|
Our trek started after lunch at 7752ft at the trailhead and we would spend the night at Forest Camp at 9,222ft. The half day hike would be a warm-up for the more strenuous days to come and would let the Kiliwarriors understand our abilities. The afternoon took us through montagne forest and mild elevation […] The Landcruisers came to a stop around noon at a wide part of the road, deep in the rain forest. Faraja, the 2nd guide, met us with his trademark smile, wider than the Serengeti, and told us to put on our gaiters, grab our packs and follow him down the road. The singing in the […] We met early for breakfast on Tuesday morning, loaded the jeeps, and drove off toward the mountain. There were several stops…first to buy water, and next at the entrance to Kilimanjaro Park to register. We had to show passports and sign in with Kiliwarriors. It is mandatory that you climb the mountain with licensed guides/porters. […] We had the rest of our day to ourselves. George, Trish and I tried to walk out from the hotel into town but we were descended on by local kids, selling things and asking for money. I’ve been in plenty of developing countries and this goes with the territory, but here it was the most […] A good night’s sleep took me to morning. I had a view of Mt. Meru out my window. I wandered downstairs to find that we were in a beautiful hotel. The lobby had rich leather couches and chairs in small, interconnected sitting rooms. There were lush gardens outside. The breakfast buffet was impressive. It was […] The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful. It was also uncomfortable. KLM had the least legroom of any large plane I’d ever been on. But no matter. Traveling with a backpack as carryon luggage is wonderful. Wearing hiking boots and safari pants is even better. Much better than wearing a suit and taking a briefcase. […] Saturday September 1, and the trip begins. I remembered it was my mother’s birthday; she would have understood the adventure and been thrilled to hear every detail about it. She had taken a trip, on her own, to Hawaii back in the 1940s. Her diary is in one of the trunks at home. Good reading. […] Ok, so this is nothing to do with Kilimanjaro. But the annual trip to Corolla, NC was awesome like usual. Weather was great. I got in a few mad-dogs-and-Englishmen runs in the middle of the day for training, and tried out my new Mojito muddler in the evenings. Made octodogs for lunch the last day […] This may be old stuff to you guys, but I wasn’t clear on how tipping our guides and assorted crew is supposed to work. So I asked Carol at Kiliwarriors for more info. I thought I’d post her reply here, in case anyone else wants to know: Hi Tricia – I hope you are […] First, all our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Rick Brown, part of our original trek group, who reinjured his knee while training for the trip in Colorado. I’ve enjoyed getting to know Rick through this site. He even found a clock that runs on Swahili time (link is elsewhere on the site, I […] |