When I was in my early teens, I read Ernest Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro". Reading it for the first time gave me a strong 1 to see this noteworthy mountain 2.
Later in my early twenties, I 3 a man who had been to Kenya. He saw and described Kilimanjaro as a mountain standing by itself in the middle of the African plain, 4 by ice on its peak. This 5 my desire to see the mountain with my own eyes, and perhaps even climb it.
In my thirties, I travelled to Havana, Cuba and spent some time 6 the home of Ernest Hemingway. After this trip, I 7 I was going to climb Kilimanjaro.
Vancouver to Africa is a great distance, so I decided to put some add-ons to my planned 8. The first would be an adventure across the Sahara Desert, 9 by travelling up the source of the Nile. It would finish at my 10 goal of Kilimanjaro. This would be a journey to 11: to cross the world's greatest desert, 12 the river that moves through one of the origin of civilization, and climb the tallest mountain in Africa.
After ending the journey, I wrote a novel which 13 this trip, sharing how much I enjoyed each moment of it, and how 14 each day became on its own.
This remarkable journey will be 15 in my heart.
