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A small photograph of the author Chris Jones

Photography Gallery: Kilimanjaro

In the spring of 2013 a friend and I decided to take on an adventure, travel to Tanzania and attempt to get to the summit of the highest mountain in Africa, Mt Kilimanjaro. It was a lot of fun, hard work and an experience I’ll always cherish. There are more words and photos in the post Kilimanjaro trek, part one.

After two days of air travel it was nice to finally arrive in northern Tanzania. The beginning of an amazing adventure.
Arriving, finally
Can you see the top of Mt Kilimanjaro in the distance above the clouds? This put it all in perspective.
Moshi, Tanzania
With no real transit system these mini-busses get people where they need to go. Each one unique and usually jam packed with passengers.
Bus terminal, Moshi
The train station in Moshi may have been abandoned but it still had people hanging around and the sign looked as if it was waiting for the next train to arrive.
Moshi train station
These tracks used to carry passengers and freight south to the larger cities. All quiet now.
Abandoned tracks, Moshi
I was fortunate to have a local guide take me and my travel partner on a tour of Moshi. He took us to local markets tourists just don't get to see.
Local market, Moshi
As the sun rose on the morning of trek day three I had the view of the mountain all to myself.
Horombo huts, 3790 AMSL
A view of the saddle and the mountain rising to the clouds. There was no wondering where we were going. Can you see the little people down on the trail?
The saddle and Mt Kilimanjaro
Dragging myself up the side of the mountain overnight was one of the most gruelling things I've ever done. But I made it, and our little group had the summit all to ourselves. Heaven.
The top
Time to get back down to thicker air. We had the summit to ourselves for over 15 minutes, our guide had to force us to begin the descent to thicker air.
The track back down
A couple of days off the summit and back in Moshi at the hotel there was only one thing to order at lunch: a frosty cold Coke, in a real glass bottle. Perfect!
My reward