YouTube Video - Hiking Kilimanjaro at age 70 – Jungle to Glacier – 46.1 miles over 7 days – Moonlight ascent - The Machame Route
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5prrB3M8Ww0
Preparation:
I have been thinking of hiking Kilimanjaro for the last 12 years, to celebrate turning 70. Kilimanjaro is the roof-top of Africa! It is the highest free-standing mountain in the world, reaching 19,341 feet. To celebrate turning 60, I hiked Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 49 states. To celebrate turning 65, I hiked Mount Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado and 2nd highest peak in lower states. I tried to get family and friends to go with me, but could not. I experienced one of the hardest moments of the entire event, I got my GRIT together, and on the morning of June 5, 2025, 95 days before the peak top, I decided to go by myself. To make the final ascent to the top of Kilimanjaro one has to get up at midnight. My top priority was to have that event on a full moon night, and during the dry season in September. You cannot climb the peak by yourself; you have to go with a group. It is part of Tanzania’s economy. A friend’s cousin went with the group Climb Kili and was very satisfied. I called one of the group leaders, Tiffany, and asked for a 7-day hike on the Machame Route, one of the most beautiful, ascending under the full moon September 8th. She said, “No, there will not be space. It is such a popular hike and time.” When she checked, she was surprised to see that there were 2 slots available. This felt like God, saving those 2 spots just for me and one more. I immediately thought of Amy. I had asked prior, but she didn’t think it would work. We hiked Gold Hill in New Mexico 12,700’ last summer and had a wonderful day together. We had 2 hours of fun 4-wheel driving and an 11-mile hike. I decided to ask again. With a bit of thought, she said, “Yes!” and our adventure began! She was excited, but apprehensive whether she would make it or not. A few years prior, she had a difficult time in her life. She was barely able to walk across the hospital floor. We began a training program. (See details at the end of this trip report. Also see my other trip report online as we hiked 17 New Mexico mountain peaks to prepare.) Amy started watching YouTube Videos about the hike. They were both exciting and terrifying for her. I watched some too, and the feeling was mutual. I believe the turning point came when we hiked the highest peak in New Mexico, Wheeler Peak, 13,161.’ After that peak, we both had a strong confidence.

The Adventure Begins:
Amy’s daughter Lexi threw a going away party and lunch for us the day before we left. She hand-painted a beautiful 3 foot by 4-foot poster, showing Mount Kilimanjaro. Written on it is said, “From Albuquerque to Kilimanjaro” with a nice little saying, “It’s not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” We left the following morning, on Delta Airlines at 7:26 AM, August 31, 2025. It took nearly 28 hours to get to JRO airport in Tanzania, Africa. The entire trip we stayed in separate hotel rooms, and separate tents. We allowed one day on each side to have a bit of rest before and after the ascent. We got so jumbled up with sleeping on the plane, I did not notice any jet lag. We had a nice first night sleep at Summit Lodge, then had a wonderful time together exploring the city of Arusha the following day. We had an orientation with the Climb Kili staff in the afternoon, and met our wonderful guide, Amani. We had one more night in the hotel.

We met the others in our group; Natasha and Harrison both in their late 20s, Alyssa and Larry both in their late 30s. We might have had a bit of elevation acclimatation advantage. They came from low elevations in the eastern part of the United States. I live at 6,600 feet and Amy lives in mile-high Albuquerque. It was about a 3 ½ hour drive to the Machame Gate. I loved driving around Tanzania and seeing the simple entrepreneurship and unique sites you would never see in America. There was so much going on in every single nook and cranny. The driving was absolutely crazy, but there did not appear to be any road rage. It was exciting to reach the start of our hike, at the Machame Gate, and see all the enthusiasm of so many other hikers.

