When expat blogger and mother of four Eva Melusine Thieme first harbors the idea of ringing out her three years in Africa on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, it sounds easy. In fact, it has all the trappings of a dream vacation: no cooking, no fighting kids, and an army of porters to lug everything up the mountain. What can go wrong?
Tag along as Eva takes you on her journey up the slopes of Kilimanjaro together with her teenage son and a group of hilarious South African friends. From planning the trip to shopping for supplies to trudging uphill wishing with all her heart for an ice cold sip of water untainted by chlorination tablets, you will follow her step by step on her quest to scale the world's highest free-standing mountain. But the list of challenges is long: sub-zero temperatures, blistered feet, long drop toilets (of which, you may learn, the drops are not nearly as long as they have once been, if you get the drift), and the ever-threatening altitude sickness no one can quite escape from. Eva's climb turns into the most difficult test she has ever faced, and ultimately she must make a fateful decision on that mountain.
Thieme's debut travel memoir is equally poignant and laugh-out-loud funny. Part guide book, part travel memoir, and part history lesson, her story will keep you hooked—whether you're a seasoned hiker nodding your head in recognition, an aspiring Kilimanjaro trekker searching for tips, or an armchair traveler reveling in adventure stories from the comfort of your home.
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Eva Melusine Thieme lives in Tennessee with her husband and four children. Her award-winning travel memoir Kilimanjaro Diaries was published in March 2014 and subsequently translated into German. Both editions have become Amazon bestsellers in African travel literature. She is also the founder of Joburg Expat, a widely-read blog chronicling her family’s life in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her articles on expat living, travel, and parenting have been published in numerous publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, SA People, and Kansas City Parent Magazine.
Vanessa Johansson, Earphones Award-winning narrator, is a film and theater actress and voice-over artist who graduated from Carnegie Mellon University and later trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.