Entries By dave hahn

Hey, this is Dave Hahn calling from Barafu Camp. We got back here to Barafu at 10:45 this morning. We were on the summit on Uhuru the highest point in Africa. The highest point on Kilimanjaro at 7:35 this morning. It was a little too busy up there this morning to give a call, but now we are catching up. We are back down at high camp. We’re going to finish the day down at Mweka. I will send you a full dispatch then, but everybody is happy and healthy and we got 10 out of 11 to the summit this morning!  So it was a good day with lots of great help from our local staff here.

Thanks. I’ll catch you up later.

Sunday, September 24, 2017 10:12am PST

As promised, a dispatch from Mweka Camp -near 10,000 ft- at the end of our summit day. We set out for the top at 12:35 AM under clear and starry skies. It was a windless night, which is always a plus when climbing in the cold.  Initially we encountered a few other teams starting out of camp, but within an hour or so, we’d put a fair bit of distance between the teams and so had the route pretty much to ourselves. As we gained altitude and got closer to dawn, things got plenty cold -as expected. We kept our rest breaks short and business like and tried to move steadily.  Most reached the point of having all of their cold weather clothing on at once. It was just getting light enough to see as we reached Stella Point on the crater rim.  The sunrise was eagerly anticipated and hit us as we made the walk along the rim to Uhuru -Kilimanjaro’s highest point. By the time we hit the summit at 7:35, things had warmed up nicely.  We spent a half hour on top, checking out the glaciers and the immensity of the crater.  We didn’t have big views as an upper level layer of cloud had formed just below the mountain top.  Descent to Barafu Camp took us just under 3 hours.  A great mid morning meal in the mess tent helped fortify the team for the continued three hour descent to Mweka Camp, which we reached at 3:45 PM. 

All in all, it was a pretty exciting day.  We discovered just what it takes to climb above 19,000 feet and to the highest point in Africa. We were pleased to be both capable and lucky…and to have the friendship and help of six amazing Kilimanjaro guides; Patric, Freddy, Naiman, John, Fillbrit, and Happyson made our climb memorable and successful in a hundred positive ways. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We had another morning of perfect weather.  The haze layer was still out there at around 12,000 ft, but from Karanga Camp we could see down through it to pick out the town of Moshi.  We marched out of Karanga at 8:45 AM bound for high camp.  There were unobstructed views of the Kersten and Decken Glaciers above, and gradually the Rebmann Glacier came into view as we turned the Southeast corner of the mountain.  In just three hours, we walked into the alpine zone above all vegetation and reached Barafu -or “Ice” Camp.  Afternoon was spent eating, drinking and resting- familiar activities to all of us by now- but we added in planning and preparing for our summit bid on this afternoon.  Dinner was early -at just 5:30- to allow for getting the maximum amount of downtime before our alpine start.  Sunsets at this 15,000-foot camp are wonderful, but we won’t linger over this one.  Tomorrow is a big day and we need our rest.  The entire team completed the approach in the absolute best style possible, we’re hoping to all be lucky and strong tomorrow.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We’ve put the bad weather behind us -and it really wasn’t all that bad.  Morning at Barranco Camp was just perfect: cool dry air with no clouds above or below.  There was still the ever present layer of smog/smoke down a few thousand feet below us, obscuring details, but otherwise not bothering anyone.  We took off for the Great Barranco Wall a little before 9 AM and were soon coming to grips with its rocky ledges.  The wall can make folks nervous since it appears to be plenty steep from below, but our team dealt admirably with any jitters and got to work moving uphill.  We covered almost a thousand vertical feet in a little less than two hours and came out on a flat “summit” with amazing views of Kibo looming another vertical mile above.  The glaciers sparkled in the morning light, looking impossibly steep between great rock faces.  We traversed a few more valleys to reach Karanga Camp just after 1 PM.  It was then an easy afternoon of resting and eating and staring at spectacular scenery.  We’re spending the night at 13,160 ft.  There is no moon, but there are a million stars to silhouette the great bulk of Kibo. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

