February
25 @ 5:50 am
Well, I made it…almost. After twenty-four hours of flying around in a mechanical bird I arrived on Tanzanian soil at around 11:30 pm devoid of my luggage; it was left behind in Amsterdam. Nothing defeats the atrocious feeling of arriving into a Third World country preparing to climb a mountain with only the clothes on you back. I was informed that it will be placed on today's plane.
I've been battling this cold since leaving the States - for now it seems to be under control.
I managed four hours of sleep last night in addition to the two hours on the previous day's flight; I'm ticking right along. I'm not sure if it's the enthusiasm of being here or the jet lag but I feel wide awake.
I met Paul Fleetwood from Manchester, England last night at the airport. While wanting to do this for many years, Paul signed up with Zara only a week ago. Paul's employed as a Chemical Engineer and to my understanding arranges a trip somewhere on this planet at least once a year. After the climb he will be heading to a small island near Zanzibar to scuba dive. Up until last night I anticipated experiencing this venture solo. I needed to shelter this little known fact from Julie over the past months. Zara contacted me a while ago and confirmed that since I will be taking a less traveled route it would be doubtful that anyone else would be joining my party. I was okay with this news but was not sure how Julie would respond. Thinking that it might be better to have her upset with me for not telling her than have her worry about me going alone, I decided against enlightening her with this info.
As for Julie I have come to realize how lucky of a person I am. After two years of trying to draft friends to join this adventure I realized that most wives are not as understanding as Julie. I love her immensely for this.
It looks like the sun is about to rise. I'm going to take on one of my rare opportunities to shower then go outside and catch a glimpse of Kibo before the clouds obscure the view. Oh yeah, mosquito nets over the beds. How kick ass is that! We ain't in Kansas anymore.
Didn't use that "pain in the ass" net. Decided to take my chance with malaria…how bad can it be. Saw the mountain this morning…simply amazing. This spectacle would resemble dropping a 20,000 foot high mountain onto the Dakota plains.
February 26 @ 5:50 am
We plan on leaving for the Lemosha Route at 8:30 am. My luggage arrived at 11:20 pm last night…what a relief. If not, my options would have been either to burrow through the hotel's "very used" equipment and clothing, wait another day before leaving or go with what I currently possess then have someone meet me at the first camp with my absent belongings.
Yesterday at the hotel I met people from all over the world. Many had just returned from Kibo and they all had their own opinions regarding the climb. Only conversed with the ones that made it to the top; the others must be sulking in their rooms. One thing they all had in common; it was one of the most challenging undertakings that they had ever done. I was hoping for an "it was easy" from at least one person.
It looks as if I will be teaming with Paul for only a couple of days. On day two he will be bypassing Shira Camp 1. Because of his commitments near Zanzibar he is doing a seven day trek. I presume after talking to the all the returning individuals yesterday, he's wishing he was following the eight day agenda.
