Entries from Expedition Dispatches
The RMI Teams reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! The Four Day Summit Climb August 6 - 9 led by Mike Walter and the Five Day Summit Climb August 5 - 9 led by Leon Davis reached the summit of Mt. Rainier at 7:00 a.m. PT. The teams enjoyed a beautiful day on the mountain with clear skies and light wind. They began their descent from the crater rim shortly after 8 a.m. en route to Camp Muir. The teams will continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb teams!
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Greetings from Tanzania,
The team has gathered at the Dik Dik Hotel in Tanzania. Sometimes the toughest part about starting a trip like this is getting out of town and sitting on a plane for such long time periods. Now that those things are behind us we can begin to focus on our adventure.
We enjoyed a beautiful day at the Dik Dik Hotel mostly napping, resting and eating then had to do a little work to get ready for our climb of Kilimanjaro. We went through a thorough gear check and discussed how to pack our bag and packs for the mountain. A team meeting to discuss our plans for the next few days and coordinating with our mountain staff to assure all our gear is packed, weighed and ready to go.
This is the first trip to Africa for all of our team members and they are fired up for the climb which begins tomorrow. We have planned for an early breakfast and then will make the 90 minute drive to the Machame Gate, our entrance to Kilimanjaro National Park. We start our climb with a 6 to 7 hour hike to our first mountain camp, Machame Camp.
We will send updates throughout our climb and hope you will follow along. Everyone is excited to get started!
Uusiku mwema (good night),
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Four Day Summit Climb August 5 - 8 led by Seth Waterfall reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! The teams enjoyed a beautiful climb this morning with clear skies, warm temperatures and not a breath of wind. They began their descent from the crater rim shortly before 7 a.m. PT en route to Camp Muir. The team will continue their descent to Paradise later this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb!
Our Four Day Summit Climbs made it to the summit of Mt. Rainier early this morning. They reported clear skies, light winds and warm temperatures. The teams enjoyed some time on the summit and are now descending back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations to today's teams.
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo from Kikoti Camp,
We packed up this morning, left the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge and headed to Tarangire National Park. It is about a 2 hour drive from the crater rim, and by late morning we were already seeing the first of the many animals to come. Tarangire is the fifth largest park in Tanzania and it boasts over 3,000 resident elephants. It lived up to its reputation today and would guess that we saw at least 300 today.
Since there is only one main river running through the park, most of the animals are concentrated along this water source, especially in the dry season (June - September). Lots more of zebras, wildebeast, impala, and gazelle were seen, as well as a few lions. The safari drivers always talk to each other about what animals they have seen. Unfortunately, it has been at least two days since the last leopard has been seen. Maybe it will happen tomorrow....
We will spend a few hours game viewing in the morning before heading back to the Dik Dik Hotel and getting ready for our flights home.
This has been a really fun trip and we are sorry that it has to come to an end. Thanks to the entire team for making this a great adventure, and congratulations to all of you for reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Cheers to all and safe travels home.
RMI Guide Jeff Martin
The August 3 - 6 Summit Climbs led by Dave Hahn and Pete Van Deventer called down at 7:30 a.m. saying that they had reached the summit of Mt. Rainier. It was nice up top with light winds. The teams left the summit at 8:20 a.m. to descend back to Camp Muir.
Congratulations!
Posted by: Jeff Martin
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello from the Ngorongoro Wildife Lodge,
We were driving down into the crater at 7:00 am this morning for a full day of game viewing. We saw at least 10,000 animals today, mostly zebra, wildebeest, cape buffalo, and gazelles. But the two black rhinos (mother and baby) is what stole the prize. We first saw them way out in the distance, but they continued to travel in our general direction and so we waited patiently. They ended up crossing right in front of us, about 100 yards away, and we were the only group to see them. Timing is everything when it comes to safari.
We also saw lions, a cheetah, hyenas, a serval cat, and elephants. It was quite a day. After spending the majority of the day in the crater, including a picnic lunch, we headed back up the road to the crater rim. At the top, we stopped at a traditional Masai village to learn about their culture and how they live off the land. It was a lot of fun getting a tour of their huts and watching them perform their traditional dances.
It was then time to head back to our lodge to grab a drink and head out on the patio to watch the sun go down over Ngorongoro Crater.
Tomorrow, we travel to Tarangire National Park where we plan to spend another full day game viewing. The only animal left on our "Big Five List" is the leopard. We have heard that our chances are good that we can see one in Tarangire.
- The Kili Team
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Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
We enjoyed our night at the Kikoti Camp spending time by the open fire after dinner. This tented camp is really luxury camping, a bit rustic but not roughing it and a very peaceful location out in the bush.
After breakfast we toured Tarangire National Park on a three hour game drive seeing lots of elephant and a nice glimpse of a cheetah! This morning was cloudy and cool but we enjoyed warm and sunny conditions this afternoon. We made a stop for souvenirs and last purchases on our way back to the Dik Dik. We will spend some time repacking and organizing for our flights this evening. After dinner we will leave the Dik Dik Hotel and transfer to the airport.
Overall the trip was a great success. We made some new friends, climbed Kilimanjaro and had fun on safari. We can't believe it is already over.
Thanks for following our adventure.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Four Day Summit Climb August 2 - 5 led by Win Whittaker and Jason Thompson reached the summit of Mt. Rainier today! The teams reported a beautiful day on the mountain. They experienced light winds, warm temperatures and were able to enjoy the views from the summit. There is a cloud deck currently below Camp Muir at approximately 7,500'. The teams are currently en route to Camp Muir and will continue their descent to Paradise this afternoon.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb!
Posted by:
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo,
We left the Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge today and traveled to Tarangire National Park. We stopped for a lunch in the bush and were treated to a delicious outdoor meal. Our excitement for the afternoon was a dust devil, a very small tornado looking weather feature, that could have spoiled our great meal. Tarangire has one of the highest concentrations of elephant and it did not disappoint today. We saw a few new species that we hadn't seen at the crater and got great views of two large male lions. The weather has been partly cloudy with a light wind which as made for a perfect safari set up keeping us and the animals cool from the hot African sun.
We are now at the Kikoti Camp located just outside Tarangire National Park. We will be spending our last evening in Tanzania enjoying a great dinner followed by a bonfire in the courtyard of the hotel listening to the sounds of the African night.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
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