The Hike Begins – September 3, 2025
Day 1 – Machame Gate to Machame Camp
We hiked 7.7 miles – Up-down elevation gain 3709’ Loss – 151’ – 5 hours 10 minutes Hiking time
We signed the Kilimanjaro log book and we were off, hiking for 7 days on the Machame Route. We left at noon from the Machame Gate. We started the hike in the wonderful green thickly forested jungle at an elevation of 5,957’. The beginning temperature was pleasant. I decided to carry more weight than I needed for conditioning, carrying 18 pounds. (A regret during the final ascent) The bulk of our gear was carried by the porters. We had 21 people serving us including; cooks, assistant guides, porters, and our main guide Amani, age 51. They carry sooooo much; food, water, dining and cooking tents, chairs, tables, sleeping mattress, and the bulk of our gear. They even carried up a toilet for us to use! Our water was filtered, but Amy and I both took Katadyn BeFree water filters and filtered all our liquids a second time, just in case. In my research, the BeFree was one of the best. Amy and I celebrated the first steps! It was so exciting to be starting our hike after thinking about it for 12 years. Harrison had the dream of this hike since he was 10 years old and I am sure the first steps were exciting for him. There are 7 main Kilimanjaro routes. Our route is considered one of the most beautiful and adventurous, so the trail was quite busy with excited people. The beginning trail is wide, with enough room for 2 people to walk side-by-side. We mostly walked single file. The sky was mostly clear, yet at times filled with moist clouds. As we hiked along, we got our first glimpses of the mighty Kilimanjaro top. It was exciting to see our goal. I was hoping to see the black and white colobus monkey along the trail and sure enough there was a group of them part way up. We stopped and took pictures, excited we were able to see them. There were lots of nice wildflowers along the first day of hiking. It was a joyous hike for me today. I did not feel any strain and felt 100%. We arrived at Machame Camp after hiking 7.7 miles with an up-down elevation gain of 3709’. The elevation of the camp was 9,900’. We hiked for 5 hours and 10 minutes. I took my Garmin Montana GPS and wanted to get my own data every day, making 7 GPS treks over the 7 days and combining them together at the end. I wanted my own data, and the Garmin Montana is very accurate. Our tents and dining tent were already set up for us when we arrived. I am not used to winter camping, but part of this hike we were going to be spending time in Arctic regions, in very cold temperatures. We took two heavy duty sleeping bags; mine and my son’s Sierra Design -20 degree, 900+ high loft down bags for Amy and I. We were warm every night. We took 4 panel solar battery packs to charge up our phones. We had 3 meals every day and snacks were provided at other times. We had spaghetti and a special unusual sauce and some nice side dishes. So many people like the food that is served on the hikes. They like the simpleness of the local fruits and vegetables and like that it is not processed. Not so much me, and I do not believe Harrison. We were both talking that we could not wait to get to Texas Roadhouse for a steak when we returned. The food was okay, and I did appreciate it so much! The tent was very nice and roomy. Amani gave us a briefing for the next day. He gave these briefings each evening. We went to bed early every evening. The first night at 7:00 PM. I slept well every night of the hike!
One Day Total = 7.7 miles – Elevation Gain 3709’ Loss -151’ – 5 hours 10 minutes hiking total.

Day 2 – Machame Camp to Shira Cave Camp (Plus Short Shira Cave Hike of 1.42 miles – 1 hour 20 minutes)
Total 4.12 + 1.42 = 5.54 miles including short hike – Up-down elevation gain 3512’ Loss -662’ - 5 hours
Every morning, except accent day, we were awakened at 6:00 AM. It was dark. About 20 minutes after being awakened, hot coffee was brought to our tent door. Each morning, we had breakfast sitting down in the dining fly. We would leave each day between 8:00 and 8:30. Today was an emotionally beautiful day for me. I felt a bit teary eyed at having this wonderful opportunity. We started hiking under beautiful clear skies. The hike was more difficult than the first day We even scrambled up a few rocks. I did not feel any difficulty at all. I felt 100% and joyous! The Machame Camp sits at the edge of the rainforest and as we hiked up the expansive views opened up and the climate changed. It felt so good to hike along! We arrived at the camp after hiking 5 hours and 4.12 miles. We gained 3083 feet on the hike to Shira Cave. The camp was at 12,524’ in elevation. We were about half way in elevation to the top, but the tough stuff was still up ahead. Alyssa seemed to get a bit of elevation sickness and and sadly for her, had a couple of days throwing up. There were lots of group campers, but we seemed to have the best spot, by ourselves and overlooking one of the three Kilimanjaro peaks, Shira Peak. This was the first of 3 different days of joyous songs; sung to us by the guides, cooks and porters. I believe it is called “Jambo Bwana” plus others. Their singing and call-and-response really brought joy to the mountain. There were several big black and white birds nearby, hoping for a handout. They were called white necked ravens. They were at several of our camps. We relaxed a bit around camp and then Amani came and suggested that we go on an elevation acclimatization hike to Shira Cave, and a high vantage point. I joked saying everyone should bring their packs, unfortunately Amy didn’t know I was joking and brought her pack. I felt bad about that the entire time, but I don’t believe she minded, she got a little more conditioning. This 1.42 hike was in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. The top was slightly hidden by clouds. I wanted to see the top! We climbed upwards to 12,800’ in elevation and we were taking pictures on top, still not seeing the very top. Then magically, as though a cape were removed from a prized display, the clouds moved and we saw the top. It felt very dramatic as though God had done it in a special way just for us. Tada here it is!!! We walked down enjoying looking up and seeing the top. Sandia mountain near Albuquerque turns a beautiful watermelon color each evening at sunset, and thus Sandia is the Spanish name for watermelon to express the display. Kilimanjaro at sunset also turned an amazing watermelon color. I couldn’t look away. It was such a joy, experiencing all of this with Amy and not by myself. We had a nice dinner, the next day’s briefing, then went to bed.
Two Day Total = 13.24 miles – Gain 7221’ Loss -813’ – 10 hours 10 minutes hiking.

