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A wonderful thing happened on the way up the FDR… Once upon a sleep evading night circa 2 or 3 AM, I made a whole bunch of workout mixes on my iPod.  Thing is, I usually don’t make it down to [...]

I wasn’t sure what to expect before I left for Africa in June.  It was the only continent I hadn’t visited, and the one I was most eager to go to.  Now, having spent 5+ weeks in Kenya and [...]

A rainbow of blues—marine, turquoise, sea foam, sky, and royal—undulate gently to meet the reef.  Defunct rowboats idle along shore.  A concentration of tin-roofed houses opens onto vibrant [...]

As we pull onto the long dirt road leading to the village, a haze of dust kicking up in our wake, Sandy is dismayed.  Uh-oh.  I’ve only seen Sandy dismayed once before, on Kilimanjaro, and it [...]

Day 6: Barafu Camp to Uhuru Peak to Mweka Camp Hike: 10 miles Altitude: 15, 331 feet to 19, 341 feet to 10,065 feet Midnight.  Elias turns up at our tent.  His usual “How you doing?” disrupts our [...]

Day Five: Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp Hike: 2 miles Altitude: 13, 105 feet to 15, 331 feet Oh what a beautiful morning.  Oh what a beautiful day.  Finally.  Darryl gives my face the once over and [...]

Day Three: Shira 2 Camp to Lava Tower to Barranco Camp Hike: 6 miles Altitude: 12,500 feet to 15, 190 feet to 13, 044 feet The mornings are cold and misty.  And this morning, particularly, I’m [...]

Day One: Machame Gate to Machame Camp Hike: 7 miles Altitude: 5, 380 feet – 9,350 feet It’s raining.   “Good luck,” says someone within earshot of my complaints.  Tell that to the bride, I [...]

I’ve done this already.  Multiple times.  And yet, the mixed feelings inevitably come.  Kenya, Tanzania, and Mount Kilimanjaro loom large on my horizon, but I’m torn on leaving a very settled New [...]