Kilimanjaro

Climbing Kilimanjaro is quite a costly endeavor.  They require you to have a small army to go up the mountain along with the park fees of US $100 per day.  For 2 of us climbing, we had to have a minimum of 5 porters for 2 bags, 1 cook who doesn't carry bags, a guide along with an assistant guide, and of course we needed a waiter for serving our food.  The route we climbed was the Marangu 

Route and instead of staying in a tent, we had huts along the way.  Our starting elevation for the climb was around 6400' and we climbed to just over 19000'.  The total distance of the climb was somewhere around 50 miles round trip and although I got really sick the day before we climbed the summit, I managed to puke my way up the hill to peek inside the crater of Africa's tallest mountain. My biggest disappointment of the climb was we started climbing at 12am and when we got to the crater, it was still dark, cold, and very windy.  Overall it was an amazing experience but if you decide to go, be sure to add a day or two to acclimate.