Trip Roster

Alex: It was difficult to be a trip leader, who has to have excellent skills and extensive experience in leading the clients, motivating them when they were ill or discouraged, supervising assistant guides, managing porters, etc. We could call him "Pushy, pushy, pushy," "Commander-in-Chief," or "Clear and Copious." I settled on "Alex, Mr. Plan for Tomorrow" as every night after dinner he would tell us about the next day's hike, what clothes to wear, and how much water to bring. Here was Alex going over our plan right after we landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport.

Alice: Who forsaken her comfortable house at Houston, a stay at Ritz at Dubai, and her husband (who did make it to safari) in order to do the Kili climb because she wanted to have an adventure named "Alice in Kililand" Here was Alice trying to relate her adventures to her husband sitting next to her.

Anne: Who was one of my faithful water pumping companions. Never complained but calmly faced the challenge of the Mountain and the cold. (Though it was so cold up at Sheffield Camp did ask me to open up a bottle of pain relievers for her because her fingers were numb.) "Anne, Ms. Sherman Tank" Here was Anne standing in front of the Furtwangler glacier--no problem with the cold!

Brad: Who took a sponge bath in the frigid air of 14,800' at Sheffield Camp and even cleaned his gaiters at the end of the hike. "Brad, Mr. Clean" Here was Brad after his post-hike hot shower at Dik-Dik Lodge; look how clean he was.

	Bruce: Who hiked up and down Kili in a pair of Nike running shoes. Watch out Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, here comes "Air Bruce"
	Bruce: Who dispensed medication and extracted the splinter from my hand. "Medicine Man Bruce"
	Ede: Who was a trooper and accepted the cold, the dirt, and the discomfort even though she had never camped before in her life.  I will nominate her to be "1999's Den Mother of the Year for Girl Scouts of America" Here were Ede and Bruce smiling despite the soot on their clothing at Shira Plateau after the "charcoal" zone.

	Doyle: Who was courageous enough to climb Kili for the SECOND time and was able to convince seven other people to do the hike with him. Never complained despite troubles with his ankle. "Doyle the Encouraging"
	Lesley: Who climbed all the way up and down Kili with a camcorder in hand and never tripped. "Lesley, Lady Camcorder" (She still does not know why her brand new sleeping bag smelled so bad.) Here were Doyle and Lesley practicing the rest step near the Sheffield camp.

Greg: Whose sense of humor added a lot of fun and spirit to the trip. I owed my life to his bottle of Tobasco sauce as it helped me to have some appetite despite my nausea from high altitude sickness. "Greg, the Tobasco Man" Here was Greg standing next to Samia and his sister Lesley. (Frankly, I tried to take a picture of the cook who was carrying that bottle of Tobasco sauce. Usually he walked so fast past me, I was never able to take a picture. The one time the cook slowed down enough for me to take a picture, I could not because toward the end of our hike on the mountain that bottle of Tobasco sauce has long ran out :-(

Liza: Who, without Diamox and sensitive to Larium, nevertheless made it to the top without problems. "Liza, the Steroid Warrior Princess" Here was Liza relaxing at Sheffield Camp, or was she on steroid? :-)

Lois: Who, being the most experienced mountain hiker, was ready to do a technical climb of Kili with ropes and crampons. "Lois, the Mountain Woman." Here was Lois at the end of the hike as Mweka Gate. Wait a minute, it looked like that she was ready to start hiking Kili again.

	Norman: Who was on his sixth Wilderness Travel trip, having just finished a trip to Nepal last year is the unofficial "Mr. Wilderness Travel Spokesman" Oh yeah, you can talk to him if you are wondering whether it's possible to climb Kili right after a knee surgery (ACS replacement). It was possible, but he also has a story of the blood, sweat, and tears of Kilimanjaro to tell.
	Charito: Who was happy to be on the Kili rather than the Nepal trip. "Charito the Cheerful" You have to be cheerful when your spouse keeps running off to adventures. Here were Norman and Charito having a great time on the mountain by playing Mah-Jong.

Samia: Who was calm, kind, expert at what he does, friendly, liked Celine Dion  and Shania Twain , and wore colorful clothing. Hey, he is kind of like me. :-)  He is  "Samia: my Tanzanian twin brother separated at birth" :-) Here was Samia near the Lava Tower wondering which hikers will fall behind today so he can be ready to rescue him or her.

Here were Theresa and Stephen standing next to Samia at the finish line at Mweka Gate. Samia just would not take my job application as an assistant guide for his next trip up Kili; he kept insisting that the only job openings were for porters! (Incidently, his younger brother did work as a porter on our trip.)

Theresa: 1) While hiking in the group she felt like she was part of a mule train, like we were riding the mules in Grand Canyon, 2) she was tenacious in climbing up Uhuru Peak despite the numb toes and fingers due to the cold, 3) she was able to conquer her fears of climbing down hills without falling, I dubbed her "Theresa the Mule"

Stephen: Alex was a great guide. However, he made one mistake. He indicated that there would be a ZIP symphony at night as people get up frequently to go to the bathroom due to all the water people have to drink as well as Diamox being diuretic. Well, it was more like a solo performance by me. I felt guilty for waking up all our camping neighbors--I still don't understand how Theresa could have gotten any sleep with me zipping all the time. So I anointed myself as "Marathon Pee-Pee Man" or the "Z-Man."

I wrote this at Sheffield Camp:

There once was a man named Woo
He is nothing but a big fool
'Cause he listened to hie wife's advice silly
To go climb a small hill named Kili
Wee, wee, wee, he peed and puked all the way to the top.

Here were two limericks that Doyle and Lesley wrote for me

There was a guy named Woo
Who kept going to the Loo
But it wasn't just his bladder
This story gets much sadder
He started puking too

 

We have an Intel employee, you know who
I originally thought his name was swoo
After a shaky start he's back
And on the track with the pack
To show all the world what he can do