Dear Readers:

As you now know, I summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro Jan. 26th...I thank-you for the many emails you've sent wishing me well, cheering me on and supporting the cause for which I climbed.

My January 15th departure for Africa, and summit day arrival on the 26th, may have come and gone, but I invite you to review my experiences as I pushed for the summit, by reading my BLOG.

So that these entries are more than just personal journals at which you can peek, I endeavoured to ensure there was, "something in it for you", every time out...some insight which transferred to the workplace or personal life that you can use and apply for yourself...a parallel, a metaphor, a bonk on the side of the head, an inspirational quote provoked by my day's experience; whatever.

I hope you get good value from my entries. I welcome your responses, too. Let's talk!

Sending you my kindest regards, always,

Nina

Back in Kenya now. Last night, while still in Nairobi, we were taken out to a restaurant named Carnivore, where, you guessed it, pretty much nothin' but meat was served. A little reluctantly I tried camel, ostrich, crocodile and oxen heart. A little bit "yucky," but at least I tried the "when in Rome" perspective.

This morning it was off to Masai Mara via a little DeHaviland Twin Otter plane. Great fun flying over the spectacular Great Rift Valley! No sooner were we picked up, right off the tarmack, we went off on a first safari, on our way to the Masai Mara Serena Lodge. We saw giraffes, hyenas, antelope, hippos and crocs and more in the natural habitats, all mere feet from our jeep!

Later this afternoon we went out again. In short order we saw a lioness and lion sleeping about 40' from our jeep! We were enthralled, especially when our driver told us these two we actively mating and while in this "zone" the pattern is to mate three times an hour. With a little arithmetic we ten women figured they'd be up and at it again the in about 15 minutes! Maybe we've been gone to long from home???...but we asked to wait it out. We waited the next forty-five minutes but all the lion did was get up once and nudge his lioness. She just lifted her head up and flopped back as if to say, "are you kiddin' me!?" Our driver told us the lioness gets to say when...and she wasn't "buyin'". And so we left. Little did we know what rare "treat we were in for next!

We saw it...a kill! Not that I'm blood thirsty, but apparently it's quite rare to spot a leopard and with his kill, too--an antelope. Turns out this was just a young leopard and we spotted its mother in the background observing her offspring's efforts. One couldn't help but think this sight was similar to an enlightened manager letting a developing employee "do his thing" on his own terms, without the "boss's interference and meddling. She watched carefully but hung back. That cub hauled the antelope up into a tree, for his best bet at an undisturbed feed. More "yuck", but fascinating, too. It was the 1960s Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom come to life!

The accompanying pics are, of course, the two lionsn, and the other is the leopard in the tree with his kill dinner hanging down on the right.

Lessons from today? #1. Some times we hang around waiting, waiting for things to improve, change or get more exciting, at work or in life, and things never really shift at all (the lions just kept sleeping, three times longer than they were supposed to, and, #2. Sometimes if you are willing to give up on something that's not paying off, and move on, you end up getting the BIG, elusive reward further down the road!

As for now? It's midnight Fri. Up at 5:30 am for a 6:30 am Sat. Morning safari. Must get to bed now...hoping to see zebras and elephants tomorrow! Signing off now from Kenya's spectacular Masai Mara reserve. I welcome your own metaphoric insights on my experiences and contemplations of this day. Night night now,

Nina

Well all this hydrotherapy I've been getting, between the Indian Ocean and the salt water pool, has pretty much healed my elbow injury received when I fell during the last few moments of my nine day hike last week. It's incredible to me to comprehend that one week has already passed since last Wednesday's Kili summit.

Among the many lessons I learned on the mountain was the one of working hard to be "in the present"...to be fully "in the moment."

So much of the time during those nine days all of us so easily and unconsciously lived in the past, remembering the previous day's adventures, or in the future, trading off the present. Some listened to music on i-pods, but mostly we were out of step with the moment at hand because we were hungry, or cold or needed a pit stop break.

How many times did I either actually ask, or at the very least repeatedly wonder, "Are we there yet???" Not only did losing the present take away from the beauty in front of me, on occasion, concentrating more on a future moment made me misstep and stumble in the present.

Every thoughtless trip over a rock or root or whatever turned into a karmic tap on the shoulder to learn the lesson of focusing on the here and now (and trust that I'd get lunch, or dinner or whatever, when I get it).

This lesson is so applicable in day to day work life, too, whether we're jumping ahead in what day we wish it was, or whether we're jumping ahead to complete a project or get to the next professional level, etc. Dorothy Gale from the Wizard of Oz chanted, "There's no place like home. There's no place like home.", but I've come to realize this past week--as challenging as it is to do--"There's no moment like the present. There's no moment like the present."

Let's face it, we all understand and appreciate this lesson philosophically but, in reality, it's a bit trickier. But still, perhaps a good reminder? And so, embracing my own lesson from my own Kili insight about being present, I'm signing off now to snuggle into my lovely mosquito-netted bed and listen, in the dark, to the sound of noisy, clucking Zanzibar monkies right outside my window, until I drift off. Day is done here now. Goodnight.

