RMI Expeditions Blog

Our rest day at Casa Ilayaku was just that, restful. For most people, reading was the main source of entertainment. We are also close enough to town that some folks made a trip into town to kill some time and do a little shopping. Avery and I went to a climbing gym and funny enough the only other two people there when we arrived were two of our local guides from Cayambe, Fatima and Fernando.

Casa Ilayaku is a wonderfully relaxing hacienda. It is modern, but built on what used to be the owner's grandfather's farmland. Due to this, much of the food served here is very local, sometimes even from the garden. Fresh avocados, tree tomatoes and a variety of other vegetables are grown right here on the property. The owner, Marco, comes from a family of farmers so even the coffee they serve is grown and roasted by his family, just outside of Cayambe. Mountaineering is hard, but the hacienda life is pretty easy. The contrast between the two activities really makes these trips special.

But hey, we can't just live at Marco's place forever. This morning we will head for Antisana basecamp, which is basically just us setting up tents in the paramo (the Spanish word for a high, treeless plateau). The camp is incredible, looking down there are long-reaching views through the grasslands and an about face reveals a huge, glaciated mountain. Antisana is broad, the glaciers are heavily crevassed and it is truly a wild place. For the last time on this trip, we hold out hope for one more night of good climbing weather!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

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, some estimates are as high as 30,000 mammals. 

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, zebras, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, ostrich, and countless other birds. We managed to see several lions, including 2 up very close. Apparently it was date night, and things got a little exciting.

We also saw two Black Rhino not too far in the distance, which have become very rare due to poaching.  

We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the crater 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

I thought that some of our followers at home might enjoy an insider’s view of daily camp life. So, here it is:

The evening began with a six p.m. dinner of pasta lightly tossed in olive oil with sautéed bell peppers and onions and topped with grated Parmesan cheese. You could smell the delicious aroma circling the camp. After crawling into our tents, some of us watched videos, others read books, while Pops wrote poetry. Although we were tired and the weather was good for sleeping, we are each faced with a nightly dilemma - waking up with an urge to use a bathroom (which doesn’t exist above base camp).

The thoughts running through your head include: do I really need to get out of the warm comfort of my sleeping bag? Can’t I just go back to sleep and go later? It’s too cold outside! Will I disturb my tent mate? It takes too much energy. Where’s my toilet paper? Is my pee bottle already full?

These thoughts are on an endless repeat in your head until you finally give in and stumble out of the tent to take care of business.

With a sense of relief, you crawl back into your tent and kick yourself for wasting a half hour of sleep and not just getting up at the first urge. But the night continues with lots of twisting and turning as we try to find that perfect position until our arm or leg falls asleep - necessitating another turn. We still manage to get enough rest to climb upwards and onward.

Speaking of business - choosing a place to poop.

At camp, we do have a designated poop tent; however, there are many things to consider. We are each issued a big plastic bag which we can use in the poop tent by putting it into a big plastic bucket or finding a private spot and squatting. The upside to the tent is having a seat and the privacy of a tent. The downside is trying to separate pee from poop.

The other option is walking away from camp and squatting over the bag. The downsides are missing the bag, your private spot isn’t so private, and the huffing and puffing that occurs during the search. The upsides are the beauty of nature, no smelly hot tent, and easier to separate the pee from the poo. That’s probably TMI but this is part of camp life.

This morning we were gently awoken by Dom’s door to door tent service with hot drinks. It was the coldest night so far and none of us were particularly interested in leaving the warm sanctuary of our sleeping bags. Making the tent service much appreciated.

As the sun rose, our tents began to warm and we mustered the courage to emerge and begin our day of relaxing, recovering, and acclimatizing. The day started with another amazing breakfast of hash browns scrambled with bacon, peppers, and onions. Cooking this type of breakfast is no easy feat with limited pans, scarce utensils, and camp stoves that burn like jet engines.

We ate seated on rocks arranged in a circle while wearing gloves, hats, parkas, and puffy pants, as the morning remained cold. One moment, we are putting on layers and the next, we are taking them off. It’s a constant rotation of clothing. Conversations around the circle included what it’s like to be a cowboy, crazy outhouse stories, and how delicious rocky mountain oysters can be when fried over a campfire.

During the day, we take short walks around camp, eat more food so we don’t have to carry it, nap during the heat of the day, listen to music, read books, enjoy a variety of conversations, and play cutthroat card games. This recharges our batteries as we prepare for a carry to our last camp at 19,600’ tomorrow.

