Category: Travel

Today is the day the true adventure begins, starting the 7 day trek up Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, and a few errands around town, getting diesel for the truck, few last minute supplies, some water, and some haggling by the locals, we were finally on our way. As they say: “This is Africa”

Drove up to the Machame gate, registered, waited around for an hour. Pole pole (slow, slow in Swahili).
Our group consisted of 5 hikers, plus guide, porters, and other staff. Some seemed under prepared, others (me?) over prepared. All I know is that at least I brought long underwear. In our group we had: Jose from Spain, William from Australia,  Raoul from Canada, Riley and myself from the US. Great mix of nationalities. Ages ranging from 20’s to 50’s. Occupations equally diverse.

We spent 4 hours walking through rainforest, constantly gaining altitude. Very few mosquitoes in the beginning, and none at the end. Finally reached camp after a midway lunch that was packed prior to the hike.
A few of us did make a detour to a small waterfall near the trail, very pretty, but slippery – tempting fate on day 1?

Camp was already setup by the time we reached it. It is true luxury camping in that aspect. No need to worry about food or setup of tents.

Dinner was tasty, soup was incredible. After dinner it was early to bed. 6am wakeup.

Note: All blog text and pictures were done via smartphone.

Touching down on the runway of Dar es Salaam airport on Wednesday afternoon marked the 6th continent that I’ve visited. Last one on the to-do list is Antarctica. For now, my focus is on Africa. And wow; Dar Es Salaam airport definitely qualifies for full blown mayhem. Bags made it and I quickly navigated my way to the departure area to check in for my local flight on Tanzania’s low cost carrier, Fastjet. $50 for a one way flight to Kilimanjaro, not bad.

Upon arrival in Kilimanjaro airport we were greeted by a beautiful sunset with Mount Kilimanjaro in the background. Bizarre to be on the open African Savannah with a big mountain at almost 20,000 ft altitude covered in snow.

Met the owner of the tour company who spent a few minutes talking to us about the charities that she supports. Ranging from a fully supported orphanage, to a porters association, to a school. In the area where I will go on a safari next week she told us of an issue where the local kids stopped taking the long walk to school as several kids were attacked, and eaten, by lions en route to school. Our tour company has now successful opened a school in the local village. And here I have been complaining that as a kid I had to cross country ski to the school bus in the winter months in Denmark.

Thursday was spent relaxing after a 3 day journey here and also exploring the local market and town. I’m sure that the locals would be as mind blown as I was if they went to see what we would consider the market. But the town of Moshi definitely has an interesting market. Ate a local lunch and headed back to the hotel to pack gear for Friday’s start of the 7 day hike up Kilimanjaro. Also met the guide that will assist us in attempting to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro at 19,341 ft (5,895 m). Some of the hikers we’ve met so far have described freezing cold conditions at the top somewhere in the vicinity of -20 fahrenheit (-28 celsius) and windy.

Here’s to hitting the summit of the world’s highest free standing mountain and the peak of Africa. No updates for the next week. For now, enjoy some pictures from the local Moshi Town market.
Lala salama / Good night in Swahili

Often I get people questioning my sanity when it comes to adventures; why do you travel to all these crazy places, why do you enjoy cave diving with no visible escape route, why do you ride motorcycles, why do you like to drift your (rally) car sideways at 50 mph on a dirt road, why would anyone ever race mountain bikes through a rogue Arizona snowstorm, why attempt to summit Kilimanjaro? Well, I guess that’s just the sense of adventure and adrenaline combo that seems to work for me. Some people get a thrill out of gambling or drugs or bungee jumping. We are all different.
What I believe to be the most important would be that we all live a satisfying and healthy life. I want to look back at my life and cherish the experiences I’ve had. I want to look forward to the many more exciting adventures that awaits in the future. I want to share these experiences with the amazing people I have met through all my experiences.
I truly do belive that traveling somewhere new and meeting people in these places and understanding each other, and our cultural differences, could make for a much more peaceful world. So far I have been fortunate to meet amazing people from all over the world, of all colors and religions and backgrounds, while also getting a chance to explore the world a bit.
Here’s to Africa, and many more exciting adventures.

Go out, enjoy the nature and the new, and old, people in your life. Watch a beautiful sunrise.

Sunrise over Saudi Arabia, Sep. 17, 2014

Back in 2002 i used to run semi competitively back in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a bunch of strangers all thrown together for the sport. Many friendships were formed. One friend, Sarah, whom I’ve managed to keep in contact with lives in Philadelphia. So with a 4 hour layover planned I of course wanted to see Sarah, a fellow traveler. Last time I caught up with Sarah was when she was living in Las Vegas. Since then her and her husband has moved a few times. Good talks were had over breakfast and travel stories exchanged. She now has me determined to go to Japan soon. And I think she may be up for some exploring of Colombia with her husband. No Kilimanjaro for her though. People still think I’m crazy.

I write this as I am sitting on my flight about to leave Philadelphia to Doha, Qatar. I booked all my international flights using (hard earned) frequent flier miles. And why not travel in style? Business class it is. I kindly asked the gate agent to block the seat next to me. I bet that few hiking backpacks get their own cold towel, Pajamas, comforter, lie flat bed, and business class seat.
Off to Doha!

Starting the adventure in 3 hours.
All packed for 23 days of: 8 days of climbing Kilimanjaro via the Machame route, 3 days of safari at the Ngorongoro Crater, a week of Scuba diving and kite surfing on the island of Zanzibar, and wrapping up with dune bashing in Qatar in the Middle East for a few days.
All this, and all the gear packed and ready to go, including scuba gear in my Deuter Carry On and my North Face Summit series Duffel bag.