How do I wrap up my two weeks in Tanzania? My objective when trip planning began was to conquer Uhuru Peak. That goal was achieved, but after spending fourteen days in exotic East Africa I realized that was only a fraction of my total experience. Leaving the comforts of home, entering a developing country, discovering people from every corner of the world, climbing a mountain, experiencing a safari and all the other incidentals that accompanied the trip all became a substantial component in this global adventure. Don't get me wrong, my euphoria would have been lessoned if I had failed to summit, but even if this occurred the memories of this trip would have still always been embedded within me.

"Why are you doing this?" - the one question asked most often prior to leaving. The universal response offered by the late mountaineer George Mallory, whom eventually died on a Mt. Everest summit attempt, was "because it is there". Mallory answered this way because of its utter straightforwardness. In actuality he believed that if someone has to ask such a question there was no way they could comprehend the true meaning. My reasoning is not as simplistic as his four word answer. My aspiration while I occupy space on this big blue marble is to get everything out of life that I possibly can. Life is way too short to spend in humdrum. Climbing Kilimanjaro along with several of the other things that I've done in the past and will continue to carry out in the future is what keeps life exhilarating for me. The big question for me is - what's next? As for now I will merely relish in my recent accomplishment, but as for Julie my next adventure will be to tile our kitchen floor…we'll see.

Kwaheri my Friends, Live Life