Rome, Florence and Venice, Italy – November 2011

Zach's version

We flew to Rome via Air France with a short stopover and change of plane in Paris. Apparently out layover was too short because we arrived in Rome and our baggage was still in Paris. It wasn’t too bad since we arrived at noon and our baggage arrived at our hotel at midnight. Fortunately, we were able to sleep a lot on the way over; so, when we arrived in Rome we were ready to go…and go we did for 10 days.

Several things we wanted to point out about the overall trip. The weather was wonderful. We literally went 10 days without seeing a cloud in the sky and day time temperatures were in the 60s. Wine is a perfectly good substitute for water. There were no lines at the tourist places. Italian people walk a lot. There is no “epidemic” of obesity like there is in the US. Lastly, a lot of Italians smoke. We were particularly amazed at the numbers of young women smoking.

Our Rome hotel was the Serena. It was very nice, breakfast was excellent and the staff was very friendly and helpful. We were close to some restaurants and I always enjoyed opening the window and smelling the fresh bread cooking. Our only problem was we could not find our way back to the hotel at the end of the each day. One evening after a particularly excellent and filling dinner, we decided to take a walk around the block. An hour later we found the hotel. A little disclaimer about our navigation skills; the roads in Rome and the rest of Italy go every which way, most of them do not have signs, hotels are just another door on the block with a small sign over the door and our map only showed main streets. Another evening we had to match up a church that was near our hotel with a picture of that church from our first day. We never thought we’d need a digital camera for navigation.

In Rome and the other cities we did walk a lot; all day most every day. It’s our preferred mode of travel when we are being tourists. The sight were extraordinary and too numerous to mention; however, we will mention some anyway. Zach particularly enjoyed the Colosseum, Palatine and Forum and Castel Sant’ Angelo.

Cathy’s favorite was St Peter’s and the Vatican where we spent an entire day and climbed the steps to the top of St Peter’s Cupola. It was a long climb to the top; but, the view was worth it. We also went to the “romance” spots the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Spanish Steps.

When our time was up in Rome we took a train to Florence. We had a little problem finding our hotel the De La Pace. After that we had no problem navigating through the streets of Florence. Although our hotel was nicer than the one in Rome we did not like it as much. In Rome there were a lot of motorcycles and scooters; in Florence it was bikes. While there we went to the Vecchio Palace and Museum, the Uffizi Palace and Museum the Vecchio Bridge, the Gallery of Achedemia where Michelangelo’s David is displayed. That was the first day. On the second day we went to the Pitti Palace and Gardens and climbed the stairs to the Piazza Michelangelo overlooking the city.

On our last day in Florence we took a bus tour to parts of Tuscany. We walked the streets of Siena, San Gimignamo and Chianti and saw all the countryside in between them including vineyards, monasteries, castles and a lot of narrow winding roads. San Gimignamo was a well-preserved walled city that reminded us a lot of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany. We bought some excellent Chianti wine at ridiculously low prices.

The next day we took the train to Venice except it was the train to Milan. Never did figure out how we got those tracks mixed-up. Fortunately, we were able to change trains in Bologna and get back on track to Venice. The conductor told us it happens all the time. I think he was just being nice to some American tourists. All the Italian people were very nice to us except the gypsies and they probably aren’t Italian. That’s a story for Cathy to tell.

Venice the city on the canals with no cars, scoters or bikes where everyone walks and everything moves by boat and hand cart. It was even interesting to watch how they collect trash. The streets of Venice are more narrow and winding than either Rome or Florence but we had no problem navigating the city. We had a regular map, but learned the secret early; either follow the signs to San Marco or Rialto depending on which way we wanted to go.
Our hotel the Villa Rosa was only two blocks from the train station. It was a hundred yards down the narrowest of streets. Our room was smaller than the other two hotel rooms in Rome and Florence and we had a step up bathroom. The staff was very friendly and helpful and we enjoyed our stay there.

Our first day in Venice we went on a boat excursion to Murano with its glass factories, Burano with its lace factories, leaning tower (and we didn’t have to go to Pisa to see one of those) and colorful houses, and Torcello with its old church and fascinating graveyard.

Our second day took us to the Peggy Guggenheim house and art collection and back to Piazza San Marco. We went there the first day to catch the boat to the islands. We went to the Basilica and all the Museums in the Piazza and Cathy had her encounter with the pigeons. Her story, not mine. That night we had a world class dinner at a real Italian restaurant called Marisa. We were the only tourists in the place. There is no menu. Everyone eats what they cook that day and it was very good and plentiful and so was the wine. It was a two and a half hour dinner. Not what we are accustomed to here.
Our last day there we went on our Gondola Serenade. There were a lot of gondolas on the canal but only ours had a singer and accordion player. They were both excellent and we have some nice video of the ride. All the other gondolas and people on the bridges were taking pictures and video of our boat. Cathy really enjoyed the Serenade.

Unfortunately, our trip was over and it was back to Atlanta via Paris. It was a good flight back with lots of leg room. We stayed awake the entire flight home and adjusted to the time change. That night we arrived home about 10 pm and the next day we were good to go.