We got a few more rain showers in the night at Shira, but the dawn was sparkly, cold and clear.  Kibo had a dusting of new snow to dress up the ice fields, rock walls and hanging glaciers.  Out to the West, Mt Meru could be seen poking through the endless cloud blanket below our camp.  At 8 AM we got walking again through the high desert vegetation.  Our time in the sun turned out to be short lived as the clouds enveloped us once more.  It began to look as though we might get pretty wet at one point close to noon.  We put on rain jackets -and endured at least 2.5 minutes of light precipitation before things got better -against all odds.  We reached 15,200 ft -our high point for the day, at the Lava Tower.  This represented a new altitude record for Olga, Pawel, Lynn, Joe, Dereesa, April, Steve and Colin.  Only Kathleen and Patrick had been higher.  We rested for a bit and then got moving down toward the Barranco Valley.  The trail was delightfully quiet on what can be a very busy climbing route.  We seemed to have the place to ourselves.  Dropping 2000 vertical feet, we came into chirping birds and exotic plants -the magical setting for Barranco Camp.  We had some hints of the great rock walls of Kibo above, but the clouds never let up enough to reveal the big views.  The team was surprised and enchanted by a rollicking singing and dancing performance by our entire fifty man staff as we came into camp.  This was our longest day so far, nearly seven hours on the trail, but by dinner the gang seemed to have recovered nicely and spirits were high for taking on the Great Barranco Wall in the morning. 

Best Regards
RMI Guides Dave Hahn

On The Map

The sprinkles began today at noon.  The full-on rain came at 1 PM, but by then we were snug in our new camp at Shira 12,600 ft.  The day had begun clear for us down at Machame, and we were treated to our first good views of Kibo, Kilimanjaro’s central peak.  We set out from camp at 8 AM and got walking up steeply rising rocky steps in a forest of giant heather.  The sun was on us -but only for about a half hour before clouds came over.  We kept working uphill, eventually in fog and a little murk.  The day involved a number of rock steps that required a good handhold or two to negotiate.  We were wearing rain jackets by the time we turned a corner onto the Shira Plateau.  We actually finished by walking several hundred feet downhill to reach camp.  The rain didn’t let up until after dark, but it just made it a little easier to stay inside and rest.  We still gathered in our nice and dry dining dome tent for meals and tea time and to share climbing stories.  By the end of dinner, the sky was back to stars and planets and the Milky Way.  We’ll hope the moisture takes a break. 

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

At exactly 8 AM -the targeted departure time- we left the Arumeru River Lodge and drove East.  We did some people watching from our bus as we cruised the 90 minutes to the Machame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park.  That had to suffice since we had no views of the mountain.  It was a solid carpet of cloud making things a bit gray, but we focused on the close-in views as we drove through a few changing vegetation levels getting to the 6,000foott elevation of the gate.  As usual, it took a bit of time getting checked in and registered with the Park, but we finally got to the good part -the walking- by 10:50 AM.  We set out in a big forest of moss covered trees.  The trail was pleasantly dry and fine for walking -since I’d warned the team that it would be slimy and muddy.  We gained elevation steadily as the hours went by.  The team did admirably and walked well, but all were quite impressed with porters zipping by at twice our speed with heavy loads balanced on their heads.  The gang was also impressed to come into a fully built, comfortable camp in the giant heather at 10,000 ft.  Our local staff of fifty porters, camp builders, cooks and guides had been busy.  We made it up in five hours and twenty minutes, surely a new world’s record, which we celebrated with afternoon tea and then a dinner and story-telling session in our dining tent.  There were many comments of surprise that Tosha, our head cook, could have produced such a great meal, so quickly, so far up a volcano.
Rain sprinkles began intermittently just after we reached camp but of course that didn’t bother anybody.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

On The Map

Our Kilimanjaro team of ten climbers and one guide showed up ready to get ready this morning.  We met at 9 AM to introduce ourselves, and to review strategies, itineraries, policies.  In short order, we’d completed equipment checks, weigh-ins for loaded bags, and general preparations for hitting the trail.  This left team members with plenty of time for relaxing away the afternoon and chipping away at the evil jet lag.  Most ended up wandering the park-like grounds of our hotel and checking out the wildlife.  There were dik diks aplenty -the smallest of the antelope family.  There were velvet monkeys and small gangs of mongooses.  Occasionally we’d venture up the hotel’s Kilimanjaro observation tower, but the mountain never showed itself on this otherwise cloud free, blue sky day.  Too much haze and smoke toward the horizons.  We had a quiet and fine dinner and turned in excited for the coming day.  We get to walk uphill in a beautiful national park tomorrow. 

Best regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Our Safari and Kilimanjaro adventure came to an end today.  But not with a whimper… it went out like a lion.  And coincidentally with lions, as it turned out.  We were up for an early start with great help from the friendly staff at Balloon Camp.  Setting off in our Landcruisers, we hadn’t gone more than a few hundred feet before seeing fresh tracks from lions and elephants in the dirt road.  When we got to the actual wildlife: Cape buffalo, (barking) zebras, wildebeest, hartebeest, eland… we were interested to see that their behavior was markedly different in early morning than what we’d seen during midday.  Our excellent naturalist/drivers Edson Kahangi and Juma Msangi explained that all the critters had been up in the hills hiding from predators in the night but were now a little desperate and nervous to get down to the watering holes and streams again.  We eventually saw why… the predators were well represented down there.  We saw a big mom cheetah and a cub having fun with each other and making a game of chasing Impalas.  We saw a big burly male lion striding proudly over for a drink while all other animals sprinted away.  We saw a lioness and her two cubs up in a tree for a snooze… nearby, a hundred vultures were cleaning up whatever the lions had breakfasted on.  And then it was time for us to flee all the predators too.  We had to get on the highway again, back toward Arusha.  We made a final stop at the cultural center to make a few more purchases (Maasai blankets were a big hit) and peruse the great art museum, then it was on to the Arumeru River Lodge.  We showered and repacked and had one last team dinner before most of the gang headed for the airport and ultimately home.  We seem destined for reunions and future trips together… reliving the wild time we had way out in Tanzania.  We made a pretty good team.  Thanks for following along. 
I’m going to snooze for a day and then start it all up again with another group.  Our last Kilimanjaro climb of the season.

Best Regards
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We began the day with a “so long” to Cory, who headed off -as planned- to compete in a marathon down in Capetown.  Then we set out from the delightful Plantation Lodge for our next Safari destination: Tarangire National Park.  Along the way, we toured a traditional Maasai village, watching tribe members dance and build fire and asking a lot of questions along the way about how the Maasai are able to hang on to their traditional ways in a modern world.  We entered Tarangire just after noon and within just a few minutes were seeing Impala, Zebra, and Wildebeest in numbers difficult to keep track of.  We saw great elephants and giraffes in the immense park and a few lions here and there, but for certain the highlights came close to the end of the day when we saw seven lion cubs playing and napping together while their mom/babysitter lounged nearby.  And that prepared us for the final sighting -a leopard napping in a tree with a freshly killed Impala stored in the crook of the same tree.  He/she didn’t pay much attention to us, but we payed plenty of attention to such a beautiful and formidable animal.  A few short minutes later we drove into Balloon Camp, our safari hotel.  Tonight we are back in tents, but more correctly they are tent-cabins and quite comfortable ones at that.  The staff put on a fine barbecue for our team, out under the stars near the swimming pool.  While dining, we could still hear nearby elephants trumpeting.  Just one more day to go, hard to imagine though that it will surpass today. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We drove up into clouds and fog along the rim of the Ngorongoro caldera.  It was jacket weather, but that didn’t prevent us from popping the tops on our Toyota Landcruisers and going down in to the Crater to see some wildlife.  Immediately, we were right up close to cape buffalo, zebras and wildebeest.  We saw ostriches and kori bustards by the dozens. As we cruised the network of dirt roads, we began to see lions.  We stopped to watch a pregnant female take a drink, and to see a big proud male searching for the perfect shady tree to lounge under.  We saw hippos doing what they are known for doing at midday (darn little) and we watched animals by the hundreds interacting at waterholes.  By our picnic lunch site, we spied a couple of giant, solitary bull elephants roaming the marshland.  By midday, much of the clouds had burned off and we could see the entire layout of the giant volcanic remnant we were exploring.  We eventually climbed back out the steep crater walls as the afternoon progressed and left the wildlife behind.  A few rough roads and then the smoothest of highways took us back to our fine lodge for a restful finish to the day.

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn