Entries from Kilimanjaro

Hello everyone,

The team is back down from a safe and successful climb!!!

We have returned to high camp and will take a short break before heading to lower altitude. Tonight we spend our last night at Mweka camp which sits at 10,000ft. 

I will send a wrap up once we get back to town!!!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summiteers

Saturday, September 14, 2024 - 4:46 am PT

Hello again everyone 

The team had a good nights rest last night and today was just a short three hour hike up to 15,000' to ou high camp. It has been full sun with amazing views most of this trip, and the equatorial sun at this elevation is quite intense, but thankfully there was a gentle breeze to keep temperatures enjoyable for hiking. 

The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what we’ll be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule. 

Our game plan will be to wake at 10:30pm and have a quick breakfast at 11 pm, then hopefully hit the trail right before midnight, to hopefully avoid some of the traffic as it looks a bit busy here at camp. The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8 hours if things go according to plan. 

As per usual on a Casey climb, one lucky trivia winner will get a phone call from the summit of Kilimanjaro. 

So everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We are 7+hrs ahead of the east coast time zone. 

If you receive a call it will be on Saturday late evening 

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summit bound crew

Friday, September 13, 2024 - 8:03 am PT

Hello again everyone,

We had a slower start today to allow the many porters get a jump start on the route and ever narrowing trail. 

Right out of camp we were faced with the only significant technical obstacle for this climb. This hurdle is the great Barranco Wall, which rises about 1,000' and looks as intimidating as it sounds. Thankfully there is a nice narrow trail that weaves its way up and through the wall and all the way to the top. Most of it feels more like steep hiking, but there are a few places that require the use of our hands to help us climb up. 

The team did a great job of moving steady and allowing a few porters through with their loads precariously balanced on their heads. Which was astonishing to see, especially at this altitude. 

After reaching the top we took a nice break and enjoyed the spectacular view of the upper mountain, since there was scarcely a cloud in the sky. The team continued our hike for a few more hours up and down through a few valleys before reaching camp. 

All in all, it took only about four hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks. 

Spirits are high and there have been few complaints from this tough crew, even though it’s been more dry and dusty than we’d like!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili

Friday, September 13, 2024 - 2:38 am PT

Jambo everyone,

All is well in Tanzania. We’ve had great weather and the team is humming along really well.

We hit the trail just after 8 am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15 minute break, then back on the trail for another hour and so on. In total today we hiked for just over seven hours before reaching Barranco camp. Our gracious Kili porters have been working very hard and we arrived once again to a camp set up and ready for us.

Along the way we passed around the famous Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000' setting new altitude records for many. We also passed by many of the giant groundsels and towering Senecio trees that made us feel as if we were in some crazy Dr. Suess story.

The team is in good spirits and doing great.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

PC: Casey Grom

Hello again everyone 

Today the team awoke to beautifully clear skies and views of Kilimanjaro looming above us. 

We started our day with fresh fruits, eggs, porridge and plenty of coffee, before setting off on our second day. 

The trail out of camp slowly ascends through the last remaining trees and makes its way along a rocky ridge that eventually climbs up onto the Shira Plateau. We hiked a little more that 4 hours and have ascended to just over 12,000' to reach our next camp. 

Everyone enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the views of the valleys below as we climbed steadily up Kili. 

We are currently relaxing in our camp enjoying good conversations and stories from team members. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew!

Tuesday, September 10, 2024 - 10:58 pm PT

Hello Everyone

The team awoke early today and left behind the comforts of our beautiful lodge and have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We hit the road shortly before 8am we drove along the rural country side for a little less than 2 hours to reach the park entrance. Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for coffee production and for a variety of other agriculture needs, but there are still some areas that have been untouched and resemble more of a savannah that Tanzania is known for.

The base of Kilimanjaro is forested and resembles a jungle or cloud forest. Traditionally it supports a large part of the banana production for this area. 

Once at the gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into 20kg loads for our porters to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly and made our way up the winding trail. It wasn’t too busy which made for some pleasant hiking. It took a little over 5 hrs to reach our camp for the night which sits just shy of 10’000ft. 

The team just finished an amazing hot meal and are looking forward to a good night of sleep at our new home for the night. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

Greetings from Tanzania.

All is well here in Tanzania and most of the team arrived late in the evening 2 days ago after some very long flights. It was a short and uneventful ride to our Lodge that is nestled in between Arusha and Moshi and not so far from the base of Kilimanjaro. The team spent the 1st day relaxing and getting adjusted to the nearly 12hr time change.

We had a leisurely morning today and had our first official meeting at 10am where we did a round of introductions and then discussed the program for the coming days ahead. We spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our Lodge, which is incredibly peaceful and has monkeys running around keeping us entertained.

We wrapped up the evening with a delicious meal and plenty of friendly conversations. Everyone is doing well and excited to hit the trail tomorrow and get a little bit of exercise.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

Ok we didn’t get eaten by lions that last night in Tarangire National Park.  There were fresh overnight Hyena tracks in the dirt where we were loading up the Landcruisers though, so we’ll count it as a close one.  It was still dark when we ate breakfast at Nyikani Tent Camp and just beginning to get light when we drove away -on the prowl again for a final morning of wildlife viewing.  Our excellent naturalist guide/drivers Johnson and Chacha kept finding (and explaining) the good stuff, including a big python on an overhead branch, and “strangular“ fig trees taking over baobobs.  Safari couldn’t last forever though, so at 10:30 we left the park finally and began making our way back to Arusha.  We made a final stop for shopping, some culture and a picnic lunch before returning to the familiar Rivertrees for the afternoon.  By evening the team was going separate ways; some to Zanzibar, some to the Serengeti and several of us back into uncomfortable airplane seats.  We shared a fun and memorable adventure on the roof of Africa…more than making up for airline/airport tediousness. 
Thanks for following along. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Always tough to leave the Plantation Lodge in Karatu.  It is only made possible because we then get to move on over to Tarangire, home of the Elephants!   It is hotter and drier once we left the Ngorongoro highlands, but we had a thin cloud cover for much of the day, so the sun wasn’t oppressive.   Within minutes of entering the park today we were looking at a pair of lions.  A big male sitting regally beneath a shade tree and a female who seemed to have the hunting job for the day.  A few minutes later we began seeing the elephants.  Tarangire has a million big baobob trees, every one of which has been scraped by elephant tusks in search of moisture.  We saw family groups everywhere, with plenty of youngsters staying close to their moms.  As we got deeper into the park we saw giraffes and Cape buffalo (zebras and wildebeest barely rate a mention anymore, but we saw thousands of them) we saw antelopes of all shapes and sizes, from Dik Diks to Elands.  We just barely saw a leopard (a tail hanging down and a couple of paws as the cat lay sprawled over a branch within a thick canopy). And we just barely saw a cheetah -or cheetahs if you believe those that think there was another speckled thing behind that bush. 

It was a great day in a great big park.  And we look forward to one more morning of Safari.  But we are still in the park tonight, experiencing a “tent camp” out in the bush.  There is no fence separating us from the wild animals tonight.  If there is no dispatch tomorrow, you’ll know what happened.  

Best Regards, 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

PC: Dave Hahn
 

We may be just tourists now, but today we still got an “alpine start”.  It was still pitch dark as we were driving away from the lodge at 5:40 AM.  Our guides had recommended the early start for Ngorongoro Crater as a way to see better wildlife.  Most animals are a bit more lively in the cool mornings than in the hot afternoons.  The light came up as we were crawling toward the caldera rim in our landcruisers.  After a bumpy ride in the clouds along the rim, we made an important stop at a Maasai village.  We wanted to learn a little more about this colorful tribe (one of 128 in Tanzania) hanging on to their traditional ways in a rapidly changing world.  They greeted us with singing, then showed how they make fire without matches or lighters.  They took us into their Boma (village) and into their homes. We thanked them for taking the time to answer our many questions and then we headed for the “crater”   Immediately upon reaching the valley floor we began seeing bigger and bigger herds of buffalo, wildebeest, zebra and gazelles.  There were a few ostriches mixed in for variety.  Eventually we did a picnic breakfast -spitting distance from a flock of hippos.  By the time we followed up with a picnic lunch, we’d seen rhinos, lions and elephants.  There was a bonus encounter with a skittish cerval cat.  We climbed out of the caldera around 3 PM under still cloudy skies, but it was a pretty good day all around.  After a bunch more rough roads, we were back at the ultra-comfortable Plantation Lodge at 4:30. 
Tomorrow we’re bound for the land of elephants   -Tarangire. 
Best,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

PC: Dave Hahn