Entries By dave hahn

The team rallied for a pre-dawn start at Lolkisale Camp. We were escorted from our tent cabins so as not to lose anyone to predators. We ate breakfast as the light came up on the vast wilderness surrounding camp.

As we drove back into the mix of animals, trees, rocks, grassland and riverbeds we had high hopes of spotting the leopards and cheetahs that had been eluding us thus far.  We saw a million more beautiful things this morning… but not the big cats. Something left for future safaris. By midday, this one was winding down as we headed east toward Arusha. The team was happy to get back to the familiar ground of Rivertrees Inn to have a chance to clean up and repack for extended travel. Inevitably, we started having to say goodbye to one another as we began a last migration to Kilimanjaro International Airport.

It seemed hard to believe that the project our team had been dedicated to for years -raising funds for the American Lung Association- and then actually climbing Kili for clean air- that it could all be coming to a conclusion… but of course our ambitious climbers were heard to be hatching dozens of new goals and challenges for the coming years. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & The ALA Climb for Clean Air Team

It was another cool and cloudy morning in the highlands where we woke up, but as we descended into the rift valley again, it got warmer and drier. We stopped for some souvenir/gift shopping and then made the move toward Tarangire National Park. We entered just before noon, weaving between giant baobab trees scarred by elephant tusks. Immediately we began seeing wildlife… impalas, zebra, wildebeest… first in ones and twos, then by the hundreds. Eventually we mixed in elephants and giraffes and seemingly everything else. 

Tarangire is a vast land of animals. From horizon to horizon. Our seasoned safari team spotted two impressive lions that no one else had managed to find. We spent the day marveling at elephant families and birds of all sizes and flavors. We searched high and low for cheetahs and leopards… but (so far) without success. By sunset we were sitting around a fire just outside the park boundary in a “tent camp” still spotting wildlife from our chairs. It is our final night as a team. As the first few stars began to show, we shared a spontaneous and appropriate few minutes of silence… and then we burst into laughter and conversation and eventually storytelling. 

Leopards in the morning.

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Ngorongoro Crater was worth getting up early for. We were on the road by 6:30 AM. It was cloudy and as we climbed up to the rim of the old collapsed volcano, we were in thick fog.  This did not prevent us from seeing a handful of elephants in the forest up there though.

Our first hours in the “crater” were actually a little cool and drizzly, but we were seeing abundant wildlife and so we didn’t really care.  We saw everything from Cape Buffalo to Jackals. The giant herds of Zebra and Wildebeest were a big hit. During the course of the day, we crisscrossed the valley floor and saw eight lions (beating yesterday’s total). We got to see a number of happy hippopotamus pile-ups in the mud and shallow waters. 

By mid-afternoon we were climbing out of the bowl to visit a Maasai village on the crater rim. We danced with the villagers, and they showed us some of their traditional methods for building fires and living in the wild.  The team got back to the Plantation Lodge in time for a sunset swim in the pool before dinner.

Tarangire tomorrow!

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

What a difference a day makes!  No more camping and no more climbing.  Today we woke to rainy skies in Usa River, but we woke in comfy hotel beds and got into nice, dry Toyota Land Cruisers.  Our Safari guides: Jakob and Ng’orongo took us west through Arusha and out of the rain into the Maasai country beyond.  We made it to Lake Manyara National Park by midday.  Things started out slowly… a few baboons.  A bird or two.  The odd bushbuck.  At our picnic lunch, the mountain guide on the team suggested there was nothing much remaining to be seen and that we should call it a day and head for the hotel swimming pool.  Nobody listened.  Our safari guides then found a lion asleep under a tree.  Which turned into seven lions when we looked a little closer.  Which turned into seven hungry, hyper, and hunting lions when a cheerful, clueless zebra came strolling along.  Our guides kept us alongside a protracted hunt as the zebra got smart and began to move away along the lakeshore.  The lions - actually five lionesses and two lions - finally pulled the trigger and sprang after the zebra.  We couldn’t quite see that but somehow, they switched prey in the middle of the attack, coming away with a couple of warthogs in their jaws.  The mountain guide on our team admitted that the swimming pool idea had been a poor one and that in ten years of visiting Manyara he hadn’t seen one lion let alone seven making multiple kills.  To drive home the point, we then saw Cape Buffalo, giraffes, and elephants at close quarters and in quick succession.  And THEN we went to the pool.  We were at the Plantation Lodge for sunset and an excellent dinner.  Safari Day One, in the books and exceeding all expectations. 

Best Regards,

Dave

At breakfast this morning there were plenty of our team singing the praises of Mweka Camp and 10,000 ft living. The sleep was sooooo much better than at 15,000 ft. Food went down easier as well, and we put away plenty of it before hitting the trail at 8 AM. Within a few minutes of walking, we entered the rain forest. The day was dry and clear but as we descended, the trail was wetter and more muddy. We had to drop 4000 ft without slipping. This was made a bit more exciting by the hundreds of porters from various teams trying to get down the slippery track with big loads at high speed. We finished the journey at 10:30am and signed our names in the National Park registry at the Mweka Gate. We then enjoyed a final lunch with our staff, after which we were treated to a spirited song and dance session with all 46 of the men who helped us. We expressed our gratitude with tips for all and then shook hands to seal the deal…and to bid farewell.

