A Note from Jeff
Hi, everyone!
We have all returned home to our respective cities and countries. Lots of emotions and thoughts about our trip to Africa. It was an incredible experience we all will remember for years to come or at least until our next great "adventure of a lifetime."
Some of us need to do some physical healing: Jeff with a kidney infection, ear infection and bad cough, Corey with bronchitis, Chad with damaged knees and ankles, and Tom, with loss of 4 toenails. But, all relatively minor and all recovering in fine fashion. Here are some random thoughts in no particular order:
It was very hard right from the Gate. The 35 mile path leading to final summit day was not at all wheelchair friendly. Without the help of the team, Jeff would not have gained 100 feet. The trail was full of drainage trenches, rock jumbles, tree roots, soft sand almost every foot of the way.
Summit day was as tough, the Mountain Beast performed admirably, but the soft scree just buried the drive tire. If a wheelchair user wants to get higher than 17,500 feet, we think it can be done, but would need more time on the mountain, more porters and support staff and additional technology used in the past to climb. There would be a place and need for the Peter Reike Climbing Pod, Mark Wellman's wall climbing technology and Dave Stubenvoll's Summiter Technology and that might get a chair user to the false summit, (Gilman's Point) but getting to Uhru Point would be a whole additional set of challenges.
Thanks to Dr. Bryan, altitude was not an issue for this team. Dr. Bryan shared his expertise about altitude problems with many other climbers and porters we came in contact with on the mountain.
The people of Tanzania are warm, friendly and just a joy to be with. Our sadness in having to leave Africa was leaving so many new-found friends behind.
Spending a night in a poor hospital was not as bad as we all feared. Again, the staff was just comforting and kind. Why do we call the hospital poor? Measuring body temps under the arm pit, checking x-rays on the clothes line with the sun as the light, paying just $4.12 for a private room, several bags of IV's, medications and doctor visits. A snake bite cure cost $1.00, mending a broken bone cost $2.00 and having a baby would set you back $4.00. We hope to help this place out with some medical gear and medications in the near future. Click here to see a scan of the hospital price list.
Our porters, cooks and guides, 25 strong, became part of our team and worked as hard as they could to get Jeff as high as possible. A wheelchair user was a definite oddity in this country, but never something to be avoided. The Porter Gear donated by Granite Gear, JanSport and Polarmax seemed to be well appreciated with lots of smiles and hugs.
The Capricorn Hotel in Marango and our travel service, Borton Travel out of Minneapolis are second to none. We all highly recommend these folks when you travel to Africa.
All of our sponsor gear performed at high levels. Our Clif Bars, our Accelerade Drink for energy, our headlights and batteries from Princeton, Energizer and Rayovac, our warm clothes from Polarmax, our packs from JanSport and Granite Gear, our hand and foot warmers from Grabber, the Quickie Wheelchair, the Varilite Cushions, the Crazy Creek gear, our Satellite Phone Company from Norway, and all our immunizations and medications from Prevea Clinic in Green Bay all served us well.
What's next? That is a good question and our answer is: "Never say never"!
Lastly, a very heartfelt thanks to my Team who helped me get to a very beautiful place on this earth. Our 8 person team blended perfectly. No bickering, no leadership struggles, nothing bad...all great. My team and the African people, that is what I remember most right now about this trip!
Rainbow
P.S. Thanks for your continued interest in our Kilimanjaro climb. More climb details and photos are coming soon!
