The pattern finally changed. It was cloudy and a little cool when we set out this morning. Which was actually just fine. The entrance to Ngorongoro Preserve was a short drive from Plantation Lodge. Juma and Edson drove us up to the rim of the great collapsed caldera and we got out to stare in wonder at the “crater”. Then it was back in the Landcruisers for the rough dirt road along the rim... Juma said it was time for our “African Massage” as we bounced along the ruts and rocks. A Jeep track down through umbrella acacia trees took us to the valley floor where we immediately began to spot crater critters by the hundreds. First were the armor plated Cape buffalo, next a gang of Eland. We began to spot so many gazelles, zebra and wildebeest that they only merited a stop if they’d been born in the last few hours. Warthogs came and went. Bustards and Secretary Birds strutted past. Then came the lions. We parked near a beautiful male and female and our guides described -accurately- the process by which they’d get frisky with each other every ten or twenty minutes for an exhausting week. We watched for a few cycles, fascinated. The big cats paid no attention whatsoever to spectators. Next we saw herds of elephants in the distance and a black rhino a couple hundred meters away. Four of the “big five” before lunch. (We were missing leopards, which aren’t commonly seen down in the crater). Lunch happened to be within sight of about 20 hippos and a bunch of waterbucks. Despite the cloud cover, it was getting pretty hot in the afternoon. We kept spotting game -ostrich and hyenas... more lions and more elephants as we headed for the rough roads out of the crater. By 4:30 we were back at the ridiculously comfortable Plantation Lodge, amazed by what we’d seen but also ready to relax. We looked a little like a gang of teenagers at happy hour, focused intently on our smartphones as we shuffled pictures about. Tomorrow is another day and another national park.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
The team is all doing exceptionally well here at our new home at 18,000' on Aconcagua. The weather has been a bit unsettled, with scattered snow flurries and winds battering our tents throughout the day. This less than stellar weather has been a great excuse to hang out and rest to the best of our abilities, which is perfect because this will be our last rest day of the trip. Our plan is to make our summit attempt and hit a weather window in just a few days.
We have done our time up high, and everyone is excited for the opportunity to show their stuff. For now, we're eating mac and cheese in the tents, and finishing off this relaxing day in style. Once we leave here, we will be on the go until we get back to Mendoza, so we're savoring the bit of down time that we have left. We'll check in from Camp 3 tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
Living vicariously thru you guys! Have fun and stay safe. I have a friend who departs for Aconcagua on the 29th of Jan. Any conditions or changes to the “norm” would be great! Cheers Patrick.
Posted by: Patrick Parker on 12/29/2017 at 5:21 am
Basecamp was a happening place last night. And while there were a few events that disturbed our sleep, it was a great night overall. The Stars were clear, and a distant thunderstorm provided visual entertainment late into the evening. We skipped breakfast this morning in favor of a leisurely brunch prepared by our resident burrito experts, Hannah and Avery. Brunch was really the primary item on our agenda for today, followed by relaxing to the best of our abilities. After checking in with everyone, I can say that we are ready to move out of Basecamp and into higher places.
We'll check in from Camp One tomorrow.
RMI Guide JM Gorum
June 3, 2017
Today was yet again another sunny day. We woke up with the sun warming our tents. A rest day and sleeping in, not bad for a Saturday morning. Bagels and cream cheese with bacon filled us up for a round of napping, organizing our high camp equipment, and snacking of course. The mid afternoon heat was kept at bay with a bit of fog allowing us to train more technical skills that we will use to climb the fixed ropes on the headwall for our cache tomorrow. We had a nice evening and are bedding down before another big day ahead.
RMI Guide Tyler Jones & Team
Tym, Tyler, and Team (Otherwise know as the 3 T’s)
It is fun and exciting to read about your progress and plans, daily. The pictures are wonderful. Food sounds good. What an amazing adventure! Good luck as you move onward and ever upward. All my best as you have bigger days ahead. And Tym, Satoshi says: $2562.00.
Love Mom
Posted by: Kristi Kennelly on 6/4/2017 at 7:13 pm
Amir, Tyler, and Team,
We’re all thinking of you guys and the wonderful adventure you’re all having !