We loaded onto the bus and made the two-hour ride back to the Rivertrees hotel. It was then a comfortable afternoon of showers and gear sorting. The adventure continues tomorrow with safari, but we took the time this evening to eat and drink together in celebration of our successful climb of Kilimanjaro. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Sunday, August 13, 2023 - 7:24 am PT

We had an extremely nice day for going to the top of Africa. Waking at 11 last night it was dead calm and when we unzipped the tents and looked out, the lights of Moshi and a hundred other towns and villages in Tanzania were winking up at us.  The ever-present cloud deck wasn't present. Overhead, the Milky Way dazzled us.  We ate a quick "breakfast" and got climbing by midnight. The cold temps were a challenge, but less so without wind. We marched up through the night, taking quick hourly breaks in the lava, gravel and pumice.  We were at Stella Point on the crater rim when the sun rose at 6:35 and magically it was still calm on the mountaintop.  It was a beautiful walk in the morning light over to Uhuru, the summit of Kilimanjaro.  We celebrated up top and took plenty of pictures. We'd just begun walking down when one of the remaining summit glaciers calved with a thunderous crash into a pool of meltwater. We were stunned by the action, but also by the fact that a sizable pool of unfrozen water existed at 19,000 ft. We slid down the rock scree of our ascent route, reaching high camp just after 10 AM. Our staff sang and danced to give us a memorable and fun welcome. We finished the day with a rugged hike down to Mweka Camp at 10,000 ft, arriving at 3:30 PM under sunny skies. The team is getting set for a final night on the mountain. Our team did well, placing seven of nine climbers on top and crucially nine of nine safely down afterward. Our support team blew our minds with the quality and quantity of help they provided as we pursued our dream summit. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Sunday, August 13, 2023 - 1:10 AM PT

A quick check in from RMI Guide Dave Hahn with the photo above to let us know the team reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro at 7:15 am local time.  The team has safely descended back to High Camp, Barafu, as of 10:15 am local time.  They will continue their descent to Mweka Camp, their final mountain camp of the trip.

Congratulations team!

We are at high camp! 

Barafu -which means ice in Swahili. We got here nice and early, just after 11 AM.  It only took about three hours to gain the two thousand vertical feet from Karanga Camp.  The team came in smiling and all together and excited to finally be here, in place for a summit bid.  The day ended up a little cloudy, with a snowflake or two in the air but that hasn’t bothered us.  Benson treated us to a nice lunch and then we sat down with Naiman -our lead guide- to talk in detail about the summit and how we’ll prepare for it. 

We are resting and organizing this afternoon, getting used to the altitude and catching up on our hydration.  An early dinner is in order -Spaghetti at 5:30- and then we’re going into the tents for a rest.  It will be an Alpine start; we aim to be walking at midnight. 

Wish us a little luck, please. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

The team had a fine day of climbing to reach Barranco Camp at 13,100 feet.  When we woke and ate breakfast at Shira Camp this morning, there was a mean looking lenticular cloud on the summit of Kilimanjaro.  It looked like it would have been a very difficult day to summit.  Luckily, we had different plans for the day.  We set out at 8 AM walking toward Kibo (the central peak) and gaining altitude gradually.  Before too long we passed 14,400 ft and shattered the previous high altitude records for everyone on the team.  We cruised right on up to the Lava Tower at 15,200 ft and rolled down the other side to where our amazing chef Benson had prepared a picnic lunch for the team.  By this point the clouds had cleared and we had full views of Kibo’s ice fields and massive cliff faces just above.  We got walking again after lunch and made fine time hiking down into the gardens of Barranco Camp.  At 3 PM we cruised through the last of the Giant Senecios and into our camp.  We switched to relaxing with tea time followed by a nice dinner in our colorful dome tent.  Tomorrow we take on the great Barranco Wall. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Wednesday, August 9, 2023 - 1:55 am PT

Jambo from 10,000 ft on Mt Kilimanjaro.  The start to our expedition went just as smoothly as it could possibly go.  We were up and eating breakfast at Rivertrees by 7 AM and on the road by 8:15.  Traffic on the main highway wasn’t too bad and we made fine progress, reaching the Machame gate to the National Park by 10 AM.  There, at 6000 ft, we made final preparations for walking and we waited while the finishing touches were made on our climbing permit.  By 11 AM, everything was set and we set out walking.  We followed VV -one of our four local guides- into the rain forest.  The weather was cloudy and humid but as we walked, there was enough clearing that we had occasional blue sky and sunshine through the big trees.  Gradually the trail steepened and we began to make real progress.  We stopped for snacks and rest breaks several times over the course of the five and a half hours it took to reach Machame Camp.  Just out of the rainforest, we’ve graduated to the Giant Heather zone.  Our support team established a fine camp and welcomed us in late afternoon.  The blue skies were gone by then and the clouds had thickened up again.  We got settled in for dinner in our dining tent at 6:30, just as it got dark.  In the end it was a big day from start to finish and nobody lingered for very long following dinner.  Between lingering jet lag and all of the hard work, the team was quite ready for a first night in the tents. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Monday, August 7, 2023 - 6:48 pm PT

Our team got busy with getting ready today.  We met after breakfast in the garden-like compound of our hotel  -Rivertrees.  The huge fig trees along the Usa River throw plenty of shade and make for a fine playground for various troupes of monkeys.  Our meeting delved into the particulars of how the climb on Kilimanjaro will flow and just how we will prepare for it.  The team then dispersed to their rooms for gear checks and ultimately packing and weigh-ins.  The afternoon was spent in this way, and with a few naps and cups of tea in the garden thrown in.  Having mostly come from the west coast of North America, our gang is thoroughly jet-lagged.  It was exciting in the evening to greet Brent Okita and his successful team of Kili climbers as they returned to the hotel.  We then enjoyed our dinner -the last before the big event- while on the other side of the dining area, they enjoyed theirs as a victory dinner. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn