story by Randi Nguyen
photos by Randi Nguyen, Jason Sekula, and Tai Tran

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings...your cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” —John Muir, Environmentalist

Staying true to my disregard for the continent of Africa, I read the chapter on auras instead. Jason, who shares Tai’s taste in books and movies, read it that night. That chapter lit a fire in those two boys. Instantly, Kilimanjaro rocketed to the top of their List. The List. We all have one. You know the list of all the things you’d like to do before you plop down on that big couch in the sky and channel-surf the life you lived on earth. Yes, someday, we were going to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. We. To be honest, I never quite thought it would happen so committing to the goal wasn’t a problem. Not one to rain on the parade, I figured I’d ride the dream with the guys. And it was a pleasant three years that passed as they dreamt of Africa.

Then, it happened. The boys woke up one morning and realized that they were speeding towards their 30th birthdays. Tai and Jason are separated by a month in age and often celebrate together. For a week, they sifted through ideas. River rafting? Too tame. Skydiving? Perhaps a little too risky. Fly-fishing? I don’t really understand what that’s all about. I scoffed at the idea. Fly-fishing? Pish.,

“What would YOU do for your 30th birthday?” asked Tai. Before I could stop myself, I said, “If I were YOU? If I were you and Jason, I would climb Kilimanjaro. It’s not MY dream; but if I were YOU, that’s what I would do.”

Three months later, I was buckling my seatbelt on a Mesaba Air flight in Amsterdam bound for Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Okay, let’s acquaint ourselves with Kilimanjaro before we get in over our heads. Mount Kilimanjaro’s Uhuru Peak at 19,340 feet (5,895 meters) is one of the Seven Summits (made up of the highest peak on each of the seven continents on Earth). To borrow from the words of Toto’s No. 1 hit, “Africa,” “Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti.” It is a stratovolcano that is currently inactive, but does have fumaroles that emit gas in the crater of its main summit. It is the largest free-standing mountain in the world and the only place on earth where you can “walk” through all five climate zones. To summit “The Roof of Africa,” you cross through savannahs, equatorial rainforest, moorland, alpine desert, and finally arctic glacial plateau. Every year, approximately 15,000 people from all over the world attempt to summit Kilimanjaro. About 65 percent will fail. Michael Crichton stands among the 35 percent to have been successful the year he climbed. He came back and told a tale of acute mountain sickness, blisters, and oxygen deprivation that spoke volumes of the power of the human spirit. We went to Africa to find that spirit.

Once I realized that the boys were serious about Kilimanjaro, I set out to learn about our destination. For starters, Africa is the second-largest continent in the world. It accounts for over 12 percent of the world’s population with over 840 million people and is the second most populous continent. Despite being rich in petroleum and the world’s biggest producer of diamonds and gold, Africa is the poorest inhabited continent. Kilimanjaro sits in the northeastern corner of Tanzania, East Africa. The countries comprising East Africa include Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya. Of these, Tanzania has the largest land area. It is known to have the biggest concentration of wild animals and hence is famous for its national parks and game reserves. The national language is Swahili, but the country is made up of over 120 tribes. Each tribe has its own language. I suspect this is much like going to China where Mandarin is the national language, but people in different villages and provinces have different dialects.

A quick search on Wikipedia reveals a list of famous Tanzanians including Freddie Mercury. Yes, the front man of Queen. Of the names on the famous folks list, the only name I recognized was that of the man we hear at every sporting event, crooning, “We are the champions.” Now, this guy was a big deal. After all, he was No. 2 on MTV’s greatest singers of the last 25 years list (Mariah Carey stole No. 1). Seems Freddie was born Farrokh Bulsara to Persian parents on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. Who knew?

After a stop in Dar Es Salaam (a seaport close to Zanzibar), our plane landed at Kilimanjaro JRO Airport at half-past midnight. Again, I heard the echoes of Toto in my head, “She’s coming in 12:30 flight. Her moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation.” Where would the stars guide us? As we stepped off the plane and felt the African air for the first time, reality dawned on us. After three months of planning and conditioning for what promised to be a battle of will and stamina against a mountain that couldn’t care less, we were finally in Tanzania, Africa. The air was silent and completely still. We shuffled off the plane and walked across the tarmac to the airport terminal. After what amounted to a 19-hour journey, I can’t really say if we were moving in slow-motion or if it just seemed that way. Everyone around us seemed to keep the same pace. Slow.

We watched as natives approached female travelers and offered assistance with their luggage. The Tanzanians seemed very nice if a tad persistent. We noticed that if they touched your luggage, it was quickly followed by an outstretched hand. We’d also read about it in one of the guidebooks.

Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. Their economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Roughly 90 percent of its people work in the agricultural sector. Unfortunately, despite its vast amount of land, only 4 percent is usable. The country has been wrought with drought and it makes for a bleak economic picture. We were warned to keep an eye on our luggage. Had our bags arrived, we surely would’ve heeded the warning.