Africa

I have spent the last four New Year’s Eves on the flanks of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and this year will be no exception. But there is a bit of a twist to this year’s trip. My sister Michelle will be joining the team and attempting the summit! This is her second foray to altitude (she summited Cotopaxi in Ecuador with me 5 or 6 years ago) - she performed fantastically last time, but swore she would never do it again. Luckily, selective amnesia has had its normal effect, and she is back for more.

What better way to start 2010 than by climbing Africa’s tallest mountain, and then going game viewing in the eighth wonder of the world, the Ngorongoro Crater. I am writing this dispatch from our hotel in the Crater, looking out on the sun setting and countless animals wandering across the grasslands of the interior of the crater.