This was an overall great trip. We climbed the Machame route with a nice group of people from the U.S. The beginning of the climb was not difficult, but was through the rainforest so it was a bit hot. The scenery is spectacular! We saw blue velvet monkeys in the tree canopy along the trail and at camp. That first night we fell asleep to the sounds of the forest. It was beautiful.
Our guides were very knowledgeable and pointed out the different types of plants along the way, and talked to us about the history of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and about the Chagga tribe, which are local to the Kilimanjaro region. We had so much fun singing and dancing with the group back at camp, too. I can say it was truly a wonderful experience. They took great care of us, doing daily health checks and making sure we had everything we needed. Our guides kept their eyes on us without making us feel like we were being watched. We felt like we had some freedom to be ourselves yet at the same time knew that we were in good hands and safe.
What can I say about the summit climb other than it was intense. It was a challenge, but it was so worth it. We trekked through the night to make it to Stella Point at sunrise. It was breathtaking! I never felt so proud of an accomplishment as I did reaching Uhuru Peak with our group.
The only unfortunate thing was the weather was cloudy on several days, so it obstructed our views a bit, but no one can control Mother Nature ;-)
