Entries By casey grom
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo from Kilimanjaro everyone!
Today we let behind the comforts of the Dik Dik Lodge and set off for Kilimanjaro. We had a early breakfast then hit the road headed to the southwest side of Kilimanjaro where we'll be climbing the Machame route, also known as the Whiskey route because of its "intoxicating views". We arrived at the gate after two hours of driving through the beautiful rural countryside where we met up with the 40+ porters that will be helping us on this journey. We weighed all the gear, checked in with the park and hit the trail shortly after 11. It was a nice cool overcast day here in Kili which made for very enjoyable hiking temperatures. It took about 5 hours of hiking in the thick sub-tropical forest to reach our first camp which sits around 10'000ft. Once at camp we got things settled, then sat down to some much deserved tea and popcorn that our staff had prepared for us. A wonderful dinner followed shortly after that and we have all now climbed into our tents and are all looking forward to a good nights sleep.
Everyone is doing great.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and Crew
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello everyone and welcome to RMI's third Kilimanjaro's trip of the season -
The team arrived late last night after our very long and tiring flights from the U.S. We were greeted by the wonderful staff from the Dik Dik lodge with warm smiles and a little champagne to toast our arrival.
After a short and quiet ride to our lodge we had a quick dinner then headed off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.
The team met this morning at breakfast with fresh fruits, homemade bread and jam, and plenty of good Tanzanian coffee.
We then got together for a formal round of introductions and a overview of the upcoming adventure. We discussed our plan for the climb and made sure everyone has all the necessary gear to keep us safe and warm on Kilimanjaro.
We then took a short break and went for a stroll on the beautiful grounds hoping to catch sight of some of the monkeys that often visit. Then we did a little packing and caught up on a little more sleep to help get adjusted to the big time difference.
We finished the evening with an amazing 5 course meal with great conversations, and everyone is squared away and looking forward to hitting the trail tomorrow as well as getting a little exercise.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Jambo from Africa everyone!
We have had an exciting last two days as we made our way to Tarangire National Park, known for their abundance of elephants, and we weren't disappointed.
Yesterday we spent about four hours driving through the park which is mostly a savannah with a river running through it. We saw hundreds of elephants and more giraffes than I've ever seen, and plenty of other wildlife too.
We spent the night out in the African bush in a remote tented camp called Kakoti that overlooks Tarangire Park.
We arrived to watch the beautiful sunset one last time and then enjoyed yet another wonderful meal.
Today we finished our safari with a drive back through Tarangire where some of the team caught a glimpse of a leopard as it crossed the road before it disappeared again. There were plenty of elephants again and everyone enjoyed our last day as we made our way back to the Dik Dik Lodge before quick showers and then it was off to the airport.
Thanks for following!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Hello once again everyone -
This was a marvelous day as we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, considered by some to be the 8th wonder of the world. We started early with hopes of catching more of the elusive wildlife.
Today we saw more zebras, Cape buffalo, wildebeest, giraffes than anyone expected, in fact at such close range that we could almost touch them. We also saw plenty of hyenas, ostrich, Impala and saw a few lions, hippos, elephants, and even managed to spot a couple of Rhinos off in the distance. Needless to say it was a wonderful day of well deserved safari.
We then wrapped up the day with a visit to a working Maasai village. The Maasai are the local nomadic people that have inhabited this area for more than a thousand years and still try to exist with their same way of life.
Finally we returned to the amazing Plantation lodge to relax and enjoy another wonderful meal.
All is well!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Today was our first day of safari and we headed to Lake Manyara National Park. It took a little over 2hrs to get there as we drove through Arusha and then the vast rural savannah to get there. It's situated at the base of the eastern Great Rift Escarpment, and is home the the famous tree climbing lions, over 450 different birds, huge troops of baboons, hippos, and most of the other African animals.
It's been rather dry this year and unfortunately we didn't see the famous lions, but we did see plenty of other wildlife up close.
After spending a couple of hours of safari we made our way to the wonderful Plantation Lodge where we've been enjoying being spoiled and just finished another fantastic meal.
Everyone is doing great and are excited to see what tomorrow brings as we head to Ngorongoro Crater.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Posted by: Casey Grom
Categories: Expedition Dispatches Kilimanjaro
Congrats to this team!
It was a fantastic climb of Kilimanjaro yesterday and everyone did great and it was wonderful to be on top with the whole team.
It took us a little more than seven hours to reach the summit. The sky was full of stars and the weather was nice, although it was a little cold on that last stretch I have to admit.
After spending about 20 minutes on top and getting plenty of summit photos, we made our way quickly back to camp where brunch was waiting and then descended all the way to our last camp. It was a long, but rewarding day for everyone.