Mary Beth Kempner, aka “the editor”

PS Don’t worry Floyd, I’ve only temporarily taken over your job as editor. You are the editor of my life!

PSS Angela - thanks for your encouragement.

PSSS Shout out to Hudson for taking on the role of editor tonight

Today was our first day of safari. The team headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara, the closest of the 3 National Parks we will visit. 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.

The remnants of the last rainy season are still very visible, and the park is lush and dense, which makes seeing some animals difficult. However, we did see what seemed like record numbers of baboons and elephants. Many of them were so close, we could almost touch them. It was a nice introduction to the incredible diversity of wildlife that Africa has. The team is looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.

We wrapped up the evening with a wonderful meal at our new lodge. See for yourself!

Casey and the Safari crew

Monday, January 30, 2023

It takes the sun seven minutes to send its rays to Earth. It likely took the same amount of time for those rays to wake up the team once the sun was shining upon camp. We awoke to sapphire blue skies with out a cloud to been seen. The temperature quickly began to climb as the solar radiation has little to deflect it at this altitude. We too would soon be climbing but not quickly! Here on this mighty stone sentinel, we are but turtles, slowly but surely heading uphill. A symphony of grunts, moans and creaking joints was heard as the team emerged from their tents. A most excellent breakfast of bacon, eggs and bagel sandwiches was served slowly, giving everyone time for their coffee to kick in and to slowly stretch and limber up their bodies. Today is our third day on the move and the team is feeling the repeated days of exertion at these high altitudes. This continued movement uphill with no rest days since basecamp is not a punishment for poor expedition behavior, but instead a strategic move. Getting to Camp 2 (also known as Guanacos Three) will put us within striking distance of Camp 3 and the summit. We will rest here, acclimatize, and wait for the best possible summit day to appear. Tonight we will settle into our new altitude, enjoying each others stories during dinner while we sit outside basking in the pleasant weather, taking in the magnanimous views of the Argentinian Andes laid out below us, as far as the eye can see.

With much love from high above,

RMI Guide Jack “Gator” Delaney and the team.

Cayambe Summit!

We topped out today at about 6:30am, to clear skies and views of the erupting Reventador and Cotopaxi. The climbing route was in great shape, due to the past several days of dry weather.

We are now settled in at Casa Ilayaku, a beautiful farmhouse outside of Quito. Tomorrow is a well-deserved rest day before heading for Antisana. Thanks for following along!

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

Today the team woke at 6:30 feeling well rested, had breakfast, then hit the trail one last time. It took a little over three hours to reach the Kilimanjaro park gate where the team had lunch 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 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

Sunday, January 29, 2023 - 10:26 pm PT

This morning we made our way up to the glacier under clear skies and moderate winds. We had a quick refresher on basic snow and glacier climbing principles and throughout the weather turned nicer.

A quick jaunt back down to the refuge was followed by most people squeezing a short nap, which was useful given we just woke up at 11pm. We’re now halfway to our first break, trying to wipe the cold from our eyes and get the engines running.

Tonight we try hard.

RMI Guide Dustin Wittmier

When I first climbed a mountain years ago.  I did it to help a friend with a late life mid life crisis.  After that I continued to climb but never had an answer to the question “why”?  Today I found my answer. Today we trekked from Camp 1 to Camp 2.  A gain of around 2,000' in elevation.  On the walk it came to me that we have formed a mountain family. We have Dom the Dominating.  The father figure and leader of the group. Toothpick, the moral foundation.Gator. Charles Darwin. Origin of species. THE living fossil. David, the doc. Jack, the nephew that always says one more rep at the gym. Rossi, the long lost cousin from Europe.  Mary Beth, the aunt that always knows if your telling the truth or not.Hudson, hair = Epic!, Tim, the crazy uncle willing to medically treat your cats for everything. Cam, the strong but silent type. Today as we moved up the mountain.  We did it as a group with everyone matching speed and ability perfectly.  No one was left behind and all were in good spirits and willing to help anyone with anything. There were words of encouragement, and a sense of belonging - the likes you do not see very often. It is in this spirit that I can say everyone here is a Lion King compared to what you will see in an average day of work. Except Gator, he is more of a Gator King.

Signing out from Camp 1 with everyone in good spirits and health.

P.S. Jane I’m fine.

Climber Shane Chidester

The RMI January 24th Kilimanjaro Climb & Safari team reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, the Roof of Africa, on Sunday January 29th.  The team enjoyed clear skies and sunshine as the sun rose over Tanzania.

Congratulations everyone!