Even on vacation, it was worth getting up early today to get over to Ngorongoro Crater. We left Plantation Lodge at 7 AM and were up on the crater rim just 90 minutes later. It was cold, cloudy and windy, but we figured things would be a little more user friendly down in the "crater". Technically, it is a caldera... not a crater. And animals like a good caldera, apparently.
We got down inside and the weather was indeed better, but it never got exactly "good". We wore jackets and sweaters (which is par for the course at 7000 ft) but we still opened up the top of our Landcruiser and rolled down the windows. Immediately, we encountered zebras, and then more zebras. Wildebeest and then more wildebeest, Cape buffalo by the dozen, Kori bustards and Secretary Birds and ostriches. And then we saw lions. Four big fully maned males lounging about and one female who seemed a bit more restless. We watched hippos doing what hippos do (not much) some more lions, hyenas, jackals, elephants, eagles, vultures and several flavors of gazelle. We saw tons of animals and kept constant watch out for more. We came up empty in our rhino search, but that happens. Not many of them left to see in Tanzania. Adamson and Makubi, our extremely knowledgeable driver/guides took us all over the crater/caldera. We climbed back up the steep walls around 4 PM with most everybody a bit sleepy. Which worked out fine because we were back frolicking in the swimming pool and sipping coldies by 5 at the Plantation Lodge.
We'll be well rested and ready for another deluxe safari day tomorrow.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guides Mike Walter & Sean Collon lead their team to the summit of Mt. Shuksan this morning. Skies are smoky in the North Cascades but the climbers were above it all.
They will return to camp for a final night in the mountains before completing their program tomorrow.
Congratulations to today's climbers!
Yesterday's long day let everyone find some hard sleep through the night. The sun rises early this far north though, and by 7, we were all out of our tents working on breakfast. When we get to cache loads above throughout trips, our descents often get heavy. We took several meals up high in case of weather days, but with our perfect weather, we didn't use them. That made for some larger loads on the descent, but since we only had to walk downhill for a few hours, everyone doubled down and got the job done. By just after noon, we were in Base Camp, with tents set up, and a fast moving, rapidly darkening cloud approaching. We popped up tents, and then sure of our homes, set about to enjoying the low altitudes and green grass. We started an energetic volley ball game, Russia v. US. in the end we really aren't sure who won, as each team had bright spots, but the approaching rain forced a draw.
As we understand it right now, it is high tourist season in the Caucasus, and there are not hotel rooms available tomorrow on short notice, so we will spend one more day at Base Camp, and them make our way to Kislovodsk. It's really not that bad a deal since we are in a beautiful valley with hiking, volley ball, and springs that out forth sparkling water naturally.
For now, we are happy to listen to the sheep baa, the shepherds whistle, and enjoy each other's company after a very successful climb.
RMI Guides Pete Van Deventer, Mike Uchal, and team
Kelly and Josh,
You guys are using your carpentry skills, so remember that GMS needs a picture hung!
Love you guys, and so glad the team had such a great mountain top experience.
See you soon.
Posted by: Sandy Cunningham on 8/12/2017 at 10:59 am
Congratulation everyone!.. Enjoyed following each day.
RMI Guides Geoff Schellens and Mike King lead their teams to the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning. After enjoying some time in the crater they started their descent to Camp Muir. They will take a short rest and then continue down to Paradise.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climbers!
The group is doing great after a strong showing on the trail today. We are at Karanga Valley which sits at 13,100' and is our last stop before Kilimanjaro's High Camp.
We tackled the Barranco Wall this morning and had a very smooth ascent up the steep slopes. When we were about 2/3 of the way up we could look back down on last night's camp which looked like a camp for ants. The rest of the way felt like it was a dance off with a bunch of ups and downs.
A few clouds made for very comfortable climbing conditions and a picturesque setting. No sooner did we arrive to camp than a two minute rain shower began, luckily we had our tents for shelterr and more big mountain story when we get home.