Day 3 – Shira Cave Camp to Lava Tower to Barranco Camp
Total 3.8 up then 3.02 down = total 6.82 miles – Elevation Gain 2923’ Loss -2493’ - 6.5 hours hiking total
Today was the first day, in all my training and hiking, that I had some doubts about making it to the very top. Again, we were up at 6:00 in the dark, coffee at the tent door 20 minutes later, a breakfast in the dining tent with all 6 of us, then we were off at 8:20 AM. An assistant guide was leading our group. There is a mountain saying that is iconic on Kilimanjaro, “pole pole”, meaning “slowly, slowly” in Swahili. Some groups crawl almost painfully slow, doing this increases the success rate for the summit. (To my understanding the overall success rate hiking Mount Kilimanjaro to the top is 65% to 70%) Our guide in training, assistant guide Godwin, was not much on the pole pole side. We were passing other groups and the fast pace was just too much for me. It became brutally, brutally hard and I had to dig into God in prayer to make it. I was praying to God for strength for each step. I think it also had something to do with hiking to the highest elevation ever in my life, Lava Tower of 15,234’. My previous high elevation was 14,500 hiking Mount Whitney at age 60 in California. I don’t ask often but I had to ask for several minute standing stops to catch my breath and strength. Finally, we reached Lava Tower. The amazing porters had a dining tent set up for us and lunch on this very windy location. We stayed eating lunch for an hour, acclimating to the over 15,000 feet elevation. It took us 4 hours and 45 minutes, 3.8 miles and a gain of 2,923 feet to get to Lava Tower. The descents were always easy for me, yet tough for Amy. She did a bit better on the hard ups than I did. In a way, I hate to go down after going up so much, because I knew I would have to remake it up again. We descended 2,493 feet to Barranco Camp. It felt easy easy! It was exciting seeing the mighty Barranco Wall in the distance as we hiked closer and closer to camp. During our training and now, Amy collected little heart shaped rocks. We looked up towards the Kilimanjaro top and there was a giant heart etched in the snow; we both felt like God did that just for Amy. Armani saw an antelope on the hillside. There was a nice little stream and waterfall close by the trail and the unusual giant groundsel, an odd-looking tree, which lives in the harsh alpine environment. Since the last camp until the final day of the ascent we could see the mighty Kilimanjaro top, Uhuru Peak, beckoning us. I hate to say it but a part of me was glad it was so tough today. It brought to memory all the “horror” Kilimanjaro YouTube videos. The first 2 days I thought it all would be a glorious breeze. My first-time-doubts made the mountain even more grand. I was so worn out! I was a bit concerned about the toughness and when I got to camp, I asked our lead guide, Amani, if I could request 30 second, or 1 minute or 2 minutes standing stops. That is usually all it takes to become a bit refreshed again. He said, “Yes.” I felt better. The last part off Lava Tower was 3.02 miles in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The 6 of us had dinner in the dining tent and we enjoyed conversation until an early bedtime.
Three Day Total = 20.06 miles – Gain 10,144’ Loss -3306’ – 16 hours 40 minutes hiking.

