Kilimanjaro: sleeping on the roof of Africa

Jan. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- Richard Amos, an American ex-astronaut decided, that he would like not only to climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro at 5895 metres, but also to celebrate his 70th Birthday in Kilimanjaro’s Kibo Crater at 5730 metres (see http://www.privatekilimanjaro.com/tailored_crater_camp.asp).  
“I wanted to do something really memorable for my 70th Birthday and having kept myself fit I thought that I could afford the time to tackle the mighty Kilimanjaro.  It was an amazing experience climbing down from the rim  into Kibo Crater.  It’s like being on another planet, and I should know, seeing a huge sea of sand before you and then the Furtwangler glaciers rising spectacularly from this.   I shall remember this for the rest of my life and I’m so happy that my son Dan was there to share the experience with me.  Lucky for us, we were the only ones in the Crater that night so we were able to enjoy this wonderful panorama all to ourselves. Even better, we missed all the crowds heading for the summit just after midnight and were resting in our warm sleeping bags.  We ate a great breakfast and then headed off for the summit and were the first there to see the sunrise!”
Paul Deakin of Private Kilimanjaro commented “A big congratulations to Richard and Dan, not only for scaling one of the world’s 7 highest summits, but also on Richard’s fantastic achievement of climbing Kilimanjaro at the age of 70 years old.   Kilimanjaro is a tough mountain to climb due to the rapid ascent to high altitude and not all people cope well with that.  Age, however, does not seem to have stood in Richard’s way.  Sleeping in Kibo Crater is an amazing appearance achieved by only a few, but it is definitely not for the faint-hearted and must only be undertaken by those who have acclimatized well or who have previous experience at altitude.”

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Private Kilimanjaro specialises in arranging private tailor-made and charity climbs up Mt Kilimanjaro together with other treks, safaris and beach breaks.