Africa Update Number 6 (email from Africa)

Hey kids,

Sorry for such a delay since my last email. Unfortunately I only have
15 minute to pound this one out before teh internet cafe I'm in closes
for the night....so where in the world am I?????

Moshi, the land of Kilimanjaro. Shalini and I just finished our
trek.....7 days, 77 km......but we didn't make it :(

On the summit night, we trekked our way for 5 hours, 45 minutes, but at
18,000 feet, the altitude sickness really took ahold of me. Withing 5
minutes, I fell down three times from dizziness and felt like I was
going to puke at any moment, not to mention the splitting headache. I
took a quick break, was shivering severely from the 0 degree F cold,
took another 20 steps, and had to quit. Soooooooo close. Made it up
to 5625 m (18,370 feet), 60 m short of Gillman's Point, but still well
short of the peak at 5985 m (19,147 feet). Would have taken another
hour or so to reach the peak......I'm pretty disappointed, but life was
no fun at that point and I had to get down. Shalini was a great sport
and despite feeling good, she refused to go any further and follow me
down....

The experience and hike was awesome - I'd definitely recommend the
Rongai route to anyone trying this. Easy hikes, at very very slow
rates for the first 4 days, but then you make it to Kibo hut at 4,700 m
(15,600) and do the real work. A bit sore now (especially my bad knee)
at 25 miles of hiking on the summit day (2,770 feet up, 12,192 feet
down.

The Serengeti was cool visually, but there really weren't too many
animals this time of year - come in the wet season, makes a huge
difference. The Ngorongoro Crater, however, was simple awesome -
possibly the best single day in a national park yet - animals
everywhere, including cheetah, but despite serious efforts, no
leopards. Those little bastards are hard to spot.

Off to Cape Town tomorrow morning for the last week of our trip
(sad!!), but it's been an awesome experience thus far. I'll write more
when I get more time!!

Cheers,

Rob