Entries By dave hahn

Close Encounters

We came down into the great rift valley today and made our way to Tarangire National Park.  The place is known for elephants, Baobab trees and a great chance for nearly every thing else.  It wasn’t a big cat day for us… we saw a couple below a tree, but they were sleepy.  But it was a big day for elephants.  Close up and personal elephants.  Well one at least.  We’d stopped to watch a family of pachyderms cross the road.  They all crossed; moms, babies, aunts, sisters.  Except for one big bull who, instead of crossing, suddenly came to check out one of our Landcruisers.  We were trying to guess his intentions as his trunk found its way into the car. He then pulled back a step, took a rumbling dinosaur deep breath and shook his head violently a few feet from the car.  Then he stared down into it good and hard before pushing a tusk against the window.  Richard, our driver/guide turned the key and pressed smoothly on the gas at the same time, quickly moving us to safety as the big bull elephant then danced into the road.  We couldn’t believe how close we’d been to an enormous and confused animal.  It was a little terrifying and thrilling all at once. 

We then went on our way, deeper into the park, enjoying seeing giraffes and hyrax’s and elands.  Our lodge for the night is a tent camp way out in the wilds of Africa.  We shall see what beasts wander through. 

- RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

The day started out just so-so.  It was cloudy, it was raining.  When we drove up onto the rim of the Ngorongoro caldera it was still raining, still cloudy and the road was rough.  Down in the immense valley it was still a little miserable but at least we were seeing wildlife.  Then it got amazing. 
We considered ourselves lucky to have spied a few lions at some distance.  But then we started coming on prides of them at close range.  When three rhinos walked toward our vehicles, we were over the moon.  Such a thing doesn’t happen.  And it did.  They came into iPhone range.  Whole trips pass without a rhino even at great distance.  We moved a few miles away and considered ourselves ridiculously lucky then to see a different pride of lions on a zebra kill. And then a rhino casually walked within a few feet of the pride and the kill… again, so close that a phone was all the camera needed for capturing it.  Our guides had never seen such a thing before.  We were simply amazed.  We drove off to the lunchtime picnic grounds shaking our heads in wonder.   After lunch we made our way up to the crater rim again and stopped in for a tour of a Maasai village.  We danced we watched them throw spears and make fire. We toured their homes and tried to understand their traditional way of life in an otherwise modern world. 
Then we drove back down the bumpy roads to Plantation Lodge and the lap of luxury for another evening. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Rivertrees beds were comfy last night after a week sleeping on the ground.  But we got up early anyway to get started on our Safari. It took about an hour to get through Arusha and out into the wide open country to the west. But then we cruised through arid farmland, seeing herd after herd of Maasai cattle being shifted from one watering hole to another.  By midday we’d reached Lake Manyara National Park and our guides, Richard and Stephen, got us in and started showing us around.  Before long we were right up close to elephants and baboons. One car even got lucky enough to see a leopard up a tree.  Eventually we were getting used to seeing giraffes and hippos and impala.  There were hornbills and hawks. Three lonely zebra and a few waterbucks caught our eye.  It was a fine start to safari life and then we were checking in to the ultra comfortable Plantation Lodge in the Ngorongoro highlands outside Karatu.  The team enjoyed a very relaxing evening in the beautiful bar and dining room as we plotted out tomorrow’s itinerary in Ngorongoro Crater. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We are back at Rivertrees Country Inn, showered, well fed and celebrating our climb.  Waking at 10,000 ft in the forest this morning was relatively easy, but we all were thinking how much more comfortable we’d be off the mountain.  The trail down to 6000 ft was a tricky one.  There were steep and muddy sections, despite the fact that we were doing it in perfectly dry weather.  There were several hundred porters flying down the track at flank speed.  Every step required concentration.  But there were some pretty vistas, some beautiful trees and we were lucky enough to see colobus monkeys.  We reached the end of the hike at 11:30 and then had to check out of the National Park.  We then sat down to a farewell lunch with our 51 Barking Zebra mountain staff.  After which there was singing and dancing and a brief tip ceremony in which we tried to express our gratitude to our local guides, chefs, waiters, camp staff and porters.  They did a fabulous job and treated us as old friends. 

