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Trip reports from our trip leader Richard

Moshi, Tanzania, January 16, 2007

Moshi and Mt. Meru Report

Jambo from Tanzania in East Africa where we landed on January 9th after flights on Northwest and KLM through Minneapolis and Amsterdam. The airport here is called the Kilimanjaro Airport and is west of the famous mountain between the towns of Arusha and Moshi. This is the only mountain that has its own airport! It's an eight hour flight down from Amsterdam across the Alps then Italy, Libya and Sudan. For several hours we saw nothing but a brown, barren land below with no signs of life as we crossed the Sahara. We landed at 9:00PM and got through the small terminal quickly and to our relief all our baggage showed up too. Outside we found a driver from Shah Tours holding up a sign with my name on it. Piling into the small bus we headed east to Moshi on dark highways with lots of speed bumps. It was warm and humid, a real contrast to our home and the snow-covered landscapes of the northern U.S. We are staying at the Mountain Inn about 3 miles south of Moshi. It is a pleasant, small hotel nestled on the green slopes of Kilimanjaro along the main road to Dar es Salaam. After a welcome rest we went into town and paid our remaining fee to Shah Tours. A young lady at Shah took our Traveler's Checks and explained details of our two peak climbs. Then we hunted up a cell phone shop and after some false starts got my cellphone set up with a new SIM card for the local service called Vodacom.

We have made good use of the phone for calls back to the states which cost only 400 Shillings (32 cents) per minute. I later found out the battery on my phone is bad so we weren't able to call from the mountain huts. I got two new Flying Horse batteries (I've never heard of this brand!!) so I hope we will be able to call from Kilimanjaro camps. Our climb of Mt. Meru went quite well with five of seven of us making the summit. This peak is in Arusha National Park and we saw lots of animals soon after entering the park. Giraffes, zebras, cape buffalo and wart hogs were grazing in a field off the road. There are no predators in this park. Later we saw baboons and colobus monkeys on the trail. This is in contrast to Kilimanjaro which I have heard has no animals on most routes.

We hiked for four hours up to the Miriakamba Hut with a Park Ranger who had an old rifle. The danger seems slight, but the park wants an armed Ranger with each group up to the second Saddle Hut. We stayed one night at Miriakamba which has three large huts with 24 bunks in each. There is also a large dining hut and other buildings where the porters stay and a kitchen hut. Climbing Meru before doing Kili is more popular now so there are a handful of climbers doing the peak each day. It was a good hike on a fine trail up 3000 ft. to the Saddle Hut, so-called because it rests in a saddle between Meru and Little Meru, a 12,500 ft. peak close by. I rested, but five of our group hiked for 45 minutes up to this summit. Clouds build up after about 10:00 AM each day covering most of the summit. 

We wanted to start the next day at 1:00AM, but at 12:30 as were were preparing it started to rain. We went back to bed and it rained heavy at times until 3:30 and then cleared. We got off at 4:00 AM hiking with headlamps. The trail is well established for the first few miles then after crossing over a minor bump called Rhino Point we descended 250 ft. then had to cross a sloping rock face. Tricking footing in the dark and not easy to follow the route which consisted of green paint dabs on the rock. Good thing the guide knew where to go! At 5:00 AM the first glow appeared and the silhouette of Kilimanjaro about 50 miles away was fabulous. Star gazing was amazing along the way with the Southern Cross, Jupiter and Antares showing. To the north the Big Dipper was pointing down. We were too far south to see Polaris. Following the curving ridge which is the edge of the blown out caldera we had a steep scramble up to the top with metal flag post. We made it at about 8:30 AM. Two German fellows showed up at about the same time so we took photos of each other. There is a sign "Socialist Peak" and we all piled around it. This dates from the past when Tanzania flirted with communism. We sign a huge register book too and then headed down with clouds now covering our views. 

Moshi, Tanzania, January 23, 2007

Kilimanjaro Climb

Jambo from Moshi!  We returned from a successful six-day trip climbing Kilimanjaro via the Rongai Route. Our trip began with a bus ride anti-clockwise around the eastern part of the mountain. It was a long, bumpy ride over poor roads, but there is hope for improvement since we saw heavy machinery grading the road and they may even pave it. There were sunflowers planted and we had good views of the mountain over the yellow blooms. Lots of bananas are grown on the fertile slopes and we saw many of the Chaaga people carrying goods on their heads along the road. Women balance a big bunch of bananas with great skill.

Arriving at the shanty town of Naremaru our driver turns left though a very narrow lane and we park by a grassy area. Children come up saying "Hello chocolate", but we don't have any to offer. The porters load up our gear and we hike a short way to a ranger hut and sign a log book. Then it's off on a good path through cultivated fields. There are small pines with branches cut off up to eight feet in rows with corn planted beneath. Then between the corn are either beans or potatoes. Some people are tending the crops and the work appears to be all done by hand.

Our first camp is at Simba at 8690 feet. There is a ranger here and we sign another book. Looking at the register I can see that many people are doing this route with hundreds of name from many countries since September. Soon after we settle into our tents a heavy rain starts for an hour. This would be the pattern each day with rain and fog each afternoon and clear star-filled nights.

