Quartet embarks on African safari, climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro
Courtesy of Kelly Wilding
Celebrating their journey to Uhuru Peak, Africa鈥檚 highest point are seated from right one of the porters, Glen Green, Kelly Wilding and Jenny MacBeth. Standing is an assistant guide.
Courtesy of Kelly Wilding
Dan Storch with Latifah at Cheetah鈥檚 Rock, a wildlife preserve in Zanzibar.
Courtesy of Kelly Wilding
Courtesy of Kelly Wilding
Kelly Wilding reacts to having two lemurs jumping on her at Cheetah鈥檚 Rock.
Courtesy of Kelly Wilding
This elephant is shaking the tree so the fruit will fall off at Tarangire National Park in Tanzania.
Courtesy of Kelly Wilding
The members of Team Marafiki with others who would be on the mountain. Team Marafiki members are, front, Jenny MacBeth, left, and Kelly Wilding; next row Dan Storch, left, and Glen Green.
Courtesy of Kelly Wilding/
Many folks sold foods and goods along the street in Moshi, a town in northern Tanzania. This woman amazingly balances this fruit she is selling on her head.
Courtesy of Kelly Wilding
Glen Green, Jenny MacBeth and Kelly Wilding need a little down time at the end of their mountain journey.
Kelly Wilding always dreamed of going to Africa.
Glen Green has long participated in adventure sports and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro was something he wanted to do.
Consider those hopes and dreams realized with a recent trip that included a trek to the summit of the highest mountain in Africa 鈥� which stands at 19,341 feet 鈥� as well as a safari.
鈥淎s long as I can remember I鈥檝e dreamed of going to Africa,鈥� said Wilding, who remembers as a youngster sitting with her father and watching Mutual of Omaha鈥檚 鈥淲ild Kingdom鈥� with Marlin Perkins. 鈥淚 was mesmerized by the beauty of the country, and I鈥檝e always wanted to go.鈥�
Green said the idea to climb Kilimanjaro was triggered on a flight on which was traveling from Nairobi to Mombasa.
鈥淚 was able to look into Tanzania and see Kilimanjaro,鈥� Green said. 鈥淚 remember tapping the window and saying, 鈥業 would like to climb that one day.鈥� That鈥檚 been in the back of my head for a long time.鈥�
Wilding, of Wilkins Township, and Green, of Deer Lakes, were joined on the trip to Africa by Jenny MacBeth, also of Deer Lakes, and Dan Storch, a former Armstrong County resident who lives in Denver, Colo.
They named themselves Team Marafiki, which means 鈥渇riends鈥� in Swahili.
To get prepared, the members of Team Marafiki did their backpack training in the Laurel Highlands in Fayette County. Something they said was extremely beneficial in preparing for Kilimanjaro.
鈥淪ince the Laurel Highlands trails are so rocky that was a really good test for us, because you鈥檙e constantly stepping over rocks,鈥� Wilding said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the way it was on Kilimanjaro. The time we spent in the Laurel Highlands over the rocky terrain was really useful. It was good for our footwork.鈥�
鈥淭he Laurel Highlands Trail was essential training,鈥� Green added. 鈥淭he trail was good and rocky and had a lot of steep inclines. We spent a lot of weekends in rain and winter hiking it.鈥�
Another important part of the journey was the extensive research put into hiring a safari company that treated its porters and guides ethically. They used the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project (KPAP). Their traveling party included 14 porters and three guides.
鈥淭hey do a lot of hard work for very little money,鈥� MacBeth said of the porters. 鈥淚鈥檓 carrying 15 pounds on my back. They鈥檙e carrying 44 pounds and they鈥檙e passing us on the trail. We would finish our hot breakfast that they prepared, get our backpacks and start hiking. They would rip down camp and then pass us on the trail. It鈥檚 so impressive. I was very humbled by watching them.鈥�
Team Marafiki began its trek up Kilimanjaro Dec. 29, choosing the longest route up the mountain to allow for more time to acclimate to the altitude. The trek covered 60 miles and took nine days and eight nights.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a newer route and it takes you around the mountain and you can see Kenya from some of the trails,鈥� Wilding said. 鈥淚t was amazing. I loved every minute on that mountain.鈥�
A lot of the hiking is done at night.
