Entries By casey grom

Buenas tardes, amigos!

All is well here in Ecuador. Today the team left the modern comforts of Quito and made our way north for our second acclimation hike. It was incredibly clear on our drive with amazing views of Cayambe, Cotopaxi and Imbabura. We were also joined by our amazing local guide and all round superwoman Fatima. She will also be guiding and providing her local knowledge to further enrich our experience here in Ecuador.

We drove about three hours north to visit and hike around the beautiful Laguna Cuicocha. It’s a hidden lake that sits high above the town of Otavalo where we are staying the night. The hike was just under four hours and took us from dense forest, Andean highlands, to surreal views of the lake and city beneath. Everyone enjoyed the day even if it was a little hot at times with the sun shining nearly all day.

The team is currently relaxing in our new very comfortable lodge for the night and looking forward to a peaceful and good night's rest.

Casey, Jackson, Fatima and the RMI amigos!


 

Started today before sunrise with a 6:00 a.m. departure from the hotel. We drove along scenic roads high into the hills around Quito and were rewarded with beautiful views of the city and some of the surrounding volcanoes, including our future objectives: Cayambe and Cotopaxi! When the road ended and we reached the trailhead, we began hiking toward Rucu Pichincha. We walked through gorgeous grasslands and scrambled over rocks, moving in and out of the clouds all day. A few hours and a few thousand feet later, we reached the summit (15,407 ft). After a quick descent back into warmer weather, we arrived at the top of the TelefériQo just before some afternoon thunder. We waited out a brief storm while enjoying coffee in the restaurant before taking the gondola back into town. Most of the team spent some time at the spa, testing their mental fortitude in the cold plunge before dinner. Another great day enjoying Ecuador and acclimating to the altitude!

Thanks for following along—we’re all looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures!

RMI Guide Jackson Breen & Team

Hola from Ecuador!

The team arrived late last night after some long and late arriving flights. Today we started our day with a team meeting where we did our usual round of introductions to get to know each other and then discussed the game plan for our upcoming 11 day adventure here in Ecuador.

After the meeting we headed out on the town to explore this beautiful historical city with our local and very knowledgeable tour guide Gloria and trusty drive Angel. We first headed to the southern part of Quito to a big hill called La Panacia that over looks this beautiful city. Then made our way on foot to the oldest parts of Quito, to take in the sights, admire the colonial Spanish architecture, and visit one of the many old churches found here Quito.

We finished our tour with of course a visit to the Equator from which Ecuador derivesits name, stopping by a museum that had a pretty interesting collection as well as some unique test that attempt to prove it’s the actual middle of the world.

We wrapped up the day with a quick gear check to make sure everyone has all the gear needed for our climbs. Then it was off to dinner at a nice restaurant where we were enjoyed getting to know each other better.

RMI Guides Casey Grom, Jackson Breen and the the Quito Crew!

Hello one last time everyone! 

Today the team headed to Tarangire National Park know for its abundant animals and plentiful elephants, and it didn’t disappoint. Not sure how many elephants we saw, probably several hundred, possibly more than a thousand. It wouldn’t seem like we could get tired of seeing elephants, but there were so many that eventually we had to keep driving so we could see other animals. 

There were lots of giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, impalas, monkeys, ostriches, and many others, including 6-8 lions which was a highlight. 

We are spending our last night here in Africa at Nyikani Camp, which has beautiful tented rooms with screen windows to allow the sounds of the African night in. If you’ve ever heard the term “Glamping” that’s exactly what we are doing. 

Everyone is doing great and we hope to catch a sighting of a few more cats on our way out tomorrow. Then we will head back to our main lodge near Arusha for a quick shower before catching our evening flights home. 

I asked everyone for a single word that would best summarize their experience for this trip. 

So in no particular order here are our words. 

Overcome

WOW

Perseverance 

Transformative 

Humbling 

Determined

Indomitable

Connection

Fulfilling 

Simple 

Transcendent 

Come join us for an adventure sometime!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the safari crew

Jambo everyone, 

Today we visited Ngorongoro Crater, considered by some to be the 8th Natural wonder of the world. The crater is roughly 100 square miles and is home for more than 25,000 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 sent them in search of shade. 