Cathy's version

Nov. 8th and 9th 2011

We left Atlanta Tuesday evening and arrived in Paris Wednesday morning; then switched planes to fly to Rome. Out of Atlanta there was no room for our bags in the overhead so our bags had to be checked; however, going from Paris to Rome, our bags were left behind. We were told a courier would bring our bags to the hotel. We checked into the Hotel Serena.
We went to sight see wearing our slept in clothes from the plane. Our first stop was the Coliseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Roman Forum. We walked for 5 hours. We stopped for some dinner, spinach and cheese pizza (hit the spot), and salads and, of course, wine. We had a little difficulty finding the hotel. Most hotels have the marque going vertical and our hotel had one just with an awning so we walked passed it a couple of times. Our bags arrived about midnight.

Thursday, Nov. 10th

This was a long day. Seems like I said that climbing Kilimanjaro. We left at 8:30 am and didn’t return until 6 pm. We started the day navigating our way to the hop-on hop-off bus station. We hopped off at the Vatican and we were bombarded with “Tour Guides”. We declined. There were hardly any lines to get in. We arrived about 10 am. We first went to St. Peters Basilica. All Popes are buried in St. Peter’s. There we climbed hundreds of steps, all sizes and shapes to climb to the top of the Cupola. Wonderful view!! Then we went to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. I got yelled at for taking a picture inside the Sistine Chapel. Opps!! Everything was a bit overwhelming to say the least. I’m not sure pictures can even do it justice. The Castel Sant’Angelo was our next stop. It used to be the home of the Pope, prison, fortress and etc. We enjoyed a glass of wine overlooking the Vatican. Next we went to the Pantheon. On the inside at the top of the dome is a large opening. I asked what happens when it rains. They just clean it up! No problem! This used to be a Roman Temple. It later was changed to the Basilica of St. Mary the Martyr. Next stop Trevi Fountain. It was very close to dusk. It took some time to navigate- they are not too good with the street signs. Rome does not have signs at every corner. Streets are not on a grid fashion of any sort. Just about every place to eat is called a pizzeria. At dinner time we went to a mom and pop type of place and the food was excellent. The cost was only 10 euro each for an appetizer, entrée, salad, dessert and wine or water. What a deal! You know we went for the wine!

Rome certainly had a lot of smokers! There are also a lot of scooters and motor bikes, smart cars and very small cars. We hardly saw any vans or SUV’s.

Friday, November 11th

Well, we certainly had an interesting morning. We had a nice breakfast (which was included in all our stays in the hotels). We set off to venture on the hop-on hop-off bus. We just about got to the bus when we were, (I would say approached) almost attacked/groped, shoved, touched and etc. by gypsy women with babies and children pulling at our arms. We were almost hit by a car trying to escape from them. We ran for the bus and we were talking about what had just happened. Something clicked and I felt for my money that was in my pants pocket below my knee and fastened by Velcro. The key word in the last sentence “WAS” in my pocket. I could not believe it!! It took me some time to get over that experience. The bus took us to a Forum and Palatino Hill. We spent many hours here. This is where Nero Augustus (not a very nice man) lived. The grounds were very interesting. We hopped back on the bus to a return visit to the Vatican because we somehow missed seeing the “Pieta”, of all things to miss. Seeing the Pieta was very beautiful! We hopped back onto the bus to go to the Spanish Steps. There were a lot of people just hanging out on the steps. At the bottom of the steps there was a huge square with horse and buggy rides and a nice fountain (nothing like the Trevi Fountain). We happened to see a Hard Rock Café so we stopped to get a pin for Alec, our grandson, who collects them. The pins were cheaper in Italy than in the States!

Saturday, November 12th

We left today to board our train to Florence or “Firenze”. It took a while to figure out the train system. The first stop being Firenze so when looking at which train to get on, we needed to get on the train going to “Venice”. The train ride was pleasant with a lot of countryside with vineyards and rolling hills. When we got off the train we noticed bikes lined up everywhere, not quite as much as what we had seen in Amsterdam. There seemed to be fewer people here than in Rome and more scooters. We had a pretty long walk to get to the hotel; dragging our bags through the streets. I was thankful that we packed small bags. The Hotel De La Pace “Firenze” was an older hotel, the room being just a little larger than the one in Rome. We got settled in and left to explore and see how well we could navigate this town and what their signage was like. We went to the Duoma (basilica). Zach wanted to go to the top; I said I would wait for him as it had over 1000 steps, but he decided not to go and leave me to the gypsies. Then it was onto Ponte Vecchio Bridge. To look at this bridge you couldn’t tell it was a bridge. It was just lined with jewelry stores. When we left the bridge we noticed hundreds of padlocks locked together on the walkway posts. Could it be some superstition?
Palazzo Vecciho Palace was our next stop. Beautiful artwork and I’m sure my picture won’t do that justice and, of course, we could not use flash. Fortunately, my camera does take very nice pictures without the flash. There was one piece of art that showed the whole passion of Christ, it was just amazing. All the artwork everywhere was amazing especially in the Cathedrals.

The Galleria Dell Accademia was our last stop for the day which highlighted the display of the statue of “David”. This statue is wired to a monitor so that if any heat to or movement of the marble occur they would know. He’s right leg has cracks in it.