鈥淵ou start in the middle of the night with headlamps, and you just walk for hours,鈥� Wilding said. 鈥淭hey do a lot of that at night, because it discourages you from seeing how far you have to go.鈥�
Summit day involved more than 15 hours of climbing. Once the summit was reached, many emotions were experienced.
For Wilding, it was 鈥渟hock and awe.鈥�
For MacBeth, her first words were, 鈥淚鈥檓 hungry.鈥�
Once the Kilimanjaro trek was completed, Team Marafiki embarked on an African safari.
This was a part of the journey that really stood out for Storch, who admitted he 鈥渨as all about the animals.鈥�
鈥淭he safari for me was life-affirming, life-changing and absolutely amazing,鈥� he said, recalling trying to sleep through the night while hearing the sounds of elephants and lions. 鈥淏eing in the presence of such awe-inspiring and majestic creatures in the wild with a very respectful guide who kept his distance to make sure we were safe was for me the highlight. The safari experience was absolutely overwhelming.鈥�
Storch said a question was posed to a guide at one point as to how many animals they had seen over a two-hour span. The answer was eye-popping, 鈥渁bout 100,000,鈥� Storch said.
鈥淚鈥檓 the guy who grew up on a farm,鈥� Storch added. 鈥淚鈥檓 used to like 50 or 100 cows. How do you describe 100,000 animals?鈥�
There were many animals to experience, and at close range in some cases. This included lions, elephants, cheetahs, buffaloes, leopards, hyena hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses and baboons.
They saw a pride of lions take down a buffalo. They witnessed wildebeest and zebra migration and saw a baby wildebeest take its first steps. They were in a truck watching giraffe, when an elephant spotted them and started heading toward them. This forced the driver to make a quick getaway.
鈥淲e had no idea we would see so many,鈥� Wilding said. 鈥淲e had no idea we would be right next to all of these animals. It was so beautiful.鈥�
A lot of credit was given to tour operator Simbo Natai of African Scenic Safaris.
鈥淚n all my years of travel, I have never had that level of personalized service,鈥� Wilding said. 鈥淗e even showed up at camp on the mountain, carried an extra tent and had five bottles of soda to greet us at lunch. He could have paid a porter to do it.鈥�
There were many other adventures such as milking cows at an organic farm started by missionaries in the 1940s. There also was biking into the village and meeting a man who makes moonshine.
Happy Birthday was sung to Wilding鈥檚 son Dylan and Storch鈥檚 daughter Maria while in the Tarangire National Park. Staff members at the lodge where the group was staying joined in the singing on the video that appeared on Facebook.
The group also seemed to enjoy the food, with a lot of what they consumed being fresh products such as vegetables and fruits.
鈥淭hings would be in the pasture or the garden (one day) and they鈥檙e on your plate (the next) morning,鈥� Storch said.
A chicken that stood out was called, Kuku.
鈥淐hicken is fantastic in Tanzania,鈥� Wilding said. 鈥淭hey cooked it a million different ways and each way was insanely good.鈥�
Wilding also admitted she was very touched by the people she met and has even become friends on Facebook with some.
鈥淭he people were so kind, so warm and so welcoming,鈥� she said.
There are more adventurous for this group as they are looking to hike to the base camp of Mt. Everest.
But the trip to Africa still remains almost magical in their memories.
Storch admitted there were times where the feeling hit him that he couldn鈥檛 believe it was happening.
鈥淭he concept of some kid like me ending up halfway around the world experiencing this was completely nuts,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think it would really happen,鈥� added MacBeth, who said she wants to visit every continent. 鈥淚 felt like I was dreaming and every morning when I woke up, I was thinking I鈥檓 going to wake up in my own bed and I was having a total dream. It was very dream-like, very surreal. It still feels very dreamy, as though it didn鈥檛 happen.鈥�
鈥淚t felt like I had some ghosts I had to put to bed, some things I had to prove to myself,鈥� Green said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 really trying to do anything, except prove some things to myself. It was a really strong sense of accomplishment. I feel like Kilimanjaro is my spirit mountain.鈥�
鈥淭he entire trip was very humbling,鈥� Wilding said. 鈥淚 did something I didn鈥檛 think I could do. The time I spent preparing was worth it. I felt stronger coming out of it.鈥