Entries from Kilimanjaro

Wednesday, August 23, 2023 - 10:00 am PT

Good weather and good walking brought us up to 12,500 ft today. When we woke at 6:15 the clouds had sunk way below our 10,000 ft camp to form a uniform surface.  Above it was crystal clear and we could see Kibo, Kilimanjaro’s central peak, with its great cliffs and ice fields.  We ate a full breakfast and got walking at 8 AM with our lead guide, Naiman, taking a turn out front.  Immediately, the track was steeper than what we’d done yesterday.  Like a giant staircase in the giant heather.  After about 90 minutes we were on a ridge crest, still climbing, but now with big views all around us.  We got off the ridge at nearly 12,000 ft and began traversing toward the North.  The team didn’t slow down or hesitate when it came to putting hands on rock for some steeper sections.  We saw our first Giant Senecios -cactus like trees which are only found on Kilimanjaro- before we turned a last corner onto the Shira Plateau.  The final few minutes into camp were easy downhill walking.  We made it in under five hours to this westernmost point of our journey.  Tosha had a fine lunch for us in the dining tent and we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging and rehydrating.  The sun setting in the clouds and peaks of Shira was beautiful as we moved toward dinner.  But the stars when we came out were even more spectacular. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Tuesday, August 22, 2023 - 7:47 am PT

Everything went just like clockwork today for the start of our adventure.  We were up early, eating breakfast and shuffling duffels at Rivertrees Inn.  We actually drove away to start the climb several minutes before the 8 AM intended launch.  Ninety minutes in the bus brought us to the Machame gate of Kilimanjaro National Park.  At 6000 ft, this was to be our starting point.  Inevitably there was a little time spent getting the team permit paperwork finished, and some time spent getting porter loads sorted.  But we were able to start walking through the forest a little after 10:30 AM, not bad at all.  Freddy, one of our longtime local guides led today’s charge up the hill. We began with a gradual climb on a road, which eventually turned into a trail upward through the rainforest.  We considered ourselves lucky to have a fair bit of blue sky and sunshine for the first day, which is very often spent under or within thick clouds.  As well, we seemed to be a few hours ahead of most other teams which meant that the track through the woods was pretty peaceful.  We took several breaks to eat snacks and drink tea, but we kept at the hard work of gaining altitude and by 3:30 we’d reached Machame Camp at 10,000 ft.  Our amazing staff had our camp built and ready for us to move in when we arrived.  We only had to clean up and show up in the dining tent for tea time.  Easy.  Tosha, our world class chef is serving up dinner at 6:30 and the team is anxious to enjoy a good meal, see some southern hemisphere stars and get a good night’s rest. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Our climbing team came together in the last couple of days.  We got seven folks and their baggage through a bunch of airports and airlines all the way to Kilimanjaro International Airport.  And as of yesterday, we had the team, plus one guide, all assembled at The Rivertrees Inn in Usa River, Tanzania.  Today we got into the business of final preparations for the mountain.  We talked through the program and our priorities on the climb.  We went over schedules and logistics and expected difficulties.  And then we did gear checks (which everybody passed with flying colors). And finally, after folks had gotten packed up, we did the all important weigh-in to be certain nobody would be overloaded on the mountain.  The work done, we relaxed around a campfire and ate a fine dinner in the Rivertrees garden.  Tomorrow we climb!

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

The team rallied for a pre-dawn start at Lolkisale Camp. We were escorted from our tent cabins so as not to lose anyone to predators. We ate breakfast as the light came up on the vast wilderness surrounding camp.

As we drove back into the mix of animals, trees, rocks, grassland and riverbeds we had high hopes of spotting the leopards and cheetahs that had been eluding us thus far.  We saw a million more beautiful things this morning… but not the big cats. Something left for future safaris. By midday, this one was winding down as we headed east toward Arusha. The team was happy to get back to the familiar ground of Rivertrees Inn to have a chance to clean up and repack for extended travel. Inevitably, we started having to say goodbye to one another as we began a last migration to Kilimanjaro International Airport.

It seemed hard to believe that the project our team had been dedicated to for years -raising funds for the American Lung Association- and then actually climbing Kili for clean air- that it could all be coming to a conclusion… but of course our ambitious climbers were heard to be hatching dozens of new goals and challenges for the coming years. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & The ALA Climb for Clean Air Team

It was another cool and cloudy morning in the highlands where we woke up, but as we descended into the rift valley again, it got warmer and drier. We stopped for some souvenir/gift shopping and then made the move toward Tarangire National Park. We entered just before noon, weaving between giant baobab trees scarred by elephant tusks. Immediately we began seeing wildlife… impalas, zebra, wildebeest… first in ones and twos, then by the hundreds. Eventually we mixed in elephants and giraffes and seemingly everything else. 

Tarangire is a vast land of animals. From horizon to horizon. Our seasoned safari team spotted two impressive lions that no one else had managed to find. We spent the day marveling at elephant families and birds of all sizes and flavors. We searched high and low for cheetahs and leopards… but (so far) without success. By sunset we were sitting around a fire just outside the park boundary in a “tent camp” still spotting wildlife from our chairs. It is our final night as a team. As the first few stars began to show, we shared a spontaneous and appropriate few minutes of silence… and then we burst into laughter and conversation and eventually storytelling. 

Leopards in the morning.

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

Ngorongoro Crater was worth getting up early for. We were on the road by 6:30 AM. It was cloudy and as we climbed up to the rim of the old collapsed volcano, we were in thick fog.  This did not prevent us from seeing a handful of elephants in the forest up there though.

Our first hours in the “crater” were actually a little cool and drizzly, but we were seeing abundant wildlife and so we didn’t really care.  We saw everything from Cape Buffalo to Jackals. The giant herds of Zebra and Wildebeest were a big hit. During the course of the day, we crisscrossed the valley floor and saw eight lions (beating yesterday’s total). We got to see a number of happy hippopotamus pile-ups in the mud and shallow waters. 

By mid-afternoon we were climbing out of the bowl to visit a Maasai village on the crater rim. We danced with the villagers, and they showed us some of their traditional methods for building fires and living in the wild.  The team got back to the Plantation Lodge in time for a sunset swim in the pool before dinner.

Tarangire tomorrow!

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team

What a difference a day makes!  No more camping and no more climbing.  Today we woke to rainy skies in Usa River, but we woke in comfy hotel beds and got into nice, dry Toyota Land Cruisers.  Our Safari guides: Jakob and Ng’orongo took us west through Arusha and out of the rain into the Maasai country beyond.  We made it to Lake Manyara National Park by midday.  Things started out slowly… a few baboons.  A bird or two.  The odd bushbuck.  At our picnic lunch, the mountain guide on the team suggested there was nothing much remaining to be seen and that we should call it a day and head for the hotel swimming pool.  Nobody listened.  Our safari guides then found a lion asleep under a tree.  Which turned into seven lions when we looked a little closer.  Which turned into seven hungry, hyper, and hunting lions when a cheerful, clueless zebra came strolling along.  Our guides kept us alongside a protracted hunt as the zebra got smart and began to move away along the lakeshore.  The lions - actually five lionesses and two lions - finally pulled the trigger and sprang after the zebra.  We couldn’t quite see that but somehow, they switched prey in the middle of the attack, coming away with a couple of warthogs in their jaws.  The mountain guide on our team admitted that the swimming pool idea had been a poor one and that in ten years of visiting Manyara he hadn’t seen one lion let alone seven making multiple kills.  To drive home the point, we then saw Cape Buffalo, giraffes, and elephants at close quarters and in quick succession.  And THEN we went to the pool.  We were at the Plantation Lodge for sunset and an excellent dinner.  Safari Day One, in the books and exceeding all expectations. 

Best Regards,

Dave

At breakfast this morning there were plenty of our team singing the praises of Mweka Camp and 10,000 ft living. The sleep was sooooo much better than at 15,000 ft. Food went down easier as well, and we put away plenty of it before hitting the trail at 8 AM. Within a few minutes of walking, we entered the rain forest. The day was dry and clear but as we descended, the trail was wetter and more muddy. We had to drop 4000 ft without slipping. This was made a bit more exciting by the hundreds of porters from various teams trying to get down the slippery track with big loads at high speed. We finished the journey at 10:30am and signed our names in the National Park registry at the Mweka Gate. We then enjoyed a final lunch with our staff, after which we were treated to a spirited song and dance session with all 46 of the men who helped us. We expressed our gratitude with tips for all and then shook hands to seal the deal…and to bid farewell.

We loaded onto the bus and made the two-hour ride back to the Rivertrees hotel. It was then a comfortable afternoon of showers and gear sorting. The adventure continues tomorrow with safari, but we took the time this evening to eat and drink together in celebration of our successful climb of Kilimanjaro. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Sunday, August 13, 2023 - 7:24 am PT

We had an extremely nice day for going to the top of Africa. Waking at 11 last night it was dead calm and when we unzipped the tents and looked out, the lights of Moshi and a hundred other towns and villages in Tanzania were winking up at us.  The ever-present cloud deck wasn't present. Overhead, the Milky Way dazzled us.  We ate a quick "breakfast" and got climbing by midnight. The cold temps were a challenge, but less so without wind. We marched up through the night, taking quick hourly breaks in the lava, gravel and pumice.  We were at Stella Point on the crater rim when the sun rose at 6:35 and magically it was still calm on the mountaintop.  It was a beautiful walk in the morning light over to Uhuru, the summit of Kilimanjaro.  We celebrated up top and took plenty of pictures. We'd just begun walking down when one of the remaining summit glaciers calved with a thunderous crash into a pool of meltwater. We were stunned by the action, but also by the fact that a sizable pool of unfrozen water existed at 19,000 ft. We slid down the rock scree of our ascent route, reaching high camp just after 10 AM. Our staff sang and danced to give us a memorable and fun welcome. We finished the day with a rugged hike down to Mweka Camp at 10,000 ft, arriving at 3:30 PM under sunny skies. The team is getting set for a final night on the mountain. Our team did well, placing seven of nine climbers on top and crucially nine of nine safely down afterward. Our support team blew our minds with the quality and quantity of help they provided as we pursued our dream summit. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn

Sunday, August 13, 2023 - 1:10 AM PT

A quick check in from RMI Guide Dave Hahn with the photo above to let us know the team reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro at 7:15 am local time.  The team has safely descended back to High Camp, Barafu, as of 10:15 am local time.  They will continue their descent to Mweka Camp, their final mountain camp of the trip.

Congratulations team!

We are at high camp! 

Barafu -which means ice in Swahili. We got here nice and early, just after 11 AM.  It only took about three hours to gain the two thousand vertical feet from Karanga Camp.  The team came in smiling and all together and excited to finally be here, in place for a summit bid.  The day ended up a little cloudy, with a snowflake or two in the air but that hasn’t bothered us.  Benson treated us to a nice lunch and then we sat down with Naiman -our lead guide- to talk in detail about the summit and how we’ll prepare for it. 

We are resting and organizing this afternoon, getting used to the altitude and catching up on our hydration.  An early dinner is in order -Spaghetti at 5:30- and then we’re going into the tents for a rest.  It will be an Alpine start; we aim to be walking at midnight. 

Wish us a little luck, please. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team