WE DID IT…!!!

At 7am this past Wednesday, my sister Bethany and I reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, following a 7 hour climb in the freezing dark from 15,000 feet to 19,340 feet in elevation. It’s the hardest thing either of us has ever done. My brain started to go fuzzy around 5am and I stopped to meditate briefly — just long enough to picture all the supportive people in my life physically picking me up and carrying me to the top. I clung to that image for the rest of the trek and mercifully made it to the summit just after sunrise. The warmth couldn’t come soon enough and we thawed out while making our 3 hour descent. Following a cat nap, we hiked another 4 hours downhill to spend our final night on the mountain at 10,000 feet… so in a single day, we climbed from 15,000 to 19,000 and back down to 10,000 feet in elevation. It’s nuts what the human body is capable of. As I said to my sister, how often do we get a chance to practice physical and mental fortitude like that? So grateful to have had a safe and successful trek. Right now our bodies are slowly recovering — sleeping 12 hours a night with lots of rehydration — and tomorrow we’ll join our 10-day overland tour of Tanzania to explore the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Zanzibar.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for supporting us. We made it to the top because of YOU and I’m so grateful you are in my life.

Many thanks to Zara Tours for making this trip possible — without the leadership of our sturdy guides Bruce and Thomas, we never would’ve made it. They generously discounted the trek and I am happy to report that our entire team of porters, cooks, and gudies were top-notch. Thank you for making this dream come true! I look forward to sharing many more posts about our Kilimanjaro experience in the coming months.