Entries from Kilimanjaro
Hello from Tanzania!
The last two members of our team have arrived in good spirits and with all their luggage. So, it's all systems go. A late dinner after a long flight was eagerly taken after their 24 hour flight from the States. Any residual stress from the day was completely eased out of the system by the exceptional South African wine Darren generously shared with Bill and me.
The rest of the group got here at different times today, with the Craig, Patti, and Joe arriving on the 4:00 AM flight. Mary, Shavran, and Liz arrivied from a nearby hotel just after lunch, having wisely chosen to arrive earlier to adjust to the time zone and relax a bit before the climb. It was great to catch up with my friend Craig, along with Joe and Patti today at breakfast and lunch. The later group joined us at the lunch table when they arrived, allowing us to get to know each other better. I think we have an exceptional group of individuals that will become a fun team in the days to come.
Once again I'm exited to be back in Tanzania. Stepping off the plane and breathing in the wonderful smells of this country bring back good memories. I'm constantly reminded that it's the people, as much as the mountain, that makes this such a special trip.
Tomorrow morning we get busy as we get together to discuss our
upcoming climb of Kilimanjaro, including checking and organizing our gear.
Well, I should get some rest too. Good night for now.
RMI Guide
Brent Okita
A few clouds to the morning but after another nutritious breakfast we set out toward
High Camp. We marched up the broad tilted plateau concentrating on efficient techniques in walking and breathing. Things steepened just a bit as we came to the final ridge. We all were feeling strong as we arrived in Barafu our High Camp at 15,000'. We enjoyed a great lunch and held a meeting about strategy for the summit bid. We are busy packing up for an early dinner, bed by 6 pm and wake up around midnight. The team is in great shape and can't wait to get started.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
After a breezy start to last night the wind stop and a million stars made for an great view. Same clear skies this morning affording the glaciers and ice fields hanging at impossible angles overhead. We started a bit later giving some extra rest and a chance for some of the other teams to get ahead of us on the main challenge for the day- right out of camp the
Barranco Wall. Most of it feels like steep hiking but a few places require the use of hands to help us ascend. After pulling through one set of ledgers to another, making for great photos, we were on top. A few more hours of hiking some and then some downhill had us here at our next camp, Karanga. This camp is a couple hundred feet higher than last camp. A beautiful spot that overlooks the valley it is named after. The team is in great shape and high spirits.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Another sparkling and clear start to the day. Mt. Meru, our 15,000ft neighbor to the west, stood out like an island in the sea of clouds that cover anywhere below 10,000ft. Great views above of the summit as well. Our usual large fresh breakfast then off we went up a nice smooth gentle but steady ascent to the famous
Lava Tower outcropping situated at 15,000ft. Snacks and a lot of breathing then down we went. Two thousand feet lower has us tucked into another beautiful camp called Barranco. The team is a bit tired after what ended up being about an eight-hour day. All is well and looking forward to dinner.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
The team had a very nice day here on
Kilimanjaro, waking to beautiful clear skies and hiking in sunshine all day. We started with a 6:30 wake up and packing before moving into our dining tent for a nice breakfast with porridge, scrambled eggs, toast, bacon fresh fruit and even fresh dark roast Tanzanian coffee.
We hit the trail around 9 am and slowly made our way up the rocky trail with incredible views of Kili above. After about five hours we reached our next camp that sits on the Shira Plateau, which is one of the three dormant volcanoes that make up Kili.
A lot of wet soggy cloths and gear is now bone dry, getting us back into great shape for our next few days on the trail.
All is well at 12,500'.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
Greetings from 10,000'
Machame Camp on Kilimanjaro!
We had a nice departure from the our lodge this morning. We left after a good nights rest and great breakfast. After checking in at the Kilimanjaro National Park Gate, we all put on our rain gear and worked our way up to camp. It was not the nicest of days on the trail with hard rain for the first half and light rain on the second half. We did the best we could but all of the team arrived at Machame Camp pretty wet. Lucky for us, amp was all set up so a quick change, snacks, hot drinks and dinner has us all in good shape. It may be wet out but it hasn't damped or spirits.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
On The Map
All is well here in Tanzania as the team arrived late last night after some very long flights. All checked luggage showing up always a bonus. A short drive to our lodge that is not to far from the base of
Kilimanjaro. The team enjoyed a nice dinner upon arrival then headed for bed as the time zone change and all the travel will take it out of even the toughest of mountain climbers.
A great job done by all to recharge the battery. After a nice relaxing morning we had a briefing about logistic and a gear check just to make sure nothing missing from our kits.
Everybody passed with flying colors.
The remainder of the day was spent getting our gear packed up, exploring the grounds of our lodge, which is incredibly peaceful and our first African animal sightings being some resident monkeys and small antelope.
We wrapped up the evening with another delicious meal. Everyone is doing well and excited to hit the trail tomorrow.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
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 was one point when there was around 150 elephants within just a few hundred feet of us.
There were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got close to a few big giraffes, which was pretty cool.
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!
Jambo everyone,
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 didn’t manage to see too many Lions, but did get to see 3 Leopards while driving in and out of the crater, which was certainly a highlight.
We saw several Black Rhinos which have become very rare do to poaching, however, they were only viewable through binoculars.
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 visited the beautiful
Lake Manyara. The lake is a brief stopping ground for many migratory animals and home to more than 300 different birds. The birds were nearly of every shape and color you could imagine.
Everyone enjoyed the day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing the animals.
We manage to see a few wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo, lots of baboons, a few impalas, several elephants and even managed to get pretty close to a few lions. It was a 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,
The Plantation Lodge. and even celebrated one of our teammates birthday with a cake and plenty of singing.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew
Go team go! Especially Mary! Watching with great interest from this side of the pond…
Posted by: Dave on 7/22/2019 at 9:10 am
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