Kilimanjaro – Journal

…this is an index post with links to the day-by-day journal of my Kilimanjaro trip.

I’ve split the posts up by day because the idea of summarizing the entire trip in a single post feels like an endeavor as overwhelming as the trek itself.

• Day -4,-3 (June 25,26) Flights
  USA -> Amsterdam, Amsterdam -> Tanzania
• Day -2 (June 27) Coffee Tour
  We tour a coffee farm and “factory” near Arusha.
• Day -1 (June 28) Mini Safari
  We visit Arusha National Park for a mini-Safari.
• Day 0 (June 29) Meet the Team, To Ndarakwai Lodge
  We meet our team and drive to a lodge in the wild.
• Day 1 (June 30) Entry Gate to Forest Camp
  Our first day of hiking as a team.
• Day 2 (July 1) To Shira 1 Camp
  We clear the clouds and finally see Kilimanjaro for real.
• Day 3 (July 2) To Shira 2 Camp
  Perched above the clouds. My favorite camp?
• Day 4 (July 3) To Lava Tower and Barranco Camp
  We hike high (>15k feet), then descend to sleep “low“.
• Day 5 (July 4) Up Barranco Wall to Karanga Camp
  An intimidating rock scramble turns out to be the best part of the trip so far.
• Day 6 (July 5) To Kosovo/Respicius Base Camp
  We get in a good position for summit day.
• Day 7 (July 6) To Summit
  Stella Point then Uhuru Peak.
• Day 8 (July 7) Descent to Mweka
  We continue the long trip down the mountain dropping from 16k to 10k feet.
• Day 9, 10 (July 8,9) To Exit Gate & Home
  We reach the exit gate and relax with our friends at a nearby restaurant/shop before flying out.

Coda: I started publishing these posts on July 27th and finally finished writing on Labor Day weekend, 58 days after reaching Kilimanjaro’s summit. I imagine I’ll be tweaking them for the next few weeks, and I probably need to write some sort of concluding post summarizing what I’ve learned from this adventure and what I hope to do next. But first I have to figure all of that out. :)

Update: I never did get around to writing a concluding post, and instead ended up signing up for another adventure. I’ll be ending 2025 atop Kilimanjaro, trekking Thomson’s Grand Traverse route with a friend. I’m excited to have a reason to get back in shape, and looking forward to seeing the north side of the mountain. Hopefully I’ll pack a little wiser this time and be warm enough to not huddle in my tent quite as much. :)