We love to adventure with people, and we love to hear (and share) their stories, as well. So we have a series of posts called “Sharing Our Embark Stories.”

This time, the adventurer is Gail Goldfinger from New Jersey. She had walked marathons and triathlons, so was familiar with Team in Training, a leader in endurance sports training for charity. But she had never hiked before November 2016.

Still, she had heard that Kili is “the people’s mountain,” which can be climbed by most people in good physical condition, and that was it; she was off to Africa to have an adventure and help raise money for cancer research. She summited Kili in early 2017.

What was the most inspiring moment of your trip?

Probably when you’re at the top and you’re standing there and the clouds are below you; it makes you realize there is so much to life. You never imagine you’re going to stand on top of the clouds. That image, to me, was the essence of making it.

I was exhausted before I even made the summit, but in my head was the thought, “If you don’t do it now, you don’t know when or if you’ll ever get another chance.” So I went for it.

What’s the biggest challenge you overcame?

There were a couple. One was getting up Barranco Wall. That was the most technical piece we had to do, and I’m not experienced with that, so it scared me. But the guides are excellent, and they made sure we all got up in one piece and safely.

The summit day is really long, too; once you’re at the peak, you still have to get down. The thing that helped me most to overcome the challenge was my desire to finish, to get to the top. I kept thinking, How do you raise money for a cause and then not do it?

What did you learn about the place you visited and the people there?

The people we encountered were just marvelous. They were all wonderful and took good care of us. I didn’t expect a hot breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I thought lunch would be a box to carry, so I didn’t expect to sit down with a hot lunch every day. They kept asking if I wanted more, and whenever we were struggling they were there to help us.

As for Tanzania, there is just amazing beauty there. I went on a safari after the climb, and I really wanted to see a kill. We got to see jackals and vultures having their portion after a group of cheetahs walked away. Another time, after a big rain, we saw a tree full of lions! There must have been 11 or 12 up there; they didn’t want to be on the wet ground. Seeing the animals in their own environment was an incredible experience.

How did Embark help make your trip a success?

Seamlessly. There was plenty of information between the dossiers and itineraries, and not having to worry about all the little details as the traveler was nice. It was all taken care of for us. At the airport in Tanzania, it seemed like forever to get our visas and luggage, so to have people there waiting for us to take us to the hotel and make sure we got settled was just great.

While in Moshi, they made sure a guide took us around town. Some people arranged a one-day safari, some went to a coffee farm to learn about the process of making coffee. Embark just made life so much simpler.

Where do you want to go next, and why?

For the longest time, a photo safari in Africa was my dream, and now I’ve done that. I have to figure out what my next dream is. I would like to see Machu Picchu. Also, now there is only one continent haven’t been to, Antarctica, so like to get there. Might as well go for seven out of seven!

Would you like to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with Embark?