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A 10-Day Itinerary for The Republic of Georgia

Jocelyn
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A 10-Day Itinerary for The Republic of Georgia

Recently, we spent 10 days exploring The Republic of Georgia. Check out our itinerary for some inspiration!

Day 1 – Arrival in Tbilisi

We arrived in Tbilisi from Amsterdam at around 5:15 pm. Getting through customs was quick and painless – if you’re coming from the United States you do not need a Visa. Once we were outside in the warm air we started haggling with taxi drivers. They will try and charge you 100 GEL but try not to pay any more than 35 GEL. You can try and use a taxi app, but we thought it would just be easier and quicker to hop in a taxi that was already at the airport. After a couple of minutes of negotiation, we were on our way.

Once we were settled into our Airbnb in the Old City we changed clothes and headed down the cobblestone street to a tiny wine shop we had seen on our way in. We sat outside and tasted some wine and fresh cheese before moving on to a late dinner at Lolita and then drinks at a couple of bars in the Old City area.

Day 2 – Exploring Tbilisi

The next day was HOT. 87 degrees, sunny, and slightly humid. A great day to walk around and explore the city! We slept in, had a late breakfast (they aren’t big on breakfast here so we spent the rest of our time in Airbnbs making eggs before setting out), and then took a long walk along the river – passing The Peace Bridge, the Dry Bridge Market, checking out the Fabrika Hostel area, and then eventually ended up on Agmashenebeli Avenue where we sat in front of misting fans drinking rosé.

Day 3 – Wine Tasting in Kakheti

We set out around 10am to make our way out to wine country for the day with our private driver, David. We first stopped in Signagi and checked out the fortress wall, and then made our way to three wineries around Telavi before finally stopping to taste David’s homemade wine. It was interesting learning about how the qveri wine is made, and wine country is always relaxing and beautiful, but I would normally tend to skip a day of wine tasting for something else on the agenda since you can easily taste different wines at every meal in Georgia!

Day 4 – Armenia

Since we have no idea the next time we’ll be back in this part of the world, we thought it would be nice to try and check out another country. It seemed like the best way to check out Azerbaijan was to fly to Baku, so we opted for a day trip to Armenia. If I were to do it all over again, I would not do a day trip to Armenia. We drove for hours to Lake Sevan, which was beautiful, but a bit chilly, so after checking out the monastery there wasn’t much to besides buy souvenirs and have an overpriced lunch. I guess we can now say we’ve been to Armenia, but if I were to do it again, I’d keep going and spend the night in Yerevan.

Day 5 – Off to Kazbegi

Today we were driven to Kazbegi in the Caucauses Mountains close to the border of Russia. On the way we stopped at the Ananuri Fortress and the Russian-Georgian Friendship Monument. We arrived in Kazbegi in early afternoon and stayed at the Rooms Hotel (I cannot recommend this hotel enough) where we spent most of the day lounging around, eating and drinking, and visiting the spa. While we’ve stayed in other small, charming mountain towns, Kazbegi didn’t seem to have too much to offer in terms of things to do — besides getting outside of course!

Day 6 – Gergeti Glacier Hike

We woke before sunrise and hiked down, through town, and then up to the Gergeti Trinity Church. For the fact that many people apparently hike to this church (versus catching a ride) the trail wasn’t always obvious and was incredibly steep. We made it to the church for an, unfortunately, disappointing sunrise, but basically had the place to ourselves. After a few photos, we set off to continue hiking to the glacier, picking up some friends along the way. Afterwards, we grabbed some lunch in town and continued to enjoy lounging around Rooms Hotel.

Day 7 – Back to Tbilisi

We spent the morning taking in the views and enjoying a delicious breakfast before setting back off for Tbilisi with our driver. On the way home we stopped at the Jvari Monastery before continuing on. We wandered around Rustaveli Avenue that evening, admiring the architecture and enjoying the warm weather.

