Asante sana!

Our journey has come to an end and it is time for the final word. We have heard a lot about people who, having once climbed the mountains, strive to return there over and over again. It is safe to say that such passion did not consume us. We may one day climb somewhere again, but mountaineering will definitely not be our favourite activity. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that the climb to the top of Kilimanjaro was something that is often referred to as an experience of a lifetime. Both the great difficulties we overcame and the many positive emotions we experienced have created indelible memories that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to those who helped us to go on this wonderful adventure. We say “Asante sana” to:
Eliakim Mshanga – the leader of the group and the head guide, without whose help I certainly wouldn’t have reached the top;
Stanford Maleko – the first deputy group leader, who safely led Brigita downhill in a critical situation;
Ally Msasu – the second deputy group leader;
Justin Ayo – our chef, who prepared wonderful meals during the seven days;
Ezekiel Kupaza – our server, who in difficult conditions served us in a manner fit for a restaurant;
Elias Minja – the camp manager and our caring guardian.
We thank all those guides whose names we did not remember, but without whose work our adventure would not have been possible.
Thanks to Anna, an “Altezza Travel” employee, for her professionalism in helping to prepare our equipment, and to Sofia, the coordinator, for resolving countless organisational matters quickly and efficiently.
We are grateful to our travel companions: Svetlana Kapranova, Maxim Pavlychev and Kirill Tikhonov for the really pleasant atmosphere during our adventure.
I would also like to thank my colleagues Undīne Būde, Lelde Vītiņa and Eduards Ekarts, because I could fully rely on them to keep the business running as usual, even though we did not have the opportunity to communicate for more than a week.
Special thanks go to physiotherapists Liene Leske and Arnita Eglīte, who prepared me for the expected physical challenges professionally, considerately and in a very short time.

I was committing my impressions to paper whenever I had a spare moment.