Nina

Well it's hard to believe that it was a week ago that the 13 of us summitted Kili, for as hard as we worked at it for seven days of ascent, that's how lazy we're being now, lolling about at a lovely resort in Zanzibar (healing our wounds and minor injuries).

So surreal. Early morning here in Zanzibar and I'm now sitting on a rope swing above the shore rocks over looking the still, aqua, Indian Ocean, watching four men with cloth bags, wade through the low tide, picking up seaweed to sell to Japanese merchants to make Sushi rolls! Ah the bliss of the reward (for sore muscles) after "The Long Walk"!

Ha! Some long walk! Summit day was a 12 all up hill trek, with the almost unheard of 55 minutes on top, followed by a two hour "sand and boot skiing" descent! We stayed atop so long because the day was extraordinarily warm for the summit--only about minus 5 C. Heck, that day I think it was colder in Toronto than it was on top of Kili!!! So much for all that money I spent on minus 30 gear, eh?

The glory of summiting got momentarily doused, however, because we stayed on top a little too long and, therefore, on the descent, we ran out of daylight. Night really "falls" fast at the equator. 7 pm and thud! By the time of the "thud" we still had a whole hour left to gingerly climb down rocks in the dark (thank goodness for headlights but they weren't really good enough). Anyway looking back I see how treacherous it was but we made it to camp and when we did 15 straight hours on our feet, hiking, was under our weary belts. We flopped into chairs in the dining tent (Ruth and I), really took a moment to "get it" about the whole ordeal, and just put our arms around one another and had a little cry. But you know, this is a bad news/goods news story, for if nothing unusual happened, it would have been just your typical story of up and down the summit. This way I have great story fodder to share...and we made it unscathed, despite the real danger.

But speaking of "making it unscathed...I did end up injuring myself, you'll never guess when! On the very, very last 30 minutes of the whole experience...on the flattest, widest part of the route, right near the finish line and gate! Seemingly out of nowhere we heard and then saw the shock of a small truck on our road. Such an affront after 9 days of virtually no signs of the outside world! We all scampered quickly to the road's edge to let the "lorry" pass and when ascending the embankment--tired legs, I guess--I stumbled and fell hard on my right elbow and leg. Two nasty bruises on my leg and an elbow that took a blow so hard it took days for me to raise my arm (even to hold a glass of water) securely. All's well now, however. Nothing a few days of seawater and R and R couldn't fix, eh? And the moral of this little last day of climb story??? It ain't over 'till it's over!!! And, one must continue to hold conscious intention on important tasks and projects to the very end for, just like car crashes, most "accidents" happen within a mile of "home".

Hope you enjoy these pics of my cottage in Zanzibar, the lovely view from my porch, last night's sunset and the men picking seaweed at low tide. Going to go have breakfast now and then a swim in the Indian Ocean--strictly for medical reasons, to further heal my arm. Ha ha ha!

Wish you were here,

Nina

It's now 8pm on day 6 and I'm at 16,000 feet. This is my last ascent camp, known as Barafu Camp. Summit day is tomorrow and we start out at 3am in the morning with our target to summit at noon or 1pm. Wish me luck!!! Here's is a pic from our camp. See the summit off in the distance?

Today is the 5th morning of my 7 day ascent of Mt. Kili and on my trek to the summit, I faced a daunting 800 foot vertical climb of what is known as, the Great Barranco Wall. "Pole pole" (slowly, slowly) does it. Onwards and upwards I trekked finally reaching the top. I'm having to be very conservative about battery power for my blackberry and camera. I'm saving it for the summit day push. I will have more for you soon.

XO Nina

Well I had a poor night's sleep last Night. Awoke at 4:20 to the sound of a rooster crowing (that then continued on and off til sundown!) A few minutes later the sounds of faithful Muslims' calling prayers, then, shortly afterwards, the repetitive striking of a nearby Hindu temple bell. I surrendered to the dual faiths' morning call to order and crept out of bed, so not to disturb my roommate, by 5:00 am. and did a little meditation of my own.

Now that you know what a spectacular view of Kili from my balcony (last blog), you'll understand why I took it outside!

I dragged a patio chair up the stairs and watched the shadowy outline of Kili lighten. While it was still dark I was tickled pink to see three separate campfire twinkles at various points on the mountain! Silly me. It was THEN that I had the conscious thought that there are lots of people there RIGHT NOW!!! Made me all the more excited to be one of them Thursday! I took a series of the progressing dawn on Kili. See?

Orientation was this morning. Kembo is our main guide and he went room to room inspecting our gear. I wondered if I would pass muster (he smiled and said my collection gets A+!). Big smile and big whew, from me.

Lots of packing and repacking and grunting and pushing and pulling to get our gear (my roommate susan and me) to fit in the required Tusker Trails bags. We managed.

So "This is it. Don't get scared", as McCauley Culkin's character says in the movie, Home Alone.

Everything's fine. We're ready. I'll try to blog each day but Kembo says don't bet on reception until Sunday--high up then. My friend Victoria, who climbed last year got a signal everyday.

This is a very humbling experience and I'm just popping with insights to share, but that will have to wait another day.

Signing off now. To bed with her!

XO Nina