Day 8 – Hiking Birtsvisi Canyon

Today was supposed to be the day we hiked the Abudelauri Lakes. Unfortunately, in late May, the lakes were still frozen and even covered in some avalanche snow. Instead, we took a much shorter drive with our guide to Birtvisi Canyon where we hiked to an abandoned fortress. While it wasn’t the lake hike I had been dreaming of, it was a pretty cool experience after all! Once back in Tbilisi we bounced around a few restaurants and wine bars before torrential downpours came in and we called it an early night.

Day 9 – Georgian Independence Day

Unbeknownst to us, May 26th was Georgian Independence Day, and we just happened to be staying around the corner from Freedom Square. We spent a bit of the morning checking out the military parade before making our way to the cable car that would take us up to the Narikala Fortress. We spent some time wandering around before we walked ourselves back down to the old city to have some khinkali (dumplings) (just one of the must-eats while you’re in Georgia!). We had an early flight the next day so of course we ended up a dive bar for too many drinks and too many hours before eating pizza at midnight and trying to catch a few hours of sleep.

Day 10 – Heading Home

Our Day 10 was pretty uneventful. The streets were still closed around our Airbnb due to Independence Day so we had to walk to meet our taxi and then arrived at their small airport with plenty of time. They don’t seem to have any electronic way to check in, so even though we weren’t checking bags we had to wait in the same line as everyone else. Quickly through customs and then off to Dunkin Donuts (they have more Dunkins than San Diego does!) before starting our long journey home.

All in all, we had a fantastic time in Georgia. If we were to do it all over again, I’d probably skip the wine tasting and Armenia to explore another part of Georgia and opt outside a bit more. Of course, we couldn’t have predicted the lakes being frozen, but if you are traveling in May and that is on your bucket list it’s something to think about.

Spending more nights in Tbilisi did make for a more relaxing trip than we are sometimes used to, and I highly recommend Airbnb in the city — the places we stayed were great and inexpensive!

Stay tuned for more posts about our favorite spots eat and grab a drink and more!

Exploring Zion & Bryce Canyon in Winter

Jocelyn
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Exploring Zion & Bryce Canyon in Winter

I had wanted to visit the national parks in Utah for years. Unfortunately (or fortunately) international trips seemed to take up most of our vacation days. Long holiday weekends sounded like some the busiest times to visit. Finally, after A LOT of international travel in 2018 and deciding to visit family over Christmas, we were left with the option of staying in San Diego over New Years or taking a road trip. A road trip to Utah won!

While Zion and Bryce are two of the most popular parks in Utah, they are also the closest in driving distance from San Diego, and the warmest in winter! We also ended up visiting them during the government shutdown, but Utah had paid to keep them open and staffed through the end of the year. Zion even had shuttles running the week between Christmas and New Years, which I thought would be frustrating but after being in the park I realized the shuttle system was much more efficient than a line of traffic and since it wasn’t peak season we never had to wait for an empty shuttle – there was always space for us to get on.

Where to Stay

There are tons of hotels in Springdale, the town sitting at the entrance to Zion. Not wanting to pay a ton for a standard chain hotel, we opted for the Canyon Vista Lodge, that ended up being more like an Airbnb. We had own private wing of a house, with a king-sized bed, living room, kitchenette, and full bath. While it wasn’t immediately next to any restaurants, you were a short drive from all of the restaurants, the couple of bars, and the entrance to Zion. Considering it was the middle of winter and we wouldn’t be walking anywhere anyhow, this place was the perfect fit for us!

What to Do

Hike! If you’re thinking about going to visit Zion and Bryce, chances are you like to hike (or at least take some walks). We had limited time so we decided to hit the popular spots:

Angel’s Landing – we did this hike first thing in the morning our first day. We had a chilly start but the weather felt nice as we started ascending and the sun started coming out. We had to contend with some snow and ice towards the top and throughout some of the chained areas so I’d definitely recommend wearing appropriate footwear and even bringing microspikes depending on the conditions and how comfortable you are hiking on ice on the side of a cliff.

Tip: I’d try and get an early (or late) start on this hike to (hopefully) avoid the worst of the crowds. Coming and going holding on to one chain can be a bit sketchy so I can only imagine what it’s like in the middle of the day during peak season!

Weeping Rock – this isn’t really a hike, so much as a very, very short walk to a rock that appears to be weeping because of all of the water falling off of it. However, since we were visiting in the dead of winter the very short walk was actually slighty treacherous, some parts being completely covered in ice. Weeping Rock was also completely covered in ice. However, since we were visiting during the late morning once the sun had shone on the icicles for quite some time a lot of melting was going on – those brave enough to head underneath the rock risked being hit. Toby was lucky to escape with only one hitting his shoulder.

Tip: no, it’s not a hike, but it’s pretty cool and it’s a quick stop on the shuttle. Definitely worth snapping a few pictures and taking a hiking break.

The Narrows – I’ll have to admit, the idea of hiking in 37-degree water on a 40-degree day wasn’t the best. But, we rented our dry suits and boots, neoprene socks and walking sticks and were in the water by 9am on New Years Eve. Since walking upstream is a pretty solid workout, I didn’t really find myself feeling very cold unless we stopped or reached a point that was exceptionally deep (think, top of your legs deep – we didn’t have full suits on so anything more would have meant actually getting wet, with 37-degree water). Being in The Narrows was really cool and different than anything either of us had done before. Catching the light hitting the rock walls at different times of the day was beautiful.

Tip: Get an early start if you want to hike for awhile! We ended up hiking for a lot longer than we anticipated and I, for one, did not bring enough snacks.

Helicopter Ride – a Christmas gift for Toby, that also tried to make up for the weather that canceled our helicopter ride in New Zealand the year before, this experience did not disappoint. We used the company Zion Helicopters who is based out of Hurricane, about 30 minutes drive from Springdale (also, if you are driving in or out of Springdale you could consider doing this activity as one of your first or last things, but either way it’s an easy drive).

We opted to go at 4 pm (sunset was around 5:30 pm) and chose the private helicopter ride with a butte landing. We flew around a bit right outside of Zion and landed on a butte where we popped open a bottle of champagne and that the whole place and some amazing views to ourselves.

Visit Bryce – yes, of course, Bryce Canyon National Park deserves its own blog post and more than a day trip, but, on limited time that’s all the time we could afford.

Since it was winter, the sun didn’t rise until after 7:30 am. We decided we’d wake up early and make the two-hour drive in the dark to catch the sunrise. We were a few minutes late but still got some pretty amazing shots!

We knew that some of the roads would be closed for the season, but while we there it seemed like almost all of them were – perhaps they weren’t plowing due to the government shut down – we’re not sure. At this point it seemed like we could only drive in between Sunrise and Sunset Points so we decided we’d hike down to hike from one to another. While Bryce was busy at the top of the canyon during sunrise, there were times on this hike down into the canyon where we couldn’t hear or see another soul. Visiting one of the most popular parks in Utah and being alone? Definitely not something I thought would be possible!

Bryce was absolutely gorgeous with the snow and I’d definitely recommend visiting during a snowy time of year, even if all of the roads aren’t open.

Where to Eat

All of that hiking does make you hungry!

Oscar’s Cafe – we enjoyed some generous portions of Mexican food for lunch after hiking Angel’s Landing.

The Spotted Dog Cafe – we enjoyed a delicious dinner here. We sat in their back room which seemed to have a nicer ambiance. We had to wait for about 15-minutes for a table so I would try and make reservations here if you come during a busier time as it seems to be a popular place!

Rosita’s Santa Fe Kitchen – this place is on your way out of town (but wasn’t too far from our lodge). It’s an order-at-the-counter type and while we found the food and drinks to be good, we thought the portions were a little small and ended up ordering more food!

Switchback Grille – okay, I’ll admit it. The reviews I read of this place weren’t stellar. But, I didn’t want to have to worry about anything on New Year’s Eve and they were one of the only places taking reservations so we decided to go here. It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t the best. I wouldn’t tell you to avoid it at all costs, but you can probably find a few other better places to eat if you’re only in Springdale for a few days.

Bit & Spur Saloon – one of the few places in town staying open until midnight on New Year’s Eve (and another reason we picked Switchback Grille – located right across the street) this was an interesting place. People were finishing eating when we arrived around 10 pm and a $20 cover was being charged for the band. We dealt with the strange Utah alcohol laws, enjoyed some drinks, counted down to midnight, and headed home. If you’re looking to head to a bar and listen to some music and maybe play some pool, this is one of your only options in Springdale!

All in all, we had a fantastic time visiting Zion and Bryce and absolutely recommend visiting them in winter. Both parks are relatively small, so unless you want to cover every single hiking trail, you can get a good feel for the parks in just a few days.

Looking forward to visiting more parks in Utah!

3 Days in Huatulco

Jocelyn
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3 Days in Huatulco

After spending our birthdays climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, we decided to spend our next getaway relaxing on the beach. After a busy first 9 months of the year and vacation days dwindling, we were limited to a short adventure over the Thanksgiving holiday.

With limited days, and our close proximity to the Tijuana airport, somewhere in Mexico seemed like the best bang for our buck. We already had a Cabo trip planned in early 2019 so after a bit of research we decided on Huatulco.

Huatulco is in the Oaxacan State in very southern Mexico. The nonstop flight from Tijuana took almost 4 hours. The area is considered safe and great for diving, fishing, and…lots of all-inclusives. There are also very limited nonstop flights from the United States, which is one of the reasons it hasn’t grown in popularity like Cancun or Cabo.

Where to Stay

Once we had decided on Huatulco, we realized that in order to stay on the beach we were most likely going to have to choose an all-inclusive resort. That’s not really our style so I was initially disappointed. Luckily, we found that many of the resorts have multiple types of stays, so we eventually settled on Hotel Las Brisas Huatulco.

We had what was considered a suite (although there was no actual separation from the “bedroom” to the “living room”) and oceanfront views. The resort is HUGE and very hilly so they have golf carts that can take you to and from different parts of the resort. There are numerous pools (including an adults-only pool) and beaches.

We were satisfied with the resort but felt like we were the only people there not doing all-inclusive. This meant A LOT of families… and older couples.

How to Get There

As I mentioned above, there aren’t many nonstop flights from the United States. If you don’t live in San Diego, there is a good chance you are flying through Houston or Mexico City. At the time of writing this, it also looks like Sun Country has some seasonal flights from Minneapolis. If you live in San Diego — we highly recommend the Cross-Border Bridge and flying out of Tijuana – there are direct flights a few times a week!

What to Do

Scuba Diving – Diving was definitely at the top of Toby’s list for the trip. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that November is not a good time to dive — the winter water makes visibility bad and it’s not worth the money or time. If diving is high on your list of things to do, I’d make sure you are going at the right time of year.

Sunset Boat Cruise – this doesn’t actually seem to be a popular thing to do like it is in Cabo, but the way Huatulco is situated, you really have to get out on a boat to see the sunset (otherwise it hides behind mountains and hills or you’re facing the wrong direction completely). However, we took a taxi to the marina, was introducing to a boat driver, bought a six-pack of beer and off we went for an hour and a half cruise. It was relaxing, we had the little boat all to ourselves, and bonus during the humid weather — we had a breeze!

Fishing – neither of us are big fisherman, but with a planned day of diving canceled, we found ourselves talking to our sunset-boat-driver about going fishing the next day. Unfortunately, we had a mostly unsuccessful morning until we caught a bunch of Bonito towards the end of our charter — which I found to be very fun!

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Relax! – you’re at a resort on the beach in Mexico — so you’re most likely looking for SOME relaxation — so whether that’s the pool, beach, or spa, there are plenty of resorts that have all of these options at your fingertips. Las Brisas did make it very easy to sit back and relax for the day.

Where to Eat

One of the reasons we don’t stay at all-inclusive resorts is that we like to explore the town and try out the local restaurants. We had some great dinners in town while we were in Huatulco.

After not receiving much help from the concierge at our resort (again, being an all-inclusive I don’t think they are used to recommending restaurants outside fo the hotel), our taxi driver suggested Che Dieguito, an Argentinian restaurant. The food was delicious and the restaurant was really cute, with indoor and outdoor seating. If you’re in the mood for a good steak, I highly recommend.

