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The soul benefits of Kili Finding strength within
EPIC JOURNAL

How climbing Kili can change your life

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How Kili changes lives

written by: Private guide Rob Barbour 5 Jun 2018

“ Thank you so much for putting together such an epic and surreal trip.

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and the safaris at Lake Manyara and Ndutu Safari Lodge were adventures I will never forget and I encourage any “adventurer” to do.

Something I have always wanted to do but never had the chance.

Was better than I could have imagined – I am desperately trying to get back to Africa asap!

To anyone listening, put Tanzania on your bucket list.

Amazing experience with even more amazing people and places.”

R.Caldow, Kili Trek and Safari, January 2018

Climbing Kilimanjaro is a bucket-list travel goal for many people, given it is Africa’s highest mountain.

The ‘Roof of Africa’ is 5895 metres above sea level, set in Tanzania in the heart of East Africa. It is also the world’s largest freestanding mountain and one of the ‘Seven Summits’.

Those attributes may dissuade some people but “Kili” – also referred to as ‘Everyman’s Everest’ – is in reach of most people because it requires no technical skill. Just a good level of fitness and a degree of stubbornness and patience to keep on going!

Some people may be anxious about the altitude. All Epic’s climbs of Kilimanjaro tend to be over the longer Machame and Lemosho Routes – 7 nights and 8 nights respectively. These longer routes, together with great local guides, excellent pre-climb preparation including equipment and clothing advice and a ‘safety first’ attitude, go a long way to reducing the impacts of high altitude.

This makes climbing Kili a rewarding experience for potentially anyone.

‘Everyman’s Everest’

Our climb in January, 2018 included climbers ranging from their mid 20s to 70 years of age. All of them made it safely up, and down again.

And I was privileged to stand on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with the oldest member of our team.

She managed to raise an enormous sum of money for her favourite charity… and make her granddaughter very proud.

Showing Courage

 

The emotion evoked by her achievement was contagious, even to the other groups of climbers who witnessed her arrival at the summit.

All of us were rewarded with amazing views from the summit. And many hours later when safely down from this epic mountain, we were rewarded again with a steaming hot bath, spa treatments and plenty of quality red wine at our luxurious but homely post climb hotel.

Some of the group even chose to ‘wind down’ with a post-climb safari in the Serengeti!

An epic journey

Climbing Kili is potentially many people’s ultimate adventure. With the correct preparation and guidance, everyone comes home having learned something about the world and themselves, literally gaining a new perspective on life. They also make lasting new friendships and are infinitely richer for the experience.

And surely that has to be the essence of travel.

Rob

Rob Barbour – Epic Private Guide & Managing Partner

Follow Rob on Instagram @epicprivatejourneysrobbarbour 

Watch the amazing journey here:

 

Testimonial
what our clients say

From our travellers

A photo taken in Africa feels like it’s for someone else. I don’t need to remind myself of any part of Africa because, in Africa, I was inescapably present. If you’d hypnotised me, I couldn’t have done a better job of blocking out the rest of world. What else would I think of while watching a pair of cheetahs push themselves to keep eating despite their burgeoning bellies; or a lion physically challenged to pull its kill to safety from circling hyenas and vultures; or a young baboon endlessly distracted while their troop moves on with steady pace and determination. The pictures that I took to memorialize these moments may be interesting to friends and family but are simply too one dimensional for me. In my mind these moments are enriched with the smell of dirt and grass, the smell of fresh blood and old/dried blood, the smell of the sun and heat radiating off every living thing during the day and that smell being slowly put to rest at night. I see the changing colours of the high grass in the winds and the crescendo of a sunset from yellow to orange to bright red with clouds of pink and purple. I hear the birds and crickets playing a calming soundtrack to a day filled with extreme exhibitions of both life and death. I feel a profound connection to a zebra with a broken ankle and another zebra that won’t leave its side; to a couple of gorillas that agree rolling down the grassy hill would be preferable to walking down; and to a lioness who only wants a moment to get a drink for herself and is tackled repeatedly at the hole by two of her cubs. Everything that is beautiful about life is in Africa absent the numbing competition of traffic, work, tv, social media, and the rest. Samadhi refers to “a state of profound concentration and absorption, often described as the merging of the self, mind, and object of meditation into one, leading to a state of bliss or enlightenment.” For me, this has only ever been achieved in Africa. Thank you to your entire team for the great gift that you shared with us. I cannot imagine a more perfect experience.
Christie family – East Africa
Leonardo Abedum de Lima Hanzawa
Sample trip
Pole Pole

Respect the Mountain

A recommended Epic itinerary for Kili

The Epic way

9 Nights Mount Kilimanjaro Lemosho Route

A recommended Epic Kili itinerary for the best chance at making the summit and coping with altitude. The best mountain guides for whom safety and the health of our clients is paramount.

Climbing Kili
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