Skiing in Vail - Spring '07

It seems, sometimes, that things are famous just because they're famous: could Bogart really act (yes), could Sachmo really blow that horn? (hell yes!), was Anna Kournikova really any good at tennis (who cares!). And is Vail really the place to ski?...I haven't been to Whistler (yet) so maybe I'll update this later...but, along with Mammoth Mountain - Vail is my favourite North American ski resort. We had a great stay in a nice condo (Michelle's find). We were joined by Lisa & Greg, Josh & Kim, Anne and Dik. The year wouldn't be complete without a few days on the slopes with our friends!

African Safari

After our summit of 'Kili' we began the our African Safari. Amani hooked us up with a great guide (we retained the cook from the mountain trip). We visited several parks in Tanzania (Lake Manyara, Tarangire, The Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater). It was an amazing experience. My 200-400mm lens was often 'too long' for the scenes - we were SO close to the animals! We defintely recommend this as one of those "trips of a lifetime."

Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa (19,340 feet) and is the tallest free-standing mountain rise in the world (15,100 feet from the base) - it's also one of the "seven summits" (the 7 highest summits on each of the 7 continents).
In Xxx of '06 Michelle and I summited after a 4 day - 64 mile trek up the Machame (or Whisky) Route. Michelle spent well over a year coordinating with our guide, a local named Amani. He brought with him 9 porters, and a cook and although I did tire of eggs by the end of the trip - I've got to say the food was great - we were particularly surprised when on day three we were served fresh fish and water-melon (another porter was sent up from town with fresh food...to 13,000 feet! Summit day began at 11 pm and the night before when we woke (after a few hour sleep). We got dressed and began what would be a 16 hour hike - to the summit and the down to 6,000 feet. We were happy to see the sunrise as we neared the summit (it's rather cold at 5am at 18,000 feet - even in Africa!). Gaining the summit was a remarkable achievement - so much planning, so much effort and there we were on the roof of Africa - people often ask mountaineers why the do it - aside from the overwelming beauty of these places the realisation of a very difficult task is all the reward I need to have another go - where next? Stay tuned...