Did we really just climb Kilimanjaro?

Back to the grind! Well, not really. I'm back in Abu Dhabi and in fact it is my last day of work. Only 5 hours to go! The past 30 days have been a whirlwind for me with moving out of my apartment the week before the climb, training my replacement, climbing Kilimanjaro, and preparing for my move back to Canada on July 13. But I have no complaints. Everything seems to be coming together! Back in Toronto I will be busy as well with re-establishing my residency, finding a job and planning a wedding! Such an exciting time and I love it. :)

I've been back from Tanzania for about a week and it is just now sinking in that our group of ten all summitted Kilimanjaro at 7AM on June 27. Wow. We really did it. This is one of those adventures I will be talking about for the rest of my life and going back often to look at photos. It was an intense challenge and I remember struggling at times with the altitude sickness but looking back it feels like the trip flew by so quickly. Thank goodness for photographic memories!

Our team of ten has raised over 65K and we are not stopping. My fundraising tally currently stands at 11K but I am going to push for another few weeks to try and break 15K. I know my teammates and new life-long friends will be pushing along with me.

So many fond and funny memories. We were very fortunate to have developed a strong team bond from the very beginning. We got very close, to the point of updating each other daily on our bowel movements. Sounds silly but I think this kind of comfort level was a key ingredient to our success. Any time a team member was feeling ill, everyone was there to lend a hand. Nothing exemplifies this more than our team sticking together during the eight-hour summit climb throughout the night where two of our teammates were vomitting the entire way up. We stayed together, we encouraged each other and in the end, we all summitted at Uhuru Peak (5895 metres) together. Okay okay, I know it sounds like I am having a sentimental moment as opposed to providing my usual comic relief but I can't help myself. I guess I am getting sappy in my old age. To Aimee-Noel, Jenni, Kiran, Trish, Lucas, Camille, Chloe, Paloma and Fred - thank you for making this one of the most memorable adventures of my life. And to our guides - Antipas, Isaiah, Macho and Benson - we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you.

Kristin