Category: Stories About/From Our Guests

proposal at kilimanjaro summit

How Two Trekkers Got Engaged at Uhuru Peak

Love was in the air (19,341’ in the air, that is) for Thomson trekkers Leigh and Tommy, who recently got engaged at Mt. Kilimanjaro’s Uhuru Peak! Calling the moment “surreal,” Leigh said it was the perfect culmination of a week of trekking: she had a ring, a fiancé, and views of the Tanzanian plains stretching…

lisa and joe at the summit of kilimanjaro

What made Lisa Garruzzo’s Kili Trek so Transformative?

Lisa and her husband Joe at the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro Life-changing treks can have a powerful effect on our everyday lives. Thomson trekker Lisa Garruzzo of Go. Own It ®discovered this for herself when she set out to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro in late 2021; she found that the journey to Uhuru Peak became an immutable…

barranco wall kilimanjaro

Food Blogger Elda Martinez Reviews Her Meals on Kili

When it came to food on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Elda Martinez had high expectations. She runs the food blog Elda Eats and trekked Mt. Kilimanjaro on Thomson’s Western Approach in July. We caught up with her to talk all things food on Kili–variety, calories, drinks and more. The following interview has been edited for concision and…

organ recipient at the summit of mount kilimanjaro

Organ Recipient Overcomes All to Climb Kili

After a life-saving liver transplant in 2017, Peter Matthews set a lofty recovery goal: trek Mt. Kilimanjaro, the world’s tallest free-standing mountain. It took years of training and fortitude, but he finally set out to achieve this in 2021, when his trek to Kili’s Uhuru Peak began. Here is Peter’s incredible story of recovery, growth…

veteran summits kilimanjaro

How One Trekker Kicked Off Retirement on Kili

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro was a lifelong goal for Marine veteran and Las Vegas police officer Andy Williams – and what better way to celebrate his retirement than by reaching that lofty peak? After 26 years in his career, Andy took the first step towards Uhuru Peak in February 2021. For him, it was an emotional,…

scot farber with make a wish flag on kilimanjaro

How Scot Farber Climbed Kili for Make-A-Wish and Shattered His Fundraising Goal

  Scot Farber had never climbed a mountain. He had never hiked. Living in the flatlands of North Texas, he didn’t have opportunities for either. But for nearly 20 years, he dreamed of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. He decided to make his dreams a reality recently, when he went to Tanzania for a week-long hike to…

how climbing kilimanjaro changed my life

From the Highest Freestanding Mountain to the World’s Toughest Race

Heather on Mount Kilimanjaro in 2016 A Plan and a Promise When her parents would bring her hiking and backpacking as a child, Heather loved the travel aspect of it all. But the active components? Not so much. Years later, you could say things have changed. Back in 2016, Heather’s father decided he wanted to…

Ten Years After Triumph, Kili Trekkers Join for a Reunion

The group prepares to start the trek at the Umbwe Gate in June 2010   We talk a lot about what happens before and during your Kilimanjaro trek. But what happens after the trek? What happens when your goal is behind you, when you’ve finally showered and taken off your boots? What happens when you’re…

vloggers judith and stephanie on mount kilimanjaro

A Trekker’s Day-By-Day Vlog Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro’s Grand Traverse Route

Thomson guest Judith trekked Mount Kilimanjaro with her friend Stephanie in September, and they’re here to take you with them! No need to get your trekking poles out – in fact, you don’t have to leave the couch. Follow every day of Judith and Stephanie’s trek on the Grand Traverse as they share their thoughts,…

A Day-by-day Trekking Journal to Kilimanjaro’s Summit

Ralph and Szabi met in Basel early in 2017. Ralph owns a positive change consulting practice, and Szabi is a scientist who works for one of Ralph’s clients. Szabi talked about climbing Kilimanjaro at one meeting, and Ralph suggested going together. The rest is history. They kept a day-by-day journal of their journey from home…

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