Sunday, November 13th

Our first stop today (and a long walk) was to Pitti Palace. Again the pictures will not do justice to the size of this palace, not to mention the gardens! It was a little overwhelming to say the least. No pictures of the inside; however, we were used to that. We went to the Forte di Belvedere, but it was closed for renovations so back to Pitti Palace and onto Piazzo Michelangelo overlooking the city.

Then our journey took us onward to the San Marco Cathedral. This Cathedral was a very dark inside because it was built in medieval times when very small windows towards the top of the church were common. They had an altar in the back of the church with an ancient box- we think the remains of St Marco are in there. This altar was enclosed by a security fence.
Strolling right along we went to the Uffizi Gallery which is huge; however, not as large as the Pitti Palace. This gallery was interesting but hard to follow the change in time era. There were plenty of busts, statues and artwork.

So far we are not too impressed with the food in Florence. Rome had some great choices. We like to eat inexpensively, so, we did not indulge ourselves in any elaborate food choices.

Monday, November 14th

We went on a guided tour of Sienna and San Gimgnamo (part of Tuscany). It was about an hour and a half bus ride. The tour guide never stopped talking………….first in Italian, then English then French and then in Spanish. Sienna was interesting. Our first stop was Duomo Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. It is made of solid marble and took 200 years to build. The town had plans of enlarging the church; however, the black plague killed most of the population, so, there was no need to expand the size. Today stands the original Cathedral and a facade which is the outlines of the intended church. The floors inside are hand carved in sections with stories and the sections are roped off for protection. There is an altar for a priest who had Michelangelo carve him four statures. He later became a Pope so his body was buried in the Vatican with all the other Popes and not in the intended location. We then went to the downtown district, the heart of Sienna. In the center of the town is a large square that is all bricked. Twice a year the townspeople sand the streets around the center and have a horse race which lasts 75 seconds. Everyone in the town participates. The horse race is similar to the Kentucky Derby that we have in the states. All the people on the tour had an hour and a half to meet back with the group. We could go to lunch or explore on our own. We explored and had a glass of wine. Our next stop was San Gimgnamo. This is a very nice town and more of what I was expecting Tuscany to look like. The streets were clean and quaint and the countryside was beautiful and full of vineyards. Chianti, olive oil, saffron and alabaster are the products that they are most known for producing.

Tuesday, November 15th

We are now headed for three days in Venice! We had an interesting start to that leg of the trip. We boarded our train and about 30 minutes later the conductor came to collect the ticket. We give it to him and he says “you are on the wrong train and are going to Milan”. I could not believe I heard him right. He said it happens all the time, you just need to get off at the next stop and pay 8 euro each and get on the right train. Whew! Just when we thought we were getting better at navigating! We arrived at the Hotel Villa Rosa with no problem - yeah! We needed to drop our bags because we had a boat tour to go on. We got directions and had to speed walk the entire way; to our surprise with no problems. The tour took us to three islands, Murrano was the first, (very well known for glass manufacturing and expensive). We watched them blow glass in the factory and then took a tour of their products. The second island was Torcello – the first center of civilization in the area with an estuary with a Cathedral with beautiful mosaics. The third island was Burrano and is very well known for making lace, and the very brightly colored fisherman’s houses. There is a bell tower that has over the years begun go start sinking on one side, so, it’s like the leaning tower of Pisa. Eventually it will collapse. Venice was very beautiful and romantic city. Going back to the hotel we got turned around several times! Thank goodness Zach WILL ask for directions. Navigating was like a maze with no street signs to speak of. Our dinner tonight was excellent! Very authentic where the tourists usually do not go and the same meal is served to all the tables, Chef’s choice. They serve about 35 people a night. Our first course consisted of cod, polenta, octopus, mussels and sea bass. The second course was pasta with seafood. The third was shrimp and calamari. By dessert time I was really full; however, I did manage to eat custard with cookies. We could only do this once!

Wednesday, November 16

We slept in today (probably from the large meal). Our breakfast was not as plentiful as the other hotels we had stayed in with no fruit; however the pastry they served was wonderful, light and fluffy with powdered sugar on top. Today we walked on the other side of the canal, trying to get our bearings and get a feel for Venice. We went to the Peggy Guggenheim collection museum which was very modern and interesting. Another stop for today was Piazzo San Marco and San Marco House of the Doge’s Residence with the prisons. This palace was huge.
Zach and I happened to notice that in just about every town there are hundreds of stores with very elaborate masks, all shapes, colors, creatures and feathers. We found out that in Italy they use the masks for Carnival, in Germany it’s called Fashing and in New Orleans Mardi Gras, which is a celebration before Ash Wednesday.

We enjoyed a very light dinner, just a wrap and wine. Our gondola serenade will be on our last day! Ciao.

