January 1st: Tarangire Park

We're home in one week! I can't believe 3 weeks have gone by... I also found out that 130 people died in Nairobi yesterday due to rioting related to the presidential elections. I don't think we are too worried, even though Tammy and the girls fly to Nairobi tomorrow and Dave, Tyler, Tom and I will take a bus there on Jan. 5th in order to fly home.

We left at 8:00 a.m. for Tarangire Park. There was a nice Pavilion at the entrance paid for by the U.S. There weren't a ton of animals to see in the park as they had migrated outside the park. But that's OK because the terrain was beautiful and different than the Serengeti. It was a little hillier and had higher grass (hard to see the cats) and more bushes and trees. Perhaps it was hillier because we mostly stayed by the Tarangire River. We did see quite a few small dik-diks, some elephants, giraffes, and birds.

We returned to relax a the tent camp. Our decks off the tent bandas looked out over Lake Manyara, which was about 1 kilometer away. In between the tents and the lake was grass, which brought around zebras and wildebeest. It was lovely listening to the palm trees in the wind. They made a sound sort of like rain hitting a roof.

That afternoon we went on a nature walk to the lake. It was lovely. The grass was about 8 inches high and grew sparser as we got closer to the lake. About 50 yards from the shore the grass disappeared completely. The water rises regularly so the "shore" consisted of crumbly, dried mud of sorts. It smelled fishy and salty. The lake is about 3-4 meters deep. We saw plovers, pelicans, and flamingos. There were hoards of birds. I could have stayed at the tent camp for another week. Very relaxing.

January 2nd: Mt. Meru, Day 1

We left for Arusha/Mt. Meru this morning at 7:00 a.m. The drive went quickly. Arusha is a very clean, nice city. I think I could live there! We went back to the Serengeti Select (headquarters) office, paid, changed our bags and clothes out, and said our good-byes to Ihla, Gail, Tammy, Jessica, and Katrina. It took about an hour for Dave, Tyler, Tom and I to get to the first gate of the park. We said our good-byes to Pascal (our other driver). We were picked up by Christian Missionary Tour Company, and they drove us 17k to the second gate. We ate our boxed lunch, registered and headed out. Our group consisted of the 4 of us, a park ranger (with a gun), our guide, Sini, asst. guide/cook, Christopher, and 7 porters, who carried our bags, food, and cooking essentials.

As usual, I jumped out of the starting gate a little too quick and got my butt kicked by the altitude and the high sun. We went through a short meadow which had cape buffalo, water buck, and wild pigs. It was very pretty. We then hiked up a short head wall where I got my first schooling. The ranger then helped me set a pace which was real slow. It was torture initially, but then I realized that it worked with my overheating. Tom also took the small backpack and I got the fanny pack, plus he gave me a wet handkerchief, which worked wonders. Anyway, the hike was scenic, but hot and steep. I really appreciated any breaks we had, as well as shade.

We arrived to the huts after 3 hours and a 3,000 ft. elevation gain. The accommodations were really nice with 8 small rooms in each hut and 2 bunk beds in each room. We were called for tea and had popcorn (YUMMY!) and cookies at 5:00 p.m. I chilled and took a brief nap and then we had a very big dinner, which included vegetable soup, potatoes, cabbage, chicken with a veggie sauce, and mangoes for dessert. WOW. This is unlike any backpacking experience I've ever had.

The stars were beautiful tonight. Also, the bathroom facilities are great! Tomorrow is supposed to be the steepest day, but only about 4 hours of hiking.

January 3rd: Mt. Meru, Day 2

We left for the saddle hut at 8:00 a.m. and were given lunch to eat at 1/2 way. Well, we arrived at halfway at 10:00 a.m.. I really enjoyed the hiking this day because it was cool. We were pretty much under the canopy of trees and the early morning temperatures were very pleasant. There were a lot of stairs (wood slats) that made the steep uphills easier. We started in an old growth forest with tall trees which were spaced for easy viewing into the forest. The halfway point offered great views of the crater, lava cone, and peak. As we neared the saddle hut the tall trees were replaced by 6-7 foot shrubs. We saw some cool birds, including the turaco.

The saddle hut wasn't as nice as the first hut, as there was garbage and left over building materials in between the huts. I did some more chilling that afternoon while Tom, Dave, and Tyler hiked up to Little Meru. When they returned we had tea in the dining area which was attached to the huts, unlike the dining hall located with the first huts. We shared this small room, which was a tight squeeze with a great German couple, Torsten and Kathleen. Torsten is a economic consultant to the African Union and Kathleen is currently spending 3 months teaching at a Tanzanian primary school. We also met Hugo from Holland and the 7 of us played 3 hands of a charged game of 7 up/7 down... We tried to go to bed early as tomorrow is summit day and our wake up is at 4:00 a.m.

January 4th: Mt. Meru, Day 3 & Summit Day!

Summit Day! Our alarm was supposed to go off at 4:00 a.m., but Dave was the first to wake at 4:20 a.m. That's OK, because we pretty much had everything ready to go, and I think I wore my hiking clothes to bed that night (it was cold!). Our breakfast of biscuits (a.k.a. cookies) was at 4:30 a.m. and we departed at 5:00 a.m. The start of our trek was relatively flat and since it was pitch black we used our flashlights. Dawn was appearing on the horizon, so shortly thereafter we turned off our flashlights and used the dawn light and moon to guide us up the switchbacks. Bernard, our ranger, set a slow pace, and Dave, Tyler, and Christopher quickly passed us. Once above treeline and about 30-40 minutes of switchbacks we came to Rhino Point. After that we followed the ridge all the way up. It wasn't too steep, and we hiked on different materials, from what seemed to be a fine volcanic sand to larger stone/rubble rocks to rock outcroppings.

The view was spectacular on both sides. I loved the ash cone and am fascinated by it as it was something new to learn. It's a small cone located in the crater that is built up with eruptions. While looking to the left we could see the valley where we started, Kilimanjaro in the distance, and the Socialist Peak, which we were to summit. To the right we saw the city of Arusha, the long and steep slop of the volcano and distant mountains and volcanoes, including Ngorogoro.

We reached the summit about 40 minutes after Dave and Tyler. Tom was a doll and hiked with me the whole time. We hung out at the summit for about 1/2 an hour and headed down. Tom, I think, could have stayed for another hour or so, but it was 9:30 and since breakfast I only had a power bar and a box of juice and we didn't have any more food with us. The hike down was relatively uneventful except that my knee started to ache and I started to feel a little bit of a headache. I'm not sure if it was the altitude or absence of food in my stomach! We didn't arrive back to camp until about 1:00 p.m. and I was hungry! 3,000 ft up and then down!

About an 1 1/2 hours later we had soup and french toast and then we continued another 3,000 ft down to the first hut. My knee really started hurting on the last leg of the hike. We played cards with the Germans when we arrived. After dinner I promptly went to bed. Very, very tired.

January 5th: Mt. Meru, Day 4 & Nairobi

We woke at 5:30 a.m., followed by breakfast at 6:00 a.m. Since we were taking the longer, forested road back, we needed to leave at 6:30 a.m. in order to make it down by 10:00 a.m. We said our good-byes to the porters and tipped them.

We started off and my legs and knee were screaming in pain with every step. Shortly, though, my muscles warmed up and I figured out how to change my stride to ensure that my hips absorbed the shock of going downhill instead of my knee. The views of the peak were spectacular as was the forest. We saw some wild pigs, buffalo, and a beautiful waterfall. At about 9:00 a.m. the rescue truck came by with the Germans (Torsten had bad knees as well) and our ranger and guide suggested we take it back, as they thought we still had 1.5 hours to go and would be late. I was all for it since my legs still hurt so much. The men with me would have been happy walking the rest of the way, but by some of the limping and winces of pain I saw later that day and the next, I'm thinking they too, or at least their muscles, enjoyed the ride back (hee, hee). The drive to the gate was relatively quick and Tom, Dave, and Tyler concluded that we could have finished the hike in 45 minutes, but I was grateful for the ride!

When we returned to the second gate Steve our safari driver from Serengeti Select was there to meet us. When we returned to the office we found out that things had not improved in Kenya, and in fact had worsened. 300 people had died and 100,000 people were displaced from their homes due to rioting and tribal conflict. We hemmed and hawed about whether to go and decided to go ahead and do so because we might be in Africa for another week trying to get new plane reservations. Looking back I wish we would have stayed in Arusha for another day, primarily just because of the ease in which we could have shopped and moved around.

We boarded our shuttle at 2:00 p.m. for Nairobi. Crossing the Tanzania/Kenya boarder was relatively easy. The landscape along the way was beautiful. Dry, red earth, occasional mountains, uncrowded roads. We arrived to our hotels around 8:00-8:30 p.m. Long day!

January 6-7th: Nairobi

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to move my legs when I got out of bed this morning. They were sooooooooo stiff. Tom and I had a nice breakfast at our hotel and sauntered over to the Fairview were Dave and Tyler were staying. We decided to try and go to the market after some deliberations regarding the safety of venturing out. This day turned out to be a fiasco for me, as I wore my Merrill's for the 2nd time ever and got 5 blisters due to our longer than expected walk. Our plan was to go through Uhuru Park, but it was closed due to the earlier riots. The perimeter of the park was lined with military personnel. As we got closer to the city market, we stopped to ask directions and a man enthusiastically walked us in the direction. The market was closed, however, so he took us to his shop instead. The shop was small and packed with crafts and goods for sale. There were several people in there showing items to me, even after I said I just wanted to look on my own. There was too much pressure, so I started to cry! We left and took a taxi back to the hotel. The good thing about the day is that my legs did feel better by the end of it.

We woke up on January 7th prepared to leave for Amsterdam. The plan was we were to take a 9:15 a.m. flight out of Nairobi, arrive in Amsterdam at about 4:00 p.m., stay overnight there, and then fly to the U.S. the morning of the 8th. We had a quick breakfast and headed out. At the airport Tom realized he didn't have his passport and thought it may have fallen out of his pocket when he paid for the taxi. So we called the hotel, since our taxi was contracted with them, and waited. Time was ticking with no new information, so I boarded the flight with all our luggage, and Tom stayed behind. He never heard from the hotel and took a taxi to the police station. When he explained the situation to the taxi driver on the way over the driver said that he knew some of the taxi drivers connected to the Fairview and that he'd be happy to call around. Well, while Tom filled out and submitted his police report for a lost passport the taxi driver got a hold of the driver from earlier in the morning and low and behold, he looked, and found the passport! So he dropped it off at the hotel, where Tom returned to hang out with Dave and Tyler. All three left for the airport later that day and Tom managed to get on the 11:15 p.m. flight that night with the Wicklands. The flight arrived into Amsterdam on the 8th, early enough that he was able to meet me for the 2nd leg of our journey back to the U.S.

While this was going on, I arrived in Amsterdam without problems and made my way to the historic American Hotel in downtown. I left all our big luggage in an airport locker and took an overnight bag of my essentials with me. When I arrived at the hotel a fax was waiting for me from Tom, informing me of his found passport and attempt to take the later flight out. Hopefully I would see him in the morning. I enjoyed a tasty steak dinner that night with my own company. It was a wonderful time to look out over the streets of Amsterdam and reminisce about a wonderful trip to Africa.