After a couple of days of rest, we started our safari in Serengeti. One of the first animals we saw was one of the ones Wade was most looking forward to, as a cat-lover: a serval!
We made it! It was, overall, just as hard as I remembered from 30 years ago, when I climbed it with my dad; there’s only 50% as much oxygen as at sea level, when you get to the top. I told Wade I wouldn’t push him; whether he summited was up to him. I had fully explained what to expect, though, and when the nausea, headache & utter exhaustion kicked in on the final ascent, he battled through it with great determination. I’m so proud of him, and so grateful to be able to give him this experience, like my father gave me when I was 16.
The first 6+ hours of the final ascent are done in darkness, setting out from Kibo a bit before midnight, so I don’t have any photos of that (very, very hard) stretch. The first photo I got was a little beyond Gilman’s Point (where the Marangu route meets the crater rim), with Mawenzi Peak behind us, just a little after sunrise.
Wade and I as silhouettes, with the crater snowfields behind us.
Day 4 took us up into alpine desert
Wade loves the sea of clouds below us most of the time, up here
Kibo Hut. We’re at about 15,480 ft. Rest here for about eight hours, then the final ascent during the night.
Mawenzi peak (Kilimanjaro’s lower one, from a different era of eruptions), as evening closes in
Day 3, for us, is a planned acclimatization day; we did a short hike up to the “saddle”, then came back to Horombo Hut, and will sleep here again tonight. The view from the saddle was amazing.
Day two of our climb
The day started in rainforest, but quickly rose above the tree line, and eventually up into semi-desert scrub land
The lower peak of Kilimanjaro, Mawenzi, is visible in the distance, here
At Horombo Hut, elevation 3720 m, or 12,200 ft.
At the entry gate, about to start our attempt to climb Kilimanjaro
The rainforest at the base of Kilimanjaro is incredibly lush. I love the whole ecosystems of epiphytic growth.
We saw a lot of Colobus Monkeys
We also saw a lot of these Blue Monkeys
I love the massive columns of the Hypostyle Hall in Karnak Temple. Here Wade is talking with our guide for two days, Muhammad.
More columns. Impossible to capture the scale and grandeur of this place in photos.
It would be an amazing place to play hide & seek. 😄
Wade with Ramesses II, at Luxor Temple
The two of us in front of Luxor Temple
Karnak Temple, on Luxor’s East bank
The criosphinxes lining the avenue before the gate to Karnak Temple
Preparing to board our sunrise hot air balloon ride over Luxor
Beautiful morning for the ride
The sunrise
Medinet Habu, aka the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, was really interesting and impressive, but sadly I didn’t take many pictures of the art inside.
Valley of the Kings, in Luxor.
I really liked these mysterious triangles, though the guide was not aware of them having any great significance.
Also not sure quite why King Tut’s tomb needed so many baboons.
Did a sunset cruise on the Nile in a felucca (traditional sailboat.)
Wade got to take a turn piloting
Went to Saqqara, and really enjoyed all the depictions of everyday life (circa 4500 years ago!), like this scene of fishing with nets
Amazing color and detail on this one, of transporting granite via sail barge
A crocodile (obviously with a death-wish) about to eat a baby hippo as it is born.
The art at Saqqara is both beautiful and beautifully preserved. Here’s a painting of granite for the tombs being transported by a sail barge:
Fantastically detailed depiction of a fisherman using a net, and a variety of different fish species.
Detail view of a hippo giving birth, with the baby about to be eaten by a crocodile. It’s supposed to be a metaphor for the cycle of birth and death, but I can’t help thinking the crocodile must be suicidal; mama hippos are not to be messed with.
The tomb of Mehu, at the Saqqara complex. If interested, here’s a video by an Egyptologist that breaks down what it says: youtu.be/Fx3B3Jp7G…
