All ten of us (and our guides) made it to the top after 6.5 days traversing higher and higher, acclimatizing all the way up (and getting colder and colder…). There are no words to describe the total experience; hopefully the attached Vimeo will offer some insights into this apex experience. One amusing vingnette I WILL share however, is that I approached the very summit with my guide Albert, I was discussing (between labored breaths I might add…) that where we were, the Great East African Rift Valley in the middle of this utterly ancient volcanic zone, was the birthplace of our very species. Hominid species Austrolopithecus Afarensis, which lived 2.9-3.5 million years ago, was discovered not two days drive away in neighboring Kenya near Lake Turkana. And here, on the summit of this incredible 19,000+’ volcanoe with its alien vista, we were looking into the birth of life as we know it.
(Albert was looking at me with grave concern that I was going hypoxic on him. And he was probably wondering how in blazes they were going to extract my not-inconsiderable bulk off the mountain to safety! )
