Hey Africa
Standing on the roof of Africa is an extraordinary experience.
When my oldest daughter was a teen we came across a ridiculous YouTube video entitled "Hey Africa", it was truely strange but created many of family laughs, and to this day we can't mention Africa without someone giving out the catchphrase "Hey Africa". Africa wasn't a priority for me in my list of "some days", but for Crystal it had always been a goal since childhood. Two of my children completed service trips to Uganda and Tanzania but until the summer of 2022 neither Crystal nor I had made the journey.
Our 2022 adventure included 5 days in Zanzibar, 2 days of Safari, and a 9 day climb of Kilimanjaro along the Northern Circuit Route with Climbing Kilimanjaro. Standing on the roof of Africa is an experience you simply cannot ever forget.
After completing the Camino Portuguese we returned to Milan to swap out gear at our storage locker. We then flew with Qatar Airlines to Zanzibar changing planes in Qatar. Qatar Airline is part of the OneWorld Alliance that Alaska Airlines belongs to, so in addition to great service we earned Alaska Airlines miles.
We spent five days in Zanzibar staying at The One Zanzibar resort.
During that time we rested up from our Camino Portuguese, enjoyed the swim up bar, walked the beach, enjoyed Indian Ocean sunrises. Enjoyed great food, massages, a tour to a local NGO, a spice farm visit and a tour of Stone Town and Prison Island. Throughout the experience we we treated with fantastic service.
From Zanzibar it was off to Arusha to connect with Climbing Kilimanjaro for our Safari and Mount Kilimanjaro climb. We flew Zanzibar to Arusha aboard Precision Airlines a Tanzanian airline. The service and experience with Climbing Kilimanjaro was fantastic from the greeting at the airport to our departing flight, every detail was attended to. We completed a two day Safari, just the two of us with our own guide, and then joined the rest of our climbing group for our guided climb.
One thing I learned about Africa, Unless your a professional photographer your images are simply going to be snapshot reminders of your experience. The landscapes, the flora and the fauna are simply so extraordinary that it is difficult to record with digital media.
Our two day safari took us to Tarangire National Park and Ngorongoro Crater.
After our safari we returned to Arusha and overnighted befor heading to the mountain for our nine day Northern Circuit Route Kilimanjaro climb.
With the support of a good guide service Kilimanjaro is attainable for most regular hikers. It is hard, summit day is exceptionally difficult but the reward of standing on top of Africa's highest mountain is certainly worth the work, and expense.