THE Lowly Peon

africa 
14 August 2009, 5:59pm

i know that i must do what's right, sure as kilimanjaro rises like olympus above the serengeti. i seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that i've become

i went out for dinner the other night with a friend/colleague/boss of mine, a man who has more experience traveling around the world than most people can even dream of. his most recent adventure was salmon fishing in alaska, followed by flying in a private prop-plane up to 17,000ft to see mckinley up close and personal. around the time i first met him, he talked about a trip he took to africa, and his relationship with the country and some of its people.

his wife, my mom's "bff", has been actively helping a school in tanzania. last year, as a gift to her husband, she built a building for the school in his name. she just went there recently, and will likely go back again soon.

it turns out that she met her friend, the head of the school, on a trip she took with her husband to tanzania, so he could climb kilimanjaro. he was a tour guide, a profession he had only to promote the school among wealthier foreigners (and of course because he's extremely knowledgeable).

meanwhile, ol' jeremy, my good buddy from colorado, spent some time in tanzania studying birds and scientist things. the stories he told blew me away, especially the simpler ones: every time he had to wake up in the night to go pee, he had to wake someone else up to constantly shine a flashlight in circles around the campsite, looking for reflecting eyes. when he woke up some mornings, there would be elephants close by. and so, my friends, i've decided what my next adventure will be:

i am going with hobbeseroo next february to climb mount kilimajaro.

and my friend's tanzanian buddy has already offered to give us a personalized tour, complete with sherpas (though they call them "porters" outside of the himalayas) and equipment and people to cook delicious food along the way. the whole climb should take about 7 days, though the details, right now, are loose. i still have no idea how i'll get there, especially with time not exactly on my side (i'll have a week holiday, then i'm taking a week vacation), but i can't wait. i figure it'll work out somehow. i'm climbing kilimanjaro.

(this will also be a great opportunity for me to get not-fat, as the last few weeks/months have made it quite difficult to stay in shape, given the traveling and the houston and the booze and so forth)