Current Status
Tanzania visa now in hand. All travel plans are now in place. Leaving for Kilimanjaro on August 22. Hepatitis A and B shot scheduled for this Thursday. Workout program exceeding expectations. All systems moving forward to reach for goal in less than 9 Weeks.

Countdown - Climb Mount Kilimanjaro

Leave for Tanzania, Africa:

9 (WK), 6 (D),  11 (H), 29 (M)

Yellow Fever shot has been completed, Visa application is in process, Scheduling follow up appointment for other shots and med's for the trip during month of July.

Machame Route is the way UP!!

The Machame route, known as the "Whiskey" route, is now the most popular route on the mountain.

Machame approaches from the southwest and descends using Mweka, rewarding climbers with views of the expansive Shira Plateau, a scramble up Lava Tower, a climb up the Great Barranco Wall, and a traverse underneath Kilimanjaro's Southern Icefield. The descent occurs on the Mweka route. We will be sleeping in supplied tents at designated campsites, and eat

meals either outdoors or inside a large dining tent. Our staff prepares all meals and sets up the tents.

Climbing the Machame route is more difficult, but not technically difficult.

Mostly it is simply a longer and often times steeper trek. It covers more ground and involves more ups and downs. It wears you out more, takes more energy, not more skill. But it offers much better acclimatization!

This is the Itinerary of our 7 Day Trek

Tanzania: background information

Some 80% of the population depend on subsistence level farming.

Credit: WaterAid / Alex Macro

Over 30 million people populate this East African state, four times the size of the UK.

Geographically, its diverse countryside and coastlines are unequivocally beautiful. The Ngorogoro Crater and Mount Kilimanjaro feature particularly, and there is a unique abundance and diversity of wildlife, especially within the Serengeti National Park.

The climate ranges from tropical near the coast to temperate in the highlands, whilst the land consists of coastal plains, a central plateau and highlands in the north and south.

Some 80% of the population depend on subsistence level farming, and Tanzania remains one of the poorest countries of the world (156 of 174 in the UN's Human Development Index), with huge external debt.

Reaching Uhuru Peak Mt. Kilimanjaro will be The Ultimate Goal

Mount Kilimanjaro Updated Countdown is:
12 (wk), 5 (d), 5 (h), 17 (m), 35 (s)

Time for some background on the mountain I plan on climbing.


Snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the most famous and highest freestanding mountains in the world, rising from the north-eastern part of Tanzania. Kilimanjaro stands at 5,895 metres (19,336 feet) high above sea level. Kilimanjaro comprises 3 volcanoes of which the most famous (and the most recent), snow-capped dormant Kibo stands at 5,895 m (19,455 ft). The mountain is situated in the Kilimanjaro National Park in Tanzania. The trek crosses five distinct vegetation zones, namely lower slopes, rainforest, heath and moorland, alpine and desert and the glaciers/summit. Within each zone there is an association between altitude, rainfall, temperature, plants and animals. The name Kilimanjaro, is thought to be a combination of the Swahili word Kilima, meaning “mountain,” and the Kichagga vernacular language word ’Njaro’, translated as “whiteness,” giving the name White Mountain itself.