3 day countdown...

In the words of my World Cup singing friend, Shakira: It's time for Africa!!!!

We're getting down to the wire for our trip. The last few days have been full of grocery shopping for our flight and mountain snacks, Target runs for all the travel accessories one needs, buying travel insurance, cleaning our house for our house/dog sitters, researching and buying cameras, picking up prescriptions, doing laundry and making piles of clothes to pack, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. I assumed it would take a lot of organization and planning for this trip but I didn't realize the last week before departure would be sooooo busy. I have a list of 100 items constantly rolling in my head and every day I feel productive and can mark things off of one of my 4 or 5 physical lists. Then I add about 5 more items to a list and it never ends. It's all exciting stuff...just a lot of preparation. Preparation that will all come together after we are ready and on our way....and sitting on a plane for 28 hours.

We fly out on Wednesday afternoon to Washington, D.C. and then crash on the floor of the airport until our morning flight. I'm sure sleeping on the floor of the airport the first leg of our trip will make it seem all that much longer but Keith and I are cheap and I'm hoping it will just enhance the adventure. :) Thursday a.m. we will begin our journey across the pond. I'm excited for the freebies I hear I will get on the plane. Chapstick, socks, eye masks, toothbrush/toothpaste, and earplugs* (*Keith's saving grace as I tend to get a bit chatty from time to time) will be given to us. As a bargain shopper, nothing says bargain like FREE. I'll bring any extras home for family and friends. You're welcome. After a stop in Italy, Kenya, and a plane switch in Ethiopia, we should arrive at the Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania on the afternoon of July 2nd. We then have 2 nights to acclimate to the food and time differences before we begin our trek up Kilimanjaro. We start climbing on the 4th of July and will descend on the 10th. Enjoy all of the fireworks for me! The 4th is one of my favorite holidays but I'll be happy to be trekking through the mud of the rain forest in lieu of celebrating this year. So, who wants some fun facts about Kili? Hmm??? Well, here you go:

• Mount Kilimanjaro is the world's highest free standing mountain. Yep. You heard it here, folks.
• It is 19,340 feet tall. That's a HUUUGE bitch. For me, at least. :)
  
• The route we are going (or really any routes on the mountain, for that matter) is not technical. Therefore, we don't need any crampons, ice axes, ropes, etc. It will be a very long hike with very little oxygen. No worries peeps....enough oxygen to breathe. It just will take us so long so we can acclimate.
  
• We have to hire a guide and porters to carry our gear. It is required to stimulate the local economy. This will make it less of a challenge (probably a bit too little of a challenge for Keith) but I'm okay with that. We will only carry our daypacks that will have a few extra layers of clothes, snacks, water, and meds. Our porters will carry all of our other gear: boots, summit clothing, sleeping bags, tent, water, and extra gear. This will all be carried very handily and conveniently on their heads. For reals, yo. They have some crazy strong necks.
• Our tent will be set up every night by our porters and they will cook 3 meals a day for us. Not too shabby.
• Our climb will go through, I want to say, 5 (don't quote me) different ecosystems. We start in the muddy and wet rain forest and will end up on the windy, glacier-capped summit.
• The mountain is located slightly below the equator but is capped with glaciers. Rad, eh?
• Summit day will probably...scratch that....will be the hardest and worst. And I'm sure I'll be my grumpiest. We will be waking up very early (like 11:00 p.m./midnight early) to start our ascent and then will descend most of the way down the mountain the same day. I have already apologized to Keith for my lack of enthusiasm for life in general at this point. Nothing that the thought of a hot shower and cold banana beer won't cure. Maybe even a cheeseburger??? Now I'm just being needy.

I am so very excited for this adventure. Originally, I wasn't planning on climbing Kilimanjaro. I thought I'd volunteer at a school or orphanage or something of the likes while Keith trekked his mountaineering-self up there. But, I researched it and realized that it is very do-able. Even by a not so coordinated or athletic person such as myself. I'm a young, healthy, and fit human that is capable. So, here I am preparing for the longest hike of my life. I'm anxious, excited, and nervous yet confident. And I'll be oh-so-happy to reach the bottom of the beast.