(And do you like how I’m so not creative with my blog titles that I really just make them the first sentence of the post?)
Anyway. Back to my list.
I always have an ongoing list of travel-related adventures that I must accomplish. I usually have one or two sitting at the top, and when I finally get to enjoy those trips, I cross them off and find new explorations to make my primary focus. The pyramids in Egypt and Machu Picchu in Peru used to be tied for first place but I crossed those suckers off in 2010 and 2006 (respectively). Don’t worry; I’ve found a new goal!
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Boom. Guys, I want this mountain. Badly.
I have had Kili on my list for years, but it was always below other adventures. However, over the past 2-3 years it has continually crept to the forefront of my mind and quite honestly, it’s driving me nuts. How can a mountain I’ve never seen or touched preoccupy so many of my thoughts?!
Let’s face it: Mt. Kilimanjaro is badass. For those of you that aren’t as mountain-obsessed, let me tell you why this beast is awesome. First of all, at 19,341 feet it is the tallest mountain in Africa, thus making it one of the Seven Summits. Unlike some of the other peaks in this category (ahem, Denali and Everest, ahem), it isn’t dangerous to climb. Granted, I say that with a grain of salt because any mountain has its inherent dangers, especially when you are going up this high in elevation. However, Kili does not require the technical snow and glacier climbing that others require, and let’s face it: 19,000 feet is significantly less than Everest’s 29,000! I’ve been up as high as 16,000 feet and while I wasn’t exactly frolicking around and doing wind sprints, I was definitely fine. I think I can handle more elevation 🙂
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There are a couple different routes that go up Kilimanjaro, but the one that I have always wanted to take is the Machame route. From what I gather, the Marangu is less steep, but this means that it has more people. I like people, but not that much 🙂 Plus, I’ve heard the Machame route is more scenic, so I’d be willing to deal with the extra difficulty in steepness to enjoy the better views!
Know what else I think is cool? If you climb Kili, you go through five different vegetation zones! That’s a freaking lot of different vegetation for a singular climb and being the plant nerd that I am, I’d truly enjoy checking out the variety from zone to zone. How crazy is it that you can start in almost tropical jungle and finish in a barren and exposed scree field?
So, I’ve decided that I need to climb Kili before the glacier melts away. Anyone need their car washed? House cleaned? I am now taking on any and odd jobs in order to save my pennies 🙂