So you want to climb Kili...

... this will be a more or less weekly blog, in which I will tell stories of my travels around the world. And what better way to start than with my recent trek up Kilimanjaro in October of 2010. I had meant to do this for awhile, but between organizing pictures, the holiday season, and just general life, I didn't get around to it until now. I considered just blasting Flickr/Facebook pictures to everyone, but I figured doing it this way would serve the dual purpose of being (1) more interesting by adding context to everything and (2) cathartic for me. So here we go. And yes, while this first blog post is text heavy and photo light, future ones will have TONS of photos.

Our story begins with my buddy William, who had been at his job for a year, and had accumulated enough vacation days to take an extended trip. It just so happened that the beginning of the federal fiscal year in October was also the best time for me to take a trip, so we decided to combine forces and take the greatest trip ever... or something like that.

Now, William had really only been outside the country once; to Italy a few years ago (well, he had also been to Cancun on spring break, but that doesn't really count, does it?). So, as we were batting around destinations like Spain or Greece, I said something along the lines of "you know, we're young, healthy, and relatively unencumbered with familial obligations. Why not do something really different, difficult, and off-the-wall?" After minimal pondering, William agreed that this made sense, and in relatively short order, we decided to do one of those things that's on everyone's bucket list, but few had the time or energy to plan or do: climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. And so a journey was born.

Initially, our planning involved several other members, but due to various reasons, they had to drop out. We were able to pick up another member, however, Resha, and so the triumvirate was complete.

Let me begin by saying a little bit about Kilimanjaro, and by extension, Tanzania.

Contrary to popular belief, Mount Kilimanjaro is not in Kenya, but is entirely located within the United Republic of Tanzania, in the northern province of Arusha. So it does abut Kenya (hehe... butt). Tanzania is located in East Africa on the western edge of the Indian Ocean. It's land area is about Oklahoma and Texas combined, and is home to over 40 million people (a bit more than California). Dar es Salaam is by far it's most populous and important city, but Dodoma is its capital, and the aforementioned Arusha is its most important tourist city. The name Tanzania comes from combining the names of the mainland area Tanganyika with the island of Zanzibar. More on that in future posts.

Kilimanjaro is actually a group of three peaks, Shira, Kibo, and Mawenzi (shown from left to right on the above photo), of which the tallest point on Kibo, Uhuru, is the highest point in Africa at 19,341 feet (5,895 meters). To put this altitude in perspective, the highest point in the lower 48 is one mile less than Uhuru. It is the tallest freestanding mountain the world, meaning that it is the tallest mountain that is not a part of a larger mountain range. It is also the highest non-technical climb in the world, meaning that you can walk to the top without specialized climbing equipment such as ropes, harnesses, etc.

Now, my word of advice for people who want to Kilimanjaro is simple: DON'T DO IT! Of course, I look at everything from the perspective of having done it, so take with the appropriate grains of salt. However, even with the passage of six months taking a lot of the rough edges off of my memories, the excruciatingly difficulty and pain, and the marginal payoff at the peak (as you will see, it is FUGLY up there) are still exceedingly fresh in my mind. While I would recommend Africa to everyone, particularly safaris, and even trekking up other peaks like Mount Kenya and Mount Meru, I cannot in good conscious recommend trekking Kilimanjaro to anyone. It is, in fact, one purpose of this blog is to give you such an intimate and detailed description of our trekking experience, that you will have felt like you climbed along with us, and thus relieve you of the urge to ever go.

Having said all this, I can just feel many of you getting all indignant and thinking "you're not the boss of me. I do what I want!" Fair enough. Just don't say I didn't warn you, and also ask yourself, "does Mike look happy at all in the below photo"...

UPDATE: I think this picture of Bill more accurately reflects our sentiments.