Hello, I am emailing from our safari at Lake Manyara National Park. We are having a great afternoon of game viewing.
The day started at the Dik Dik Hotel where we said goodbye to some of our team. About half the team is either headed back home or doing their own safari.
The rest of us have successfully shifted gears from mountain living to wildlife viewing. We were on the road just after 9 am and a few hours later we pulled into Lake Manyara. We had lunch just inside the park and then started the game drive. True to the nature of the trip we had 45 minutes of rain but now the clouds have parted, the top of the truck is open and there are animals everywhere.
Tonight we will stay at the Plantation Lodge, home of the best margaritas in Tanzania. We'll check in again tomorrow.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall and the Safari All Stars
Good evening from the Altzomoni Hut!
After a long drive, multiple vehicle transfers due to muddy washed out roads, and a little bit of extra walking, we are all getting some rest in preparation for heading up to high camp tomorrow.
It was a beautiful day with excellent views. We even had the good fortune of catching a glimpse of Popo erupting this morning on our drive! Everyone is feeling strong and excited to hit the trail in the morning.
We'll check in from camp tomorrow night!
Buenos noches!
RMI Guide Solveig Waterfall
Hello from the La Malitzi Resort! We are snug in our beds nestled on the flanks of La Malinche, a 14,636' extinct volcanic remnant. We spent the day in this Parque de Nacional stretching our legs and lungs for the first time since we all gathered in the city. We were treated to perfect weather and excellent hiking temperatures. However, as is often the case driving in Mexico, we were delayed by an enormous traffic jam. A bottleneck not in the city this time, but instead shortly before arriving at the mountain. Mexico City was recently hit by a large storm that deposited snow at relatively low elevations. Since this is quite a rare occurrence, the local news outlets have been broadcasting a continuous cycle of footage of families up playing in the snow; some touching it for the first time!
With all the media attention, there were hundreds of cars trying to access the La Malinche trailhead and things quickly slowed to a halt.
After waiting as long as we could, we left our overnight bags with the driver to sit in traffic, and began the journey through the literally thousands of local hikers towards our goal of reaching the upper slopes of the mountain. Given our time frame, we had no chance of reaching the top, but we hiked for 3 hours amidst a herd of parents, grandparents, children and dogs running past us and often stopping to inquire where we were from and if we were going to look for the snow, as well.
When we reached our high point, we bundled up and rested for a half an hour or so, allowing our bodies to recover while enjoying the expansive views from 13,300'.
Upon our arrival back at 10,000' our driver had finally reached the resort, checked us in, and most importantly made sure the propane water heaters were warming up for a well deserved shower. It was nearly dark as we got settled and we were all anxiously awaiting the fantastic dinner that Rogelio (our transportation coordinator) promised.
It did not disappoint! We feasted on steaks, chorizo, tortillas, beans, guacamole, and grilled vegetables resting on small charcoal grills on our table.
Everyone is now off to bed for a solid 8 hours of rest, and then tomorrow we begin our journey toward our first objective, climbing Ixta!
Well check in tomorrow from the Altizomoni Hut!
RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall, Billy Haas and the team
Hi this is Seth checking in from the lobby bar at the Dik Dik hotel. Everyone is already in party mode.
We awoke to mostly cloudy skies this morning but no rain. After a french toast breakfast we enjoyed a song from our awesome crew and then hit the trail. The group shows out a little on the decent as everyone was anxious to get down but some caution was still required on the slick rocks and roots.
We had a quick lunch at the park gate and then loaded up in the truck. After driving back to the hotel everyone has cleaned up nicely and is getting ready for our celebration dinner.
I'll send some summit pics from yesterday as well.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
You guys look awesome, so proud of all of you but a special shout out to my guy, Bobby!!!
Posted by: Lesle Belling on 1/18/2016 at 3:29 pm
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I’m so happy for ALL of you! I bet you never enjoyed a hot shower so much in your whole life. I can’t wait to see all of the photos and hear all of the stories and trekking experiences. Thank you, Seth, for your updates each day. All of us “back home” appreciated them more than you know. Enjoy celebrating your accomplishment and praying for safe travels home!
Ground control (RMI base) to Major Tom (our intrepid Aconcagua team)...
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on...
We are eating up on our last rest day here in Base Camp and making our last minute preparations.
Ground control to Major Tom...
Commencing countdown engines on... Check ignition and may god's love be with you...
Wish us luck as we blast off up onto the beast. Tomorrow's plans call for a move up to Camp 1 which has the team excited if a bit nervous. Lots of work lies ahead but we are poised and ready for the challenge. The weather has been stellar and we hope it continues to cooperate for us as we step out of the capsule that is Plaza Argentina not to return until our bid for the top has culminated. Of course we'll keep checking in along the way.
Bowie lives!