Thursday, November 17th

We stared the day by going to museums (something different), which were Museo Correr, Museo Archeologilo and Sale Monumental Biboloteca Marciana. They all related to the buildings and history of Venice, the wars that they fought, weapons they used for that time period. All very interesting; however, I think I can say that I was officially “Musuemed Out” after that. I have seen enough busts and statues to last a lifetime. From there we sat in San Marco Square and had a snack of trail mix. I decided to throw one half a peanut to a pigeon. The pigeons figured out where it was coming from, and soon, we had pigeons on our arms, legs, shoulders and heads. I was taking pictures of pigeons all over Zach, then he hands me a handful of nuts. Next thing I knew I had pigeons all over me, picking at my scarf, jumping on my camera, and head. When you see the picture Zach took of me you can tell what was going through my head! It was like the movie “The Birds”. They entertained us for a while. Then we went to our “Serenaded Gondola ride”. There was another couple in the gondola with us, the rower, accordion player and the singer. Three boats left at the same time and all had the benefits of the serenade. We never heard anyone else being serenaded on the canals. It was very romantic and special. A lot of people were taking pictures and videos of the serenading, even the people on the bridges as we passed under them stopped to watch. Quite an experience! It was our last night, then back to the USA. It’s funny, in Venice you see a lot of US things, McDonald’s is big, US team sweatshirts, and Hard Rock Cafés. There are no cars in Venice. Everything is by boat. All the garbage is hauled away by boat; all deliveries to stores are done by boat. It’s truly amazing. It is as if you are walking through a water maze; however, easier to understand than Rome and Florence. So many shops it is unbelievable, and a lot of Murrano glass and high end stores. We have had a wonderful experience here! Ciao…….

SOAR 6/10/2011

The Specials Operations Adventure Race raises money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation which provides college scholarships and other aid to the children of Green Berets and SEALS killed in combat. This race in Highlands, NC area allows one-person and two-person teams. We entered in the Coed Masters Division. Our teammate form Blue Ridge Mark Bell and our son-in-law Jeremy decided to race as a team, so the four of us raced together.

This was an unsupported race so we had to carry all our gear for the entire race, including our running shoes and climbing gear with helmets. The race started on bike and mostly stayed on forest service and paved roads. We biked down a lot of fast paved roads and biked up a lot of double track trails. The distances between the CPs were long sometimes taking over an hour between points. By the time we arrived at the paddle we had biked almost 30 miles and only had six checkpoints.

When we arrived at CP3/5 there was an 8.4 mile trek to get the sole CP (#4) at the top Rabun Bald on the Bartram trail. After consulting the rule book and learning there was a two hour penalty for a missed checkpoint we decided to skip that CP because it would have taken us more than three hours for the round trip. This is what made the difference in winning the race. None of the other teams made this strategic decision and we gained at least an hour on them in overall time. Then there was a long bike to CP6 which included a bike-whack through some very rough uphill terrain.

From CP6 we had several miles up a steep Forest Service Road and single track which took us near Glenn Falls. The single track trail was steep enough and we were tired and hot enough that we just hiked-a-bike the entire trail until we arrives at the next FS road. During this hike-a-bike it was really hot and so steep we stopped to catch our breath frequently. From there it was about two miles uphill on FS and one mile on paved road to the lake and the start of the paddle. Although that bike section was very difficult we made it to the lake in about six hours. Cathy was pretty tired of riding bikes by then.

We dropped our bikes, picked up our canoe and dragged it to the water. The paddle was on Lake Sequoyah, which is a relatively small lake. The paddle to the three CPs took less than an hour. While we were on the lake the storm alarms sounded, but we were almost finished by then, so we kept going. From there it was a three-mile bike to the rappel site. From there it was a mile hike up a hill to the top of the rappel and only 150 feet back to our bikes. Of course we had to rappel to get back to them. Finally, after seven hours of carrying all our climbing gear we got to rappel. It was a great 150-foot rappel into a quarry which brought us right back to our bikes. Then it was a short ride to the finish line. Most of the teams that decided to go for CP4 did not get to paddle on the lake and did not get to do the rappel because they ran out of time.

Although we had signed up for the Coed Masters Division; we were the first Coed team and 5th overall to the finish line. Our finish time with the two hour penalty was 9 hours, 35 minutes and 20 seconds. As we have said before; not bad for two almost 60 year olds. We will have to change our team “50 Somethings” to the “60 Somethings” soon.

Although we had signed up for the Coed Masters Division; we were the first Coed team and 5th overall to the finishline. Our finish time with the two hour penalty was 9 hours, 35 minutes and 20 seconds. As we have said before; not bad for two almost 60 year olds. We will have to change our team “50 Somethings” to the “60 Somethings” soon.

Blue Ridge Mountain Adventure Race 2011

Hard to believe we have been competing in this race for 12 years. We were still in our 40s for our first Blue Ridge 12 year ago. We are by far much older than any other AR team with a total of 170 years. A team only needs 120 years to be in the master’s category.

The weather was warmer than usual for this race. (During our first Blue Ridge in 2000 it snowed and we had to swim across the river twice. That was cold!) Fortunately, there were some overcast skies that kept the temperatures bearable and we spend most of the afternoon paddling which helped us stay cool. Our teammate for the 6th year in a row was Mark Bell. His wife Lorie and son Andrew were our support crew.

This was not one of our best races; a flat tire, a swamped canoe and a few missed checkpoints (CP) impacted our overall performance. Even our pictures were not as good as usual. We were using a new waterproof camera and it spent most of the time in a dry bag in the canoe.

On Friday night at the pre-race briefing the race director, Ron Zadroga told us the Lake Blue Ridge dam was under repair and water levels were the lowest in 50 years. Lake Blue Ridge is fed by the Toccoa River. At the time we didn’t know how much that was going to impact the race.

The race started at 8am at a new location, Deep Hole Recreation Area on the Toccoa River. We had to finish in 10 hours and we needed all 10 hours to finish. The way the course was setup the first part of the race was mostly on bike with some foot travel to CPs and the second part was mostly paddling with some portages and some foot travel to more CPs.

We usually do not have enough time to acquire all the CPs in a race so our strategy is to skip certain CPs to ensure we reach the finish on time. We started on our bikes and skipped the first CP and went from there to a series of eight CPs (A-H) where we had to acquire four of the eight. We planned to do B, A, C, E. We couldn’t find B so we went to D then C and A, but missed E. We kept moving forward on the course not to waste time and retrace our route. The plan from the night before doesn’t always work.

We went to CP 2 and found it easily after travelling through briars and paying the price with many scratches. When we returned to our bikes Cathy’s had a flat on front. After a quick change of tubes we had five more CPs to obtain before arriving at the transition area (TA) to the canoes. Our plan was to arrive at the TA around noon. We were running a little behind our time line so we skipped CP 3 at the top of a mountain and found a hunter’s path from CP 4 to CP’s 5, 6 and 7 and then had a short ride on paved road to the TA (CP8).

It was 1215pm when we arrived at the TA and 1225pm when we left the TA portaging our canoe to Nantoola Creek where we put in. The creek was running surprisingly fast and had more white water than we expected. After a half mile it flowed into the Toccoa River where the real fun began.

Our canoe is old and beaten up from many races and is not the most stable anymore. On the river we went through a series of class 2 rapids without much trouble and picked up CP 9. The second to last rapid was running at a class three and we took the wrong line on the left side of the river and knew we had messed up as soon as we saw the drop and turn. We “gracefully” fell out the ride side and swamped the canoe. Fortunately, we were close to shore and almost everything was secured to the canoe. The only thing that wasn’t secure was Mark’s map case with the course instructions and that went floating down the river never to be seen again. Mark had been carrying the passport, but for some unknown reason Zach put it in his map case at CP 9. When we spilled the passport stayed with the boat. If the passport had stayed in Mark’s map case our race would have been over.

After righting the boat we paddled down the river and had to deal with one more set of rapids before our take out at Sandy Bottom. The rapids were right before the take out We were on the left side of the river and we had a little problem getting to the right side. We paddled hard and barely made it to the take out on the opposite side of the river before being pushed by the current downstream.

We put the wheels on and portaged down the road to cut off three miles of the paddle. We were so consumed with drying out the map we went right by the trail into the woods to CP 10. After a mile of portaging on a dirt road we had another half mile of rough portage on a horrible trail down to the lake. What a surprise when we arrived to find no lake but only a roaring river with class three plus rapids. This is what the river looked like before it was dammed up. We just needed to go about a half mile to get to the other side for our next two CPs and the bonus CP. We saw other teams spilling in the rapids and being carried rapidly downriver. We were able to battle the rapids and get to the other side but had difficulty pulling into shore. Finally, we made it and pulled the canoe to the bank only to be mid-calf in mud. As we secured our boat we watched several more teams spill in the rapids.

We had a steep climb up the bank and had to climb using small trees and our hands to get to level ground. At the top we were unsure of our location due to the water level. Mark and Cathy went looking for CPs 12 and 11 while Zach ran up the mountain to obtain the wristband for proof of obtaining the bonus CP. We were to meet in the field but when Zach arrived Cathy and Mark were not there. Fortunately, after a few minutes of yelling we were able to locate each other. We headed back to the canoe and slid down the steep hill on our butts we had previously struggled up. Incredibly we came out right by our canoe. Good thing time was running out.

It was 4pm and we only had two hours to finish. Zach thought we could make it in an hour and a half, but the canoe had lost some of its paddle worthiness in the rapids and we encountered fierce headwinds all the way back whether we went east, north or west. After a while we realized we would be hard pressed to complete the paddle by 6pm. When we arrived at the inlet to the Blue Ridge Rec Area, the canoe take out, it was gone. We could only see land. Fortunately, a person on shore shouted to us that we’d need to portage over some land then get back in the water to finish the paddle. At this time we only had 15 minutes to finish. We paddle like crazy, landed, jumped out of the canoe, attached the wheels and ran the boat through a mess or rock and mud up a hill to finish.

We arrived at 558pm with two minutes to spare. We finished 38th overall which was two places better than last year and three places better than 2009 and we were 3rd in the Masters Division.

