3.75 million years ago, our descendants first walked and left their footprints in the soft sands of Tanzania. We are here today to leave a different impression on this part of the world – to lend a helping hand to the people of East Africa and to raise money for cancer care to the amazing people of this region.

We arrived in Africa over the past 3 days, and are finally all together. Beneath the collapsed volcano of Mt. Meru, we are here at camp about to start our historic climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro in support of cancer.

We awoke today to an amazing breakfast of custom made omelets, juice, and fresh fruit. The local support here is top notch, and we already love our guides. They are not only amazing cooks, safari guides, and armed guardians but they are bursting with personality, stories, and even join us in singing and dancing.

Some chose to hike today. Led by a rifle-toting leader, they were rewarded with sightings of Colubus monkeys, colorful birds and beautiful waterfalls. The others went on a safari drive, where we saw tons of giraffes, warthogs, pink flamingos, waterbucks and spring bucks. For almost everyone, this is the first time seeing these animals outside of the local zoo. We came across a group of 20 giraffes feeding in a local field. Watching these tall, graceful creatures in their natural habitat is something that we will never forget.

After the safari and hiking, we came back for an amazing lunch. We then had our equipment check, charged our batteries, ate well, and savored our last shower for 8 days. Heloooo baby wipes! We are in great spirits to start our climb tomorrow – wish us luck!

For sunset we climbed the nearest hill and got our first clear sunset glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro. All I can say is that yesterday it looked a LOT smaller. Nike, Robin, Cy and Mike played songs as the sun set over the mountain. Over some big bottles of Serengeti beer and South African red wine, we all sang together and just enjoyed each other’s company.

When we got back to camp, we gathered around the campfire and told the stories of how we came to be on this trek together in Africa. Although each story was unique, there was a common bond and that is the fact that caner affects all of our lives and we are all bound by the same cause. Hearing the stories hit all of our hearts, and there was not a dry eye in the group. We really do have a special group of people.

Although we cannot call it “Kili” until the actual climb is done, tomorrow we will take the first steps. I have no doubt that we will all make it up the mountain together as one. We can all sense the special adventure that is unfolding, and the budding friendships that will undoubtedly last a lifetime.

Like the first humans leaving their mark on this land, we hope that through our charity and historic climb back from cancer that we too can make a difference. We hope to be able to say that we climbed “Kili”, and as Cy said, leave “Manjaro” on the mountain.

James Chippendale, we all miss your whiney ass and wish you were here! Shannon reads our supporters’ notes every day – please keep them coming, they mean a lot and keep us going. Love Hope and Strength to everyone!

Paul Cooney

 

Click on the yellow flags to see where the team is today!