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 I am not sure why I decided I had to climb Kilimanjaro. As I have gotten older, I keep doing things that I never thought I would do. Like running a marathon, bicycling 200 miles in a weekend and now climbing a 19,340 foot peak. At this rate, by the time I turn 50, I just might do a North Pole cross country trip...
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 My group of 14 trip members started our journey with two days in Amboseli National Park. It's the best way to ease into Africa and recover from jet lag. The park is full of animals including giraffes, wildebeest, zebras and my personal favorite, elephants. On our first evening we did a game drive through the park and had quite a few close up encounters. Watching an elephant walk across the plain is an amazing experience as they are so deliberate and beautiful.
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 By day two our nervous energy was mounting and we were ready to stretch our legs. Our private camp was just outside the park gates so an early morning hike afforded us views of many animals. Best of all was having Kilimanjaro in the background throughout. Amazing to think that we would be at the top of that mountain in just a few days...
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 In camp and on our hike, we were protected by Masai warriors. They are typically extremely tall and draped in vivid red cloth that is easily spotted by the wildlife. Lions actually run away from Masai as they have learned their prowess with that spear. And by the way, you can actually buy the spear but I hope you do a better job than I did at negotiating.
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 When you climb Kilimanjaro via the Rongai route, you'll see two peaks - one is Mawenzi, at 16,893, and the other is Kibo, at 19,340. Of the two, I think Mawenzi is much more beautiful with dramatic peaks and jagged rock. Our first three days we climb with Mawenzi in front of us - sort of an inspirational beacon.
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 I have never climbed above the clouds before. The higher you go, the more expansive the view becomes back down toward Kenya. At some points, there was just a bank of clouds below us – it looked you could walk off the earth. Incredible.
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 The best part about the Rongai route is that not many people go this way – we get special permission. It is much more of a wilderness climb than I anticipated. It felt like we had Kili to ourselves. This is our camp two days from the summit.
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 We were lucky enough to have the best guide in the business, Iain Allan. Iain is an expert mountaineer and safari guide with a wicked sense of humor. As one client said on the last night, he is like a combination of Indiana Jones, John Cleese and John Wayne. And what a dresser! Notice the matching mango shirt and shorts. It takes a tough man to wear mango...
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 Single file and moving slowly we headed away from Mawenzi and toward our camp at 15,500'. Notice the perfect line formation!
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