(This is posted from an Internet cafe in Zanzibar, Tanzania)

Aelscha and I successfully climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro all the way to the highest point in Africa, Uhuru Peak (5895m). The rest of her family made it to Gilman’s point, about 200M lower. We all made it back safely.

More detailed information and photos after we return, approximately two weeks from now. We will leave for Kenya and our safari the day after tomorrow.

Apparently there was a brief interruption in isomerica.net email, but my parents managed to take care of it. Thanks to them!

We’re at my parents. We arrived yesterday afternoon, all our packing done, ready to relax from the stress and panic that the last couple of days had been. Ha. Nobody here was packed (except for Gennie, she would like to remind you), and none of the family gear had been piled into its big duffel bags. So, having done all our own packing, now we got to pitch in with everyone else’s.

This morning, the packing is done. It looks like a small mountain of gear in the living room (the pic doesn’t really give much sense of just how much stuff that is), and feels completely ridiculous, until you a) divide it by seven and b) remember that this is for a month, for a trip that includes a 19000 ft mountain, swimming in the tropics, and spending two weeks on safari. I think we done pretty good.

(And just to brag, D and I got all our clothes and equipment (except for sleeping bags, thermarests, and trekking poles) into our ETBD bags. None of the rest of my folks managed that.)

As many of you know, aelscha and I will be leaving for Tanzania and Kenya on Monday July 18th. We will be gone for four weeks. We’re going to be trekking on Mt. Kilimanjaro, exploring Zanzibar, and on a safari in Kenya. You can view our itinerary online if you are wondering where we’ll be.

Both of us will be out of touch with email except at certain points, but email remains the best method of getting in touch. I will also try to post a status update here if I get a chance, though no photos will be available until we get back. If you would like me to try sending a postcard, drop me an email with your address and I’ll see what I can do.

We had a bit of downtime over the weekend. It looks like the switch between gnat and threepwood gave up the ghost and is no longer functioning correctly. It flaked out earlier, then gave up entirely on Sunday. The switch has been replaced with a hub. Hopefully it will remain stable.