Day 4 – Barranco Camp up the Barranco Wall to Karanga Camp
Total 4.6 miles – Elevation Gain 1616’ Loss -1522’ – 5 hours and 15 minutes.
The Barranco Wall is considered one of the more difficult, and iconic parts, of the Machame Route on the way to the top of Kilimanjaro. We were up and out at our regular time and headed towards the wall. I was so glad our lead guide Amani was leading and not his assistant guide at his non-pole-pole pace. If the assistant guide were leading, immediately the wind would have been taken out of my sails. I felt strong as we began. We went down, crossed a little stream, and were up the wall. There were lots of groups on the wall so it was slow and the trail was a bit clogged with people. We had to scramble on all fours in many parts. One of the most challenging parts of the wall is called the “kissing-rock”. I didn’t want to share germs with everyone so I blew the rock a kiss. Amy and I both made it easily by. Yesterday was so hard, I asked God to fill my mind with Godly thoughts and to give me hiking strength and He did! Today was another emotionally beautiful day for me. I am so thankful to God for this wonderful adventure and for the strength to be able to do it, and the joy of sharing it all with Amy. The scramble, and Baranco Wall, were overall easy for me and it appeared easy to Amy. We were at the top of the wall! The wonderful porters carry everything so that we have a luxurious time on the mountain. They had a table set up for us, in the shadow of the mighty peak, and we had a nice sit-down lunch. We spent a couple of hours relaxing and enjoying the fantastic views. We continued on. We had further ups and downs, but we reached a “magic-moment” at 12,890 feet. From that point on it was all uphill to the top, no more drastic drops only to regain it all again. It felt great that every step counted towards the top! We arrived at camp. I am always surprised how quickly the porters go, and have everything set up when we arrive. We had dinner in the dining tent and conversation. At night in camp, we could see the many villages lit up at the base of the mountain. I pondered all the different things going on down there. We again went to bed early.
Four Day Total = 24.67 miles – Gain 11,760’ Loss -4828’ – 21 hours and 55 minutes

Day 5 – Karanga Camp passing Barafu Camp to Kosovo Camp
Total 3.42 miles – Elevation Gain 2912’ Loss -164’ – 5 Hours
Today is an exciting day! We hike from Karanga Camp past Barafu Camp to Kosovo Camp and on the very same day get up at 11:00 PM to make the final ascent. Today was our shortest hike, only 3.42 miles but we had lots of elevation gain, 2912’. I was so glad to see Amani lead. We were joyfully off at 8:30. I felt 100% every step. Amani led so well, even if I led, I would have worn myself out. Thank you, God, for this wonderful day! Every step today was a step closer to the top. One of the great advantages of going with Climb Kili, is that they have earned the ability to take groups to the higher Kosovo Camp, by meeting certain high-quality mountain standards. Most groups have to camp at the lower Barafu camp, but we were able to chip an hour off of our night ascent hike by camping at the higher elevation Kosovo Camp. It is 1 hour between camps and one of the hardest climb areas to the top. I was so glad to have chipped that off a day ahead of time. It is always amazing to leave our tents and when we arrive, they are set up again. I noticed that Climb Kili always had the most amazing spots to camp, kind of by ourselves and with incredible views. I asked Amani why we always had the best camping spots and he said someone goes ahead to grab these wonderful spots. Today at camp was the highest elevation of my life, 16,012’, yet we still had about 3800’ feet of up-down elevation gain to go. It was nice to have a short day, but we all knew we were getting up soon. We had lunch in our dining fly tent. Amy said she was missing dinner and went to bed shortly after lunch. She went to bed sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 PM. I saw our magnificent full moon coming up on the eastern horizon, our light to the top! In the dining fly tent, Natasha asked some questions about my faith and we had nearly an hour-long conversation about being given in life the most wonderful, beautiful, exciting, amazing, frightening, terrifying, horrific, gift; freewill. We talked about this freewill gift being the cause of evil in the world. The Bible says that the, “Wages of sin is death.” & Christ paid this wage if we ask him into our hearts and repent of our sins. I have felt the power of His sacrifice and the healing. I went to bed at 7:00 PM, knowing that I would be up in 3 hours!
Five Day Total = 28.09 miles – Gain 14,742’ Loss -4992’ – 26 hours and 55 minutes

