The mess tent was unusually quiet. Normally after dinner and a briefing detailing the next day’s trek, our group of nine passed around an oximeter. There’d be some light, competitive cross-talk as each of us called out our blood oxygen level and pulse rate. Regan, the head Chief Experience Officer, would dutifully record each person’s values, along with the amount of water we claimed we drank that day. Then he’d tell us our group’s numbers were perfectly normal, “…solid summi

Kilimanjaro is made up of three dormant volcano cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. Kibo is the largest cone of the three, and Uhuru Peak is the highest summit. There are six routes by which to reach Uhuru Peak, success can depend heavily upon the selected route. I chose the Lemosho route because it is generally considered the most scenic. It is also the longest in terms of days, which I liked because if a person decides to travel all the way to Africa, he might as well stay a w