Saturday, July 9, 2016 - 8:46 p.m. PDT
As planned, today was something of a forced rest day at 11,000 ft. By virtue of our having slept through the night here -which we certainly needed- the next option would have been to travel the lower glacier in the heat of the day... Or to rest up and aim for going out tonight when it gets cold and the glacial surface is frozen and safer for travel. We are all about option two.
So the team woke late and folks talked about having gotten a real night's sleep for the first time in weeks. We ate long slow breakfasts and then went back to sleep. It is possible that this will be our last full day in the park, so many took longer looks than usual at the ice and rock cliffs surrounding and towering over us. At first the sky looked threatening, as if it might get to snowing again, but by dinner things had changed back to calm, sunny, blue skies... making us all optimistic about smooth travel out the glacier and the chance for prompt flying from the mountain tomorrow morning.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn
Hello everyone and welcome to RMI's second Kilimanjaro's trip of the season.
The team arrived late last night after our very long and tiring flights from the U.S. We were greeted by the wonderful staff from the Dik Dik Lodge with warm smiles and a little champagne to toast our arrival.
After a short and quiet ride to our lodge we had a quick dinner then headed off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep.
The team met this morning at breakfast with fresh fruits, homemade bread and jam, and plenty of good Tanzanian coffee.
We then got together for a formal round of introductions and an overview of the upcoming adventure. We discussed our plan for the climb and made sure everyone has all the necessary gear to keep us safe and warm on Kilimanjaro.
After a short break some team members took a short stroll on the beautiful grounds hoping to catch sight of some of the monkeys that often visit and some even managed to spot Kilimanjaro in a break in the clouds. The rest of us did a little packing and caught up on a little more sleep to help get adjusted to the big time difference.
We have just wrapped up an amazing five-course meal with great conversations, and everyone is squared away and looking forward to hitting the trail tomorrow as well as stretching the legs a bit.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Elephants are among the “Big Five” most dangerous animals to hunt—if you’re into that kind of thing. We simply wanted to see the five, and Ngorongoro Crater was our best chance of accomplishing that. So there we were, up on the rim of the giant caldera, bouncing like crazy in the Land Cruiser on a washboard road. We came around a blind corner in the fog and skidded to a stop because an enormous bull elephant was squarely in the middle of the road—and not inclined to move for us. In fact, he made it quite clear that we needed to show some deference to resolve the situation. Johnson, our driver and guide, wisely put the cruiser in reverse while the big guy took a victory walk. So we had one of the five before even dropping into the gigantic “crater” full of wildlife.
We’d barely hit the crater floor before notching up numbers two and three. We immediately saw Cape buffalo and sleepy lions. Then came gazelles, zebras, wildebeest, warthogs, jackals, hyenas, ostriches, and hippos. It was a bit overwhelming.
By afternoon, we were trying hard to spot rhinos. We scored number four by spotting four sleeping rhinoceroses at a distance. Full disclosure: we saw them because a bunch of other Land Cruisers were stopped and pointing. But we also got to see a rhino that no one else saw, thanks to Arthur’s sharp eyes.
We tried to find a leopard—number five—on our way back out of the crater, but didn’t luck out. A visit to a Maasai village on the rim rounded out our big day.
Thanks to the many hours of route work from dedicated guides on Mt. Rainier over the last few days our Five Day Summit Climb team for August 12 - 16 reached the summit of Mt. Rainier this morning around 6 am. RMI Guide Mike King and team spent some time on the top before starting their descent. They will return to Camp Muir and then return to Paradise later today.
Congratulations to today's Summit Climb Team!
RMI Guide Brent Okita called from the Mt. Rainier crater rim with the news, "We are on the summit on a Bluebird Day!" Clear skies, no wind, and views for miles- can't beat a summit like that. The teams spent an hour on top before starting their descent at 7:00 a.m.
RMI Guide Mike King called in from the Orizaba summit!
"This is Mike King with Team Mexico. We are standing on top of el Pico de Orizaba, the third highest peak in North America! Light winds and visibility all the way out to Ixta and Popo. It was a great climb. We will check back in with you when we get back down to high camp."
Living vicariously thru you guys! Have fun and stay safe. I have a friend who departs for Aconcagua on the 29th of Jan. Any conditions or changes to the “norm” would be great! Cheers Patrick.
Posted by: Patrick Parker on 12/29/2017 at 5:21 am
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