THE ROOF OF AFRICA

At 5895 meters (19,341 ft.), Kilimanjaro is the highest free -standing mountain in the world (no other mountains around it like Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier). It requires no technical skills to climb (crampons, ice axes, ropes etc.) but there is some class 3 scrambling and the effects of altitude are significant. Colleen and my good friend Steve Jackson flew from the States to join me on the climb. We had 2 guides, a cook, a waiter and 8 porters.  It was like a mini expedition and gave you an idea, on a much smaller scale, of what an Everest climb would be like. The route was 6 days and with the exception of summit day, we hiked/climbed 6 to 7 hours a day. Summit day started at midnight. We reached the summit at 0730 and got back to base camp at 1030. We then packed up, ate lunch and hiked down another 5 hours to our camp for the last night.

The moon was so bright we were able to climb without headlights

After Kilimanjaro we drove to the Ngorongoro Crater for some game viewing, the highlight of which was a lion pride / buffalo herd standoff.

Cape Town is considered to be one of the most beautiful
cities in the world

I will spend the holidays in Cape Town and then depart for St. Helena after the 1st of the year.