Entries from Expedition Dispatches
It was raining at the Dik Dik Hotel this morning when we woke. Light, but steady rain kept falling as we ate a 7 AM breakfast and got ready to board the bus/truck. But 15 minutes down the road, our driver shut off his windshield wipers. Low clouds still disguised the mountain we believed was hiding somewhere out to our northeast, but things were looking up. The variety of crops in the "cultivation" zone at the foot of
Kilimanjaro was quite impressive. We saw coffee, corn, avocado, mangos, and bananas all growing in a lush mix close to the Machame Gate. It took some time to get the group properly registered and permitted with the National Park but then at around 11 AM we began our ascent through a forest of tall trees. Our starting point was at about 5,900 ft, and our destination for the day was close to 9,800 ft, so there was little doubt we were in for a workout. At first we were in fog and humid clouds, but after several hours, the sun got strong and the sky got blue. We traveled on an excellent trail through the "forest" zone and into the "heather" zone and we began getting great views of
Kilimanjaro and her glaciers. At around 4:30 PM we strode into a cluster of tents and admired the work of our porters and kitchen crew as we took packs off in our new home. We ate dinner in our grand dining tent and turned in early under what appears to be a magnificent full moon.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
On The Map
We got together after a relaxing breakfast in our tropical garden of a lodge and we talked about going up amongst the glaciers of
Kilimanjaro. It was a morning of going over the plan of attack and for discussing gear and best practices for staying healthy in this part of the world. The middle of the day was spent getting the gear and clothing sorted and by afternoon the team enjoyed a bit of free time to wander about or to nap. The wanderers didn't have to go far before they could see Kilimanjaro floating in the distance. The nappers surrendered for a short time to the jet lag we all feel.
The team enjoyed seeing groups of monkeys swinging through the trees of our compound as well as listening to strange birds call out as they cruised overhead.
We enjoyed a group dinner and some storytelling for the evening. It will be hard to leave this luxurious and laid back setting, but the thought of getting walking on the flanks of the largest freestanding mountain in the world is pretty enticing as well.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The
Four Day Summit Climb teams September 13 - 16 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning just after 7 am.
RMI Guides Seth Waterfall and Solveig Waterfall reported clear skies above with a light wind from the SW. There is a cloud deck lower on the mountain 9,500'. The teams will enjoy some time on the summit before starting their descent to Camp Muir and continuing to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today Summit Climb teams!
It is 11 PM at the Dik Dik Hotel near
Arusha, Tanzania, and the entire climbing team has made it through the worldwide obstacle course of airports and aircraft to begin a Kilimanjaro expedition. We'll get started in the morning with strategizing and packing gear and prepping, but for now it it just a great relief to have everybody in one place (the correct place) and to have all the baggage safely off the carousels.
Our drivers and hotel staff gave each tired traveler a friendly hello, a handshake, a glass of champagne and a flower or two. The kitchen stayed up late to get an excellent dinner out to each and every climber.
We'll hope that a night's good rest goes a long way to refreshing, rebooting and rejuvenating the gang. An adventure is waiting.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide
Dave Hahn
We spent all of yesterday in
Tarangire National Park. It's home to more elephants per square mile than any place on earth, and we weren't disappointed at all. If I had to guess I'd say we saw somewhere close to a thousand elephants between yesterday and on our short drive back through today.
We spent the night just outside of the park boundaries in another tented camp. And enjoyed an amazing meal provided by the kind staff at the Kikoti Camp.
It's been an incredible adventure and everyone has had a wonderful time here in Africa, but our trip has come to an end and its time to return to our homes.
Thanks for following.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
The Four Day Summit Climb August 12 - 15 and the Five Day
Summit Climb August 11 - 15 both reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning.
RMI Guides Leon Davis and Geoff Schellens reported they were in a cloud cap on the summit with low visibility and light winds from the South/Southwest. The teams began their descent from the crater rim shortly after 7 am. They will return to Camp Muir for a short break before continuing their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
The
Four Day Summit Climb reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The team reported great route conditions and warm, sunny weather. The team is making their way to Camp Muir where they will rest and refuel before returning to Ashford this afternoon.
Congratulations climbers!
Today we visited the famous
Ngorongoro Crater, believed by many to be the 8th wonder of the world. It is a two million year old collapsed caldera that is home to more than 25,000 large mammals, and has a dense population of lions.
We spent nearly the entire day driving around looking at all the animals and waiting at times for either the wildebeest, or zebras to get out of our way. We saw about a dozen lions, a far off black rhino, thousands of pink flamingos and many others. I'm pretty sure everyone had a great day.
We finished off the day with a quick visit to a working Maasai Village to see how this semi-nomadic group of people still live the way they have for thousands of years.
Hopefully tomorrow we'll catch a glimpse of a cheetah and leopard to round out the safari.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On our first day of safari we headed south to
Lake Manyara, which is know for its colorful flamingos and tree climbing lions. It wasn't long before we spotted our first of many elephants to come. In fact we stopped just short of a mother and her baby and watched them cross between our two safari vehicles. It was surreal to see them so close and feel as if we could almost touch them, while they barely noticed us. We then headed off to our normal lunch spot but had to find another place as several lions had beaten us there. We think we counted 5 all together, two young males and a few females, but it was a little tough to tell as they were trying to stay cool in the bush.
After a nice hot meal provide by our traveling chef Michael, we headed off to see other animals and a quick visit to the hippo pond. Along the way we spotted a huge Monitor (giant lizard) in a creek and spotted many zebras, giraffes, wildebeest, bush bucks, and a few warthogs too.
All in all it was a pretty rewarding first day on safari.
We are spending the night overlooking the lake in a nice tented camp called Kirurumu. Everyone is doing great and excited for what tomorrow might bring.
RMI Guide
Casey Grom and Crew
Our
Expedition Skills Seminar - Muir led by RMI Guides
Mike Walter and
Jake Beren reached the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. The team reported great route conditions, warm temperatures and clear skies. The team is now en route to Camp Muir and will spend the spend the rest of their time at Camp Muir training before returning to RMI Basecamp tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's team!
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Happy and safe trails. Looking forward to reading about your progress.
Posted by: rachael c lujan on 9/18/2013 at 3:35 pm
Happy and safe climbing. Looking forward to your updates. ABQ Uptown/RS 985 NM/CO
Rachael
Posted by: rachael c lujan on 9/18/2013 at 3:33 pm
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