Mambo Vipi! Just recently got back from climbing to the rooftop of Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro. We started Sunday (sept 27) and got back Friday evening, so it took a total of 6 days to summit and come down. It was an incredible trip, hard to put down in words. I went with 6 people I live with, and our guides and crew. We decided to take the Machame route up the mountain, which is one of the steepest, but also the most scenic. The first couple days we hiked through all different types of climates, first starting in the rainforest, then continuing through the woodlands, moorelands, high deserts, then finally a rocky, lava and ash filled nothingness.It was pretty eerie once we were at an altitude where nothing could survive, it was just miles of ash and slate from the once active volcano. By Wednesday evening we had made it to about 15,500 ft, and Wednesday night at 12 am we started our ascent to the summit, which is 19, 340 ft. We started in the middle of the night in order to reach the summit when the sun was rising, which is when it is the most clear. The climb through the night was one of the hardest things I've ever done, mainly because it was a very steep climb and it was hard to breathe because of the altitude. Plus it was very cold, around -15 F, which meant you had to keep moving. The sun started rising when I was about an hour from the summit, so I had a clear view of Africa below, it truly felt like I was standing on the rooftop of Africa. The summit was stunning, from the highest point you could see into the crater of the volcano, the glaciers all around, and miles and miles of tanzania.

Everything back at sealevel is great, I've been very very busy with my project. I mainly am now focusing on the HIV project in Shimbwe. We've started HIV education in the primary schools, which has been an eye opener because the kids literally know nothing about HIV. I also have been working on educating the HIV women and their families about living with the disease, nutrition, and home based care. I used some of the money people have donated to have a big feast on friday with the HIV positive women and their families. they LOVED it, plus we had a lot of leftover food that we fed to the kids at one of the schools. A little bit can go a long way here, it didn't cost much to feed about 35 people. I was hoping to get help to build each woman a garden, since they have very poor nutrition, but they agreed that it would be too hard to maintain a garden since there is a drought. They agreed that building a chicken coop, so they could eat the eggs for protein, plus sell some eggs to make a small income would be beneficial. I'll be starting on this project soon, I just hope to leave the village with something sustainable in place!

I'll be leaving for Zanzibar this Saturday, which I'm really excited about!! We are taking a Dala Dala ( rickety little bus) to the coast of Tanzania, camping on the coast to do some snorkeling and exploring, then sailing to Zanzibar. I can't wait, it's really hot here so hitting the beach sounds amazing.

I've uploaded 2 albums of pictures on my facebook, Safari and Tanzania. I'll put up Kilimanjaro pictures soon. Check them out!