The island paradise...

Jambo everyone! Thank you for all the nice comments- amazing that people are actually reading the crazy things we write! So lovely to hear from everyone...

We are now back in Nairobi after an indescribable week on the Island of Lamu in the Indian Ocean (Kenya). I actually just finished reading Danny’s entry from last week, during our first layover in Nairobi and after the Kili climb It seems like a decade ago. On our flight from the coast to Nairobi yesterday we had a cruising altitude of 18000 ft, and after take-off saw only a bed of clouds far beneath the plane... until the twin peaks of Kilimanjaro, Kibo and Mwanza, appeared to the South. It was an abrupt snap back to memories of the incredible climb, how challenging summit day was, and how long ago it all seems after Lamu. (And yes, at 18000 ft, we were cruising at an altitude below Uhuru peak).

I think the summit day was the single hardest physical thing I've ever done (yes, including marathons, ironman, half-ironman). Jules was a champ but probably walked 1000 ft higher than she should have given the nausea she started having at about 17000ft. My guess is that she got to almost 18000ft (yes- the same height as our cruising altitude!) before the dry heaving and overall feeling terrible finally convinced her that it was time to turn back. She's convinced that she took on Kili and Kili won. I, on the other hand, think she took on Kili and she won 18000 of 19300 of the battle, which represents 93% and clearly a victory for little-J. (you have to put it into numbers to convince these stat-types...) And I don't think that a tendency towards altitude sickness above 17000ft will limit her future travel plans substantially... (!).

Anywho, we were all destroyed after the summit day, which involved an ascent from 15,100ft to 19,300ft over 7km, followed by a descent down to 10,200ft over another 23km.And Jules, who did all but the top 1300ft, and 2km, had to do it all despite the nausea and illness. So...yes, we were DESTROYED! We slept one last night on the mountain then returned to the town of Moshi where a trickle of luke warm water at the hotel felt like the greatest shower of our lives, and beer never tasted so good...

But still no real rest as we were up at 5:30am the next day to catch a bus to Nairobi. We decided it was worth taking the earlier one so that we would arrive in Nairobi during daylight hours- well worth it. Beautiful bus ride around the base of Mount Meru, then across the Tanzanian/Kenyan border (complete with storybook-type African border-official drama...), and then into the city center of Nairobi. Danny had booked a hotel within spitting distance of the shuttle stop, which was a fantastic base for the 24hours that we spent in Nairobi until our flight to Lamu.

One scary aspect to our time in Nairobi last week was the discovery that the Gap Fire was within a quarter mile of our parents’ home in the Goleta foothills, and that they were evacuated for several days. The good news to report at this point seems to be that although the hillside behind their home burned in a spectacular fashion, all the homes on the hill were saved, and they have mentioned how overwhelming the kindness of friends and neighbours has been over the past week. And so, after sitting in cyber cafes in East Africa during a somewhat terrifying few days last week, it seems I should say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. To the firefighters, to the Goleta/Santa Barbara community that has been so kind to my family, and to the Independent for keeping us up-to-date from Kenya. Thank you.

And finally, the challenge of trying to describe our last week... I should start with my best friend from high school, Alice, who lived in Kenya as a young child for several years (actually the birthplace of her sister, Heather). Her parents maintain a close bond with an old group of friends from those days, as well as with the island paradise of Lamu. So...to celebrate Alice’s 30th birthday, her mother, Sally’s 60th, as well as the recent addition of Heather and Taylor’s engagement (woohoo!!!!) and Julie Nis’ 26th (wooohoooo!!!!!), Alice arranged a week-long party on Lamu. We rented 3 huge, beautiful houses, complete with staff and cooks (crab, lobster, shrimp, calamari... with EVERY lunch and dinner!), and 36 people made the trip from California, Washington, New York, England, Nairobi, Macau.... for the most indulgent week of my life! 80 degree water, white sand beaches, ancient Swahili architecture in tiny villages, a floating bar, a dhow regatta (of which we were on the winning dhow!), wind surfing, and drinking continuously for a week... I think the pictures will tell a better story than I ever could, so I will wait until next week when we will post our trip pictures (with a link from this blog-site).

