Entries from Kilimanjaro

Jambo one last time everyone! 

Today we headed to Tarangire National Park known for its abundant animals and plentiful elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many elephants we saw, probably several hundred at the least. 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, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many others. 

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, it’s not exactly roughing it. 

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. 

Come join us for an adventure sometime!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the safari crew

Hello everyone,

Today we visited the world famous Ngorongoro Crater, considered to be the 8th natural wonder of world. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home to roughly 30,000 mammals that reside here year round, as it’s one of the few places that has natural springs. We started early with hopes of catching a few big cats before the heat of the day sent them in search of shade.

All the usual suspects were there, zebras, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, hyenas, jackles, ostrich, many many birds, and even manage to get very close to a few lions. There was a Black Rhino spotted not to far off. Everyone was amazed at the abundance of wildlife to say the least.

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge and the team is off to bed after a long, but very rewarding day on safari.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the safari crew

Jambo everyone!

Today was our first day of safari and we headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara. The lake is known for its 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 zebras, Cape buffalo, impalas, giraffes, a few elephants and 2 lions, plus more baboons than you could imagine. 

All in all it was a really 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 great conversations and a wonderful meal at our new home for a few nights. www.plantation-lodge.com see for yourself!
 
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew

Hello from Kili. 

Just a quick recap today. 

All of the the team happily and successfully stood on the “Roof of Africa” today. 

Thankfully the weather cooperated and it was pretty calm most of the day. However, the recent rain/storm deposited a boat load of snow for us to enjoy. You might say the Snows of Kilimanjaro are back, but it’s probably only temporary. 

We hiked up almost entirely on snow, which was a first for me.  The team did an incredible job of taking care of themselves and fought hard when it was needed.  

We have safely descend to our high camp where we will take a short break to eat and recharge before descending further down the mountain to our last camp on the mountain. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summit crew!

Hello again everyone, 

The team had a good nights rest last night and today was just a short 3 hour 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. The weather is still being a little fickle and it’s currently sleeting here at camp. Hopefully that will taper off here soon and we’ll have a calm night for climbing. 

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

We had another trivia challenge, and one lucky winner will get a phone call from the summit. 
So everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. We are 8+hrs ahead of the east coast time zone. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the RMI summit bound team!

Hello again everyone. 

Right out of camp we were faced with the only significant technical obstacle for this 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 narrow 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 great job of moving steady and allowing a few porters through with their loads precariously balanced on their heads, while we clung to the wall like scared cats. 

After reaching the top we took a nice break and enjoyed some hot tea and fresh snacks. The team then continued our hiking for two more hours 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. Unfortunately it mostly obscured by the thick clouds that seem to be following us and we ducked into the tents right before the rain arrived, lucky us. 

Spirits are high and there have been few complaints from this tough crew, even though it’s been more cloudy and damp than we’d like!

RMI Guide Casey and the Kili crew!

Hello Blog people!

Oh the weather is a changing!

Sadly the clouds and rain have found us. Today we had a a few views of Kilimanjaro and all of the new snow that has fallen on the upper mountain. 

We hit the trail once again around 8 am and hiked for an hour before taking our usual 15 minutes break, then back on the trail for another hour. In total today we hiked for just over 6 hours before reaching camp which is set up and ready for us by our incredibly hardworking and gracious crew of 31. 

Along the way we passed by the famous and beautiful Lava Tower reaching just over 15,000ft, setting new altitude records for some teammates. Weather-wise, it was a bit of everything. Rain, sleet, snow and even a touch of sunshine. Not enough to cause any concern, but enough to have us hiking in our gore-tex and questioning if we were on a trail or riverbed. Good times!

Everyone is doing well and in good spirits. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and team Kili

Here’s what our daily routine is like. 

We wake up around 6:30 to start packing up before moving into our dinning tent for a feast of porridge, fried eggs, toast, avocado and even some fresh fruit, and the most important thing, hot coffee!

Starting with clear skies and a view of the mountain looming in the distance. We hit the trail making our way up the rocky trail that climbs 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 four hours before reaching out next camp that sits on the Shira plateau, at around 12,500 feet. 

Everyone is doing very well and enjoying being on the mountain. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Today the we had an early start and left behind our comfortable lodge as we have headed to the mountain towards the start of the climb. We left around 8am and drove along the rural country side and small villages for 1.5 hours before reaching the park entrance called Machame. Which is also the name of the route we are climbing. 

Once we arrived at the park gate we had all of our gear weighed and divided into loads for our 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 thick forest. Thankfully the overhead canopy provided a bit of relief from the hot sun overhead. 

We are about to start our 6 hour 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 a good nights rest. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Checking in with RMI's Kilimanjaro Climb!

All is well here in Tanzania and most of the team arrived late last night after some very long flights (20+hrs). It was a short and uneventful ride 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 leisurely morning with our official meeting at 9am, 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 avoiding the marauding
gang of monkeys that occasionally visit.
Vervet, Blue and Colobus are the 3 different species that are found close by.

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 Grom and the Kili crew!