Entries from Kilimanjaro

Jambo everyone

We spent today touring Tarangire National Park which is home to many elephants which we saw up close again. There were plenty of other animals too, including a female cheetah and her cub. We’re headed out early tomorrow in hopes of catching a leopard to round out The Big Five.

We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds of Africa in.

RMI Guide Casey and the Safari crew

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is known for its abundance of animals that call the crater home.

We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few of the big cats before the heat of the day.

We managed to see several lions, including two young males up close. We also saw seven Black Rhino, which have become very rare due to poaching.

We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the craters rim. The Maasai people are a semi-nomadic tribe that exist almost entirely off of their cattle. The team spent time asking questions and enjoyed being shown around their small and simple village.

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Jambo everyone!

Today was our first day of safari and we headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara. The lake is known for its many migratory animals and home to more than 300 different birds. Everyone enjoyed the day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing the animals up close. 
We managed to see a few wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo, lots of baboons, a few impalas, and a few elephants pretty close, but sadly no lions. 

Hopefully tomorrow the big cats come out. 

All in all it was a really nice introduction to the incredible diversity of wildlife that Africa has and the team is looking forward to seeing more tomorrow. 

We wrapped up the evening with a few cocktails and a wonderful meal at our new lodge. Plantation Lodge - See for yourself!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew

Today we woke at 6:30 feeling good, had breakfast, then enjoyed a goodbye song and dance from our gracious crew of porters, cooks, and local guides. We finished the little celebration by handing out their well-deserved tips and then hit the trail one last time. 
It took a little over three hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge. 

Finally we are all safe and sound, and a little cleaner after an amazing seven-day journey up and down Kilimanjaro. 
The team is currently relaxing and looking forward to Safari which starts tomorrow!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and a happy Kilimanjaro crew

Hello again everyone

We had a good nights rest last night and today just a short hike up to 15,000ft to our High Camp. It was mostly sunny today with great views of Kilimanjaro and our intended route for tomorrow’s climb.
The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what what we’ll be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule.
Our game plan will be to wake at 11pm and have a quick breakfast at 11:30, then hopefully hit the trail right at midnight. 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.

I’m also going to bring our Satellite phone to hopefully make a few calls from the summit.
So everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We are seven hours ahead of the east coast time zone.

Wish us luck!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew 

On The Map

Hello everyone

We had a slower start today to allow the many porters to hit the 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 good job of moving steady and allowing a few porters through with their loads precariously balanced on their heads. Which was astonishing to see!

After reaching the top we took a nice break and enjoyed the amazing views of the ice ladened south face and valleys below. 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 4 hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

On The Map

Jambo from Kilimanjaro!

Today we awoke to partly cloudy skies and descent views of Kilimanjaro looming above. Amazing to see how much new snow is on the mountain since it’s been a pretty wet winter here.

Our morning routine has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dining tent for quite the feast.

We hit the trail once again around 8am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15-minute break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over seven hours before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us. Eventually the clouds rolled in and obscured the mountain for the final few hours.

Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower, reaching just over 15,000ft, setting new altitude records for some of the team. Everyone enjoyed the day and there was plenty of good conversations amongst the crew.

Spirits are high!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the crew

On The Map

Wednesday, January 8, 2020 3:56 AM PT

Hello again everyone

The team had a really nice day here on Kilimanjaro today, waking to mostly clear skies and hiking in just a light cloud layer which help keep us cool.  We started the day waking at 6:30 to start packing up before moving into our dinning tent for a nice breakfast with porridge, fried eggs, toast, avocado and even some fresh fruit, and most importantly plenty of hot coffee.

We hit the trail shortly after 8am and slowly made our way up the rocky trail with good views of Kili above. The trail climbs up a ridge and eventually out of the trees and allows for some truly spectacular views of the valley below. The team hiked for a little more than 4 hours before reaching out next camp that sits on Shira plateau, which is an ancient lava flow.

Everyone is doing very well and we are currently relaxing in our tents.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

On The Map

Jambo Everyone

Today the team got off to a moderately early start this morning leaving behind our beautiful lodge and have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We left around 8am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for 2 hours before reaching 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 more forested and looks more jungle like and is called a cloud forest.

Once we arrived at the park gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. Once everything was in order we started our climb slowly making our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the thick forest. Thankfully the overhead canopy provided a little cover from the rain that arrive around midday.

The team hiked for a little over 5 1/2 hours and managed to not get too wet before we reached our camp for the night that sits around 10,000ft.

After settling into camp and get situated the team was served a nice warm meal for dinner.

Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a good nights rest.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and Kili crew

On The Map

Casey Grom here checking in with RMI's Kilimanjaro Climb!

All is well here in Tanzania and most of the team arrived late last night 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 had a quick dinner and headed for bed as the time change has us all feeling just a little off and pretty tired after all the traveling.

Today we had a leisurely morning with our official meeting at 10, where we did a round of introductions and then discussed the upcoming program for the days ahead. We spent the remainder of the day getting our gear packed up and exploring the grounds of our peaceful lodge.

We wrapped up the evening with another 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!