Holiday adventure with family and friends on top of Africa- what a way to end the year!

MM Guide Ben Mal­i­ty had great news to report on our recent Kil­i­man­jaro expe­di­tion: all sev­en climbers reached the sum­mit. Ben describes the diverse group as ​“friend­ly, hap­py, strong, and active” through­out the trip.

We all enjoyed the first day’s hike to water­falls, which includ­ed sight­ings of many inter­est­ing birds and we even saw blue mon­keys in the for­est. Our famous BBQ din­ner at camp was fol­lowed with a birth­day cel­e­bra­tion for Trevor and a sur­prise birth­day cake. 

Trevor show­ing off his toe shoes — which he wore all the way to the sum­mit — with the group behind him. Ben Mal­i­ty photo

Fur­ther up the moun­tain, the group encoun­tered high winds strong enough to break a tent. There was some ner­vous­ness, but we made it through the night ok and were ready for the next day, when they trav­eled from Arrow to Crater Camp. It was a chal­leng­ing day, but good to be at the crater and so close to the sum­mit. Despite the wind at camp, four climbers chose to do the option­al hike to the ash pit and explore the fascin­taing fea­tures of the crater.

Head­ing to the high camp in the crater.

The next day start­ed ear­ly and our sum­mit day was very cold (-15 degrees centi­grade), but the winds had calmed. The group woke at 4am to stars and a dis­tinct chill in the air, but it was a good sum­mit hike and we all reached the top at 6:15.

We all took in the incred­i­ble scene, the plains of Africa spread out below us where the safari would soon take place for the group. It was a long hike down to the Mwe­ka camp, but once there we topped off the day with a Christ­mas cel­e­bra­tion includ­ing turkey and champagne!

Hol­i­day feast in camp. Ben Mal­i­ty photo

Three climbers stayed on for the safari exten­sion, joined by two addi­tion­al mem­bers of the fam­i­ly. As always, we enjoyed the lux­u­ries of our pri­vate camps in the Serengeti and near the Ngoron­goro Crater, where among all sorts of activ­i­ties we had a chance to hang out with our Mas­saai frind Olé Dor­pa and vis­it his community.

Enjoy­ing a nice fire in our lux­u­ry camp after the sum­mit trek.

The safari did not dis­ap­point- many ani­mals were seen and the group was excit­ed to see rhi­nos, lions, more than 50 ele­phants (some with babies), leop­ards, and even mat­ing zebras and ostrich­es. And to cap off an already amaz­ing adven­ture the Broom fam­i­ly relaxed on the white sand beach­es of Zanz­ibar after their vis­it to the Roof of Africa!

Enjoy­ing the sun­shine on safari. Ben Mal­i­ty photo

Final glimpse of the moun­tain before head­ing home. 

Anoth­er suc­cess­ful Kil­i­man­jaro trip on the books!