Day 6 – Kosovo Camp to Stella Point to Uhuru Peak (Kilimanjaro Top) to Stella Point to Kosovo Camp to Mweka Camp
Total to Top 3.7 miles - Elevation Gain 3693’ - 7 hours
Total For Day 11.8 miles – Gain 3794’ – Loss -9807’ – 15 hours and 15 minutes

The moment has arrived! We all were awakened at 11:00 PM. We were served coffee at the tent, had breakfast and we were off. I was so glad Climb Kili had an hour head start over those who were at the Barafu camp below. There was not a cloud in the sky. I intentionally set up the hike to ascend on a full moon night. The moon magically lit up our trail and all around. The moon was in perigee; everything was lit up with beautiful silvery light. It was so light no one used their headlamps in our group, until the moon was setting. Other groups were using headlights and it distracted from the wonder. I knew 2 other people who climbed Kilimanjaro and I asked their biggest regret; they said getting cold on the final ascent. I made sure Amy and I were not. I took my Feathered Friends 900+ loft -20 degree down jacket. I looked like, pillow-man with my big fluffy jacket. I wore top and bottom merino long johns, felt lined waterproof pants and two warm shirts. I kept my head warm with a wool balaclava and a Climb Kili stocking hat. I had down mittens with handwarmers inside. Amy was warm and didn’t even have to use the parka she brought. One person in our group got very cold on the ascent. It was so cold; Amy’s apple froze, the water tubes froze, and water bottles were freezing. I am guessing the top was about zero degrees. Our uphill grade measured from 16% to 32 %. Amani led and we took very small switch backs, back and forth up the mountain. It was so, so hard for me. Natasha was audibly crying on the way up. I was crying inside. This tied with another New Mexico peak, as the two hardest peaks ever! We kept going at a pole pole pace. I had to keep stopping for a moment to catch my breath. I was the only one that did not take any elevation medication. I wanted to “feel it” at over 19,000 feet. I never got nauseous, nor dizzy, nor felt sick, no headaches; but I was really pulling to get air at such a high elevation. I seemed to take 5 breaths to get what took 1 breath at Albuquerque’s mile-high elevation. It was so, so, so hard! I wanted the peak so badly that I almost would have crawled on my belly to get it. It felt a bit like I did. Extra porters came along to take our day packs if necessary. Amani handed off Natasha’s and Alyssa’s packs to the porters. Half way up he told me to hand off my pack. I said, “No, I will continue with it.” He gave me no choice and said to hand it off. I would have made it with my pack, but I was so happy to hand it off! It felt so good to hand it off and to have a bit less weight in that thin air. It was still tough going back and forth on the little switch backs, with so little air. Amy did not hand off her backpack, and her gym training paid off so well. Amy cried too, but they were tears of joy for the great transformation she had, from hardly being able to walk, to hiking the highest freestanding mountain in the world. Those tears of joy were thankfulness to God. I joyed in her joy! We could see the top getting closer and closer. It was still hard, hard! The new day’s dawn was cracking. We could see Stella Point, 18,799. At last, the ridge top! Oh my gosh that was hard! We were so happy to be there and the beautiful sun was coming up. It was clear and we had spectacular views in all directions. We could see and feel the ice glaciers around us. The wonderful porters had hot drinks for us. We stayed a bit here and were off on the final leg. We had to walk through an ice path to get to Uhuru Peak, the Kilimanjaro top. Closer and closer and closer, still tough and gasping for air, but not hard like it had been. Yes! Yes! Yes, we made my 12-year dream; ascent at age 70! I got Amy and we had to go touch the sign right way. Victory! We made it! As Amy said a number of times, “I am so proud of us!”, and I and we were! There were lots of people on the top and lots more coming. The excitement was electric all around us! It took 7 hours to get to the top; 12:15 AM to 7:15 AM, 3.7 miles with a gain of 3794’. We took peak-top pictures, enjoyed the amazing views then began our huge descent. We went back through the ice paths to Stella Point, and then down a very steep soft dusty path. The uphill was fairly easy for Amy; the downhill was not. She regretted not training for this steep downhill. The uphill was hard for me, but the downhill was very easy. I “ski-jumped” a number of times going down in the soft powdery dirt. I never hike with poles; they feel odd in my hands. I like the feeling of balancing with my hands out, and thankfully I did not have even a slight stumble over our 7 days of hiking. We made it back to Kosovo Camp. Everything was still set up. All the porters, guides and cooks were in song for us, celebrating we made it! It was a wonderful, joyous time. It felt like 4:00 in the afternoon. I was shocked that it was only 10:00 AM, a massive hike was done, but we still had a massive downhill hike. We stayed in camp for 2 hours and had lunch in the dining tent. At noon we started our second hike of the day. It felt like each hike should be on their own separate days. We hiked down the steep rocky slope to Barafu Camp. We were so glad we did not have to do that uphill at night. Then down, down, down, we went through the different climate zones. Besides conquering the peak today, this was the greatest downhill elevation loss in a single day my entire peakbagging. It was not hard for me coming down, but it was a bit weary. When we finally arrived at Mweka Camp we had dropped 9807’ feet in a single day. We were back at 4:45 PM. We hiked 3.7 miles up and 8.1 miles steeply downhill for a total of 11.8 miles, 15 hours and 15 minutes of hiking. Mweka camp is a beautiful forested camp. It felt so good to have accomplished our goal! We had a nice popcorn snack, dinner, conversation, then went to bed. Every night I slept very well!
To The Very Top of Uhuru Peak: = 31.8 Miles – Gain 18,365’ – 34 hours or 33 hours and 55 minutes
Six Day Total Including Descent: = 39.9 Miles – Gain 18,466’ – Loss -14,799’ – 42 hours and 30 minutes

Day 7 – Mweka Camp to the end at Mweka Gate
Total 6.2 Miles – Elevation Gain 125’ – Elevation Loss -4646 – 3 hours and 30 minutes
I thought maybe we would get an extra hour of sleep because of our victory, but no, we were up at 6:00 AM in the dark. There is an organization in Albuquerque called Faith Comes by Hearing that has the New Testament in over 2300 languages and dialects on solar powered tablets. Four languages can be put on. Most everyone speaks Swahili and I researched 3 other local dialects near Kilimanjaro to record on them. I brought 6 with me and gave them out throughout the day. Everyone I gave it to really appreciated it. They enjoyed Swahili, but when they heard the New Testament in their local dialect, Chaga/Kimochi, they really lit up. I gave my first to our breakfast server and he was so excited he carried it around listening and doing his work. I gave the second to the man who dusted our boots off each day. I tried to tell him that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet as a beautiful servant and to listen to the story on the proclaimer. We had breakfast then a bit of a formal time with our lead guide Amani discussing tips for these wonderful servants. A daily wage for a construction worker in Tanzania is about $15 a day. The hard-working porters only make $10 per day carrying a massive amount of equipment so that we can have a wonderful time. By law, thankfully, they can only carry 33 pounds of our equipment. We had 3 porters each to carry our gear, tents, food tables, chairs, toilet, water etc.… It is amazing what they get up that mountain! We all tipped them very well and signed a formal paper declaring what each of the 21 would get. Some receive a higher percentage than the porters. Please tip very well if you go. They are paid so little, relying on these tips. We had a huge celebration for our Kilimanjaro victory. The 21 sang “Jambo Bwana” and more! They danced and had us dance. The tips were stated to each; with proportions ranging from 1 part for the porters, 2.6 parts for the assistant guides and cooks, to 3.8 parts for our lead guide. It was a joyous fun time for us all! We began the final descent. We still had a big drop off the mountain but it felt so good to me being all downhill. It was a beautiful walk through the lush green jungle. We saw monkeys and two strange little creatures in a tree. I have never seen them before, Tree Hyraxs. There were lots of wildflowers, but there was something missing on the mountain; bugs. There were almost no bugs anywhere; no ants, no mosquitoes, nor flying creatures, almost no insects the entire 7 days. Wow! We enjoyed the wide trail. We came next to a pretty little jungle stream and I filled up my BeFree water bottle and had a drink. At last, we were at the bottom and our 7 days were done! 5 ½ days were emotionally joyous for me, 1 ½ days brutally, brutally hard. I was thankful for both experiences. We took pictures then signed out at the log book. Amy and I were both given a certificate of victory and a beautiful Climb Kili – Kilimanjaro Summit Metal with a ribbon strap to wear. We got in our van and were driven through the chaotic roads for 3 hours back to the hotel. Amy arranged for a surprise birthday party for me celebrating my victory climbing the peak. The porters and guides sang happy birthday and had a cake to share. (My birthday was in January, but my victory birthday accomplishment now.) We had our third dinner at the rooftop restaurant and both rejoiced at our victory climbing to the rooftop of Africa