There were many sightings today of hyenas, jackles, ostrich, and countless other birds. We manage to see a few Lions, although not as close as we would have hoped for, but it was truly amazing to so many animals in one place.  

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge and the team is off to bed after a long, but very rewarding day on safari. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari Crew

Jambo again everyone!

Today was our first day of safari and we headed west to visit the beautiful Lake Manyara National Park. The lake is known for its many migratory animals and home to more than 300 different birds.

Everyone enjoyed our first day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing the animals up close, and I do mean close! I have to report that we got “crop dusted”

by one of the big elephants from about 8 ft away. That wasn’t on our bucket list.

We also manage to see a lots of baboons, a few impalas, warthogs, lots of birds, but unfortunately no big cats.

All in all it was a really nice introduction to the incredible diversity of wildlife that Africa has and the team is looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.

We wrapped up the evening with a few cocktails and a wonderful meal at our new lodge https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plantation-lodge.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Clacey%40rmiguides.com%7C844ba615f8c544a7d1b608ddf2254931%7C5ec23eb0d7634906bc868c9089e10b92%7C0%7C0%7C638932964140148354%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=vgySL3HZ4UsZ%2F0BB%2FaJDvr%2FjhmwB9Q88d6hRRTG113o%3D&reserved=0 see for yourself!

Casey and the Safari crew

Our final day on the mountain!

Today the team got up at 6:30 mostly refreshed after a much needed nights sleep, we had breakfast, then hit the trail one last time. It took just around 3 hours to reach the park gate where the team had lunch and said our final goodbyes to our amazing Tanzanian crew of 51 that took such great care of us on the mountain. 

We finished with a little celebration singing from our crew and by handing out their well deserved tips, 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 7 day journey up and down Kilimanjaro. 

Stayed tuned, Safari starts tomorrow!

Casey and Crew

We did it! 

100% on top!!!

The team has safely descended back to high camp after an 11:30 hour round trip to the “Roof of Africa”.

It was a cold but thankfully calm night into day here in Kilimanjaro. The team did an incredible job of taking care of themselves even when times got tough. I’m so proud of how this team did! 

We are exhausted as you might imagine and are just now sitting down to lunch and then we’ll head further down the mountain to our last camp at 10,000ft. 

So I’m going to keep this brief. 

We’ll share more when we get off the mountain! 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili Summiteers!

Jambo everyone back home. 

Well we’ve finally arrived at our high camp, after a good nights rest and a short hike up to 15,000ft. It has been mostly sunny all day with great views of Kilimanjaro and our route for tomorrow. 
Everyone is doing well and feeling good at this new altitude which is a good sign for things ahead. 

The team just wrapped up another fantastic lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. The team knows what we’ll be wearing, the packing list, as well as the schedule. 
Our game plan will be to wake at 10:30 pm and have a quick breakfast at 11 pm, then hopefully hit the trail right around 11:30 pm. Normally we try to leave a touch later, but there are quite a few climbers here tonight so we’re going to try and get a jumpstart on most of them. 

I’m expecting the team to reach the summit in 7 to 8 hours if things go according to plan. 

There have been several rounds of trivia with the winner getting a chance to make a satellite phone call from the summit. So everyone back home please keep your phones handy and if you receive a call from a strange number please answer. 

That’s all for now. And keep your fingers crossed for us!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew

Hello again everyone, 

Right out of camp the team was faced with the only significant technical obstacle for this climb. This hurdle is the great Barranco Wall, which rises about 1,000ft and looks as intimidating as it sounds. Thankfully there is a nice narrow trail that weaves its way up and through the wall and all the way to the top. Most of it feels more like steep hiking, but there are a few places that require the use of our hands to help us ascend. Everyone enjoyed the challenge and were breathing hard climbing here at 13,000ft. 

The team did a good job of moving steady and allowing a few porters through with their loads precariously balanced on their heads. Which was astonishing to see!

After reaching the top we took a nice break and enjoyed the amazing views of the ice ladened south face and valleys below. The team continued our hike for a few more hours up and down through a few valleys before reaching today’s endpoint. 

All in all, it took a little over hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks. 

We’ve just wrapped up an amazing lunch and are relaxing in our tents before dinner. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Kili crew!