We're all relaxing now before dinner and tomorrow we head up to Barafu camp at 15,000'.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
A day after the big and arduous week on Kilimanjaro, nobody in our team had the slightest trouble rallying for the Safari departure this morning. We were driving westward just before 8 AM in two souped up and modified Toyota Landcruisers. Rush hour traffic on the outskirts of Arusha fascinated us, but we were plenty happy to leave it behind and break into open country for a couple of hours. Lake Manyara National Park was today's destination. At first, we stopped for every velvet monkey and baboon, but we gradually grew more demanding and Manyara kept delivering. We were in game viewing heaven by midday with Cape Buffalo, hippos, thousands of storks and pelicans, zebras, warthogs and wildebeest roaming the lake's edge. The forest elephants we saw up close and personal delighted us to no end. In late afternoon, just when eyelids were beginning to droop and the cruisers were pointed toward the park exit... we had an impromptu and unexpected encounter with a leopard. Our eyes widened, his/her eyes widened, our cameras clicked and the beautiful cat came toward us and crossed the road in full view for just a magical moment. The big kitty melted into the brush and we went on our way... amazed at our good fortune. We drove up the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley (which we learned runs 10,000 kilometers from Jordan to Mozambique) and found our way to the Plantation Lodge. The perfectly tended gardens, luxurious accommodations, and welcoming staff caused more than one Taoseño to contemplate staying indefinitely in East Africa. We'll tear ourselves away for a day in Ngorongoro Crater tomorrow though... luxury can wait.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guides Casey Grom and JM Gorum led their teams to the Mt. Rainier summit this morning. It was clear on top with some smoky air, due to the British Columbia wildfires, on the lower flanks of the mountain. The team is making great progress on their descent back to Camp Muir.
Hi, this is Pete Van Deventer with the Elbrus-Northside crew calling in. We are back at Camp 1 after a really successful summit day. Couldn't have asked for anything more perfect. We woke up this morning to warm temps, clear skies, and not a breath of wind. We made our way up relatively quiet until we merged with the southside route at the Saddle, and then we could see the line of climbers coming from that route, but we made our own switchbacks and stayed out of the traffic and cruised up to the summit in pretty good style. One hundred percent of our folks stood on top today. A really good day all the way around. A special shout out to Josh, who ended up being pretty motivated and roped up with our local guide, Sasha, and they made another trip from there over to the east side in only about an hour, so they tagged both summits. We all descended to Lenz Rocks and stopped there for about an hour and packed up camp, and then made our way back down to Moraine Camp, Camp 1. We are tucked in here, inside our tents and we're out to enjoy a pizza dinner from Nina, the cook here. She makes amazing stuff. The plan is tomorrow to head down to Base Camp and we'll take our time getting down there and spend the evening. Then the cars will come for us the day after that to take us to Kislovodsk. Everybody will be back in touch with loved ones soon and everyone sends their best. It's been a really good day here on the northside of Elbrus. Everybody's super excited. Talk later.
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer
RMI Guide Pete Van Deventer calls after a successful Elbrus summit via the Northside.
The team has moved camp once again and everyone is doing well. It was a big day ,more than six hours and everyone handled it well. We left the Shira Plateau a bit after 8 am and had a steady ascent for 2,500' right out of camp at a steady grade. Our high point of just below 15,000' was right about noon then we had a constant descent to our new camp here at Barranco Camp at just under 13,000'. We are looking forward to another great dinner provided by the Barking Zebra staff and then a good night's rest.
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
The Emmons Seminar team, led by RMI Guide Christina Dale, summitted Mt. Rainier this morning. At 12:20 pm the team was back at Camp Schurman where they will stay for the night and descend tomorrow. Christina reported that 100% of the team reached the top! Congratulations!!!
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Still enjoying every moment of this marvelous adventure! Thank you for sharing. BIG HUGS
Posted by: Yolanda Deveaux on 8/11/2017 at 6:34 pm
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