Grand Seven Day Total = 46.1 Miles – Gain 18,591 – Loss -19,445’ – Total Hike 45 Hours and 40 minutes

The next day we went on an incredible safari to the Ngorongoro Crater. We saw many safari animals; elephants, lions, hippos, and much more. It was great fun standing up in the Land Cruiser. They popped the roof up and we could feel the open-air breeze blowing as we drove amongst the animals. It was so much fun! This is not something to do if one gets car sick. We both did not, and enjoyed the wild ride. We returned to Summit Lodge, ready to go to the airport for a 9:05 PM departure, when we found out our flight was canceled due to an airline strike. We were delayed 3 days before we could get out. I think we both ended up being happy it happened because we spent 3 days enjoying amazing Tanzania. We went on a second safari and saw giraffes. (They say if you see a giraffe and a mountain, that mountain is Kilimanjaro. I got a great picture of giraffes and Kilimanjaro.) We went canoeing, explored Arusha, had nice dinners and breakfasts in the Summit Lodge together, went on a tanzanite hunt, and found gifts for family. Finally, we departed with a bit of drama. The only place in the world that tanzanite is found is at the base of Kilimanjaro. It was made by the blowing of that mighty volcano. It is so scarce, it is against the law to own raw tanzanite unless it was found prior to the law, and one has proper government documentation. At the airport I was being called by my last name first. I did not pay attention at first, then realized they were calling me. They took me to the back and told me in a matter-of-fact way, to get the raw tanzanite out of my bag. I saw a very high-tech bag scanner that must have picked up the chemical composition of the stone. I went for the government paperwork first, then pulled out the stone. I spent about 20 minutes talking to one person after another. They took pictures of everything until finally a government head came, examined things, said I had the proper documentation and let me go just in time to catch the plane. Don’t mess with them and tanzanite, you might end up in jail. It felt pretty freeing when I made the plane and we were finally in the air. It took 28 hours to get home. We were greeted by a small group at the airport; friends and some of Amy’s family. Amy’s daughter made a beautifully painted poster when we left and had another one at the airport to greet us when we returned. The entire 12 days were an amazing adventure! It was such a joy to experience this incredible land with Amy. We were so happy to have climbed this incredible mountain, seen this amazing country, and connected with so many wonderful people.
Our Training to Hike Kilimanjaro
1. We hiked 17 mountain peaks in New Mexico to get ready. This included Sandia Crest at the edge of Albuquerque and the highest peak in New Mexico, Wheeler Peak 13,161.
(See my other trip reports showing these adventures.)
2. We went on MeetUp cardio hikes most every week. This entailed blasting up Sandia Mountain as hard as we could for an hour, then blasting down. I did 15 Tuesdays in a row.
(I have not missed 3 cardio workouts a week in over 20 years.)
3. I did 27, 1.7-mile mountain trail runs, 21 Sundays in a row. I did these mountain runs from my home, to above a cave and waterfall, then back.
4. Amy worked out in the gym 3 to 5 times a week. Her training was mostly centered around cardio and strength training. One of the most helpful things for Amy, especially the final difficult full moon ascent, was carrying 16 pounds on her back on a stair-stepper at the gym.
5. I continued with my 90 a week bench-press of 125/135 pounds. I have not missed a week since 1992. This makes my 16-to-18-pound day pack feel like nothing.

Note: I met two Godly Christian men in Tanzania. They led us on some adventures. To their excitement, I donated 160 solar powered Proclaimers with the New Testament in Swahili and reaching up to 12 local dialects; including Kimochi/Chaga, Kimashai, Kinyakyusa, Kinyaturu, Kiiraqw, Masaia and more. I mailed them from America when I returned. They had big plans to get them out to churches, villages, and to other Christians and non-believers. They especially want to get them to areas where there is no electricity and the people can’t read. I know that the New Testament has the power to transform lives and I am excited to hear what happens.
Here is my YouTube Channel. It shows some of the mountains Amy and I hiked for Kilimanjaro prep. Hopefully I will add some Kilimanjaro Videos in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCicI-J-2dcQ2IDkdA_JwdOQ
The Highest 199 Peaks in New Mexico.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAjCsjbhYMw