Canadian fitness star and Fitness Universe Pageant Top 5 Finalist Liana Saadi is known to be one for adventure.  Last year, she left her comfortable digs in Toronto and spent a month touring Southeast Asia including Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia including the ancient, mysterious and lost city of Angkor Wat.  Them, within days of competing at the recent Fitness America Pageant in Hollywood, Liana packed her bags but instead of returning to her home in Canada, she and friend Sasha traveling to Africa with sole intention to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.  But as impulsive and crazy as it may sound, it did to Liana too even after she arrive Tanzania.  Liana said, "The night before, after we got our briefing with our guide about the climb, Sasha and I both layed in our beds laughing hysterically. We were wondering what were we thinking when we decided to do this? We picked the hardest route to climb called "Machame", and neither of us had any experience."  Well, the lack of experience probably helped to make the arduous climb all the more challenging.  Laina has sent along a short diary about her exciting venture, so please read more about it, unedited.

DAY 1

No other people had signed up to do the climb with us so it was just the two of us and our guide team which included a guide, an assistant guide, a cook, and 4 porters. Our guides name was Future and I liked him right away.  Although most of the first day is a blur in my head due to the food poisoning I remember the moss covered trees and the sound of hundred of birds as we began the journey to the top. It was a 6 hr climb that seemed to take forever and looking in front all you could see is an upwards climb. Half way it started to rain and remained raining for the rest of the day. Once we finally arrived at our camp sight for the night I curled up into my sleeping bag and hoped to feel better by the morning. I was unable to eat anything that day and felt very weak.

DAY 2

We both woke up freezing and looked at each other thinking that it will only get colder from here. I felt much better. I was able to have some porridge for breakfast and by 6:30am we were ready to continue the climb. The second day seemed a bit easier but just as long. It rained on and off but we arrived at our base camp around 1pm. After taking a nap we had to climb another hr just to reach higher altitude and then come back down. It is a technique used to help us acclimatize to the altitude. For dinner we had the usual-soup, veggies in tons of oil, some meat that neither of us touched and our favorite-fruit. The sun sets early in Africa and by 7pm it was dark. The stars were amazing and the moon was so bright that no flash light was needed. We could see the snowy peak of the Mountain. Neither of us felt altitude sickness (other than a little shortness of breath as we climbed).

DAY 3

In the morning our tent had a layer of ice on the outside and I had a hard time moving inside my sleeping bag as my muscles were not co-operating. However once we started the climb I warmed up and enjoyed day 3 the best so far. Most of it was a steep climb up the rocks that was very challenging but extremely cool. In some parts, where it seemed like if I slipped or lost my balance I would fall down and that would be the end, I got an adrenaline rush that felt amazing-I felt so alive. There were no trees or plans-only crows and cold desert.The frustrating part was the fact that we had to go up from the alleviation of 3800m above the sea level to 4600m and then all the way back down to 3900m for an overnight stay. That night Sasha and I joined in cooking our supper in the "kitchen tent" which was a regular tent with a small propane tank. We cooked soup and veggies and at a time it was the best meal I've ever had, lol. We also got to learn some Swahili and got to know our crew which was a lot of fun.

DAY 4

Here is where it gets serious. Just like the day before the climb was very steep and on the dangerous side. Going up the rock wall with no attachments dressed in many layers that restrict your range of motion in was a challenging 7hr climb. Both of us preferred not to take many breaks as we would get cold and it would only make our climb longer. By the time we got to the top our heart rates were very high and even a slow walk felt like a running pace. Luckily neither of us suffered any altitude sickness (we did witness a number of people throwing up and feeling sick due to altitude). At night time it was freezing cold and I began to really appreciate hot showers which I was never really thankful for before (or any shower for that matter, lol). It was full moon that night which lit up the sky and appeared huge-very scenic. We got our briefing after dinner about the next day. We were told to go to bed at 7pm as we had to rise for 11:30pm that night to start our accent to the summit which shall happen around sunrise! Both me and Sasha dreamed cartoons all night long-apparently an effect from high altitude.

DAY 5

11:30pm came quickly. What came next was the biggest challenge of my life. Words cannot describe how difficult it was. Bundled up in every layer I had I was still freezing cold. With wind chill the temperature was -40 degrees. Our guide suggested that we stop for a break around 3:30am but we refused as both of us knew that if we stopped we would get too cold and it would be very hard to get going again. I could not feel my toes and my face was completely windburned but we both just keep taking the steps up the snowy hill. By this time we were climbing at a very slow pace, but I could barely breathe. It was a struggle to keep my feet moving both physically and mentally and my water supply was completely frozen. Finally at 6:35am we made it to the summit-just in time for the most beautiful sunrise of my life-and I am not exaggerating. The peak is at 4890 above sea level. Although we couldn't stay there long due to the cold the 7 min that we spend up there I will remember for the  rest of my life. I picked up a few rocks and put them in my bag. My hands were frozen and I was unable to put my gloves back on. The muscle and the nerves in my hands were not reacting to my brain commands.

It took us a few hrs to get down back to the camp where we had some tea and rested for 2 hrs before starting to decent further. We needed to get down quickly so that the altitude would not have a negative effect on us. By afternoon we were down to 3000m above the sea level. In summary we hiked 17hr on 3 hr sleep!

DAY 6

It was much warmer and the feeling of an accomplishment was wonderful in the morning. All that was left was a 3hr hike to the bottom. Once again there were trees and flowers and the sound of birds. Reaching the bottom camp we received a gold certificate of reaching the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro-the highest free sanding mountain in the world!

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