Our Amazing Tanzanian Honeymoon

October, 2004

"Nguvu kama simba" ~ Swahili saying

roughly translated as "Strong like a lion"

How can one describe such a life experience?!?! No words and/or photos can do this trip justice!! First off, I have to say what a trooper Michael was for saying it was ok to do this for our honeymoon. He knew that climbing Kilimanjaro was a dream of mine since I was a teenager. I'm glad my soulmate has just as an adventurous spirit as myself! Not many people can say that they summitted Africa's highest peak on their honeymoon!

Secondly, I want to thank and give praise to Thomson Safaris!! I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND them for anyone planning to do this climb. Both their U.S. and Tanzanian crew took such amazing care of us!!! They were all so friendly and very professional! Their U.S. crew made sure that we were well prepared for the trip with their detailed lists and notebooks. The Tanzanian crew were great, especially those who accompanied us up the mountain. We are forever grateful to those guys who made sure we made it to the top in a safe AND fun manner. Nickson Moshi, our head guide, made sure that everything went smoothly. He and the assistant guides, Wilson Mchome & Godlove Kiwelu, brought order to what looked like chaos as we moved from camp to camp. A special thanks to Wilson for his kindness when Michael was sick on the trail. We were also well fed by our cook Major. What delicious, carbo-loading meals! He was assisted by Siste and Tadeus. A special thanks to Siste for going beyond the call of duty by getting me fresh water from the glaciers so that I could warm up with some hot water to drink. These guys did everything to nourish our bodies and souls. And of course we couldn't have done it without the porters! What superhumans! "Nguvu kama simba!" They made sure we succeeded by making sure we had all our necessary supplies. We even had an pleasant surprise - a port-a-potty!!!

Our co-climbers were all great people! What an honor to do the climb with them: Kathy & John from Boston, Frank & Rob from Oregon, Mike from Los Angeles, Joel from the Bay Area/Canada, and last but not least, Sam from Texas. "Hakuna matata!!!"

Trip Summary

Day 1 - October 1 - We flew from Seattle to Amsterdam and saw the Northern Lights en route. What a treat since it was the first time for both of us!

Day 2 - October 2 - We then flew from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro International Airport in Arusha. We were met by Kumbi from Thomson Safaris and taken to Kigongoni Lodge, a beautiful lodge located on a coffee plantation, to rest.

Day 3 - October 3 - We met our co-climbers and spent the day at Arusha National Park (elev. ~6,000 ft) to enjoy the scenary and start acclimating. We saw many things including masai giraffes, cape buffalos, warthogs, hippos, olive baboons, and black & white colobus monkeys.

Day 4 - October 4 - Our first day of trekking!! It took us 6 hours to go from Machame Gate (elev. 5,900 ft) to Machame Camp (elev. 9,850 ft). We learned the value of "pole, pole" ("slowly, slowly"). Most of it was spent in the forest zone and luckily there was no rain in the rain forest! Our camp was located just above the forest, in the heather zone. That night, I did get sick possibly from something I ate and spent the whole night vomitting.

Our first view of the cloud-covered Kilimanjaro.

Locals at Machame Gate hoping to become porters.

Us at the beginning - Machame Gate

Lunch stop in the rain forest.

My handsome husband in the rain forest.

Us with our goal in the background.

Day 5 - October 5 - After a hard night, I felt recovered by the morning. I decided to start Diamox, as did Michael. Our co-climbers were very kind and offered to help carry my pack and also misc food/power bars to help me regain energy. We climbed on to Shira Camp (elev. 12,600 ft), passing through the heather and moorland zone. The wind picked up after lunch, but we were lucky again since the rain didn't start until after we made camp and ate dinner. We did notice that there was obsidian everywhere.

Day 6 - October 6 - This day was particularly hard on Michael. It was his turn to have some kind of stomach bug. Again, our co-climbers were so encouraging and offered their help. We travelled through the moorland zone, up through the alpine desert (having lunch at ~13,400 ft.), and then returning to the moorland zone, where we camped at Barranco (elev. 12,750 ft). Our group split in 2 after lunch so that some of the more ambitious could see Lava Tower. We opted to go the lower route. Wilson led us and as he and co-climber Mike kept saying, "Hakuna matata!" Because Michael's illness lasted all day and wasn't going away by nightfall, we started him on some Cipro.

Day 7 - October 7 - Today was an acclimization day. We woke up to a little bit of snow, which soon turned to a misty rain that stayed all day. Michael was feeling A LOT better, thank goodness. Most of us decided to scramble up the great Barranco Wall. What fun!!! When we got to the top of the wall, you would have thought we made it to the summit. We were all so excited. Nickson also sang to us "Jambo, Jambo," a song that we would all learn to sing in Swahili.

Me and Wilson heading towards Barranco Valley.

Waking up to a little snow on Barranco.

Us after scrambling to the top of the Barranco Wall.

My pre-meal Clorox handwashing routine with Siste.

Day 8 - October 8 - We left the great Barranco Valley and headed back to the alpine desert zone. After a 3 1/2 hours trek, we reached Lava Tower Camp (elev. 15,000 ft). I was starting to notice the thinning air because hikes that weren't that steep still seemed like such an effort for me. Most of our group decided to scramble up Lava Tower though I passed and wanted to conserve my energy. It was getting cold enough that we started to store our water bottles upside down so that water that froze would be at the bottom of the bottle.

Me in front of the famous Lava Tower.

Sunset from Lava Tower Camp.

Our guides - Nickson,Godlove, & Wilson.

A great view of Lava Tower and Mt. Meru.

Our Amazing Tanzanian Honeymoon

October, 2004

"Nguvu kama simba" ~ Swahili saying

roughly translated as "Strong like a lion"

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