Team Orlando was in full safari mode as we explored the Ngorongoro Crater and all the wildlife and beauty it had to offer. We visited a Maasai Mara village to learn the great history and culture of such a strong and beautiful people. RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team

Team Orlando just enjoyed their first day of our African safari! We spent the day with camera in hand watching elephants, zebras, hippos and much much more! I really would like to write more to describe everything but I'm going to be selfish...because Africa is Awesome! I'm outta here because I'm going to join the team in a glass of wine while we watch the sunset at the Plantation Lodge. RMI Guide JJ Justman & Team

RMI Guide JJ Justman checked in from the DikDik in Arusha. Team Orlando is off the mountain and celebrated their successful summit of Kilimanjaro by swimming in the hotel pool and enjoying live music. Tomorrow the team heads to Lake Manyara for their first day on safari.

Hey, everyone. This is JJ Justman calling from Kilimanjaro with Team Orlando. Sorry for the summit call way up high; it was havoc. There were a ton of people and for some reason they all wanted to hoot and holler and have a big party while I was trying to send my dispatch. We had a great summit day today; the team did just a fantastic job. Actually, I've had all the great climbs here on Kilimanjaro but this team just did an incredible job getting up and down in style. We're back at Barafu Camp, the high camp here at 15,000'. We're actually packing up and we're heading down to what we call Mweka Camp at 10,000' and that's going to be our last night in the mountains, in the forests here of Kilimanjaro and then we're heading out tomorrow back to the hotel. Everyone says hello to friends and family. Again, everyone reach the summit today. There's no doubt it's a great way to do this climb. And we're now looking at our next objective of just kind of resting, relaxing, having a little bit of a fiesta, and then heading onto safari. So we'll stay in touch with all of you. Stay tuned tomorrow, I'll send a bunch of summit photos and we'll talk to you again from Tanzania. Take care everyone. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Hey, everyone. This is JJ Justman with Team Orlando here on Kilimanjaro. We're at high camp at the Barafu Camp at 15,200 feet. Everyone is doing really, really well. We had a nice day to get up here to high camp. We are hydrating, resting, taking it easy, organizing gear. Weather is looking very nice. Some happy clouds here in the late afternoon, and we are really looking forward to a beautiful summit day tomorrow. So stay tuned, and we will hopefully, keeping the fingers crossed, which I'm thinking things are going to be great. We are all going to be standing on top of Kilimanjaro. We'll give you a call from the summit. Take care everyone. Thanks for following along. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Hey, this is JJ Justman. We are checking in from Karanga Camp here at 13,000+ feet on Kilimanjaro with Team Orlando. We're doing great. We're heading to high camp tomorrow. We had a beautiful day of climbing the Barranco Wall, which was pretty exciting. Actually the team is bummed that some of the rock scrambling and a little exposure is over, but everyone is feeling great! RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Hey, this is JJ Justman with Team Orlando on Kilimanjaro. We reached the Barranco Camp at just over 13,000 feet. We had a great day getting up here and the team is doing well. We are going to settle in, have dinner and move on from there. Thanks for following along. RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Team Orlando arrived at Shira Camp 12,570 feet. Today hiked the trail which became steeper and rockier as the vegetation thinned away. The gnarled trunks of heather disappeared and we entered the moorland, the grasses and rocky terrain unique to Eastern Africa, After we ascended the wide ridge we gained the Shira Plateau. We descended a few hundred feet along the edge and into our camp that is tucked among sparse vegetation and volcanic rock bands. We have beautiful views of Kilimanjaro's upper slopes as well as Mt Meru. RMI Guide JJ Justman

We traveled to Kilimanjaro National Park today. We registered with the Park and we began our climb. We left the cultivation zone where bananas and coffee plants abound and we entered the forest zone. The lush rainforest of Kilimanjaro's lower slopes were covered in mist. The trail, which is an old jeep trail, soon narrowed into a beautiful trail that winded through thick vegetation and enormous trees. We kept an eye out for the elusive Blue and Colobus monkeys but they were hiding from the rain. As we approached Machame Camp we left the forest zone and into the Heather and Moorland zone. We saw some heather that is over 30 feet tall! It's nice to be at 10,000 feet and the team is doing great! RMI Guide JJ Justman

On The Map

Today our Orlando Kilimanjaro Team slept in after a long flight. We organized gear and got ready for our upcoming climb. After lunch we explored the area and visited an orphanage where the beautiful children of this area touched our hearts. Please visit tupendanechildren.org.