Follow Paul, Rich and Lois as they embark on an incredible journey, 15 years in the making, and hike to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa while raising money for Multiple Sclerosis research.
"He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures."Psalm 147:8
I know it's been a few months since we returned from Africa, but I've finally gotten around to putting together my daily video logs from our hike up Mount Kilimanjaro. Each night, I tried to review the day's route, the highs and lows, as well as any observations from the trail that I found interesting. You'll have to excuse the poor lighting the first couple of days, but I was little tired and cold those nights as I adjusted to the mountain life! Oh yes, and my hair just gets worse as the week goes along.
The local butcher
Anyway, the first day saw us trek from Machame gate at 5,400 feet to Machame camp at 9,400 feet. The day began at our hotel in Moshi with out team of porters and guides picking us and our gear up. The drive from the hotel to the gate took about one hour. On the way, we stopped at a local butcher and market to get our fresh meat and vegetables for the climb. After that, we proceeded to the gate.
Once at the gate, our porters had to weigh-in-- each porter is only allowed to carry 45 kgs up the mountain for safety reasons. Meanwhile, Dad, Rich and I had to check in with the park service with our passports. I was surprised at how organized the system was the whole way up the mountain-- they collected our name, age, occupation and hometown at each camp at night. Just in case.
Sign at the gate warning hikers
After check in process and a quick picture at the gate, it was finally time to begin the adventure I'd dreamed about since I was a little girl! The first day's trek was beautiful and quite mild, despite being 11 km long (about 7 miles...something I had incorrect in the video!). We climbed through the rainforest, with African violets and orchids growing naturally alongside us. As we got towards the end of the day, the foliage changed into a heath-type growth. The soil became much more dusty and the plants turned into shrubs and bushes rather than the large rainforest trees we'd grown accustomed to during our hike.
We finished day 1! With our guide Mosha
As we walked into camp, we posed for our "we finished day 1" picture and headed to the hut to sign in. Afterwards we went to check out what our camp looked like. Each day, our porters get to camp ahead of us and set up our two tents, one for Dad and one for Rich and I, as well as our mess tent. They also setup their own tents for sleeping and dining a bit aside from ours.
Once at camp, our porters brought us a basin of water to rinse our faces, hands and feet before dinner. This became extremely important and I found myself looking forward to the "daily wash" each night at camp as the days wore on. After washing, we sat down for dinner, which started with a warm soup each night. Dinner was one of the highlights of the day, as our cook was fantastic. It's amazing that he could make a full meal each night using one propane tank--especially as the altitude started to increase.
After dinner, we usually had a brief on the next day from our guides and then headed to bed. That first night I didn't get a terrific sleep. We drank about 3 liters of water per day on the mountain, and I had to get up multiple times during the night to use the bathroom. Thankfully, it wasn't too far from camp, so it was a quick, cold trip. My sleeping bag and mat worked out incredibly well, as did my blow-up pillow from REI. Overall, once I got passed the first night, I was able to sleep quite well in my bag. The only problem I found as we progressed was that although I'd sleep the whole night, I would wake up not feeling rested. This was definitely one of the side effects of the altitude, even with taking dyamox.
Looking forward to sharing about Day 2 and my video blog for the day with you all soon!
Michelle, Me, Melissa, Noelle and Sarah @the fundraiser
Wow! I am so thrilled, thankful and humbled to announce that our combined American and Canadian fundraising efforts raised just over $12,000 dollars for Multiple Sclerosis Research! Because of each and every person who showed up at our To the Roof of Africa and the Bottom of the Barrel fundraiser in Coronado, donated online, or sent a check into our fund, we blew our goal out of the water!
I need to give special recognition to the incredible woman that inspired these efforts--my Mom. She helped keep track of all the donations, setup the fund through the MS Society in Canada and then link the fund to the American MS Society's page. She's an incredible woman, mother and friend and we're hopeful that this money will help find a cure for the disease she's battled half her life. We love you, Mom!
Busy street in front of WineStyles...good news!
Secondly, I need to give a HUGE thank you to all the fabulous ladies who helped me plan, organize and setup the even on Coronado. To my board members: Michelle Amthor, Sarah Garza, Laura Lopez, Noelle Salucci, and Melissa Trombetti--Thank you so much and I love you all dearly. This event would not have gone even half as well as it did without your help.