I had a big two-person dome tent to myself. Several others brought their own tents and after the first demonstration the porters set them up each day. We are a big group and supporting the seven of us are a head guide, two assistant guides, a cook and fourteen porters! We never had it so good on a camping trip. We have prepared meals in a large tent and they have brought a plastic table and small chairs. Porters sleep in the dining tent after we are done eating.

The second day we hike up to Third Cave camp at 12,900 feet on excellent trails. We stay here two nights to help with acclimatization. It is a bit trashy with small pieces of litter all around. In the mornings we are treated to a fantastic view of Kilimanjaro which is close now. We are looking at the north side opposite to most photos of the peak. We do a short hike up toward the old Outward Bound hut which isn't used much now.

Two British sisters from Kent camp near us and are the only other hikers we see. The terrain is barren with little plant life. It is OK, but not as interesting as the route on the other side. Each day it is cloudy and foggy too with some rain. The fourth day we hike up to Kibo hut at 15,460 feet and here we encounter the mobs of climbers coming up the popular Marangu route. There is a large stone building with sixty bunks, but we camp outside the same as at the other campsites. There is a large group from Nebraska with nine blue tents and as we relax many more people straggle in at a slow pace. The view southeast is across a vast, barren plain to Mawenzi peak which is over 16,000 feet. This is a rugged peak seldom climbed because of rotten rock and technical difficulties.

We discuss the ascent with Augustine our head guide. He wants us to start very early at midnight, but based on Shelley's previous experience we decide on 12:30 and Shelley and I will leave at 1:00 AM. Gail is not feeling well and throws up in the afternoon and decides she won't try the peak. We have an early dinner at 4:30 and try to sleep some, but others start stirring at 10:00 and I hear a wakeup call at 11:00 for the Nebraska group.

Many of us took Diamox and it is a diuretic. I have to head to the toilets which are the squat type over a cliff edge. As I enter at 12:30 another fellow rushes into an adjacent stall gets in his knees and throws up forcefully. It doesn't sound good and I hope it isn't one of our group. Turns out he is from another group. Heading out with assistant guide Asantile at 1:00 AM Shelley and I make good progress up the sandy trail.We soon catch the other four and learn that Edward is throwing up too and will soon turn back. Too bad as Edward is our youngest member and a strong hiker with lots of previous higher ascents. We regroup and head up in the darkness with headlamps showing the path. Many small lights are visisble up ahead which are the many others that started early. We climb steadily and pass many of the others. It is cold and tought to keep the hands warm. Even with chemical toe warmers my toes are cold, but they are a help.

We have almost 4000 feet to get to the rim at Gilman's Point which we reach at 5:00. We have done well and take a break there by a prominent sign. Then we proceed on a snow-packed trail over to Uhuru Point the highest place. At 6:00 we see a read glow in the east that is showing the sun will soon be up. Along the way there are other climbers coming up from the Machame Route, joining us at Stella Point. There it is, we reach the top at 6:30. It is damn cold and difficult to take pictures by the famous sign. We take turns with other climbers. The views are fantastic with Mt. Meru to the west and lights way below. We head back. Four of us have made it out of our group of seven. John Strauch makes it to Gilman's which is good for a certificate from the park.

With the sun out it is a nice hike down and no longer a problem keeping hands and feet warm. We get down to Kibo by about 9:30 and have a snack and rest for an hour before going down. It is another five miles or so down to Horombo Huts. We can't stay at Kibo because there is no water. Horombo is another busy place with many A-frame huts. We set up to s\the side near a small A-frame building with four toilets. What do you know, one stall has an actual sit-down toilet which works!

January 31, 2007

Hello from Arusha, Tanzania

This is our last day after eight days of bouncing around in our Toyota Lan Cruiser in four of Tanzania's national parks. First we visited Lake Manyara National Park.  This park is right at the base of the Great Rift that runs from Jordan down to South Africa for 6,500 miles.  Our first view of many animals including baboons, elephants and giraffes. After a night at a luxury tent camp, on to Serengeti National Park.  All the parks are immaculate and very lush.  We saw huge herds of zebra, wildebeest, and various antelope on the plains of the Serengeti. Quite amazing! Then we backtracked to the Ngorongoro Crater where we stayed in a fancy lodge on the east rim at 7800 ft. The large crater is home to 20,000+ animals that don't migrate. We drove down into the crater one day and toured around... helping two other vehicles get out of the mud as well as seeing lions, antelope and rhinos in the distance.

From Ngorongoro we went south to Tarangire Park which is lower and hotter. The Sopa lodge there was one of the nicest we stayed at. Not so many animals in this park, but they do have over 3500 elephants and many antelope. The scene is enchanced by the baobab tree, unlike anything we have in the states. It has a large trunk, maybe eight feet in diameter in some cases.  The meals at the lodges are very good and alternate with a buffet and a select choice of items. Beer of course is about twice the price in town. One has to be careful since we had a band of baboons come by our rooms. they were leaping on the roof and looking for anything to take. At the Serengeti entrance we had baboons climbing over the vehicle and then one got inside since the driver left his window down. The baboon quickly grabbed one of our box lunches and could have made more of a mess had we not chased it out.

We are leaving tonight on the one daily flight (KLM) that comes into the Kilimanjaro airport. We will got to Dar es Salaam, make a short stop then go on to Amsterdam, arriving in the morning. Most of our group will head home, but Gail and I will go to London for ten days of sightseeing. I expect to be home in San Diego late on February 11th.