In December 2010, I travelled to Tanzania with my two brothers and we summited Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free standing mountain in the World. The nine day hike up 19,341 feet to the “roof of Africa” was grueling but like all adventures, it was exciting! The three of us had 2 guides, 2 cooks, and 15 porters to help us make it up the mountain over a seven day period and we hiked down over two days. We enjoyed seeing blue monkeys and other wildlife on the assent. The most difficult part of the climb was dealing with the altitude. At altitudes over 18,000 — where we spent one night — performing tasks which are normally easy like taking your sleeping bag out of the stuff sack became quite taxing. After our summit of Kilimanjaro, we spent four days on safari in the Serengeti, visited a Masai tribe and Oldepai George. You can watch a three part video series that chronicles the Kilimanjaro and African Safari trip.
International travel with children can be exciting and educational. If you are part of a mixed family or are going through a divorce and have children, you should read our previous blog on Passports for Minor Children Involved in a Child Custody Dispute [1].
Some of my “take aways” from this trip include:
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We are spoiled — I personally watched Tanzanians spend hours each day collecting water. WaterAid America reports that only 62% have access to an improved water supply and less than one-half of the population of Tanzania have access to a toilet. Imagine if we had to spend two hours of our day every day just trying to find safe and clean water for our family. We provided school supplies to children in a local chagga village and they were so happy to get pencils, paper, crayons, etc. that you would have thought these items to be pure gold. If we simply stop to consider what we have, perhaps we can avoid some of the arguments in which my clients unfortunately find themselves engrossed.
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Trust Experts — We put our lives in the hands of our guides when we climbed Kilimanjaro. We depended on them for everything. When you hire any professional, whether it is a divorce lawyer [2], a doctor, or a contractor, you need to hire someone you trust and let them guide you. If we had decided that we knew better than our guides who make this climb several times per month, we could have easily gotten killed. In fact, people have been killed on the western breach route that we took and due to the danger, the government requires that you take a guide. I personally think that anyone dealing with a divorce or a legal problem, should be required to have a lawyer guide them through the process. If you spend the money to hire a professional, listen to what they tell you to do and do it! I find myself sometimes second guessing my doctors…..but why would I? I did not attend medical school, pass the rigorous licensing tests and see patients daily. Find qualified experts and trust what they say!
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- I have a great team! We notified our clients in advance that I would be out of the office. My staff of three other attorneys and five support staff not only handled everything perfectly but I returned to find that I am not needed as much as I would like to think. When you have great team members, tell them, reward them and know that your clients benefit from such a strong foundation.
- Say Yes — When presented with an opportunity, don’t be quick to say no because the rewards could be great. When originally asked whether I wanted to make this trip, I said “no.” I’m so grateful to my brother John who changed my mind.
The people I met in Tanzania were wonderful. I especially enjoyed our guides from SENE [3], the travel company that we used, and Paschal who was our host at the guesthouse. If you ever get the chance, by all means “go” and enjoy the people, the food and the animals.