A Thousand Words (Part 13: Kilimanjaro)

At 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) above sea level, Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa. And yes, it's in Tanzania. A lot of people seem to think it's in Kenya, for some reason. Apparently it was given to Tanzania by the British as a sort of 'consolation prize', or something.

 

One of the coolest things about Kilimanjaro is that you go through so many different types of climates as you ascend the mountain. At the base it's a rain forest. And yes, those are my parents.

me and my mom, with Mt. Meru in the distance

Our camp on day two, with the peak in the background. Kilimanjaro is not a technical climb, but because you start at nearly sea level and end at nearly 6,000 meters, it helps if you spread the trip out over 5-7 days. We took 7.

there's some strange vegetation up there

I just think this is a cool picture

the day we summited was pretty miserable. Cold, lack of sleep, lack of oxygen, etc.

Mom and her "helpers"

the technical term for this is High-Altitude Cerebral Edema

but we made it

final campsite

took us 5 days to go up, but only 2 to come down. And man, once you get back to lower altitudes and you suddenly have all that oxygen, it feels awesome.

- A Thousand Words (Part 14: More Travels around Tanzania) -