Q: Kilimanjaro is literally a stone-thrown away from the Equator and this awesome mountain is snow caped. Is this not amazing Andres?
Sure! I saw snow. I saw huge and beautiful glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro. Seeing snow in Africa and along the Equator is something you cannot imagine. It is all over Kilimanjaro.

At night I slept in the crater, which was another interesting aspect of this trip. It was a personal record as far as overnighting at higher altitudes is concerned. I fell asleep to the sound of the glaciers creaking and popping which was a really nice experience in my life.

Q: What do you remember mostly about this unique Kilimanjaro climbing adventure?
The ascent of the Western breach from Arrow Glacier to the Crater was surely intense, it was about four and half hours of walking absolutely straight up with a full pack at high altitude. Every time I turned around and stopped I felt like I was climbing in the clouds. That was really nice and obviously being on the summit you feel the cold air and hearing my boots crunch on snow and seeing the sun come up with the beautiful colors was phenomenal. One other thing that I really enjoyed on this trip was meeting everybody in my group. We shared jokes. I practiced a bit of Kiswahili. We ate the food together and many other things.

Q: What was the easiest and hardest part of the adventure?
The easiest part was enjoying it. I loved every second of it. I have nothing to regret at all. The logistics coordinated by East African Voyage Company Limited made the whole adventure easy.

The hardest part was some of the cycling. I rode a single speed bicycle. I had one gear. I had no suspension. It has neither shock-absorbers in the front nor in the rear. I chose one gear to make it more challenging. Riding from Protea Aishi Lodge to the Machame Gate is about 11 kilometers straight up on one gear and it was raining on me. That was the toughest part of the trip. Likewise the last 30 kilometers on the way back to Arusha from Mweka Gate were really hard. I dug deep in order to continue. Also, falling asleep in the crater was not easy. It was very high. I felt safe but it was a new experience. I did not sleep soundly. It was hard. I don't think I slept at all. Maybe I slept for about two hours.

Q: You used a single speed bicycle?
It is a Redline single speed mountain bike with 29 inches wheels which helps a bit with the climb given the fact that it is a single speed, the wheels are bigger than the standard mountain bikes. The frame is steel, which makes it easy to repair. The maintenance costs are comparatively low.

Q: You had mountain sickness on Kilimanjaro?
No. Not even once! I felt very strong. I did not take any diamox and I carried my own pack all the time and I made sure it was fully weighted and it was not lighter than anybody else's. I credit a lot of that to my training and also the fact that I was well nourished in the entire trip. My team ensured that I was drinking enough water all the time and I eat sufficient food.

*The concept of "free-standing rise" is not completely well-defined; however one definition characterizes it as the rise of the summit over the lowest closed contour line encircling and remaining near the summit. (Compare topographic prominence.) Kilimanjaro is encircled by a contour line at elevation 1,395 metres (4,577 ft), giving a rise of 4,500 metres (14,764 ft), which goes no further than 45 kilometres (28 mi) from the summit. This is the world's highest free-standing rise attainable within a 50 kilometres (31 mi) radius. Higher rises are attainable over somewhat larger distances, namely for Pico Cristóbal Colón, which rises 5,000 metres (16,400 ft) above a contour within 75 kilometres (47 mi), and Mount McKinley, which rises 5,300 metres (17,390 ft) above a contour within 120 kilometres (70 mi). (Sources: SRTM data, USGS National Elevation Dataset.) If points below sea level are considered, Mauna Kea beats Mount McKinley by hundreds of meters with a similar radius. (Source: USGS National Elevation Dataset and Geologic Investigations Series I-2809.) — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilimanjaro