The Plan

We will be taking the Machame (pronounced Ma-cha-may) route to climb the mountain. It’s not the easiest route, but it’s the most scenic and less populated. We will spend the next few days checking out the great migration in Southern Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara. We hope to spend some time with the local Masai warriors and ask them about the virtues of cow blood. Here’s our agenda. If you happen to be around, scream out. We’ll take a picture of you with your herd from our land-rover.

Feb 9 2008: Reach Nairobi, Kenya.

Feb 10: Bus ride to Arusha, Tanzania

Feb 11: Hit the mountain to Machame gate, after registration process start the hike to Machame Camp, 9,900ft

Feb 12: Shira, 12,600ft

Feb 13: Baranco, 12,850ft

Feb 14: Karanga Valley, 13,300ft

Feb 15: Barafu, 14,910ft

Feb 16: Summit, 19,340ft, then descend to Mweka 10,010ft

Feb 17: Mweka gate, transfer to Arusha

Feb 18: Drive to Lake Manyara, safari.

Feb 19: Drive to Southern Serengeti, game drives.

Feb 20: More game drives in the Southern Serengeti.

Feb 21: Another game drive in the Serengeti; then drive to Ngorongoro, with a visit to Masai Village.

Feb 22: Descend into the Crater for morning and afternoon game drives* in the crater; then drive back to Arusha; proceed to Kilimanjaro airport.

How the heck did Pi say yes!!

one night, alpha innocently asked me to lay out the top ten things i'd like to do in my life. i jumped and said mt.kilimanjaro, wanting to sound cool and impress alpha. little did i know alpha was making our travel plans for the next 10 years and holding me to climb kili with her !! people who have seen me know - hiking doesnt come naturally to me and for me to get on this journey is a big big deal. i tried wriggling out - no vacation time, parents are visiting, and even its time to have kids but nothing worked. alpha is determined and so am i it seems............

The highest blogger meet in the world

In the last four years that we’ve known each other (virtually, of course), Alpha and I have tried to meet up a few times. It’s a bit tricky getting the co-ordinates right when you’re on two different continents separated by a couple of oceans, but she was in Bombay once, and I was almost in Bangalore, another time. And then, last year, she planned Europe, while I considered Australia… It’s not a small world, after all.

Just when I was beginning to imagine a dotage blogger meet, the tectonic plates shifted somewhere, and our agendas and venues came together. I suggested Kilimanjaro, since it had been on my wishlist for a while. A mountain lover herself, she not only got fired up by the idea, but also got Pi and half of Pittsburgh interested. She then scouted around for tour operators, decided the route, sent off a flurry of mails, started raising funds for charity, packed and repacked her bags, started the blog, and if Pi tells me she’s already at the airport waiting for the flight due in February, I’d believe him.

Jokes aside, I totally credit Alpha for this trip coming together so far. I’ve had a lot on my mind the last few months to focus on this trip, and I’m grateful for Alpha’s determination. When you set out to reach the peak of the highest free-standing mountain in the world, it’s exactly that kind of focus you need. And hopefully, the rest of us will match up in the coming weeks.

If not, I've full faith that Alpha will sling us over a shoulder and saunter all the way to the top.

The Kili Team

We are all set! We are definitely going through with this it looks like. Tickets booked, guides paid for, vacations granted, family members alerted to maximum insurance claims. No backing out. Four of us are embarking on this endevour for reasons unknown. Let me try conjuring up the reasons as I am not sure what level of contribution we are going to see from the rest of the lazy folks.

Leela- A world famous blogger. Living in Dubai, she needed a reason to use her sweater.

Pi- Being my husband is reason enough I guess.

Nai- He wants to impress his boss (who had climbed Kilimanjaro last year). Though Nai translates to 'dog' in Tamil, he isn't a real dog. He is a human who is known as Nai. Went to college with me.

Alpha- Of course, you all know...to eradicate hunger in Africa and bring self sufficiency to the poor communities.

Why I started this blog?

• Leela suggested that we document every little whimper and whine to keep ourselves on track.
• In case we were to perish, one of you could call FOX news and alert them to this blog and become rich.
• To placate the anticipation of actually getting there
• Getting the people in the group excited
• Publicity stunt
• Serious joblessness
• Another venue to be seen at

Watch out for this space. I bet you'll see some interesting material from the other team members!