There are 2 mountains....

Mama Kilimanjaro is the obvious one. 

My personal mountain... the one I didn't know existed, was apparently about flying way outside even the boundaries of my imagination, and taking a leap of faith like I have never done before. The second mountain begins challenging you physically, emotionally and psychologically, the second you commit to the first mountain!

There were tears leading up to our trip to Tanzania. Tears of anxiety and self doubt, tears of relief and pride as I hit training goals and mental milestones. They were nothing compared to the tears that let loose on the trail to the highest point in Africa. I had no idea I held so much water behind my eyes!

To call it a hike seems ... inadequate. The journey to the top of Kilimanjaro is HUMBLING. A lesson - or perhaps a hard slap in the face - in patience, perseverance and compassion.

I imagined that post-summit I would say "I did it!" and "We did it!" but the God's honest truth is that our team of guides, porters, and other support crew members did it. They got little ol' me (and all of us) to 19,300' safely and without them I could not have come even remotely close.

Tools of their trade include but are not limited to kindness like you have likely never experienced, compassion that is genuine and obvious, interpretation of body, face and verbal cues; and through dance and song, the joyful and generous injection of positive energy.  I 100% credit the encouragement and support I received from our Habari Dream Team for the reason I wanted to, and the fact I could, just keep putting one foot in front of the other - in the darkness, in the cold, in the thin air.

The souls that touched mine have forever changed me. The journey has forever changed me.

On the mountain, I overheard crew talking about their clients "becoming true" that is referring to them becoming themselves as they sacrifice things that matter less, to achieve their goal. They seem to have a unique understanding that the trekker has been dreaming and planning this journey for months, years or even decades. With respect, they lean into the fact that this is BIG for us, and hard, and emotional. Every person has a story and none is too small or too big for them to support. Treating us like a gift is weird for me... as I find them to be the gift... the gift I never knew I wanted or needed until I did. And once you see it, you can't unsee it.

From the roof of Africa, Mama Kili spoke to me in a low deep voice about being brave and vulnerable. She answered questions I didn't know I was asking. She convinced me to open a door I was unaware I had locked.

Ngorongoro Crater - Our last hurrah!

Another early morning for these gals! A 6am breakfast and we were driving by 6:30am. Ngorongoro Crater was not too far away and in the next 6 hours we'd cover most of it and see a surprising amount.

The Crater is home to a bunch of animals that remain year around as they have all they need here. No point scaling the 2000' sides.

Others still migrate in and out - wilderbeest, elephant, baboons...

And, fun fact, there are no giraffes in this crater. The steep ascent and descent not being their cup of tea but also, the tall trees they snack on are not as prevalent here. 

Ok, so what did we see?

Tons of wilderbeest and zebra. Despite probably having enough zebra  pics, they are a favorite and I was very happy to get more. 

Cape buffalo - these guys grew on me. It might be the fact they are happy companions to bird friends - oxpeckers and cattle egrets OR that their curiosity matches mine and they stare into my lens willingly. Looking relaxed and calm, it always surprises me that they are in the top 5 killers. Apparently that calm nature is liable to turn angry and hostile in a second. 

Lions in Ngorongoro were harder to find. Long golden grass hid them perfectly and moms stashed cubs in prickly bushes. Ok for spying on, but not great for pics. 

Birds - Bustards, buzzards, African crowned crane (yes!) and ostriches everywhere. 

My favorite little black-backed jackal made an appearance and we followed his sweet but skittish self as he sniffed out a carcass and took his fair share. 

Sue's keen eyes spotted something in the grass and we had the rare pleasure of watching FOUR bat-earred foxes go a little crazy with each other. What a treat!

Ngorongoro Crater is an amazing place. While plenty of animals thwarted us (we only saw the elusive rhino from a distance) it remains one of my favorite places. Stunning geography, self contained environment with spring water, lakes and streams, marshland and stands of trees, open plains, hippo ponds and more. 

At one point, the radio came alive with chitter-chatter about a rhino sighting and Hilary expertly positioned us in the line of vehicles that held the same expectations...

In every direction the walls of the collapsed volcano rise high. The sun shines down inside and the rim hides under thick cloud. As we ascended up the paved, steep road, I felt a twang. I would need to come back here - As Hilary put it "before you get too old!"

The drive back past Tarangire, Manyara and Arusha, to our weird hotel near the Kilimanjaro Airport was 5 hours and included one of those delightful boxed lunches at a picnic area... then some final souvenir shopping. The roads were dusty, chaotic, reminiscent of India in a big way for me.  Traffic has no rules here... or none they follow at least. Passing the vehicle in front means taking the right lane - whether there is oncoming traffic or not. I think it is assumed oncoming traffic is smart or motivated enough to move to the shoulder, much like the traffic being passed. It's hair raising, but not as hair raising as when Hilary had to pass a broken vehicle on the one lane ascending road from the Crater.  With a steep drop off of 1000' just outside my window, he gingerly drove the 2 ride side wheels over the edge of the paved road to the point I couldn't see the ground outside my window! I might have squeaked a little and grabbed Sue's arm.

Anyway, around 6:30pm, we arrived at the shabby hotel, had a quick shower and snacked on Pringles, nuts and dried apricots before calling it a night. Five hours later, the alarm went off and we began the long journey home. 

LONG. JOURNEY.

Note: As promised, my experience with the long term effects of an "African Massage":  It works!!! The neck pain that I had carried from Colorado, a month old at the time of departure and nothing that two American style massages had touched, was 100% vibrated and jiggled out by the end of Day 2 on safari. Toyota Land Cruiser and dirt roads for the win! I can tell you now, a month later, the transformation was permanent too.