Dear Mom and Dad...

Okay, so my mother learned yesterday that it's going to be me with 12 men on this excursion. Needless to say, she has become EXTREMELY NERVOUS. She started singing to me tonight, "Stop, in the name of love..." Although I am not a parent, I can empathize with my parents' anxiety. Here are a few thoughts, Mom and Dad, to try and assuage your fear:

1. I will e-mail you as soon as I can once I get to my lodge in Arusha

2. My climbing team would be extremely stupid to fuck with a female, white American (sorry, but it's the truth). Not only would I raise hell in Tanzania and in the U.S. but I would put all of them out of work and destroy Allan's business.

3. At 6' ft tall and 31 years-of-age, I am probably both taller and older than most of the members on my climbing team. I will beat them up if they mess with me. :)

4.  Finally, I e-mailed Allan about this very issue and here was his response:

You should not be concern being a sole woman climber, your guide and the rest of the team are great guys and we have done a lot of sole trips like yours, so please do not worry at all. You will have fun and it will be a memorable trip for you.

I also learned today that Allan will not be on my climb; my guide is apparently "Herman." I kindly asked Allan to send me a photo of Herman, as Herman is not featured on their website under "Guides." Allan sent me a picture of he and Herman and some random, white chica. I think that he sent me that photo on purpose in order to assuage my fear. Regardless, in the photo below, Allan "the boss" is the one in the middle. Herman is the guy on the right. Let's give three cheers to Herman! See you soon, Hermy dear.