I have to start out by saying it's a very satisfying thing to see a giraffe hanging out by the side of a road.

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Secondly, I would like to thank all of you who are reading this blog daily and writing comments. It means so much to all of us that you are watching and following our journey, and the girls are so happy when I deliver a message to them from a loved one.

Now back to our story...

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Road trip today from Nairobi to Moshi, which is the town at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Along the way, we also sighted zebras and gazelles and ginormous termite mounds that are as big as a person -- it was all quite thrilling actually.

But let me backtrack a little...

This morning we left the Limuru Girls School -- it was a very emotional goodbye for all involved -- the Kenyan girls, the Toronto girls, the teachers and staff at Limuru, and our team of Girl Impact women. The girls have traded pages and pages worth of email addresses and penpal addresses, and have penned countless more pages of journal entries for memories. The Girl Impact that was generated by this visit was bigger than we ever imagined, on both sides. We will miss our new friends... until next time.

Above: co-founders Jane Shaw and Leanne Nicolle with Margaret, principal of Limuru Girls' School.

Above: the tea field I keep talking about.

So imagine a pretty somber crowd on the bus ride starting out. The drive (we thought) was supposed to take about 5 1/2 hours, and we crossed the border from Kenya into Tanzania at about hour 3. This gave everyone the chance to have a much-needed nap and to start thinking about the prospects of a nice HOT shower -- our first in a week!

As we drove out of Nairobi, the landscape started to rapidly change and we saw the lush green fields fade away into scruffy, dusty, barren, grey plains. It was easy to understand the devastation of the drought when we saw it -- you could see where there used to be grass for the animals to graze on -- now just scraggly, twiggy plants. You could see the few remaining leaves on the trees drooping with thirst. The few cows that we saw being led by Masai men were bony and slow (not that I think cows are normally speedy, but you get the point).

Despite the bleak reality, it was fascinating to see the classic African landscape with the huge flat-topped trees and the mountains in the distance -- (and I believe I've already mentioned the wildlife!)

We drove past Masai people and dwellings -- the electric colours of their clothing is such a beautiful sight in this landscape and it was pretty cool to see the circle of 8-10 small circular mud huts that would comprise a village.

About 9 1/2 hours later on our 5 1/2 hour drive, our bus driver slowed the bus and pulled over to the side of the road... and pointed out the window.

And we saw her. Kilimanjaro.

It is a spectacular sight and unfortunately I don't have a picture that does it justice. You look at the horizon line and you can see a dark grey shape hulking there near the land, so you know there's a mountain there... but then you look up, and you hit clouds, and then you keep looking up, and poking out way up above the clouds is the top of the mountain -- the snow all lit up by the sun, and the first word that comes to your mind is majestic. OK, or maybe WHOA.

And all of sudden it seemed real.

Tomorrow, we start our climb.

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Today's P.S. -- while we've done everything we can to try to ensure we'll be connected to you during our climb, it's impossible to know at this point how successful we'll be with an internet connection and our power situation. I intend to blog everyday as long as I can get a data connection on my iPhone, so I hope you'll bear with me and understand if I don't show up one day. Wish us luck!

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And finally -- P.S. number 2-- many of you have sent lovely comments about how much you're enjoying the stories and the amazing photos, so I just want to introduce the new media team behind the scenes.

There's Catherine Farquharson, our photographer, who joined us on Tuesday and has been snapping photos like crazy ever since she got here. Catherine's very stealthy and slight and so you hardly notice her as she's doing her work -- but it allows her to get right in there and her own warm smile contributes to how lovely her portraits end up. If you don't already know about it, the gi Promise Photo Project is one of Girl Impact's fundraising projects, featuring Catherine's photos from this trip -- get details about how to be a part of it here.

Above: Catherine Farquharson in the dorms at Limuru Girls' School.

Roz Allen is our videographer and resident "geek" -- Roz has done an unbelievable amount of legwork in getting us all kitted out with the most cutting-edge solar power options available to ensure that we can film this experience from start to finish -- even to the top of one of the world's biggest mountains. Roz has already shot hours and hours of incredible footage this week that we intend to put into some kind of documentary form to chronicle this adventure. You'll have to stay tuned for more details about this. Like Catherine, Roz is totally immersed with her camera in every situation in a most unobtrusive way -- in fact, on Sunday, the soccer game played AROUND Roz, as she was right in the action, oblivious to the fact that her shins were in great peril most of the time.

Above: Roz Allen

And then there's me, Laura, your faithful blogger, picking out the moments of each day that I want to highlight in words and pictures to chronicle our story. I've been the creative director for Girl Impact since the beginning, and it's been a big treat and a real pleasure to work with this incredible all-female crew.

Above: Laura Wills with Toronto gi Kavielle