Kilimanjaro Expedition



We left Atlanta on February 23 on a 20 hour flight to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania and arrived in Kilimanjaro at 930pm on February 24. We were transported to the Meru Lodge and had a night’s rest before our first day full day in Tanzania.
We spent Friday adjusting to the time and temperature change with a trip to Arusha National Park. In the park we were accompanied by an armed ranger due to possible wild animal attack. We saw a variety of animals including zebra, giraffe, Cape buffalo, warthog, hyena and others from our Range Rover and during a three-hour hike. We also visited Lake Big Meru which has the largest concentration of fluorite of any lake on earth. This lake is also the home to tens of thousands of Flamingos. Mount Meru at about 15500 feet is the backdrop for this area.
Early Saturday morning we rode an hour to the Umbwe Trailhead to start our climb. The Trailhead is about 5500 feet. There we signed the official log-in book. We met our Thomsom Safaris head guide, Prosper, two assistant guides, Gauden and Godlezen, our cook and his two helpers and our 27 porters. All this for nine climbers; Tim from Boston, Tom from Miami Beach, Joe, Bryce and George from Chicago, Paul and Victoria from Toronto and the two of us. Each porter is only allowed to carry 40 pounds. Everything, including all trash has to be carried up and down the mountain.
The climb started rather easily with a gradual ascent up a dirt road. After two hours the road turned into moderately steep single track. We hiked for two more hours and stopped for our first lunch break. Thomson does a good job providing beyond our needs. Every meal was a hot one. We always had tables and chairs and table clothes and a hand washing station at each meal. They also provided a portable privacy toilet which Cathy and Victoria appreciated.After lunch we climbed about four more hours on fairly steep trails. We arrived at Umbwe Cave Camp at 9700 ft. for our first overnight. Since we were in the mountains, it’s hard to find level ground. Our tent usually slightly slopped downhill toward our feet. We put our duffels down by our feet each night to keep from sliding down toward the front.Day two brought another eight hours of climbing. Most of the climbing was very steep with a number of scrambles up steep walls. We went from 9700 ft. to 13050 ft. this day. We traveled through three eco-zones; Forest, Heather and Moorland. The Heather area was spectacularly beautiful. The Mooreland climb was on a ridgeline with plunging mountain walls and spectacular views on both sides.  Late afternoon we arrived at Barranco Camp. This camp was also hosting several other expeditions coming from more westerly routes than the Umbwe. We were in the Alpine Desert ecosystem and would remain there till decent after summit day.

On day three we climbed from Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp. Although we went up and down many times the overall elevation only increased 300 feet. This was to help with acclimatizing to the elevation for the final summit push.

Day four was a short climb day. We only climbed about four hours and were finished by lunchtime. This climb from Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp at 15300 ft. was to set up our climb to the summit stating at midnight. After lunch we rested, had dinner and rested some more. After dinner the wind picked-up considerably and was severely buffeting out tents. One of the other climbers in our group asked Zach if we were still summiting with the high winds. The answer was yes.

At 11pm we started putting all our gear on for the summit climb. The wind was fierce blowing constantly 40-50 miles per hour. Everyone was determined to make the summit. We were also hoping the wind would die down. That did not happen.

We left at midnight with only the incredibly bright stars and our headlamps lighting the way. The first 500 hundred feet in elevation gain was a scramble up rock. After that it was a climb up scree the rest of the way to Stella Point which was the crest of the mountain. Kilimanjaro is the tallest free standing volcano on earth so the scree is pretty typical of the area around the top of most volcanoes. We climbed up the scree for almost 5 hours, stopping occasionally for a quick break. We did not stop long. Even though we were well bundles up with the wind blowing we had to keep moving to stay warm. About half way to the top our fluids and food were frozen from the below freezing temperatures and 50 mph winds. Not sure what the wind chill equals but it was damn cold. Several times many of us felt like we’d be blown off the mountain but we weren’t. As the sun started rising we made our last big push and arrived at Stella Point. The worst of the climbing was over. The wind had not let up though. 

After a short break to view the sunrise we pushed on for another 45 minutes to Uhuru Peak 5895 meters – 19340 ft. The view of the glaciers and surrounding area was spectacular. Unfortunately by this time we were too cold to enjoy it.  After the requisite photos of the summit area, we headed down the mountain. Both of us were in early stages of hypothermia and we needed to get to a warmer place.

The only way to do that was to go back down the mountain. As we climbed down and the sun rose in the sky the winds moderated a little. It was a four hour climb back to Barafu Camp. By the time we arrived there we had warmed up. We were also very tired from the climb and fighting the wind. Every day on the mountain is a different experience. One guide who had summited over 170 times said it was the worst winds he had ever experienced on the summit climb.

After a short rest and lunch we took off down the mountain on the Mweka Trail which took us to Mweka Camp about 5000 feet lower than Barafu. We arrived at that camp early evening. It’s a large camp since it is a staging area for many expeditions. One of our group members bought everyone a Kilimanjaro beer which we thoroughly enjoyed.

The next morning we climbed down to the Mweka Gate and signed the official book. Thomson had a nice lunch and ceremony for us. We received our summit certificates and we had some summit patches as well.

From there we went to KIA Lodge for the first shower in a week and a well deserved break. That evening we went to the airport and started our journey home.