Terra-Cotta – we actually weren’t planning on going to this restaurant, but the restaurant with a similar name that we were hoping to go to ended up being closed. This place was a great, last-minute, second choice! Delicious drinks, good food, and right in the middle of the main part of town.

Besame Mucho – this restaurant isn’t in Tripadvisor’s Top 10 and it’s off the beaten track a bit, overlooking a little marina (but also right about 7 Tavoli La Taverna which is highly ranked) but we decided to give it a shot. The restaurant was adorable, the food was delicious with great presentation, and, the service wonderful — although there were only a handful of us dining when we were there.

 

Nightlife

We didn’t go to Huatulco with the intention to party all night long, and if that’s what you want to do we probably wouldn’t recommend Huatulco!

Their bar scene is slowly starting to grow but…it’s pretty quiet right now! On our one night out we had drinks and played pool at La Mezcala and then ended up at a nearby nightclub, La Papaya.

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All in all, we enjoyed Huatulco. After adventuring through Colombia and Scandinavia, hiking all over the world and reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro, and a handful of domestic trips in between, it was a great few days of relaxation.

A 4-Day Tanzanian Safari

Jocelyn
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A 4-Day Tanzanian Safari

After climbing Kilimanjaro, we wasted no time starting our Tanzanian safari. We had four days before flying out of Kilimanjaro International Airport and we packed them full. We decided to use the same company we had used for our climb, Mar Tours.

By 9am the day after our climb we were in our safari car and on the way from Moshi to our first stop, Tarangire National Park. As a side note, if you fly to Kilimanjaro for a safari and do not climb the mountain first, you’ll probably head to the larger town of Arusha before heading out into the bush. This also helps cut down on the travel time before you get to Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National Park

After about a 4-hour drive we arrived at Tarangire National Park. By this time I was ready for lunch. While our guide was getting paperwork filled out, we sat down in the picnic area at the park entrance and had our boxed lunch. After lunch, it was finally time to see animals!

While we saw warthogs (Pumbas!), zebras, wildabeests, and one lion sleeping in a tree (!!), Tarangire is known for their elephants. And elephants we did see!!

After about 4 hours in the park, we headed out and stayed at a lodge and campsite about 30-minutes away. There is also at least one option to stay within the park (which I assume is expensive) but there were numerous places close by and also within a close distance to Lake Manyara National Park if you are planning to visit that park as well.

Serengeti National Park

The next morning we were on our way again around 8:30am. It was another long drive to just get to the entrance of the park! On the way, you actually stop at the Ngorongoro Crater gate, so we stopped for a bit to use the restrooms, check out souvenirs, and fill out some paperwork. It was a nice break on our 4-hour journey.

As we had at Tarangire, we had lunch when we arrived in the Serengeti and then we were off on our game drive! The Serengeti is vastly different than Tarangire. The African plains seem endless.

Within twenty minutes of our drive beginning, we saw a cheetah stalking two gazelles – a mom and her baby. We stopped and within minutes the cheetah ran after the gazelles and grabbed the baby. While sad, it was incredible to be in the middle of nature seeing the circle of life.

After the excitement, we came upon a small family of lions, and then a larger pride of lions. I was in awe. We saw baboons, more elephants, giraffes, buffalo, even rhinos in the distance, and ended the day at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge.

The lodge is located in the middle of nowhere and is absolutely beautiful. We caught a gorgeous sunset (and sunrise) and enjoyed delicious dinner, wine, and service.

The next day we were up early to head out for a sunrise game drive. I’m not sure if all of the animals had just gone to bed from partying all night or some were just sleeping in, but we saw the least amount of activity that morning. Still, enjoying the beautiful scenery in the Serengeti was good enough for a morning drive!

We then stopped for lunch at the gate of the Serengeti and then we were off to Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge for the night.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Our last hotel for the trip was the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge. The views were incredible. We arrived at this hotel earlier than the previous two and were able to sit outside with a bottle of champagne, take in the view, and let the last 9 days of our adventure sink in.

