Safely back at the lodge, en route to the Ngorongoro Crater

We arrived safely back at Kilemakyaro Lodge last night and then had a great celebration at the El Rancho Restaurant in Moshi. The whole team received certificates for summitting Kili. Our final day on the mountain was our wettest yet, so the hot showers at the Lodge were very welcome. We are now en route to see the "Big Seven;" lions, elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, leopards, and cheetahs! We will go down onto the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater to see all these animals, just like in the opening scene from the Lion King (literally, as the Lion King scene is based on the Ngorongoro Crater.)
Today is our first day off from hiking in a week - a well deserved rest for the coolest group on the mountain!

Last Day on the Mountain

Well, all good things must come to an end. Again, we are all so happy that our group of 10, the "coolest group on the mountain," was able to climb to the Roof of Africa and look east to the Indian Ocean. It was a beautiful sunrise over Mawenzi (one of the secondary peaks of Kibo.) Today we do a long descent, from 12,500 to 5,300 feet, to finish at Mweka Gate. It is a beautiful walk through rain forest, we hope to see monkeys! We are all looking forward to a shower at Kilemakyaro Lodge.
Thank you again to family and friends for your support.

Everyone safely at Millenium Camp, end of Day 6

Just a quick note to say that we are all safely at Millennium Camp. We had beautiful weather on the summit (19,341 feet!) but it is raining again at our campsite. The group is pretty knackered, but proud that we all summitted. This is a long, hard day with 16 hours of climbing and descending. Time for a Tanzanian beer (the park warden sells beer!)

"When the wind is backed by will, miracles happen."

Time for bed, thanks to everyone for all their support.

We all made it to the summit!

Jambo from the roof of Africa! We all summitted, beautiful weather. Everyone is feeling good and healthy, though Sarah did experience some AMS.

Final thoughts before our summit bid...

To all you beautiful husbands, sons, daughters, relatives and friends - we all feel good. We're excited, anxious and prepared. We leave tonight at midnight and hope to summit between 6 - 7 am. We look forward to emailing you then. Wish us good weather!

We've arrived at High Camp! Day 5 of trek

Just wanted to let you know that we have arrived and are now resting at our final campsite before the summit, we are at 15,358 feet. Everyone is in their tent putting together summit clothing, resting and hydrating. Even though we've had a good day, the weather has just turned nasty, we shall see how it progresses.
A quote from Rachel. "Nature is a giver, a true friend, and a sustainer."

Mambo Poa from Karanga Campsite, day 4 of trek

Mambo Poa from 13,255 feet! (That is the cool way to say hello in Swahili, and we are definitely the coolest group on the mountain.) We had no rain today, YEAH! We started our day by tackling the Barranco Wall, the cliff that looms above the 3rd campsite. The wall is just one of the many challenges we face on the way to the summit. Basically it is a 2 hour team initiative in which we have to scramble/clamber up a cliff using our hands, knees and often our well padded butts (good thing we have kept our appetites and our bums haven't gotten too skinny.) We pulled it off without a hitch (or a fall) and had fun too! We are all well, no altitude sickness, healthy appetites and lots and lots of laughs. Barbara continues to be our leader, always the first behind our mighty National Park Guide, Michael. Her strength of body and mind is inspiring. We arrived at our campsite early so that we can rest, eat and hydrate all in preparation for the main event taking place at midnight tomorrow...summit night! We are thinking of you all and missing you but we are all pretty happy to be here. Have a great Saturday,
Love, The Poa (cool) Kili Gals