Entries By casey grom

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Hello again everyone -

The Kili team is still hanging tough! 

We left our second camp called Shira this morning just after 8am and didn’t make it to far before the rains returned. The team made it to our high point (15’000) thus far called Lava Tower where the rains turned to heavy wet snow. Unfortunately the usual beautiful views were obscured but the team did great and everyone is feeling good, minus being a little more damp than we’d like. 

We continued down valley to our new home for the night in Barraco valley. And thankfully the rains have tapered and we are enjoying a little break in the very abnormal weather we are having. 

Fingers crossed the weather will break and we can dry out a bit and enjoy some much needed sunshine. 

RMI Guide Casey and the Kilimanjaro swim team!

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Jambo Everyone 

We are still here on Kilimanjaro! 

After a good nights rest and a full breakfast with plenty of coffee the team set off uphill for day two. We only hiked for a short while before the rain sadly returned, but we continued to persevere as we did yesterday. It was a pretty wet day so we took our time to stay safe and arrived in camp a little over 5 hours of being on the move. The team is doing well and in good spirits and very much looking forward to some much needed sunshine. 

We have enjoyed some delicious warm meals and joyous conversations in our dinning tent which has helped keep the morale high. 

If anyone back home is play “the rain in Africa” by Toto. Please turn it off!

RMI Guide Casey and crew

Happy new year everyone! 

The team finally made to Tanzania despite cancelled flights and some crazy reroutes. Our normal 2 days turned into just a few hours on the ground before heading to the mountain. 

Today the team did a great job of getting everything organized before leaving the beautiful River Trees Lodge. We then made our way to the base of Kilimanjaro to meet our awaiting staff that will assist us along this journey. 

It was an enjoyable ride as we headed northeast of Arusha through rural Tanzania passing many coffee plantation and banana farms along the way. 

We were fortunate to hike a few hours before the rain started and the trail turned muddy. Nonetheless, the team did great and we were all elated to reach our camp and hopped into some dry clothes and have a warm meal before heading to bed. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Persevering Crew!!!

Hello everyone,

We spent our final day yesterday touring Tarangire National Park, which is home to more elephants per square kilometer than any place on earth and it didn’t disappoint. There were plenty of other animals as usual, and we got pretty close which was amazing. There were also plenty of the other large African mammals, including a bunch of Giraffes and even a leopard napping in a tree.

We ended our day at a remote and off grid camp within the National Park and surrounded by wildlife. The camp has screened in rooms that allow the night sounds and smells of Africa in.

It's been a memorable experience for everyone with great friendships forged. But finally it's time to return home to our families and loved ones.

Thanks for following!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew!

Today we visited the famous Ngorongoro Crater, considered by many to be the eighth natural wonder of the world. The crater is roughly 100 square miles of what was once an enormous volcano similar to Kilimanjaro that erupted and collapse on its self. It is known for its abundance of animals that call the crater home with some estimates as high as 30,000 mammals.

We hit the road early with hopes of catching a few of the big cats before the heat of the day.

There were many sightings today of hyenas, zebras, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, ostrich, and countless other birds. We managed to see several lions, including one huge male very close.

We also saw a few Black Rhinos far in the distance, which have become very rare due to poaching.  

We have just finished another wonderful meal here at the Plantation Lodge.

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

Today was the start of our safari adventure and we visited the beautiful Lake Manyara National Park. The lake is a brief stopping ground for many migratory animals and home to more than 350 different birds. Everyone enjoyed the day cruising around in our safari vehicles with cold beverages in hand while seeing a few animals up close. 

We didn’t see a ton of animals today, but we did get up close to a few elephants, baboons and 6 beautiful lions! Also managed to see a couple of zebras and a giraffe off in the distance. 

It was a 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 wonderful meal at our new lodge www.plantation-lodge.com see for yourself!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the Safari crew

Our final day on the mountain!

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

We finished the little celebration by handing out their well deserved tips and 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. 

Stayed tuned, Safari starts tomorrow!

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew

 

The RMI Kilimanjaro September 16th team reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, 19.340'!  All team members climbed strong and were all at the summit together.

The team has descended and is currently at Mweka Camp, 10,000', their final camp of the climb.  

Way to go team!

Hello again everyone, 

The team had a good nights rest last night and today was just a short 3 hour hike up to 15,000' to our high camp. Everyone is excited and maybe just a touch nervous, which is very normal! 

The team has just wrapped up lunch and discussed in great detail the plan for tomorrow’s climb. Everyone knows what we’ll be wearing, what will be in the pack, as well as the schedule. 

Our game plan will be to wake at 10:30pm and have a quick breakfast at 11, then hopefully hit the trail around 11:30pm. It’s looking a little busy, so will hit the trail a little early to hopefully avoid any traffic jams and allow us to cruise at our own steady pace. 

The team has been doing great thus far and I’m expecting us to reach the summit in 7 to 8 hours if things go according to plan. 

We had trivia challenge, and one lucky winner will get a 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. We are 7hrs ahead of the east coast time zone. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and the RMI summit bound team!

Hello everyone 

Right out of camp we were 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 climb up. 

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 only about 4 hours for us to reach our next camp called Karanga, named for the big and beautiful valley which it overlooks. 

RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew