July 4, 2017

Craig John called from the hotel in Moshi to report that the Kilimanjaro Team are happy, healthy, and clean!  They were about to sit down to their celebratory dinner with their local Chagga staff to celebrate their successful climb.  Well done!   They had a good day today, finishing up the descent from Mweka Camp to the Gate in under three hours.  Craig said they had some rain this morning, and the trail was a bit muddy.  Now the weather has improved, and it is sunny in Moshi.

Tomorrow the Team will make the 2-hour drive over to the large city of Arusha from where they will take a short afternoon flight to the Serengeti. A scenic, 50-minute flight takes them from a city of over million people to the wilds of the Serengeti. Its magical! By this time all discussion will be about what animals each person is most looking forward to seeing. The Team is about to be blown away by the diversity and quantity of wildlife that the Serengeti supports. Its truly amazing and hard to comprehend, much less explain in a few words. We’d like to once again congratulate the Team on a job well done and we know they will enjoy what they are about to experience.

Dustin Balderach

 

July 3, 2017

 

Congrats to the Kilimanjaro Team on being 100% successful on reaching Uhuru, the highest point of Kilimanjaro.  Also, congrats to IMG guide Craig John, for his 25^th  Kili summit.  That is quite a milestone! The Team had perfect weather and conditions for their climb up to the summit and then back down to Mweka Camp (~10,000 feet).  Everyone did well—their training and hard work paid off as they stood on the Roof of Africa this morning!

They will sleep soundly tonight down in the (relatively) thick air of Mweka Camp.  The trees and humidity of the forest are welcome after many days spent above tree line. There will be no difficulty falling asleep tonight for the Team. It’ll be a quick, 3-hour walk out to the Mweka Gate tomorrow morning where our shuttle bus will be waiting to take the Team down to our hotel. Lunch and then showers – or maybe the reverse – and then they will turn their attention to the next prize – the safari! Conversation during the celebratory dinner tonight will be equal parts talking about the extraordinary climb they just had and the anticipation of the upcoming safari. It’s all good over in Tanzania. Congrats again to the Team on a successful summit of Kilimanjaro and enjoy the safari! You’ve earned it!

Dustin Balderach

July 2, 2017

 

IMG senior guide, Craig John, just gave us a ring from Barafu High Camp over on Kili. This strong team is super excited now. They are resting at High Camp at around 15,200 feet and are preparing for their summit attempt tonight! They made short work of the hike today and pulled into camp around noon. A hot lunch was waiting for them and then they started packing for the summit bid. An early dinner and then an early bedtime! Its going to be difficult to sleep for the crew. When they lay down it will be around 6pm, it will still be light, and they’ll be too excited to sleep. Doesn’t matter if they sleep or not, though, as long as they get some time on their backs and off their feet! About the time they are finally able to drift off to sleep, it’ll be 11 pm and time to wake up. The plan is to have a quick breakfast, some hot drinks, and then be walking by midnight. After about 7 hours of walking they’ll touch Stella Point at the crater rim. Then its another hour or so over to Uhuru Peak, the highest point on the crater rim and the true summit of Kilimanjaro. This is what the team has been preparing and waiting for – summit day! We wish them good luck and look forward to hearing from CJ on the summit later today!

Dustin Balderach

July 1, 2017

 

We heard from IMG senior guide, CJ, via sat phone just now. CJ and the Kili team had a fantastic day hiking up the Barranco Wall and they are now safely at Karanga Camp (13,300 feet) about to enjoy a hot lunch. Today was a much shorter day for the team and they made good time up the Barranco Wall from where they enjoyed continued terrific views. It took them about 4 hours to get from Barranco camp, up the Wall, and over to Karanga Camp. Karanga Camp sits on a broad ridge and enjoys fantastic views over to Mt Meru. During the evening and night, the lights of Moshi shine below. Another afternoon spent drinking, eating, resting, and therefore, acclimating! A lot of groups skip this camp and head straight up to Barafu High Camp from Barranco. That is a long, tough day. Much better to break it up into 2 days and get that extra acclimatization and time to enjoy the mountain scenery. After all, you came all the way to Africa, might as well enjoy the sights a bit, right? They will begin to talk about the specifics of the summit climb over lunch and dinner today. Tomorrow is one of the shorter days on the trip. Around 3 or 4 hours and about 2,000 feet of climbing up to Barafu High Camp. As you continue to ascend, the views just keep getting better! The Team is getting close now and I know they are getting excited.

Dustin Balderach