Entries from Kilimanjaro

Close encounters of an Elephant-kind

Our first day on safari brought us to Lake Manyara National Park. The team spent about four hours driving around the park on a “game drive” where we saw hundreds of baboons, Vervet monkeys, Blue monkeys and lots of exotic birds, Impalas, hippos and elephants so close we could have touched them. Nothing dangerous, but wow was it surreal to see these massive mammals up close.

Everyone had a great day and enjoyed just relaxing while taking in the views.

We are currently staying at the beautiful Plantation Lodge just outside Karatu.

The team just finished a wonderful meal and are off to bed as we are headed out early tomorrow hoping to see some big cats!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!

Today we started our day at 6:30 refreshed after a much needed nights sleep, we had breakfast, then hit the trail one last time. It took just under 3 hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch and said our final goodbyes to our amazing crew that took such great care of us on the mountain. 

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, cleaner, and smelling fresh after an exciting 7 day journey up and down Kilimanjaro. 
Stayed tuned, Safari starts tomorrow!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Wahoo!!! 

Everyone on top.  

All team members safely back to high camp after standing on the “Roof of Africa” and we did it while watching the sun rise. 

This team crushed it. Doing everything perfectly and stayed positive even though it was tough at times. It was surprisingly chilly (thermometer said 15°) and busier than we would have liked, however, our early departure saved us from the more than 100+ climbers all stuffed together. We even had the summit to ourselves for a little while. 

We spent about about 30 minutes on the summit celebrating, taking photos and even made a few phone calls to loved ones back home. 

We are headed down the mountain to our final camp in the thick warm air at 10,000ft, where we’ll have dinner then head off to bed for some well deserved sleep. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and a very happy Kili team!

Hello again everyone,

The team had a good night's rest last night and today was just a short 2.5hr hike up to 15’000ft to our high camp. Everyone is excited and maybe just a touch nervous, which is very normal! 

The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what we’ll be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule. 

Our game plan will be to wake at 10:30pm and have a quick breakfast at 11, then hopefully hit the trail around 11:30pm. It’s a bit busier, hence the slightly early departure tonight. Hopefully that will get us out in front of the majority of the other climbers. 

The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8hrs if things go according to plan. 

We had a trivia challenge, as per usual, and one lucky winner will get a phone call from the summit. (maybe everyone)

So friends and family back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We hope to be on top around 7. 

Which is 10pm east coast time Thursday evening. 

Casey and the RMI summit bound team!

Jambo from Kilimanjaro,

Today the team did a fantastic job climbing the intimidating looking Barranco Wall. It is the technical hurdle of this expedition and everyone did great and everyone enjoyed the challenge, of course the porters made it look easy as they climbed the wall with their loads carefully balanced on their heads.

Once above the wall we took a well deserved break to enjoy the views of the valleys below. The team climbed slow and steady as we made our way up and down a few ridges before finally arriving in the Karanga Valley where we will camp for the night.

Everyone is in good spirits and are looking forward to heading to our high camp tomorrow where we will start our summit bid from.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kilimanjaro crew

All is well here on Kilimanjaro!

Once again we woke to beautifully clear skies with even better views of Kili 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 hot coffee and breakfast. Obviously our crew is taking wonderful care of us. 

We hit the trail once again around 8am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 10-15min break, then back on the trail for another hour. All total today we hiked for just over 7 hours before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us. 

Along the way we passed around the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000ft, setting new altitude records for some and we also chatted with a few other climbers who are on the same schedule with us. All in all it was a really nice day with clouds gathering in the afternoon to help keep the temperature comfortable for hiking. 

That’s all for now. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

Monday, January 26, 2026

Hello again everyone 

The team had a really nice day here on Kili today, waking to clear skies and a beautiful view of Kili right above camp. We had a light cloud layer which helped keep us cool while on the trail, which was nice as the sun can be quite intense here near the equator.

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 Tanzanian coffee. 

We hit the trail shortly before 8am and slowly made our way up the rocky trail with occasional views of Kili above, while sharing the trail with all the porters. 

The trail climbed up a blunted ridge and eventually out of the trees and allowed 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 the Shira plateau, which is the remnant of an ancient lava flow. 

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

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Sunday, January 25, 2026

Today the team had an early start and left behind our incredibly comfortable lodge as we have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We left around 8 am and drove along the rural country side passing small villages for 1.5 hours before reaching the park entrance called Machame. We also had great views on the drive of Kilimanjaro looming high in the distance, intimidating and exciting at the same time. 

Once we arrived at the park gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our 51 porters and other staff to carry before hitting the trail. With everything in order we’ll start our climb slowly make our way up the winding trail that ascends continuously through the thick forest. Thankfully the overhead canopy of the surrounding forest will provide a huge relief from the hot sun overhead. 

We are about to start our 6ish hr hike to camp that sits around 10,000ft and most likely won’t have reception so I’m sending this from the entrance. 

Everyone is doing well and looking forward to starting this adventure. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

Casey Grom here checking in with RMI's 1st 2026 Climb of Kilimanjaro!

All is well here in Tanzania and most of the team arrived late last night after some very long flights (roughly 24+ hrs.).

It’s a pretty short and uneventful drive 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 relatively leisurely morning with our official team meeting at 8am, 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, exploring the grounds of our peaceful Lodge and dodging the gaggle of monkeys that roam the neighborhood.

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 and the Kili crew!

Hello one last time everyone! 

Today the team headed to Tarangire National Park know for its abundant animals and plentiful elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many elephants we saw, probably several hundred, possibly more than a thousand. It wouldn’t seem like we could get tired of seeing elephants, but there were so many that eventually we had to keep driving so we could see other animals. 

There were lots of giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many others, including 6-8 lions which was a highlight. 

We are spending our last night here in Africa at Nyikani Camp, which has beautiful tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African night in. If you’ve ever heard the term “Glamping” that’s exactly what we are doing. 

Everyone is doing great and we hope to catch a sighting of a few more cats on our way out tomorrow. Then we will head back to our main lodge near Arusha for a quick shower before catching our evening flights home. 

I asked everyone for a single word that would best summarize their experience for this trip. 

So in no particular order here are our words. 

Overcome

WOW

Perseverance 

Transformative 

Humbling 

Determined

Indomitable

Connection

Fulfilling 

Simple 

Transcendent 

Come join us for an adventure sometime!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the safari crew