Cathy’s JournalFeb 23rd – Wed to Thursday Feb 24th We started our adventure with a long flight, over- 8 hours to Amsterdam (with an hour layover). We met a couple (a little older than us) who had climbed Kilimanjaro two years prior, and took a different route up. They shared their story and pictures. Our next leg of our journey was even longer to Tanzania. We slept a fair amount on the plane and watched lots of movies. We land in Tanzania. My first stop was at the restroom, after meeting with the Thomson Safari people and other people that we were climbing Kilimanjaro with. Joe, Bryce, George, Tom, Tim, Victoria and Paul was the group. The restroom was a real eye opener. I have never seen just a hole in the ground and a place to put your feet! What have I gotten myself into?
From the airport we went to Arusha Lodge which was about an hour. We turn to go the lodge onto a very long and very dusty road. We were greeted with warm washcloths to get the dust off our faces. It felt wonderful. Then we offered a passion fruit drink. We had a slight briefing on the plans for the following day.
Feb 25th – Friday
We had breakfast at 7 am and a 830 am briefing on our climb and to meet our guides. Prosper is the head guide and Gauden and Godlezen are the other guides. Then off to Arusha National Park for a full day of animal viewing and some light hiking. We rode in Range Rovers that had roof tops that pop open for easy viewing of the animals and taking pictures. We saw lots of Blue monkeys, Colobus monkeys, Kirk’s dik-dik, Martial Eagle, Giraffe and Zebras, Crowned Crane, and thousands of Flamingo’s. Lake Big Meru has the largest concentration of fluoride in the world. After our mini safari, we arrived at the National Forest where we had to wait for our guide to take us on our hike. Our guide was a small man, a ranger carrying an AK47 gun. He had another assistant helper with him. His name was Ezekiel and he was full of information. We walked in this open field viewing the animals. The African buffalo did not look to happy about our presence and once our guide cocked his gun he just turned and went the other direction. Whew! We saw warthogs and baboons. We walked through the forest and came upon a very nice waterfall. We finished up our hike and then it was back to the lodge. We had a nice dinner at the lodge. We turned in early for the big day and the start of our climb. Back at our room we had a visitor, a little mouse. We shooed him out. About 4 am Zach wakes me, “did you hear that?” I heard a rustling sound coming from we thought Zach’s duffle bag. In the morning I discovered that the sound we heard was coming from the thatched roof and the mice were running on top of it.
Feb 26th – Saturday
Big breakfast! We weighed our bags to make sure they do not exceed 33 lbs. Then off to our start for the Umbwe Trailhead (5,900 ft). The bathrooms were , well………those holes in the ground with two stands to place your feet, very smelly!! (at Arusha National Park there bathrooms were far smellier – I had to leave and let my eyes stop tearing from gaging then go back in holding my nose). Anyway, we signed the book here with all our information, passport numbers etc. and then make sure our duffle bags were there and they were. We were pleased to see that the porters rewrapped our bags in heavy duty waterproof duffle bag carriers. It is now 11 am as we start our climb into the rainforest. We will stay in this eco system for today and then move into the Moorland system. The rainforest is beautiful, with ferns, passion plants and baby trumpet plants. The rain teases us, ponchos go on (Zach and I didn’t) gaiters on (we didn’t do that either). Twenty minutes later, everyone starts taking off their ponchos and gaiters which are very hot. That is why we did not put them on only if it was raining very hard. We sat down for our first lunch about 2 pm. Tables, chairs, and table clothes. A very nice lunch was served. I’m impressed! The rain and thunder tease us once again, close but just a tease. We’re all having lots of great conversation and lots of laughs. We couldn’t have asked for a better group to climb with. The porters and guides are awesome. What respect I have for all the porters for all the equipment they brought up. it was just unbelievable. The porters set up the whole camp, Umbwe Caves camp (9,500 ft) by the time we got there. We had a mess tent, 6 tents for the climbers, 4 huge tents for the 3 guides and 27 porters, and 1 medic. Our dinner was amazing!! We had fresh veggie soup, spaghetti with meat, bread, fresh sliced vegetables and dessert. The toilet facilities (2) were not as primitive as I imagined. They pump flush and they did not smell. Zach was good at doing his research to keep me happy. We had a long day starting at 630am – 8 hours of climbing.
Feb 27th- Sunday
Up at 630 (teas served tent side), however I did not sleep well due to Zach snoring ( he was congested) and when he stopped snoring some bird with a strange call would squawk. The bird would stop and then Zach would start snoring. This went on for most of the night. We left camp at 830. Our guide today is Gowden. It will be a very steep climb at the start along with rock scrambling (not very good for short people). The forest took on another eco system. With a lot of moss, Giant Erica and Giant Heather trees with narrow steep trails. The air gets drier and the ridgeline very steep. We get a glimpse of Uhuru Peak through the trees. It is a beautiful day! We stop for a wonderful lunch. This day of climbing will bring us to Barranco Camp (13,004 ft). We see manly varieties of ferns and flowers. Now we enter the Moorland zone 330pm. We enjoy some downtime. After every day at camp the porters bring you basins of hot water to wash up. When you come to camp your duffle bag is in your tent (We’re a little spoiled). Tea is served and we relax looking at what we have to climb tomorrow! It will be only a 3 hour up and over very steep and down the other side to Karanga Camp. There will be only 230’ elevation change. No one at this time has suffered from altitude sickness. Everyone is taking Diamox for the altitude sickness and Joe and Cathy are taking something else for it (a steroid). Some have had touches of Montezuma’s revenge. Actually all the guys got it but not Victoria or Cathy. Dinner was lasagna, garlic bread, beans and fresh pineapple for dessert.