We then boarded the bus and headed for the showers.  We prepared for Safari, had a mountain climbing victory dinner this evening and said goodbye to Tim who will be heading home. 

Our journey continues. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli & Team

What a day! What a mountain!  What a team!  It all came together today, perfect weather and the entire team ready to take advantage of it.  We got 100% of the team to the summit.  We got walking from Barafu camp at midnight and climbed through the cold and dark for what seemed like forever.  It was a full moon night and dead calm… but it was still quite cold.  The sun rose close to 6:30 as we were just below the crater rim. By 7:52 we were at Uhuru… the true summit and the highest point in Africa.  Basically, we then spent the rest of the day climbing down.  The journey from 19,341' ft to 10,000' ft was broken up with a wonderful brunch back at our 15,200 ft high camp.  The team made it down to Mweka Camp at the respectable hour of 4:30, just in time for tea and then a last dinner on the mountain.

- RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Today was easy!  At least for our team of seasoned mountain climbers it was easy.  We just took two rest breaks between Karanga and Barafu Camps and the weather was calm, sunny and clear.  We had unobstructed views of Kibo -Kilimanjaro’s central peak- and its ice and snow fields shining in the morning sun.  Our Barking Zebra support team had done a brilliant job of building high camp for us and so our entrance to life at 15,200 ft was as easy as it could be.  We lunched and strategized for tonight’s climb.  There were some easy packing chores to be done and then we rested.  We’ll still meet for an early dinner but then the plan is to get to bed right after. The beautiful sunset we saw last night from Karanga Camp will have to suffice.  We are prioritizing rest tonight because we will get up super early and head out for the roof of Africa.

Best,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We left the garden-like grounds of Barranco Camp at 8 this morning and got busy with the Barranco Wall.  There was the usual traffic jam on the tricky parts as several hundred porters and climbers took turns climbing short walls and traversing tight spots.  But we made good progress up and after two hours we popped out on top of the wall and were rewarded with a magnificent view of Kibo’s towering south face. We celebrated with tea and snacks before continuing on another couple of hours to Karanga Camp.  It was another afternoon of alternately resting and eating at camp.  We all enjoyed sunset and moonrise from this new vantage point on the mountain.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Today was a big one, all the way from 12,600 to 15,200.  Breaking a number of records in the process. 

We set out from Shira at 8 AM up gently rising slopes. We marched through Juniper shrubs and sage-like plants until the plants were finished near 15K.  Our high point for the day -Lava Tower- was the perfect place to take an extended lunch break. Then it was down two thousand feet, back to where the plants thrive in the Barranco Valley. We cruised through Lobelias and Senecios endemic to Kilimanjaro.  All told it was about seven hours on the trail for our gang today with 6 of the 10 climbers having shattered their previous high-altitude records.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Day one on Kilimanjaro!  We left the comfort of Rivertrees Inn at 8 AM under cloudy skies.  The bus ride to the Machame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park took about two hours.  It then took us fully ninety minutes to jump through the administrative hoops of completing the permitting process and getting admitted to the park. But then we were off.  Twelve climbers and fifty one local staff.  We were still under cloud cover and then sometimes in the clouds, but it never actually rained as we worked steadily uphill in the rainforest.  The team made it up 4000 vertical feet to 10K in 5 hrs and twenty minutes. All were happy to come into a fully built camp and to take tea and dinner in a spacious dining tent. Tomorrow is another big day, perhaps we’ll even get to see the mountain.

- RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

As promised, we got to work today, packing and prepping for Mount Kilimanjaro.  After a great breakfast at Rivertrees Inn, sitting outside under cloudy skies, our team of 12 got to know each other a little while we discussed the climb and how to get ready for it.  Next came a gear check to ensure that climbers weren’t bringing either too much or too little on our week-long expedition.  Folks then used the afternoon to get packs and duffels ready. 

We enjoyed a great dinner together, received the last missing bits of luggage from the airlines and then turned in, ready to get on the bus tomorrow and get walking. 

Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn