So, I am trying to prepare our group for climbing Kilimanjaro.

I am putting together some Canva slides for each day, so far I have three days done. This is an immense mountain, and the climatic zones change slowly as the altitude increases. By day three, the vegetation is thinning out (along with the oxygen). We are getting above 3500m so everyone, no matter how fast a hiker, will need to move very slowly. While the third day can be pretty flat, this is a good day to acclimatize. This just makes you stronger for the challenging days ahead.

There are lots of good video series to show people, but even though they all cover the same route, each climbing company can do things differently. So at this point, I am not sure which camp we will be staying at, but it should be one of the Shira Camps.

There are lots of things you can tell people about the climb, but maybe it is best just to let them experience things for themselves. Really, the best you can do is make sure you are in really good shape so you can enjoy each day.

Now the little things – drink lots of water to keep altitude sickness away, and bring at least two additional layers as the temperature can change quickly. Keep your puffy in your pack now to keep warm during stops. Lots of electrolytes.

What I have to do now is reacquaint myself with the cameras I will be bringing. Over the COVID years, there has been little need to take any photos of treks, so I have to remember how to use an Osmo and my Sony Alpha 6000.

We now leave in 19 days. I am starting to pack and look for gear I haven’t needed to use in three years. Next, I will write a little about how we plan to keep in touch while on the mountain.