July 5, 2019

The team is wrapping up their trip to Tanzania.  Yesterday was their second day in the Serengeti and today they visited the Ngorongoro Crater.  They sent so many great photos, it was hard to choose which ones to post.  So we’re just going to post a bunch.  They’re heading to bed now and will be sleeping in tomorrow, grabbing a hot lunch before departing for Arusha, then the airport and flights home.  Once there, we hope each of the team members takes a bit of time to celebrate their success and share their experiences with family and friends.  IMG says thanks to all for their efforts on behalf of the team we’re looking forward to seeing them again on another trip.

Good-bye from East Africa, for now.

Phil Ershler

July 4, 2019

The great news just continues to come in. Team flew to the Serengeti and saw most everything on their way to their safari camp. ‘Most everything’ included a tree climbing lion.  es, there is such a thing and yes, it is a very rare sight. Imagine climbing Kilimanjaro and 48 hours later sitting around a campfire in the middle of the Serengeti. A pretty amazing way to spend two weeks!

Happy 4^th of July to everyone following our blog!

Phil Ershler

July 1, 2019

Phunuru and team did it – 100% on top! That’s great news and the even better news is that they’re already all the way down to Millennium Camp.  That’s the land of the thick air! A few hours on the trail tomorrow and they’re out. They’ll be eating barbeque and sleeping in a bed tomorrow night.

Great news from Africa and a big congrats to Phunuru, our Chagga crew, and all the members of the expedition.

Phil Ershler

June 30, 2019

It’s time for our weekend “Kili catch up”. This team hasn’t missed a beat. Everyone is kicking…..tail. First, it was up the Baranco Wall and the traverse over to the Karanga Camp. Great thing with a 6 night, 7 day itinerary is that we have time to spend a night at Karanga before going to high camp at Barafu. Means more acclimatization and two shorter days rather than a long day to high camp. PLUS, we get to high camp early, meaning more time to rest and prep before the summit attempt. And that’s exactly where the team is now. We’ll let you know when we hear from the team but all is exactly on schedule and we’re pretty happy with the way this team has performed. Let’s see how summit day goes.

Phil Ershler

June 28, 2019

Another fun phone call from Phunuru and our Kilimanjaro team Friday morning.

They said the weather was even better for their hike to Baranco today. Not sure how that’s even possible.

Right now they’re starring up at the Baranco Wall. Looks intimidating but the reality is that it’s just plain fun. A little exposure, here and there, and a little scrambling, here and there. Nothing that’s too difficult or too scary. After the wall, they’ll keep traversing in front of the mountain as they make their way to the Karanga Valley. Camp will be about 1000′ higher than where they’re camped now.

Here’s hoping Phunuru keeps the good news coming!

Phil Ershler

June 28, 2019

Always fun to field phone calls from Phunuru when he’s guiding Kilimanjaro. “All’s well, team’s great, everything’s good” is the typical message and that was certainly the case when he called in Thursday morning, Seattle time. Of course, their day was already over as it’s 10 hours later on Kilimanjaro.  Bottom line is that the team did well getting to Shira Camp, at around 12,500’. They’re well above the tree line now with unobstructed views of the mountain. Longer day tomorrow. Up past a place called the Lava Tower and then back down to camp at 13,000’. Climb high, sleep low is the climber’s adage. Why? Because it works great for acclimatization.

All remains well in East Africa.

Phil Ershler