On February 11, at 6:10 a.m., Joe and Beth reached the roof of Africa at 19,340'. The skies were clear with a full moon, and the temperature was well below freezing. They conquered Kilimanjaro!
After an acclimatization hike to 16,000', I returned to camp at 15,000' and was struck with High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) sometime after midnight on February 9. I was led down the mountain in the morning with my personal porter, a secondary porter and an assistant guide. Before departing camp, all 76 porters gathered before me and sang a send-off song before departing on my six-hour descent to the evacuation point. Many tears were shed as I bid my fellow hikers farewell and turned away from a personal dream that will have to remain just that.
Tomorrow we depart for our Serengeti safari. A full summary will follow when I get home. We all have quite a story to tell and lots of pictures to share.
The adventure continues.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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