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I visited Tanzania in late August to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and do a safari with Callisto, Andy, and Conrad. This trip was inspired by Matt, who made a similar trip in 2018 and continues to inspire me in many aspects of life. 

My trip was truly exceptional — it was my first time ever in Africa, and the experience touched me deeply. Just like the past 9 years, I wanted to do something new and meaningful for my birthday, and my trip to Tanzania exceeded my expectations in every possible way. To me, places like Africa, Kilimanjaro, and Serengeti used to be legends that I could only see in geography textbooks and National Geographic magazines. There is something very powerful about being able to visit these awe-inspiring places in person. 

I am still experiencing a lot of intense emotions, and don’t have time to write a full article about Kilimanjaro before my birthday, so I made a video instead. I hope later this year, I can write a more detailed blog post to capture all my feelings and learnings in Tanzania. 

A few highlights about my Kilimanjaro hike that I would like to write down now:

  • The scenery: Due to the drastic altitude change (~4000m) on our route, we hiked through 5 different landscapes (cultivation, tropical rainforest, moorland, alpine dessert, arctic summit). Every landscape has its unique beauty, and it was really cool to hike above the clouds most of the time. The sunrise on summit day was absolutely stunning. It was a bizarre experience for me because I was going through so much physical pain due to altitude sickness, yet my mind was completely in awe.
  • The push: I love big mountains, but I always get altitude sickness above 10,000 ft. Genetics, which is out of my control, plays a huge factor, but I still did everything I could to prepare for this trip in hopes of pushing my limits a little further. My summit push was perhaps the hardest thing I have put myself through physically, especially given I was already experiencing altitude sickness on day 2. It was a good learning experience for me — I pushed myself as hard as I possibly can, and I saw where my limits are.
  • The people: I don’t think I can ask for a better group to hike with than Callisto, Andy, and Conrad. Everyone was there to have a good time, we all took great care of each other, and I enjoyed learning about everyone’s perspective along the way. I also really appreciate how Callisto took the initiative to get to know our crew and learn Swahili from them on the first day, which made it easy for me to follow her and do the same. This was the first time I hiked with a full crew and I didn’t know what to expect. Getting to know them as people and learning more about their jobs, experience, and culture truly changed the tone of our trek in a very positive way. It is perhaps the main reason why this hike felt so emotional for me and why I gained so much perspective.

Tanzania reminded me to focus on the most important things in my life (having control over how I live my life, my family, and my core group of friends), stop worrying about things that don’t or shouldn’t matter, and let go of negative people/things. I couldn’t ask for a better birthday gift than this. 

In the future, I hope I can continue to travel the world so that I can continue to learn, be humbled, and live my life to the fullest.

Birthday destinations since 2015:

2018年，我的好友 Matt 去了坦尚尼亞。受到了他的啟發，今年八月底，我和 Callisto, Andy, Conrad 一起在坦尚尼亞爬了吉力馬札羅山，並去了一趟獵遊。

這段旅程對我來說意義非凡——這是我人生第一次去非洲，許多所見所聞都帶給了我深深的震撼與感動。就像過去九年一樣，每年生日我都希望做一件以前沒做過、有意義的事——我在坦尚尼亞的經歷遠遠超出了預期。以前非洲、吉力馬札羅、塞倫蓋蒂大草原對我來說都只是地理課本或國家地理雜誌上的傳說，能親自踏足這些地方，對我來說正是「讀萬卷書，行萬里路」的體現。

現在我依然心潮澎湃，我也來不及在我生日前為吉力馬札羅寫一篇完整的文章，所以先做了一支影片。希望今年我有時間更詳細地記錄我在坦尚尼亞的所見所聞、所思所想。

幾個我想先寫下來的亮點：

  • 風景：我們的登山路線有約4000公尺的海拔變化，所以我們總共經歷了五種不同的地貌（耕地、熱帶雨林、高山荒地、高山沙漠、極地），每一種都有它獨特的風情。攻頂時的日出是我一生中見過最美麗的景色之一，也是有些奇怪的體驗，因為當時我的身體正因為高原反應承受著前所未有的痛苦，但是我的心中卻充滿了讚嘆與喜悅。
  • 挑戰：我很喜歡登山，但是每次超過三千公尺都會有高原反應。這很大一部分是我無法控制的遺傳因素決定的，但是行前我依然竭盡所能地做好準備，希望能把自己的極限往上推一推。攻頂的嘗試大概是我的身體這輩子做過最困難的事了，尤其是我第二天就開始有了高原反應。這是一次寶貴的學習經驗：我用盡全力地挑戰自己，也終於見到了自己的極限。
  • 人：Callisto、Andy、Conrad 都是非常好的登山同伴。我們一起享受旅行的每一刻、互相照應，並分享沿途的想法，我從他們身上學習了很多。我特別感謝 Callisto 第一天就去認識了我們整個團隊並開始向他們學習斯瓦希里語，這幫助我在接下來的幾天中更輕鬆地認識他們。這是我第一次跟著一整個團隊徒步登山，所以我不太確定會發生什麼。認識團隊中的每一個人並了解他們的工作、經歷、文化為接下來幾天的行程奠定了非常正向的基調。這或許是為什麼這次徒步登山帶給我如此巨大的情緒衝擊——透過與他們的互動，我對他們和自己都有了更深切的了解。

坦尚尼亞提醒了我，要專注於對我來說最重要的事情（掌握自己的生活方式、我的家人、我最重要的朋友們），停止為無所謂的小事憂心，並遠離所有會帶給我負能量的人事物。我想，沒有比這個更好的生日禮物了。

我希望未來我能繼續壯遊天下，透過旅行不斷地拓展視野、學習謙卑、過最充實的人生。

2015年來的生日旅程：

Stopped by Amsterdam on my way back from Tanzania. Matt and Jana took me to a restaurant called Kilimanjaro (that serves Ethiopian food…) to celebrate my birthday. | 從坦尚尼亞回家的路上，在阿姆斯特丹停留了一天。Matt 和 Jana 帶我到一家叫吉力馬札羅的衣索匹亞餐廳慶祝我的生日。
By Hsiao-Tieh HsuTags: , , , ,