The lodge sits about the crater at about 8,000 ft above sea level, so after the sun set things cooled down and we enjoyed another bottle of wine in the cozy indoor bar around a fireplace. After dinner it was time to crawl into bed and surprise! there was a hot water bottle heating up the sheets.

The next morning we watched the clouds roll over the edge of the crater and got ready for our last game drive down below.

Our morning down in the crater was amazing. We had heard mixed reviews – it’s “small” compared to the vastness of the Serengeti, but it’s no zoo or game reserve. We saw a group of lions on a walk to get water, playing, and then napping. We saw numerous male lions, hundreds of zebras, wildebeests, buffalo, elephants, baboons, and hippos! If you are even shorter on time than we were, I would definitely recommend a day in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

After we left the crater it was time to head to the airport! We arrived with plenty of time to relax in the lounge and were on our way to Amsterdam at 9pm.

All in all, the safari was amazing. But every day was a long day of driving. With our limited time, I wouldn’t have changed a thing, but I could see if you had more time (and money) to space out your game drives a bit and spend a little more time relaxing at the nice lodges.

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro: 6-Day Rongai Route

Jocelyn
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Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro: 6-Day Rongai Route

With one of Mount Kilimanjaro’s dry seasons falling over our birthdays, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro became our 2018 birthday trip. We chose the Rongai route as it was said to be a less popular route and we were hoping to avoid the crowds (as much as possible during one of the busier times of year)…spoiler alert: it was a great decision!

Rongai Route: Day 1

Choosing the Rongai route means that you have the farthest drive from Moshi. First, you head to the Marangu gate to register and then continue your drive to the Rongai gate. You start close to the Kenyan border, so close in fact when I turned on my phone before we started hiking my phone actually thought we were in Kenya! Once we arrived at the Rongai gate, food, supplies, and packs were distributed between all of our porters. They quickly started their ascent to our first camp as we followed behind at a slower pace with our guide and assistant guide. I’m already pretty chilly and it’s only the first day, at the lowest altitude. What have I gotten myself into?!

Luckily, from a hiking perspective, the first day was short and sweet. About two hours after starting we reached our first camp for the night. Each day we reach camp and are given freshly popped popcorn and hot water for tea, followed by delicious dinners that always prove to be more food than we can eat.

Camp 1: 1st Caves Camp (2,600 meters / 8,530 feet)

Rongai Route: Day 2

After an early wake-up and some breakfast, we headed out for a longer day of hiking. After a cool and misty start on the first day, I was prepared for more gloom on day two — which was full of blue skies and sunshine. The black long-sleeved Smartwool shirt I’m wearing is a bit of overkill but hey, at least I’m protecting [most] of my skin from the brutal sun! On the way to our second camp we stopped at Second Caves Camp for lunch before continuing on to Kikelawa Cave. While a much longer day of hiking, the ascent was gradual and not tough.

Camp 2: Kikelewa Cave (3,600 meters / 11,811 feet)

Rongai Route: Day 3

Today the hike is a bit shorter, but there is a bit more climbing. To be honest, with the slow pace that you go, I didn’t find this day challenging. Each day the habitat is changing, and today it becomes more volcanic. Camp is at the base of the Mawenzi Peak, which we found pretty cool and the shape reminded us of Mt. Whitney). After a couple of hours rest at camp, we took a short walk a bit higher to help acclimatize — heading up to about 14,700 feet (my personal best for about 36 hours!).

Camp 3: Mawenzi Tarn (4,330 meters / 14,206 feet)

Rongai Route: Day 4

Today is Toby’s birthday, so we woke up and I surprised him with cards from friends and family back home. I’m looking forward to more surprises in the evening, but for now, we make our way across the saddle from Mawenzi Tarn to Kibo Hut. We don’t gain much altitude but the wind is pretty brutal. We stop for a quick break along the way but wait until we get to camp to have lunch.

Kibo Hut is the first camp we meet up with other hikers who have been on the Marangu Route – the only route with huts. Due to the wind, our tents are set up sheltered by large boulders and we don’t come across other hikers until we making our summit push.

