wanted to add a few more details. So although most of this was written shortly after we returned, not all of it was.

This adventure, even years later, still holds the high point in my travel experiences. I have enjoyed many trips as much as I did my trip to Africa, but nothing has held the adventure component of the hike up Kilimanjaro. It was, and is to date, the greatest adventure of my lifetime. I hold out hope that another one could rival this for first place. But Kili was special. I think of doing it again, but another trip could not provide the freshness of the first, so I work to remember everything I felt on my 2013 trip.

Departing January 13 from Phoenix to New York City, then Amsterdam and on to Arusha, Tanzania, my thoughts were on how my dream finally had wings. Hugh and I had often talked about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro—but we always found ways to avoid it. Getting ready didn’t sound like much fun to me: “I’m not a hiker.” Then I wasn’t at all certain I wanted to live without running water, i.e., flushing toilets, for a week or more. Being scared of the challenge and the challenges along the way had NOTHING to do with it (right!).

In December before I left, my husband, Hugh, said to me, “If you hadn’t asked your brother, we could still back out.” But Dave (age 75) had agreed to come with us. And his son, David (age 49), was also doing the climb. The stories I had heard via the very active family grapevine about how much each of them was training convinced me that the bring-up-the-rear position belonged solely to me. My sister Mary had conveyed stories that she was now being called a member of the sane side of the family because she wasn’t accompanying us.

When people find out we did the climb, the most common question is, “Did you train?” I try to minimize the training we did, as it was so much less than I planned to do. During the six weeks before we climbed, I added two weight-training sessions a week, 10 to 20 miles of additional biking per day, and about three miles of walking during a few lunch hours. But what really helped me during the most strenuous parts of the climb was my 10+ years of Pilates training. When I had to step up two to three feet without much to hold on to, it was my core muscles that gave me the strength.

When I first did this website back in 2013 and 2014, time wasn’t on my side, and website design was more complex than it is today. I have been reworking the site, and as I went through my initial thoughts and reflections on my Kili climb, I wanted to add a few more details. So although most of this was written shortly after we returned, not all of it was.

This adventure, even years later, still holds the high point in my travel experiences. I have enjoyed many trips as much as I did my trip to Africa, but nothing has held the adventure component of the hike up Kilimanjaro. It was, and is to date, the greatest adventure of my lifetime. I hold out hope that another one could rival this for first place. But Kili was special. I think of doing it again, but another trip could not provide the freshness of the first, so I work to remember everything I felt on my 2013 trip.

Departing January 13 from Phoenix to New York City, then Amsterdam and on to Arusha, Tanzania, my thoughts were on how my dream finally had wings. Hugh and I had often talked about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro—but we always found ways to avoid it. Getting ready didn’t sound like much fun to me: “I’m not a hiker.” Then I wasn’t at all certain I wanted to live without running water, i.e., flushing toilets, for a week or more. Being scared of the challenge and the challenges along the way had NOTHING to do with it (right!).

In December before I left, my husband, Hugh, said to me, “If you hadn’t asked your brother, we could still back out.” But Dave (age 75) had agreed to come with us. And his son, David (age 49), was also doing the climb. The stories I had heard via the very active family grapevine about how much each of them was training convinced me that the bring-up-the-rear position belonged solely to me. My sister Mary had conveyed stories that she was now being called a member of the sane side of the family because she wasn’t accompanying us.

When people find out we did the climb, the most common question is, “Did you train?” I try to minimize the training we did, as it was so much less than I planned to do. During the six weeks before we climbed, I added two weight-training sessions a week, 10 to 20 miles of additional biking per day, and about three miles of walking during a few lunch hours. But what really helped me during the most strenuous parts of the climb was my 10+ years of Pilates training. When I had to step up two to three feet without much to hold on to, it was my core muscles that gave me the strength.