Entries from Expedition Dispatches
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We woke today to pea soup fog, so the beautiful picture windows in each room did not provide for an amazing sunrise in the crater. The team pushed on towards the 1500ft descent to the crater floor. We had a very interesting culture stop at a Maasai village. We were treated to local dance and tour of their living situation, the Maasai people live in cow dung covered stick structures with thatched roofs, the real deal. Nice folks but I’m not sure if you would invite them into your home, they are tough group of humans. We couldn’t leave before giving even more to the local economy by picking a few choice handmade trinkets.
With poor visibility we descended down a steep 4 wheel drive road to get below the clouds. Game drive on! Lots of everything in a small space; this is what the Ngorongoro Crater is noted for. We saw lions, hippos, rhinos, secretary birds, kori bustards, lilac breasted rollers, superb starlings, and kites, lots of hyenas, Cape buffalo, jackals and two zebra fighting. We experienced the beautiful acacia forests and lots of sun in the afternoon.
Back to the lodge for a bubble bath and a buffet dinner that hurt because we ate too much. Can't wait till tomorrow!
Wish you were all here.
Mark Tucker and Team
Our Five Day Summit climb led by Seth Waterfall made a successful sunset summit of Mt. Rainier last night and are now resting back at Camp Muir. Our Four Day Summit climb led by Adam Knoff made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. The Four Day team was 100% to the top. Both teams had clear skies and light winds.
Congratulations to today's teams!
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo from the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge,
After enjoying a hot shower, our celebration dinner and a good night's sleep we departed the Dik Dik Hotel for our first day of game viewing in Tanzania's National Parks.
We left at 9 a.m. and made a quick stop at a local grocery store for drinks and snacks. We stopped in a town called Mesquito River where we purchased some local bananas before entered Lake Manyara National Park and spending four hours following the herds of elephant and giraffe. The cloud cover made for a nice temperature for us and the animals and we were excited to see warthog, dik dik ,superb starling, hippo, baboon, blue monkey, bush buck, impala, cape buffalo, zebra and wildebeast.
We continued our caravan to the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge located on the crater rim. We arrived in time to see the sunset across the plains of Africa and are enjoying the views from our big picture windows looking down into the crater.
We have a full day of game viewing in the Ngorongoro Crater on tap for tomorrow. We have planned for an early morning start with hopes of seeing the sunrise over Tanzania as we descend onto the crater floor. We are keeping our eyes out for the elusive rhino.
Everyone is doing well and enjoying our continued adventure. It should be a great sunrise!
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Hello from Mweka Camp,
We did it! We had an absolutely perfect summit day today on Kilimanjaro. Leaving camp at 12:45 am, we made it to Stella Point (the crater rim) by 6:30 am, just in time to watch a very colorful sunrise. At 7:30 am, the entire team was standing on top of Uhuru Peak, the Roof of Africa. The group did an excellent job of climbing the 4,000' from Barafu Camp to the summit.
The weather continued to cooperate today and we had clear skies all day long. It is always nice to be rewarded with a grand view from the top. We all congratulated each other for this big accomplishment, and took our summit photos. We descended back to Barafu Camp in time for a late breakfast and to pack our gear up for the hike down to Mweka Camp.
It is nice to be down at 10,000' again. We are camped amongst the Giant Heather and the air is thick again.
Our last dinner on the mountain started with a champagne toast to the summit of Kilimanjaro, and was followed by a wonderful meal. We walk out the last six miles and end our trek at the Mweka Gate tomorrow. We will be back at the Dik Dik by early afternoon and everybody is looking forward to a hot shower and clean clothes.
The Kili Team
The Four Day Summit Climb July 30 - 2 August led by Mike Walter reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning! The team reported light winds and a beautiful day of climbing. They began their descent from the crater rim around 7:30 a.m. en route to Camp Muir. They will return to Paradise and Ashford BaseCamp later this afternoon.
The Expedition Skills Seminar - Emmons July 29 - 3 August led by Dan Windham was standing on the summit at 3:00 p.m. with 15 mph winds. They will descend to Camp Schurman for the night, pack up camp in the morning and be back in Ashford tomorrow afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Teams!
Hello RMI,
This is the RMI Kilimanjaro team reporting from the “Roof of Africa”. We had a beautiful summit day and are happy to report that 100% of our team was standing on top of Uhuru Peak about ½ an hour ago. We have already began our descent and are looking forward to being in High Camp in about two hours and then our final camp of the day, Mweka Camp.
We’ll give you a dispatch when we get to camp. It’s a good day here on Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
RMI Guide Jeff Martin checks in from the summit of Kilimanjaro.
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Ecuador
What a wonderful adventure we have had here in Ecuador.
We woke last night to a beautifully clear and warm night. With all of the weather we have been having we were quite surprised to see a sky full of stars. We had our standard morning breakfast of not so delicious oatmeal and washed it down with some nice coffee. We left the hut with many other teams trying to take advantage of the exceptional weather.
The route from the Refugio (climbers hut) was full of surprises nearly the whole way to the summit. With crevasse crossings, steep slopes, and even a snow/ice tunnel to negotiate, the most exciting part for the team was climbing down into and then back out of a crevasse in order to continue on the route. Even with all of these obstacles, the route took us just over 6 hours and we stood on top of Cotopaxi around 7:15am with barely a breath of wind. It was so clear we could see all 10 of the 15,000' mountains in Ecuador. Having no wind and warm temperatures allowed us to linger on top for nearly an hour without getting chilled. Then it was back down to the hut to pack up and leave before the daily hail/thunderstorm moved in. We arrived back in Quito and have just finished up our last supper and have said goodbye to our team mates.
Thanks for following and we'll see you next time.
Team Ecuador
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We have finished the final trek from Kilimanjaro's Mweka Camp down to the Mweka Gate with a three hour descent where we met our drivers from the Dik Dik Hotel. Team “Simba”, as we are calling ourselves, did a great job and we had a fantastic climb of Kilimanjaro. After signing out and having lunch at the gate, it was off to the Dik Dik for showers and celebration dinner.
We just finished a briefing about the safari that will start tomorrow. We are looking forward to exploring more of Tanzania with visits to Lake Manyara, Tarangire and Ngorongoro Crater National Parks.
We will check in again soon and let you know about all of the beautiful African animals we are seeing.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Casey called this morning from the hut after a successful summit of Cotopaxi! The team is packing their gear and will be back in Quito today.
Congratulations to the team after successful summits of Cayambe and Cotopaxi!
The Four Day Summit Climb July 29 - 1 August, 2011 has reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today. The team was led by Leon Davis who reported sunny skies, light wind and cold temperatures on the mountain today. The team was beginning their descent from the crater rim at 7:00 a.m. They will return to Camp Muir and then continue to Paradise this afternoon.
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WOW, So happy to hear this morning -100%. I’m so happy for your summit victory!! you did it! My god my eyes are welling up, but that could be because I haven’t had a vacation in three years, LOL. Seriously, Jeff, did you think that old coot Rusty was gonna make it? lol, I did, he’s an amazing friend. He’s a friggin’ mountain goat.I will toast to you all tonight. Congratulations Jeff,Rusty,Sara and the rest of your team on an amazing journey and accomplishment. Jeff, a huge thank you for the posts, that kept us up to date and made your trip seem so close to us at home.I’ve really looked forward to them and will continue to follow you guys.
Gummi worm Man
Posted by: gummi worm man on 8/2/2011 at 1:13 pm
Congratulations, what a feat!!! Great respect for your accomplishments! We can’t wait to see the photos of you at the summit!
Posted by: L & Bailey on 8/2/2011 at 12:56 pm
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