Entries By dave hahn

Our timing was perfect today.  The Great Barranco Wall is known for having great traffic jams as hundreds of climbers and porters squeeze through choke points along the way.  We were just plain lucky this morning as we got our hands on the rock and picked our way up the various ledges and steps of the wall. There were plenty of people around but traffic flowed just fine, making for a stress free couple of hours to start the day.  Our amazing crew hosted tea and snacks on the magical flat atop the wall.  We lounged in the sun for nearly an hour, looking up at the magnificent south Face of Kilimanjaro.  Then we strolled along the relatively easy ground to Karanga Camp.  It is sunny and calm again as we rest through the afternoon.  But a giant column of wildfire smoke out to our west has us a little concerned for the valleys we inhabited a few days back.  It doesn’t threaten us in the least but of course we worry for the ecosystems we’ve come to love on Kilimanjaro’s slopes.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Barranco Camp, 13,100 ft.  We broke everybody’s altitude records today!  It was another perfect day, weatherwise, and we took advantage -leaving Shira Camp at 8 AM.  The terrain was less steep than yesterday as we walked straight toward Kibo.  The massive cliffs and hanging ice fields grew closer and more grand as we approached the Lava Tower, our altitude goal for the day.  We celebrated 15,200 ft by having lunch and a leisurely break.  Then it was time to try out the going down muscles.  We dropped 2000 vertical feet into the Barranco Valley and enjoyed the Giant Senecios and Lobelias that make the valley so special. 

We came into another perfectly built camp, patting ourselves on the backs for a 7.5 hour day on a big mountain.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier & Team

Barranco Camp, 13,100 ft.  We broke everybody’s altitude records today!  It was another perfect day, weatherwise, and we took advantage -leaving Shira Camp at 8 AM.  The terrain was less steep than yesterday as we walked straight toward Kibo.  The massive cliffs and hanging ice fields grew closer and more grand as we approached the Lava Tower, our altitude goal for the day.  We celebrated 15,200 ft by having lunch and a leisurely break.  Then it was time to try out the going down muscles.  We dropped 2000 vertical feet into the Barranco Valley and enjoyed the Giant Senecios and Lobelias that make the valley so special. 

We came into another perfectly built camp, patting ourselves on the backs for a 7.5 hour day on a big mountain.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn, Dustin Wittmier & Team

We caught a nice sunny day for our move out to Shira Camp. Kibo -Kilimanjaro’s central peak- was shining in the morning sun when we took off from Machame Camp. The team seemed to have no trouble with the steeper hills we confronted right off the bat.  We climbed up rocky steps through a forest of Giant Heather to attain a ridge crest, then we walked straight toward Kibo for a while before making a turn to the west.  We got to use our hands on the rock in a few places as we traversed some cliff bands on the way out to the Shira Plateau.  By 1:30 PM we were in our new camp.  It was a relaxing afternoon of eating, drinking and resting at this new and significant altitude.  The team is getting ready for a beautiful sunset out towards Meru, the fifteen thousand foot volcano on our western horizon. 

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Sunday, September 6, 2026 - 8:30 am PT

Machame Camp, 10,000 ft.  Our team of nine set off precisely on schedule this morning at 8 AM.  Our bus driver negotiated the busy highway to get us to the Machame Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park in a tidy two hours.  There were papers to be filed and permits to be issued and finally we set out walking through the big forest at 11 AM.  The team crushed it today, cruising from 6000 to 10,000 ft in 5 hrs, 20 min.  We took a few breaks, listened to a few birds and surprisingly, saw the mountain.  We began the day under thick clouds but they dissipated as we climbed and we ended up with blue skies and great views in our new home.

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Saturday, September 5, 2026 - 10:10 pm PT

We’ve got the makings of another fine expedition to the highest point in Africa.  Nine of us got together at Rivertrees Inn yesterday to plan and pack for the mountain.  This morning we are setting out!

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

We woke way out in the bush of Tarangire to find fresh lion tracks in the dirt around the landcruisers.  It felt good to be out early and looking for game with no other cars around.  We didn’t see too much wildlife until we were relatively close to the gate on our exit.  A family of lionesses and their cubs were dozing by a waterhole.  And then we were out of the park and making our way back to Arusha.  We stopped once more at the cultural heritage center and then arrived back at Rivertrees. A shower, a repack, and a last dinner together fortified the team for departure.  Most left that evening, the rest the next day.  All pretty pleased with some great weeks in Africa together. 

RMI Guides Dave Hahn, Dominic Cifelli & Team

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