Jambo everyone,
Today we visited Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home for the 30,000 to 40,000 animals that have taken up residence.
We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few more animals before the heat of the day.
There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. We didn’t manage to see many lions, but did get pretty close to one big male.
One of the highlights was seeing not one, but five Black Rhino which have become very rare do to poaching.
We wrapped up the day with a visit to a Maasai village not far from the crater rim. The Maasai people are a semi-nomadic tribe that exist almost entirely off of their cattle. The team spent time asking questions and enjoyed being shown around their small and simple village.
We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge under the stars and the full moon that hopefully everyone back home gets to see too.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
We’ve got the makings of a fine climbing team. Eight pals from Utah and one guide from New Mexico came together in Usa River, Tanzania these last couple of days to begin a Kilimanjaro adventure. Today our program formally began just after breakfast in the gardens of the Arumeru River Lodge. We sat for a bit discussing strategies and priorities for our week-long attempt on Africa’s highest point. Then it was time for equipment checks and packing up back in the rooms. We want to be ready for departure bright and early tomorrow. All this preparation still allowed time for a combination of relaxing and exploring in the afternoon. Some braved the heat to walk the short distance into the nearby village while others explored the reclining chairs by the swimming pool. We’re each working through jet lag via our own methods. Kilimanjaro showed itself in the distance at sundown as the haze and clouds melted away. Just after dusk, we sat down to dinner on the patio while the super blue moon rose over East Africa. All are excited to get walking up a mountain tomorrow morning.
Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
RMI Guide Mark Tucker checked in from their last trek camp. After reaching the summit on Saturday morning the team returned to high camp, the following day they descended to Aconcagua Base Camp. With a good nights rest in the thick air of 13,800’ they packed all their gear, loaded mules and retraced their steps through the Vacas Valley. Tomorrow they will complete their trek and arrive at the end of the trail. By afternoon they plan to be showered and ready for a hearty dinner celebration in Mendoza.
Congratulations to the team!
Congratulations Mark and Company! John Branchflower and I summited with Ilan Zeimer of Grajales on Jan 23 and then returned to Penitentes via Plaza de Mulas Base Camp, so we didn’t see you on our way down. I managed to buy an air mattress from one of the Canadian climbers at Plaza Argentina who was heading back down to replace the one that blew up on me, or I think it would have been heading down myself. See you in Ashford this summer! Craig Falkenhagen, Atherton, CA
Posted by: Craig Falkenhagen on 1/31/2018 at 5:13 pm
Today was our first day of safari and we headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara, which is a brief stopping ground for the many migratory animals and full of beautiful birds. Everyone enjoyed the day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing the animals.
We managed to see a few wildebeest, zebras, Cape buffalo, giraffe, baboons, impalas and many hippos, plus one huge male elephant very close. It was a pretty nice introduction to the incredible wildlife that Africa has and the team is looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.
We wrapped up the evening relaxing at our new accommodations, The Plantation Lodge.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew
What an exciting first day on safari portion of Kilimanjaro expedition. Great pictures of you 6, even with giant bull elephant so close. Without my first hand knowledge I wouldn’t guess you’d just gotten down from climbing highest point in Africa.
Posted by: Daniel Thompson on 1/31/2018 at 7:27 am
We had a windy night in Camp that made sleep difficult, the Team rallied to get out of camp and carry gear and food to Camp 2, 18,000'. We had a cold and clear morning as we walked into Ameghino Col and got some spectacular views of the Central Andes, La Mano and Cerro Mercedario to name a few. We cached our gear, ran into Gabi, a former RMI guide, and beat feet downhill so we could take in the remainder of the day getting caught up on the sleep that eluded us last night. The Team is doing great and are looking forward to resting their legs tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for light winds tonight.
RMI Guide Mike King
Hey Dawn!! Did the winds keep you from sleeping too? You can sleep through a jack hammer! Well I hope you all were able to get caught up on your much needed sleep.
Cool picture!! You are all so brave and adventurous!
Posted by: Kim on 1/31/2018 at 12:28 pm
Wow, this picture is amazing! Continued safe travels all. Fingers are crossed for those light winds and that much needed sleep! As Sabina pointed out Nick, due to your elevation, you were much closer to Kenna on her birthday yesterday, than the rest of us.:)) I hope you wished her a big HBD! I love you, Mom
The Team successfully moved the remainder of our equipment to Camp 1, located at 16,400'. It's always refreshing to see the performance of the Team increase after just a few nights sleep at lower altitude. We covered the same terrain as the carry day but the effort needed by all seemed a little easier on folks. We high fived the descending RMI team today on their way back after a successful summit day. Camp is built, re-hydration and relaxing have become the focus of everyone. Tomorrow we'll do a carry of gear and food to Camp 2. Until then, we are all warm and content with a new camp and eager to see what the weather has in store for us. Thanks for following along.
RMI Guide Mike King
100% on Top!
Yesterday we had a beautiful long day climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Today we started at 7:00 feeling good and refreshed after a much needed nights sleep, we had breakfast, then enjoyed some goodbye songs and dance from our amazing African crew of porters, cooks, and local guides numbering 51. We finished the little celebration by handing out their well deserved tips and then hit the trail one last time.
It took a little over three hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch then hopped aboard our awaiting bus for the ride back to the lodge.
Finally we are all safe and sound, cleaner, and smelling fresh after an exciting seven-day journey up and down Kilimanjaro.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kilimanjaro crew
There's not much to report today. The team enjoyed a calm and warm rest day at base camp. Without much to sort or pack everyone occupied their time relaxing, reading, and hanging out in one of the large dome tents. Some laundry was washed and showers were enjoyed but really we are all eager to head up to Camp 1 and get the climb started.
RMI Guide Mike King
Original Post:
Well hello. This is RMI Aconcagua Tucker Team. And we're standing on top. Light breeze; chilly, chilly day. Team did wonderful. When you look around it kind of looks like everybody that started is on top. So if you're wondering who made it, they all…[broken]…a long ways to go still but everyone's doing well…[lost call].
RMI Guide Mark Tucker
Update, January 28th 4:35 p.m. Pacific
RMI Guide Mark Tucker called to report that the team has safely descended to Camp 3 where they will spend tonight. They will continue their descent tomorrow.
Hello everybody, Casey Grom checking in. Just wanted to let everyone know that those of you who didn't receive a phone call from the summit of Kilimanjaro, we had 100% success today!
Like I said last night, we left pretty early to beat some of the traffic, but unfortunately I think many of those people have the same idea as well. It was a busy day on the trail for us which wasn't too much of an inconvenience, but it definitely made things a little more challenging with breaks and trying to keep a nice steady pace. But the team did fantastic and as they know that goal number 1 is to take care of yourself, and they did a fantastic job today of taking care of themselves. A little after about 7 hours of climbing, we were able to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro along with most of those other people that started the night with us. So there was I'm guessing close to 100 people on the summit, some before us, and a handful after us. Up there all the same time, it was a little bit of a struggle to try to get people in to get their photos at the actual sign. It's pretty painless on Kilimanjaro, but we managed to get quite a few.
Unfortunately still no cell service, so I haven't been able to get any pictures out. And that's going to happen tomorrow for sure, as we have descended all the way back to the Mweka Camp tonight. We're at about 10,000'. Tomorrow we get to the park gate...our hotel and freshly showered, at about 3-4 in the afternoon.
Anyway, all is well; team's doing great. Everyone's very tired after a very long day, but again 100% success and looking forward to sharing some of those pictures with you guys alright.
RMI Guide Casey Grom checks in after the team reaches the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Good luck Utah team! Looking forward to keeping up with all your adventures! Enjoy! Lee and Susie
Posted by: Susie and Lee on 2/1/2018 at 6:26 pm
Good Luck! Fingers crossed and thoughts are with you. You can do it.
Posted by: Lynette Elliott on 1/31/2018 at 3:55 pm
View All Comments