As for what is next- we have returned to Nairobi for a quick layover before flying home (yes, home- crazy thought...) on Monday and Tuesday. We had a final hurrah at a fantastic, and very unique restaurant in Nairobi last night named appropriately, Carnivore. I’m not sure I have ever seen my husband enjoy a meal so much (and let’s be honest- danny enjoys his food...). We were first served with a pyramid of dipping sauces, and the “carvers” proceeded to circulate with a variety of beautifully cooked meats on stakes. Beef, lamb, sausages, chicken, pork ribs, ostrich meatballs, and even crocodile! All-you-can-eat! Yes. Danny enjoyed it.

And so, we are on our way home. So many more stories to share and pictures to show you all. It’s been a once-in-a-lifetime adventure- but we can’t wait for the next one!

Luv, Lynn

Pole Pole!!!

We will never forget this, oh so very important, Swahili word for the rest of our lives. Pole Pole (pronounced polay polay) means SLOWLY in Swahili. It was this reminder spoken by the guides, the porters, and even the cooks at least a hundred times a day that got 7 of the 8 of us to the top of the highest mountain in Africa…19350ft! Julie unfortunately succumbed to altitude sickness at about 4:30am at approximately 18000ft on Summit day. She, nonetheless, had an incredible experience on Kilimanjaro as did the rest of us. For those of you who are not aware, Kili is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world so the sight of it from the town of Moshi where we started is truly awe inspiring. Of course Moshi is overcast most of the day so we did not actually get a glimpse of the entire mountain until after we had climbed all the way to the top and come back down.

The 8 climbers I speak of included myself, Lynn, Julie, Julie and Todd (a couple of Lynn’s friends from CA.), two girls we met in Moshi, Angela and Dipps, and a Japanese guy named Ochi, all three of whom now live and work in Dubai. Together we set out with one guide, three assistant guides, one cook, and 15 porters to go higher than any of the eight of us had ever gone. The climb begins at 6000ft. The entire first day is spent hiking up through a gorgeous rain forest that barely lets the sun shine through in some parts. Right from the beginning the guides stress “Pole Pole” and at first it seems crazy that we are going to walk and climb 76km over 7 days at a pace of one step every two seconds, but it truly saved us all from our massive egos and allowed us to go on day after day without too much negative effect from the mountain.

The other tactic that helped, which was different from Corry’s climb 5 yrs ago, was that we spent two extra days on the mt. where we would climb up to say 14000ft. and then back down to 12000 to spend the night so by the time we made it to summit base camp at 15000ft. we were pretty well acclimated. Nothing, however, really prepares you for summit day which is 6hrs of gruelling, freezing, dark, pole pole (at this point we are taking one step every 3 or 4 seconds) up to the summit beginning at 1am. You actually reach Stella point first where that amazing sunrise photo was taken and which almost cost me some fingers to frostbite. From there the summit is another 45min of half conscious, foot dragging over ice and rock all the while passing people who are already heading back down who look so mangled, you wonder what the hell we are all doing at the top of this bloody mountain. It's definitely worth it though.

You only stay up top long enough to take some pictures with forced smiles before a 3.5hr descent back down to base camp where we were able to recover a bit from the first 10hr hike before continuing on another 3.5hrs of toe jamming, knee hammering descent down to about 10200ft where we spent our final night. We almost ran down the rest of the mountain on the final day, picked up our summit certificates and proceeded to the hotel for the greatest showers of all time. We were very fortunate to have an amazing guide, Jacob (the grandfather of the mt.), who is actually a bit famous as he was the guide for the crew that filmed the IMAX movie Kilimanjaro. However, the true heroes of the mt. are the porters who carried all of our crap up the mt., always had the tents set up, hiked extra km’s everyday for our water, served us our meals, and did it all with smiles and friendly, positive attitudes. All in all an unforgettable experience and now we are off to Lamu for some well deserved R&R on a beautiful beach.