2. to Tanzania in Africa

4. What happens when there are 9 seats and 10 passengers Dar es Salaam to Arusha via Zanzibar

5. Baggage claim in Zanzibar Arusha has a rather grand idea of itself

6. The road to Kilimanjaro: Arusha to Marangu

7. The Kibo Hotel in Marangu First view of the mountain

8. The road to Kilimanjaro: the trek

9. Kili from the road (that’s Mawenzi on the left and Kibo on the right)

10. Schematic of the Rongai route 1850m 2600m 3600m 4700m 5895m 4330m

11. Rongai Route Day 1

12. Starting out: signing in instructions organizing the porters 1850m / 6060 ft

13. meeting some locals

14. Day 1 terrain changes

15. At Camp 1 2600 m / 8500 ft

16. The Kenyan Plains from above Camp 1

17. Rongai Route Day 2 and we have rain …

18. Looking back down – the plains obscured by the clouds

19. Huge burned area

20. Lunch scene at the Second Cave And the ubiquitous crows

21. The skies clear when we arrive at Camp 2 3600m / 11,800 ft the plains of Kenya are now far below

22. Rongai Route Day 3

23. Morning view from Camp 2

24. Giant Lobelias

25. Kibo Peak looms in the distance

26. Our guide shows us the summit route

27. At the 4100 meter point

28. It’s getting colder

29. Approaching Mawenzi and Camp 3

30. Mawenzi

31. At Camp 3 Mawenzi Tarn 4330m / 14,200 ft

32. Acclimatization Hike

33. Above the clouds … Looking back down on Camp 3 and the Kenyan plains

34. the route to the summit Kibo Hut Gilman’s Point Summit Uhuru Point

35. Rongai Route Day 4

36. Climbing up onto the “Saddle”

37. Last close-up views of Mawenzi

38. Don’t be fooled by those smiles, we’re suffering! (at almost 15,000 ft)

39. We reach the “Saddle,” but the mountain is shrouded in clouds

40. It starts lifting eventually

41. We walk for hours but never seem to get any closer.

42. Finally we arrive Camp 4 4700m / 15,400 ft

43. Rongai Route Day 4 – continued into Day 5 To the Summit And back down

44. The route to the Summit

45. What it looked like for 6 hours And what it looked like in the light

46. First goal achieved: Gilman’s Point – the crater rim 5681m / 18,638 ft 6 a.m. Temperature: very cold

47. Sunrise over Mawenzi 6:12 a.m.

48. A quick brew before heading off to the summit

49. The sun rises and illuminates the glaciers

50. Where we were going - From Gilman’s to the summit

51. The beginning of the track to the summit

52. One man and his mountain

53. These ice cliffs are over 100 ft high

54. At the summit 5895 m/ 19,340 ft 8 a.m. temperature: even colder than dawn

55. a cloud rolls in on the summit route

56. Going back down – note the smile

57. Everyone is happy to go down

58. Back at Gilman’s – looking back from where we came

59. Going back down the Jamaica Rocks Kibo Hut

60. Looking back up to Gilman’s Point from Jamaica Rocks

61. Did we actually walk up that?

62. Express route to the bottom

63. Scree running

64. Getting closer

65. Almost there … except we had to go further down than camp

66. Rongai Route Day 6 dragging ourselves off the mountain

67. Last sunrise from the mountain

68. The summit from the last camp (hard to believe we were on top of it 24 hours before)

69. The long road home

70. Through different climate zones

71. The last 3 hours was through the rain forest (boring)

72. And finally we were done, with the certificates to prove we’d done it!

73. The road to Kilimanjaro: back to Arusha

74. Back in civilization: Moivaro Coffee Lodge, Arusha That’s Mt Meru in the distance

75. Sure beats a tent on the side of a mountain …

76. On to Pemba …

77. Fundu Lagoon o

78. Arriving at Fundu Lagoon

79. The jetty bar first stop !

81. reception

82. Breakfast with a view

83. Tree art

84. “Rooms”

86. “Bathrooms” solid teak and hot water!

89. Spectacular sunsets

91. Dolphin Safari

93. Hard days by that jetty bar!

94. Traditional “dhow”

95. Traditional “dhow” beer !

96. A room with a view

97. Island wildlife

98. A “bithday” to remember !

99. Followed by drinks, dancing and Hugs !

100. Alas, we had to leave …

101. back to the Stone Town on Zanzibar for one final night

102. Typical street

103. Emerson & Green – our hotel in the heart of the old city

104. Stone Town is known for its doors

105. Even the manhole covers are interesting

106. The best views were from the roof of our hotel

108. Rather than in Stone Town which requires a bit of tidying up!

109. And that’s it folks !