Pole Pole

We have come down off the mountain after a long and successful week of hiking and sleeping in a tent. I thought that reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro would be fairly easy, but we encountered arctic conditions at the top of the mountain as we neared the true summit. It is their winter here south of the equator and the top had snow and ice but mostly it was the fierce wind that made it so harsh and the going difficult. The view was spectacular! Our trip was private. Just the three of us (Gordon, Martin, and Eric). We had 12 Africans working for us as we moved from camp to camp up the mountain. A guide, assistant guide, a cook, and 9 other porters. We saw some exotic plants and animals and people. The words "pole, pole" (pronounced phonetically ) were repeated to us many times by our guide and porters. It means "slowly, slowly".