I would also like to recognize WineStyles Coronado for allowing us to host our fundraiser at their wine bar and providing such a fun environment for the party. They were incredibly easy to work with, extremely helpful and also provided some excellent wines to taste!
Mom drawing the raffle winners as everyone awaits
I would also like to thank each of our raffle donors. Michelle Amthor provided a Pampered Chef basket as a business donation. Be sure to check out her business page here. Sarah Garza generously donated two flower arrangements to raffle off in honor of my Mom (since she loves flowers!). My Dad, Paul Bennett, donated a fantastic gift basket with reserve wines and cheeses included. And WineStyles provided one wine and italian fare basket to include. THANK YOU!
And last, but certainly not least, I would just like to thank any and everyone who came out to the event. It was such a fun way to raise money and I appreciate the support from each and every one of you. God bless.
Well... We made it to the summit! Now we're enjoying a little bit of rest and relaxation at a lovely hotel in Arusha before we head out to Serengeti for a safari tomorrow.
Dad & Rich enjoying lunch poolside and recovering from our climb.
Our first picture IN AFRICA! At our hotel in Moshi
Well, after 22 hours of travel, I'm happy to report we are all safe and sound at our hotel in Moshi and enjoying a day of rest before we start up the mountain tomorrow. Everything has gone extremely smoothly so far. We met Dad in Amsterdam without trouble and our flights were all smooth and on-time. Our bags were waiting for us when we got here, and we were first in line for customs due to securing our visas before arrival. On that note, I'm so glad we took care of our visas before getting here! I would say 90% of the people on our flight did not per-purchase their visas, so the line to apply and receive one when you got there was about 2-hours long. Needless to say I was glad we didn't have to stand in that line!
We all slept well last night and had a meeting with our mountain guide at 10 a.m. He talked to use about our route, what to expect, how much to pack and also the different flora and fauna we'll encounter along the way. We will start our journey at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow by doing the 1-hour drive to Machame Gate and then hiking 18km (12 miles) to our first camp called Machame hut. We spent our afternoon today rearranging things from our base camp bags into our day packs and the duffel bags our porters will carry.
It's hard to believe this day is here! Our plan for tonight is to eat dinner and play a game of Scrabble around 8 p.m. and then head to bed early. I'll keep you posted on who wins at Scrabble, as it's sure to be a lively round.
Tomorrow we're off to begin realizing our dreams of reaching the "Roof of Africa"! Thanks so much for all your prayers and thoughts. Can't wait to share our adventure with you all in about 8 days!
We used Google+ with Mark in Edmonton-- he was the only one awake!
Wow. Is today really here?! I've literally been dreaming about this day since I was seven years old. The weeks leading up to today have been so busy that they haven't really allowed Rich and I time to think about the trip. But here we are, sitting at the San Diego airport at 5:30 a.m. waiting for our flight. I finished my MBA program just two days ago, Rich wrapped up learning to fly a new aircraft on Thursday, the movers picked up all of our belongings on Friday and now we are leaving for Africa for three weeks. No wonder these last few days in San Diego seem to have flown by! That's a lot going on in a short time.
Our journey today will take us from San Diego to Detroit, Detroit to Amsterdam where we'll meet up with my Dad, and then Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania, Africa. Who knew there was an international airport just for Mount Kilimanjaro?
As I reflect on the last twenty years it took to get me to this point, I can't do anything but thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed. My life has changed a lot over the last two decades! I've taken on new adventures and challenges, seen the priorities in my life shift from soccer to school to marriage...and I've even taken up citizenship in a new country! Throughout everything, things have always just seemed to work out. This trip is no exception. The timing, the finances, the opportunity. There's no way it could have happened without help from above.
So, as we depart this morning, I am just filled with gratefulness and thanks...thanks for all the blessings I've been given, including this one. Thanks for the amazing family and friends we have praying for us along this journey. And thanks for this precious time with my Daddy and husband as we undertake the adventure of a lifetime! We'll see you after the summit :-)
Rich and I were discussing what we learned from our treck up to the summit of Mount Whitney and I decided to share them with you. Here are the top three tidbits of info we wish we'd known before Whitney, but are glad we figured out before Kilimanjaro:
1) Bring Poles! Prior to hiking Mount Whitney, Rich and I had been told by several people that poles were a necessity for a successful hike. Rich and I were both extremely skeptical about this fact, however, and secretly thought that these people were just lightweights and that we definitely didn't need poles. But, as the trip grew closer, and everyone else on our trip listed poles in their gear plans, I decided we'd each borrow a pair to bring with us just in case. Well, I'm very happy to eat my words and say the poles were awesome. They were the perfect tool not only for extra balance when crossing tricky streams, but also when coming downhill after 14 hours of hiking. Upon returning the poles we borrowed for Whitney to their owners (thanks again, Melissa and Chance!), Rich and I headed straight to REI and picked up our own collapsable shock-absorbent poles for the trip. We both opted for REI-brand poles, just the men's and women's versions.
2) Buy a Walter Filtration System. Rich and I both went back and forth on this subject, as well. We knew we needed some way to treat our water, but had read mixed reviews about wawter filtration units and didn't really want to shell out the cash for a pro system. For Mount Whitney, we ended up skipping the system and opting for the chlorine tablets. Again-- we should have spent the $100 and bought the filtration unit. Chance's Dad Bob brough a unit with us on the trip and all I can say is it was glorious. It took about 5 minutes per camelback to fill, but it had an attachment that went directly onto the camelback spout, so that made it easier. The water from the filter, unlike that from our tablets, tasted great...and it was safe to drink. We are planning on investing in an MSR Hyperflow before we leave for Africa.
3) Liner Socks really do help! Rich and I experimented a bit with our socks on Mount Whitney. We both brought a pair of Smartwool Medium Weight Hiking Socks, a pair of Smartwool Heavy Weight Trekking Socks, and a pair of Smartwool Merino Liner socks. In the morning, we both started out wearing our mid-weight socks without problem. Around lunchtime, Rich decided to put his liners on under his mid-weights, while I still felt pretty comfortable in just my mid-weights. However, by the time we reached the summit, both Rich and I felt like we needed a change of socks. At that time I threw on my liners and heavy-weight socks and Rich just added his heavy weight socks over his liners. While I didn't have too many perspiration problems without the liners, my feet just seemed slightly more comfortable having the liners as a friction point rather than my skin. Neither of us had blisters from perspiration (although I did have a blister from trying to tape my toes!) and overall, we decided the liner socks are the way to go.
Those are just a few of the lessons learned from our hike a few weeks ago. We're less than two weeks out from the big journey to Africa now and everything is going in warp-speed. I packed this weekend, as the movers come in just over a week and I want to make sure everything I need is in my bag so there's no confusion the day-of with the movers. Everything's falling into place and there's just a few days and one tiny little MBA thesis standing between me and leaving for Africa! I can't wait. :-)
Proud husband to Beth and Father of Mark, Claire and Lois. Paul has a Masters degree in Geology from the University of Toronto and spent the majority of his life working as an oil executive before retiring in 2004. Since then, he's started three successful small public oil companies, and enjoys traveling the world with his wife. When he is in Canada, he can be found at the family home in Calgary or at the cabin in British Columbia. Paul started the dream of climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro when he took his 10-year-old daughter Lois (me!) to an Imax in 1994.
Rich "The Husband"
Rich hails from Stittville, NY and has been happily married to Lois for nearly five years. He has a degree in Biology from St. John Fisher University in Rochester, NY and is a USMC Ch-53E helicopter pilot in his spare time (haha). Rich first began dreaming about climbing Kili when he heard Lois talk so passionately about making the journey herself during their dating days. Since then, he's deployed twice to Iraq and Afghanistan and once to Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. Rich is excited to have the chance to return to the Eastern Hemisphere as a tourist.
Lois "The Wife and Daughter"
That's me! I'm the author of this blog and the dreamer that has carried this crazy idea with me for the last 15 years. I'm equally proud to be happily married to Rich and also to be the daughter of Paul and Beth. I have a degree in Journalism from St.Bonaventure University in NY and an MBA from San Diego State University. I love living each precious day like the gift from God that it is, and can not wait to embark on the journey of a lifetime with my Husband and Dad!
