With all due modesty, we crushed day one. We were out of our hotel and on the bus and on the road just after eight. Out on the highway, our driver Said had the windshield wipers on as the clouds were low and gray and leaking a little rain. But ninety minutes later, as we passed in to Kilimanjaro National Park at the 6,000 ft Machame Gate, it wasn’t raining. As is normal, it took a bit of time to get the group registered for the climb and to get the staffing and loads sorted out, but then, at 10:40 we started walking. Freddy, of our local guide staff, set a “pole pole” pace... nice and slow and steady and we fell into a good rhythm behind him. James, our lead guide, and Frank, Phillibet, and Naiman brought up the rear. The trail, which can be muddy and slippery, was actually in pretty good shape today. The clouds stayed with us for the first half of the day and we got a hint of wet mist and sprinkles before things cleared out a bit in the afternoon. We could even see our shadows from time to time as the sun came and went. The team walked well and seemed to have little difficulty with the steady gain in altitude. We went from hours deep within the rain forest, to a final half hour in a transition to the “Heather and Mooreland” zone and finally walked into Machame Camp at 10,000 ft in a respectable five and a half hours after our start. Our staff had not only beat us to camp, they’d built the camp. Everything was perfectly set up and welcoming for our team to move in. We did afternoon tea with popcorn and then followed that up with one of Chef Tosha’s magnificent dinners. We spent a few minutes looking up at the night sky before turning in... Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars were putting on a show and the milky way was trying hard to outshine them. Best Regards RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map