This morning we had a quick breakfast and got packed up one last time, then our wonderful staff gathered to bid us farewell and sang a few traditional Kilimanjaro songs.
We are currently relaxing back at our lodge where everyone has enjoyed hot showers and a delicious celebration meal.
It's time for a little sleep before we head out on a much deserved safari!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hello everybody back home. This is Casey Grom calling in from the Roof of Africa. We had a beautiful day today. In fact, every climber made the summit today, so we had a 100% success. Everyone's doing great. We are a little chilly up here right now because there is a strong, cold breeze, but everyone's in good spirits. We're doing well and just finished taking a bunch of photos. We're gonna be heading down here real soon, so we'll check in again later this evening when we get down. It'll be sometime late this afternoon, probably in about ten hours or so. We'll, hopefully get a picture out to you guys as well. Bye.
RMI Guide Casey Grom
RMI Guide Casey Grom calls from the Kilimanjaro summit!
On The Map
Lori and Dave….So good to see you made it to the top! Love you and been thinking of you often! Have a great trip!
Gosheroo Donna:)
Posted by: Donna Connors on 7/20/2015 at 10:20 am
Woo-Hoo!!!! Congrats Mark and Tom…love the pics…way to go team Grom!
Posted by: Wendy on 7/19/2015 at 7:06 pm
Hello again everyone!
It was another beautiful day here in Africa with clear skies and a gentle breeze that kept the temperature perfect for climbing. We have left Karanga Camp and moved up to our high camp that's called Barafu. This camp sits on a ridge line around 1,000 ft, which eventually leads to the summit of Kilimanjaro. It's a relatively large camp spread up and down the ridge and we are sharing it with all the other climbers using this route, I'd guess that there's around 70 other climbers here with us.
Everyone is doing very well and we are excited to start our climb early in the morning. The team will have a early dinner and If all goes according to plan we hope to have breakfast and be hitting the trail right around midnight. We'll have a nice slow pace that should take us around eight hours to reach the summit. So keep your phones handy as I said one lucky climber will get to call home from the "Roof of Africa". That will be around midnight for those on the east coast.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Jambo everyone!
Things are going well and the team is doing great here on Kilimanjaro.
Today the team had a leisurely start as we wanted the sun to warm us up before our only semi-technical part of the climb. The trail out of camp starts off relatively mellow and then quickly ramps up as we ascend the great Barranco Wall. It's truthfully not as intimidating as it looks, but when does a thousand-foot cliff ever look easy. Thankfully the route winds its way up the cliff through ramps and small rock steps and eventually on to easier terrain. Everyone did a great job of taking it easy and I actually think they all enjoyed the challenge we had. We took a break on top of the wall to enjoy the views then slowly made our way to the next camp here above the Karanga Valley.
It was a relatively short day for us as this will be our last camp before we move up to our high camp tomorrow.
We are spending the remainder of the day relaxing and enjoying the royal treatment by our gracious staff here on Kili.
As usual we've had a trivia challenge that one lucky winner will receive a satellite phone call from the summit. It won't happen until we reach the summit, but that's not too far away. I'll let everyone know when that might happen on tomorrow's dispatch. So stay tuned!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Hello from Africa everyone
Today the team woke to a beautifully clear sky above the valley clouds, and it was a warm day as we made our way from camp directly into the sun and heading straight at Kilimanjaro. Once again we made good time across the Shira Plateau stopping for breaks and that endless line of porters headed to our next camp.
As we headed uphill everyone was astonished at the beauty of Kilimanjaro and the remnant glaciers still hanging on. Our climb took us up and over a landmark called Lava Tower which sits at just under 15,000ft and lays beneath the massive and steep southern breach wall. As usual we stopped to enjoy the wonderful view and then slowly made our way back down into Barranco Valley. The trail weaves its way between rocky outcrops, giant groundsels and the massive, yet strange Senecio trees that look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.
We are currently relaxing in our camp which has amazing views not only of Kilimanjaro but also of the valley below us. It's indeed my favorite camp of the trip.
Dinner will be ready soon, so that's all for today.
All is well!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Hoping this is the team w/ Scott Faulkenburg & Julie. If so, hope you’re having a blast and enjoying an epic climb! Wish we were there with you. Have a blast, and be safe!
Posted by: Chris & Judy Beaudette on 7/16/2015 at 6:53 pm
So proud of your courage Giulia, trip is out of the world for me, love mom
Posted by: michal graber on 7/30/2015 at 6:00 am
Good Luck to the 3 musketeers! Climb safe, see you soon!
JB
Posted by: Jonathan Ball on 7/28/2015 at 9:10 am
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