These are photos I took while climbing Kilimanjaro and of Tanzania afterwards.
Went with my sister, two of her roommates, three fathers, and one mother.
We took the Machame route up and the Marangu route down. Six days total.
These are the two most popular routes, the Marangu route being the shortest and most commonly taken.
If you go, definitely take the Machame route. It takes an extra day but is worth it for many reasons.
There is much more variation in terrain and vegetation making the climb more interesting.
The highest location, Uhuru Peak, is 19342 feet above sea level. The effects of altitude are significant for anyone coming from sea level,
so the extra day of acclimatization on the Machame route may make the difference in making it to the top or not.
Kilimanjaro is not a technical climb. Anyone who can walk can do it. But it's no joke either, prepare yourself.
Of our group of eight, three of us did not get to the top. Of the four parents, only my Dad made it. Way to go.
But it wasn't luck. He spent the few months previous to the climb walking the four miles to work instead of driving.
I'm not into promising things usually, but I will write more of a description of the climb itself after I finish implementing a better travelogue/story mode for pbase.