\nDay 2<\/strong>:\u00c2\u00a0 Arrival in Africa!\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, the heat!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Did my bags make it??\u00e2\u20ac\u009d There is a lot of anxiety the first night, but everyone made it as did their luggage\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Somehow everything always works out.
\nDay 3<\/strong>:\u00c2\u00a0 Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project briefing in Moshi and a Keys Hotel burger (beef patty with two fried eggs, saut\u00c3\u00a9ed onions and cheese).\u00c2\u00a0 Time to pack and maybe hit the pool.\u00c2\u00a0 We meet our local guide staff and then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s off to dinner. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no shortage of food on Kili trips!
\n
\nDay 5<\/strong>: We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re making our move to Shira Plateau Camp today.\u00c2\u00a0 The bump to 12000ft. is nothing to shake a stick at.\u00c2\u00a0 The air is getting thinner, but the terrain is incredible.\u00c2\u00a0 Light headaches begin to emerge as we pull into camp. At camp some take off to check out the caves while others just rest.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chicken wings for the afternoon snack and then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dinner.\u00c2\u00a0 I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s potato leek tonight!\u00c2\u00a0 Barranco hut tomorrow.
\nDay 6<\/strong>:\u00c2\u00a0 Barranco hut sits only three hundred feet higher than Shira, but to get to Barranco a climber must either pass through the Lava Tower Notch at 15,100 or traverse the Lower Lava variation which tops out at 14,800.\u00c2\u00a0 For those that attempt the notch, they can be greeted with phenomenal views and a more challenging descent into camp.\u00c2\u00a0 Those that make the traverse are in store for a rolling trail.\u00c2\u00a0 Either way offers its own challenges.
\nDay 7<\/strong>:\u00c2\u00a0 Moving from Barranco camp to Karanga Valley Camp. With stomachs filled with hot drinks and toast the team sets out to negotiate the Barranco Wall (921ft. from bottom to top).\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chilly and the sun hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hit just yet.\u00c2\u00a0 We have our gloves on and our trekking poles stored on the pack.\u00c2\u00a0 Ten minutes out of the gate it gets steep.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Steep moves to steeper and then to even steeper, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re using our hands now and there are some places where we are having to pull ourselves up by our hands.\u00c2\u00a0 We are climbing now!\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We all make it up the wall and take a good rest on top.\u00c2\u00a0 Tomorrow we are off to Barafu Camp (15,000ft.).
\n
\nDay 9<\/strong>:\u00c2\u00a0 Technically, it is still day 7.\u00c2\u00a0 11PM!\u00c2\u00a0 Who wakes up<\/em> at 11pm?\u00c2\u00a0 We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got one hour before we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re walking.\u00c2\u00a0 Get dressed, eat, go to the bathroom and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget to breathe.\u00c2\u00a0 It is go time.\u00c2\u00a0 The stars are phenomenal.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 There is an excited nervousness in the air as folks are ready to get
\nThe first hour is a blur.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Our head lamps light the trail ablaze and it is one foot in front of the next.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 All the preparation and planning has come down to this. The climbing is steep and the possibility of turning around becomes real. As we get higher and the morning draws in it gets colder.\u00c2\u00a0 It will get so cold that we will be wearing our down jackets to hike in.\u00c2\u00a0 After six hours of climbing the sun starts to peak out along the horizon.\u00c2\u00a0 The morning light energizes everyone and the crater rim is within site.\u00c2\u00a0 The team collects on the crater rim\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 now it is time to go to Uhuru (the true summit).\u00c2\u00a0 This 45 minutes walk will feel like the longest of some people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives.
\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to say the descent is easy, but you have to work to get down hill too\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 From high camp up to the summit and all the way back down to Mweka camp!\u00c2\u00a0 A long day and some tired bodies at camps but the big smiles show how hard work pays off! Nice work everybody!
\nDay 10<\/strong>: Out to the gate and into the jeeps and time for another Keys burger in Moshi. After a shower and lunch it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s off for some shopping and afternoon wandering. Tomorrow we set out On the Safari.
\nDay 11<\/strong>: We stage out of Arusha for our Safari, but not before we have a five star lunch at the Arusha Hotel which was referred to as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the best lunch I have ever eaten in my life\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by one of the climbers.\u00c2\u00a0 After eating, it is off to the airport for our flight onto the Serengeti.\u00c2\u00a0 Not an hour after landing in the preserve can we see giraffes, elephants and lions! Another world class dinner and a nice shower \u00e2\u20ac\u201c yup these huts have showers! No wandering around camp after dark!
\nDay 12<\/strong>: We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re off to the Ndutu wilderness camp, but not before we see wildebeests, hyenas, zebras, baboons, leopards, jackals, impalas,
\nDay 13<\/strong>: We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll check out a Massai Village and the Ngorongoro crater today. Words can barely describe the wildlife in the crater \u00e2\u20ac\u201c what a place! Keep your eyes out for the hawks at lunch \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they like sandwiches!
\nDay 14<\/strong>: It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a buffet in the morning and then three and half hours back to Arusha.\u00c2\u00a0 We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll stop along the way to shop for souvenirs before a nice lunch at the Arusha Hotel.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 When we finish up it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to shuffle the weight in your duffel bags and send out any last minute emails to family eagerly awaiting your return before boarding your transfer plane to JRO for the evening flight to Amsterdam. .
\nDay 15<\/strong>: Back home, tired and proud.<\/p>\n
Eben Reckord\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
March 1, 2010 We sent IMG Guide Eben Reckord to Africa to lead our January and February Kilimanjaro climbs. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a look at a Kili climb and Safari from his point of view: Day 1: Kiss the kids goodbye and turn off the Blackberry! Day 2:\u00c2\u00a0 Arrival in Africa!\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, the heat!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Did my bags […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[92],"class_list":["post-223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kilimanjaro","tag-snow-anchors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mountainguides.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}