Entries from Kilimanjaro
Hello everyone
We spent yesterday touring Tarangire National Park which is home to many elephants, in fact, it has more per square kilometer than any place on earth and it didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got pretty close to a few lions, which was amazing.
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 and smells of Africa in.
It's been a memorable experience for everyone and great friendships forged. But finally it's time to return home to our families.
RMI Guide Casey Grom 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.
There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. We managed to see several lions, including 2 feasting on a fresh kill, thankfully it wasn’t too close though. We also saw one Black Rhino at pretty close range, 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
Today was our first day of safari and we headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara. The lake is a brief stopping ground for 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 manage to see a few wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo, lots of baboons, a few impalas and many hippos, and one elephant pretty close and even managed to see a few lions relaxing in the trees. It was a pretty 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 wonderful meal at our new lodge [url=http://www.plantation-lodge.com]http://www.plantation-lodge.com[/url] 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 posters, cooks, and local guides numbering 37. 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
September 22, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Elevation: 19,340'
Summit!
Today we had a wonderful albeit long day climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro. The team woke at 11pm as we planned to thankfully clear skies after a cloudy evening that had us wondering the lay ahead.
We had a quick breakfast of porridge, tea and coffee before hitting the trail at 12am.
We climbed in hour increments with 10-15 breaks in between, which we've been doing every day thus far. The weather was really nice, although it was a little cold which kept us bundled up for most of the day. It was one of the busiest days I’ve seen on Kili with more than 200 climbers, but the team timed everything just right and took great care of themselves.
The climb took about 7hrs to reach the top, and thankfully the sun had risen shortly before to help warm us and boost morale after climbing through the night. Once there, we hugged each other, enjoyed the view and took plenty of pictures of the sign that adorns the “Roof of Africa”.
It was a true test of endurance for most of the crew, and I'm really proud of everyone. We safely descended back to high camp, had a quick lunch, repacked and continued further down the mountain to our final camp on the mountain, where we are about to have dinner and then head to bed for some well deserved sleep.
Everyone is really looking forward to hot showers tomorrow to say the least.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili summit crew
On The Map
Lady you have one hell of a bucket list
Enjoy the view from the top
Posted by: Christine Atherfold on 9/23/2019 at 7:13 am
Congrats!!! What a view from the top of the world. Can’t wait to hear all about it!
Posted by: Bruce McConnell on 9/23/2019 at 6:50 am
September 21, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Elevation: 15,000'
Jambo everyone back home.
Well we’ve finally arrived at our high camp, after a good night's rest and a short hike up to 15,000ft. It has been mostly sunny all day with great views of Kilimanjaro and our route for tomorrow. Everyone is doing well and feeling good at this new altitude which is a good sign for things ahead.
The team just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what what we’ll be wearing and 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. Normally we try to leave a touch later, but there are quite a few climbers here tonight so we’re going to try and get a jump start on most of them.
I’m expecting the team to reach the summit in 7 to 8 hours (12:00 pm to 1:00 pm PST) if things go according to plan.
That’s all for now. And keep your fingers crossed for us!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
On The Map
Good luck and wishes for clear skies/sunrise. We summited a month ago, but whiteout w snow.
Jambo
Posted by: Lin Moore on 9/22/2019 at 5:33 pm
September 20, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Elevation: 13,160'
Hello again 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 real technical obstacle on the climb. This hurdle is the great Barranco Wall, which rises about 1,000ft and looks as intimidating as it sounds. Thankfully there is a nice goat 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 four hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks and the peanuts that are grown far below in the valley.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Molly! I’ve been sending the blog to everybody! We are all cheering you on and praying for your health and a successful summit. I know in my heart you will succeed! I love you and miss you!
Posted by: Christopher Nagy on 9/21/2019 at 4:19 am
September 19, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Elevation: 12,800'
All is well here on Kilimanjaro!
Once again we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kilimanjaro and clouds obscuring the valleys below. Our morning ritual has been waking around 6:30 and getting everything in our tents packed up before heading into our very spacious dinning tent for quite the feast. It was a bit chilly this morning, but soon enough the sun had us hiking in just our light layers.
We hit the trail once again around 8am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15min break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over 6hrs before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us. Eventually the clouds rolled in an obscured the mountain for the final few hours.
Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000' setting new altitude records for some of the team. Everyone enjoyed the day and there was plenty of good conversations among the crew.
All in all it was a really nice day!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Keep going team. I can’t wait to meet you at the gate on Monday!!! You are all super heros to me!!!!!!
Posted by: Amy on 9/21/2019 at 1:50 am
Woohoo! Go Molly! I’m so excited for you! I hope you are enjoying every minute!!
Posted by: Lisa A on 9/20/2019 at 6:39 pm
September 18, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Elevation: 12,200'
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - 9:54 AM PT
Greetings Everyone
The team woke feeling very well rested after about 10hrs in our tent last night. We had a beautiful day on Kilimanjaro today, with sunshine nearly all day and only a few clouds after we reached camp.
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 that leads out of camp. The trail climbs up a ridge and eventually out of the trees and normally allows for some truly spectacular views of the valley below, but today it was a bit limited. The team hiked for about 4.5 hours before reaching our next camp that sits on Shira plateau, which is an ancient lava flow just above tree-line. Once at camp we were treated to a wonderful warm meal and then hopped into our tents to relax.
The evening was full of great stories and another amazing meal prepared by our gracious staff.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew
On The Map
September 18, 2019
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Elevation: 9,890'
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - 8:51 PM PT
Jambo Everyone
The team got off to a moderately early start this morning leaving behind our beautiful lodge and have headed to Kilimanjaro.
We left around 8 am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for two hours to reach the park entrance. Most of the area surrounding Kilimanjaro has been cultivated and primarily used for banana and coffee production as well as 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 gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our 37 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 think forest. The canopy is quite dense thankfully, which provided some cover from the rain that arrive around midday.
The team hiked for a little over 6 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 consisting of soup, rice, potatoes and steak.
Everyone is doing well and looking forward to a good nights rest.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Kili crew
On The Map
Hope you are starting down that mountain and “thou shall go for it,” Amy and Molly. It’s the am of Thursday, here in EST, and I have the summit on my calendar for tomorrow. Sending so much good vibes to all your crew and leader. You got this! Dig deep, and look up - I can not wait to hear what the views look like, at sunrise.
Ps. Thank you, Kevin for all your blog.
Posted by: Ginny Bryan on 9/19/2019 at 6:38 am
Olga, you did it!!! Have a restful safari and we will see you state side when you return. Hugs, Zena
Posted by: Zena Roberts on 9/24/2019 at 2:19 pm
Olga!
What an accomplishment for you and Igor! And everyone else! Can’t wait to hear all about it! :-)
Have fun the rest of your trip!
Posted by: Susan Wolfe on 9/23/2019 at 3:00 pm
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