Blind Summit - Kilimanjaro 2011 PART 1

I am back on UK turf!

For the last 2 weeks I have been out in Tanzania in East Africa climbing Mt Kilimanjaro ( the highest freestanding mountain in the world ) with my dad who is blind for RP...

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Anyway 7 days of walking from 6am - 6pm...sleeping on weird slopes at 15,000+ feet, -20 temps, every possible climate zone under the sun etc all = one amazing week.

First and foremost was the total lack of tech and contact with the outside world which for me was very refreshing. Being out of contact with the whole world for a whole week was amazing itself without the mountain.

Anyway the photos...

Unsurprisingly an amazing place for photography, so varied, wild and stunning everywhere you look.

I also shot video so expect to see a short video documenting the trip in the coming weeks...but till then some photos...

This is only about a quarter of the images I got while up there...To see the rest of them check out the book im going to put together from the trip soon, more info at bottom of post...

As with most trips, it started on a plane...sunset somewhere over Europe...
In the dense rainforest's on the lower slopes of the Mt...the man himself here looking tired already ha
On the first day we where there, we got this glimpse of the task ahead...looks pretty big eh! try 20,000 feet!
The bulk of the days where spent doing just this, walking. Its what we signed up for after all...
At the start of day 2 we broke out above the Forrest and had a day trekking through heath/moorland...
Our AMAZING guide Nelson...He made the trip that bit much more special, a new friend.
The weather up there was very fickle, clouds would move in and out with shocking pace
Some of the many big rocks in the moorland we where walking through for a whole day
One of the porters playing about climbing one of the rocks, with the rest of the party walking on in the BG
Sun set of day 2...you know trips like this are special when you see this kind of thing day after day...
Nelson leading my dad on the trail. with such little vision my dad needs someone a foot infront of him so he can follow where you put your feet. Makes things very interesting to say the least ha
The vast open spaces of the place where one of the most shocking things...you could walk for a day in most directions before hitting anything of importance...
Getting heigher, the peak peaking through the mist
Some moss growing on one of the many gnarled old bushes
Sunset at the upper edges of the moors...
yet more walking...for my dad if he wanted to look at the views, drink etc he had to stop, so he didnt see to much...
The mists rolling in
the mists and cloud moving in to cover the hillside before bed...
one of the many small streams running down the Mt
Fire red sunset looking out toward Mt Meru, simply stunning...

Now I will be putting together a book of all the work from this trip, along with short extracts from my dads journal which he wrote everyday while out their giving a great insight to how much of a challenge something like this is for someone with only 5% of their sight left...

I will do another post on that when its done in around a week...

The best is still to come!

Thanks

Jacob