Once at camp we rest and relax, have an early dinner, and, my favorite part of the day, everyone sings ‘Happy Birthday’ in English and Swahili to Toby and shares cake that was made at 15,200 feet!

After birthday celebrations we discuss the upcoming summit push and head to bed — we’ll be waking up in just a few hours to start getting ready and head to Uhuru Peak!!

Camp 4: Kibo Hut (4,700 meters / 15,419 feet)

Rongai Route: Day 5

Technically when we wake up, it’s still Day 4! At about 11pm we start getting dressed, have some biscuits and tea, get warm water in our camelbacks and Nalgene bottles and get ready to head out right around midnight.

It is SO dark. The stars are gorgeous. You might not be spending time to look up while you’re making your way to the summit, but make sure to check out the stars while during your trip – it’s pretty incredible.

It’s also SO cold. I immediately put my ski mittens on over my thinner gloves. I keep my buff over my nose and mouth the entire climb while my nose runs the entire time. I have hand warmers in my shoes and in my mittens. I’m wearing five layers on top and four layers on the bottom. My fingers hurt from time to time, but otherwise, I feel that I’ve made good decisions with what I’ve chosen to wear for the summit push.

It’s SO long. It’s dark. It’s cold. We are on a sparsely populated route and even when there are headlamps in above us, there is still no telling how much farther we have to go until we reach Gilman’s Point at 18,865 feet. The scree switchbacks seem endless. I’m too cold to look at my phone or my watch. We just keep walking. And walking.

Breaks are infrequent and when we have them, I feel colder immediately. Probably about halfway up my camelback hose freezes. My Clifblocks are getting harder to chew. I continue telling myself that I’m a badass because honestly, I don’t know when this is ever going to end.

Then FINALLY, as the night sky slowly starts to fade to light we can see we have almost made it to Gilman’s Point and arrive for a gorgeous sunrise.

Being that we are almost at 19,000 feet I am breathing heavier than normal, I am cold, and I am overcome with joy that we have reached Gilman’s Point – I feel like I’m hyperventilating while giving Toby a hug. We take a few photos, drink some water, and continue on to Uhuru Peak.

To me personally, the climb from Gilman’s Point to Uhuru Peak is a piece of cake. While it reminds me a bit of climbing from Trail Crest to the summit of Mount Whitney, I find it much easier. Perhaps part of it has to do with bright blue skies and sunshine, I’m not sure. We climb through snow and ice and around 8am finally reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. WE DID IT!!

Of course, everyone knows that climbing up the mountain is only half the battle. Now we have to turn around and get back to Kibo Hut, and then even further down, to Horombo Hut. We pretty quickly make our way back to Gilman’s Point, have a snack, and then ski step straight down the scree – a bit of a killer on the thighs and knees but a quicker route than using the switchbacks. The Marangu Route huts start to come into view but at this point it seems like we’ll never get there and now I’m starting to get hot. When we’ve made it down the majority of the switchbacks a few of our porters come into view with a jug of mango juice — perhaps the best mango juice I’ve ever tasted in my life! I gladly hand over my backpack to one and quickly we are back at camp for an hour rest and lunch before heading down to Horombo Hut.

The hike down to Horombo Hut is about 9 miles and gradual again, with clouds and fog continuing to roll in. We head to bed pretty early, excited about the prospect of showering the next day.

Camp 5: Horombo Hut (3720 meters / 12,204 feet)

Rongai Route: Day 6

It’s our last day! We have breakfast and then give out tips to our guides and porters and they sing songs to celebrate us reaching the summit. Then it’s go time! We hike down quickly to Mandara Hut where we have an early lunch. And then we’re off again, hiking down to the Marangu gate. By mid-afternoon we’ve reached the end of the road, receive our gold certificates, and have a much deserved Kilimanjaro beer with our guides. We then make the shorter drive back to Moshi where we finally get our showers and a little bit of R&R before we start our 4-day safari the next day.

Marangu Gate (1,980 meters / 6,496 feet)

Stay tuned for tips we’d like to share, the gear we wore and brought, and our 4-day safari after our climb!

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