Feb 28th – Monday
Up at the usual 630 am. We left camp at 840. We were all curious of the “Barranco Wall”. We were told it would be about a 3 hour hike today, turned into 4.5 hour hike or climb and very strenuous. The “Wall” was very challenging. Everyone feeling well and strong and another beautiful day!! We arrived at Karanga Camp at 315. Lunch was served, French fries, chicken tenders and sliced avocado, tomatoes cucumber salad, carrots, fresh coconut, and cucumber. Excellent food! It really hit the spot. We went back to our tents for a nap. Every day the porters knock on our tents for “Teatime”. The elevation – 13,231 ft. The sun periodically peaks through and we get a clear view of the snow covered summit. Today is Paul’s birthday. Dinner, Taco’s with all the fixings and they surprised us with baking Paul a cake with his name on it and singing Happy Birthday, with all the cooks and staff. They sang a special song for him in Swahili. Victoria (Paul’s wife) was shocked as the rest of us were.
March 1st – Tuesday
Up at 630 and we depart 840 to our next destination, Barafu Camp 15,331 ft. Three hours steady uphill. We arrive 1140 at camp. The tents are all set up. Lunch served at 1245pm. Corned Beef brisket, pasta, hard boiled eggs and fresh cucumber, carrots and coconut. It is very dusty and windy. The temperature will drop at the altitude. We will take a nap (or try- the tents are like saunas). There are a lot of Kili mice here. They look like chipmunks with a long tail. We have our tea at 4 pm and wash up. Dinner is a 6 pm, soup and pasta. Coming toward the camp, you could see the camp set up on the ridgeline, totally exposed to the elements. Also the blue glaciers! Just beautiful!! This is the night we have all been waiting for. After our dinner, we will settle in early to be awoken at 11pm and leave camp for our accent at 12 midnight fully clothed- it will be cold. This will be a 6-8 hour climb to Stella Point and then onto Uhuru Peak 19,340 feet!!
March 2nd – Wednesday
We wake up at 11pm and the wind is blowing fiercely. We had tea and toast and left by midnight. All headlamps on and we set out to climb. I never lost my determination to finish. We were all very quiet and cold. About 2 hours into the climb, my headlamp did not work because of the cold. I had to rely on everyone else’s headlamps. It was a horrendous scree climb followed by rock scrambling. At this time I was getting blown off balance. We all kept looking, trying to see the end of it. About 3 hours into the climb my fluids bladder froze and I kept blowing it back to keep it from freezing but the wind was relentless whipping about 50 mile an hour wind. We packed a Nalgene bottle and kept it upside down to keep it from freezing. Zach’s bladder froze about ½ hour later. It makes it difficult to hydrate yourself which is the one key in success to the summit. Two hours later we are still climbing and going through narrow paths of glaciers. We keep looking behind us to see if we can see the sun rising to give us some warmth. At this point Victoria and I have got to relieve ourselves. Not easy for women!! Two more hours and we finally make it to Stella Point 19,000 ft. we still have another 45 minutes until we come to Uhuru Peak 19,340 ft. I had my new big camera in my back pack however once we got to the summit we were so cold that we just wanted our guide to take our picture with our point and shoot cameras and get down fast. I had all intentions of taking a picture of Zach’s altimeter watch with the altitude on it. That never happened. Between hypothermia and dehydration we were fueling the altitude sickness. We were the first to start down with our guide Gauden. Scree all the way down- all 4000 ft. That was difficult. We got back to camp about 10 am. This we knew was going to be a very long day. 4000’ up to the summit and 4000’ down, have lunch then 5000’ down to Mweka Camp. So that is 13000’ in one day!! Everyone felt they needed more time before moving out of the camp. All agreed that the climb was the hardest they had ever done! We packed up camp by 1 pm. We would be taking a different approach down. This is a very slippery trail, all dusty (Alpine Desert zone), rocky and scree for a good part down. We finally made it to camp about 430. Joe tried to get the porters t meet us at the camp with beer and wine (his treat) only to find out they could not bring it into the park area. The park had beer at their store so we settled for a beer. We had an appetizer of roasted lamb tenderloin with herbs and garlic. It was very good. Dinner was served at 7 pm. We were all exhausted (sleep deprivation from the early climb). We all went to bed early to finish our trek through the rainforest to Mweka Gate early in the morning.

March 3rd - Thursday

This trail was very slippery and wet. We finally made it to Mweka Gate. There we signed the book that we completed our climb and had lunch which was hamburgers, avocados and pineapple. Beer and wine for all the porters, guides and our group (compliments of Joe). We were presented with our certificates of completion on climbing Kilimanjaro. We were transported to the Kia Lodge. A shower never felt so good. We went by the pool for a couple of hours and had a beer or two. Dinner was at 6pm and we were taken to the Tanzania airport at 7pm and our flight was not until 10pm. It was a long flight to Amsterdam and we had an eight hour layover so we took the train to downtown Amsterdam and walked around for 4 hours. It was very coldthere. We arrived in Atlanta at 630pm on Friday, March 4th. It was a GREAT trip!