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
We enjoyed an amazingly perfect day on our first push above Aconcagua Basecamp. Despite the good weather our loads were big and the route up to Camp 1 was quite different than in years past. Lots of penitentes (tall, spiky snow features) made for difficult walking at times and a new route across the glacial remnant below the final scree slopes into camp. Despite these challenges our team remained true to form and moved extremely well ultimately putting in a big cache of gear, food, and fuel at over 16,000'. We are resting/acclimatizing tomorrow in basecamp before we head out on the upper mountain for good. All is well here in Plaza Argentina and the team is looking forward to the coming days.
Talk tomorrow,
RMI Guide Billy Nugent
Please don’t let Branchflower fall off the hill…....he owes me $20 from a football bet!
Be Safe to All!!
Posted by: Tom Lozier on 1/18/2016 at 7:29 pm
WOW!
What an awesome picture. What an incredible experience you are having. Take lots of photos.
We are with you all the way.
Take care and stay safe,
Dad & Luz
Hello from Mexico City!
Our team arrived throughout the day, and by 7pm we were all gathered on the rooftop patio of the hotel for an equipment review and logistics breakdown of the days to come.
We are all looking forward to leaving the hustle and bustle of urban life and heading into the hills for our first acclimatization hike.
We'll check in again from the La Malitzi Resort.
Thanks for following!
RMI Guides Solveig Waterfall and Billy Haas
Hello from our last camp on Kilimanjaro. I just wanted to send a quick note to say this all the climbers have descended safely from High Camp.
Our climb was warm with partly clear skies but clouds built up on our descent. As we left high camp our old friend the rain returned and stayed with us most of the way to 10,000'. We're all getting ready for our last dinner on the mountain right now. Tomorrow we will walk to the Mweka Gate and then transfer back to the Dik Dik Hotel for celebrations!
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
Congratulations Karen and JJ what an amazing accomplishment!
Posted by: Courtney Rams on 1/18/2016 at 9:02 am
Congrat!!! Steve and team. Anybody ready for a hike to the top and back a second time? (Maybe next year?) I hope you can take care of those feet, Steve.
8:04 pm Pacific Time
Hey, this is a Seth checking in from Uhuru Peak, the top of Kilimanjaro and the highest point in Africa. Everybody made it to the today, we had a really nice climb, good weather, warm weather I should say, there were some clouds. Everybody hung in and did awesome and everybody did make it all the way to Uhuru Peak, the tippy top. A few parties of started to head down and I'm just up here with the last folks. We're about ready to head on down to our High Camp and then we are going to pack things up and head down at 10,000 feet where plants actually grow right out of the ground, I've heard. And spend one more night on the mountain and then we will be out tomorrow. I'm going to check in when we get down to 10,000, report in and hopefully all will be well, I'm sure it will be. This is Seth checking out.
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall
RMI Guide Seth Waterfall calls from Uhuru Peak, the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Congratulations Annie. I knew you could do it! I know how hard you worked for this. I am so happy for you. You are amazing! Now you can really enjoy the rest of your time! I can’t wait to hear all about it and see some pictures too.!
Posted by: Becky Hamilton on 1/17/2016 at 5:31 pm
Woot! Woot! Way to go Annie! What an amazing accomplishment! I am looking forward to the stories. Love you!
Summit day on Chimborazo. Not only were our bodies still recovering from the two previous big climbs of Cayambe and Antisana, we saved the trickiest and tallest climb for last. Towering over the surrounding landscape at 20,700ft, Chimborazo was our final objective. And boy, did it deliver!
Even in the best conditions, this peak isn't an easy target. But coupled with uncharacteristically dry season this year, this climb proved to be the most physically and mentally demanding of the trip.
We hiked up yesterday to our High Camp at around 17,500', made some dinner, and hit the sack. Our climb this morning began with our 11pm alarms waking us from our sleep. After tidying up camp, slamming some calories, and chugging some coffee, we pointed our tired feet uphill towards the summit.
The climb began with about an hour and a half of walking on trail, exposed ridges, and a couple of 5th class climbing moves. As the trail steepened, we cramponed up and prepared to hit the glacier.
Because of the dry spell Ecuador has been experiencing, the glacier was a challenging beast! Steep, firm, icy, exposed. Perfect footwork was required for the entire ascent, but our team delivered! From challenging cramponing to sections of pitched-out steep ice, this team persevered and tackled everything that crossed their paths. After a grueling 7.5 hours, we reached the Veintemilla summit at 20,561', 30 minutes later we had turned tail and began the descent.
The steep ice and exposure made the descent as difficult as the ascent, but the team kept their heads in the game and we made it safely back to high camp by 2pm. Our porters had already packed up camp for us, making it easy for us to continue on our final descent back to the bus.
The (thoroughly exhausted yet happy) team is now back at Estrella de Chimborazo, enjoying some much earned beverages, and reminiscing about these crazy last two weeks. It's hard to believe we're heading back to the big city tomorrow and flying home!
We will have one more update for you guys tomorrow, but we'll all be home to tell you more stories firsthand before you know it!
Until tomorrow,
RMI Guides Nick Hunt and Adam Knoff
Happy to see everyone smiling and doing great! Good luck to you all…especially Tara and Karl ;)
Adios from Texas,
Erin
Posted by: Erin on 1/19/2016 at 6:49 pm
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