African Safari and Zanzibar

Well, it took me a while but I finally got the Safari and Zanzibar pictures posted.  Traveling halfway around the world for 3 weeks was a privilege and I’m fortunate to be able to undertake such journeys.  Bringing those stories and pictures back home and sharing them with everyone is one of my biggest joys.  However I must warn you that when going on Safari, it’s hard not to take a lot of photos.  In this album there are just over 200 shots.  With that said, sit back, go direct to the gallery, enjoy the slideshow and look at all of the shots!  In the meantime, here is a sample of what you’ll find.

Mt. Kilimanjaro or bust….

With years of planning behind us, it was time to take on Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Team Tsunami gathered its forces and assembled in Kenya where we drove to the base of the mountain that stands 19,340 feet tall.  With 11 of us in total, we had chosen the Lemosho route.  It’s a newer route that takes 7 days and approaches from the north side, descending on the south side.  Day 6 was brutal.  I can honestly say that day 6 was easily the most physically challenging of my entire life.  It started as early as any day can start, at midnight.  Headlamps on and all the layers we could wear, we started the slog up the side of Kilimanjaro.  This day would result in climbing to the summit over 4,000 feet above us and then descending over 9,000 feet back into the oxygen.  It took us just under 16 hours to complete.  Lack of oxygen for sustained amounts of time begins to do funny things to the human body.  Some don’t react well, others feel just a little off. In our group we had all of the above from potential brain swelling to vomiting to head aches to just simply not remembering parts of the summit day.  All in all we managed to make it to the top and down safely.  The funny thing about getting to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro is that once you reach it, the only thing you want to do is get away from it….and that means going down.

To see the Full Gallery click here.

Once we finished the climb, we went on Safari in the Serengeti.  Pictures coming soon.  In the meantime, if you’d like to see the Full Kilimanjaro Gallery click here.

Off to Africa…

When I went around the world twice back in 2007 and 2008 one of the places that I didn’t get to spend as much time as I wanted to was Africa.  One of the main areas that I wanted to visit was the south eastern cost, specifically Kenya and Tanzania.

As of this posting, my journey to that region has finally begun along with 10 good friends.  The plan is to fly to Nairobi, travel overland to Arusha, climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, go on Safari and then off to Zanzibar for a little R & R.  The hike will be 7 days and the Safari another 5 or so ending with 5 more days on the island off of the eastern coast of Africa.  The entire time I will be tracking our positions and providing updates as connectivity allows.

To get updates and follow us online to the summit and beyond, you can visit My Map Here.

The updates will begin on Dec 27th with our drive from Nairobi to Arusha.  The ascent up Mt. Kilimanjaro begins on the 28th and will be completed 7 days later.   If you aren’t seeing the updates daily, it most likely means that I don’t have a connection.  Either way, you can follow limited updates made by our guide on their Team Kilimanjaro website.  Our group code is: NARE x 11, 28th December 2011 – 3rd January 2012, Chief Guides: Fred Achedo and John Naiman.

Also, if connectivity IS an issue, I will update the climb notes and stats once I have connection again, even if it is after the fact.  And of course, once I return from lugging my camera across Africa, I’ll be sure to have some pictures for everyone to check out!

I think we got everything……