Rob and Darrell arm in arm on Kilimanjaro

February 26, 2006 – Polka with New Tanzanian Friends

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Hodson prepares the teams lunchIt’s Sunday the 26th and the Feed Nova Scotia team has already reached the Shira Plateau on Kilimanjaro.  It may surprise you to know that Kilimanjaro is actually comprised of 3 volcanoes, Shira being the oldest one and it’s now long collapsed.  But the team has already climbed up to a level of 11,500 ft (3500m). 

I’m looking above me at the main summit of Kilimanjaro and that is Kibo and it rises up to 19,000 ft (5790m) and even higher above us.  The team has not seen much of it because of cloud.  We finally saw Kibo through a part in the clouds, we had rain last night but today we’ve walked in relatively dry weather but cloudy weather and we appreciated the moisture because it has been very dry in Northern Tanzania this February.  Now I’m looking up and seeing the clouds part and I see a lot of new snow on Kibo.  It’s an alluring sight as we look up and see our goal but it’s also quite far away.

The team trekked very well today, just getting their feet under them after their first full day on the mountain.  At the end of the long day all of the porters and guides ran back and greeted them.  I think they were quite surprised to hear the beautiful voices singing in the distance as they got closer and then they heard the words Jambo, Jambo Bwana and they had a very warm welcome to the Shira Camp.

Preparing a big lunch for a hungry teamBabu, or Frank, is an old Polka dancer from the prairies of Alberta and he’s quite well known is Nova Scotia for his dancing abilities. He quickly joined in along with Leila and some of the others as his new Tanzanian friends showed him how they like to dance and have a good time here at 11,500 feet on Kilimanjaro.

The team has a long climb ahead; it’s going to be hard.  But with the humor, spirit and determination they have and especially with the fellowship of such a great crew we have with our Tanzanian staff, I can tell this team is going to do great.  We look forward to reporting to you every day as we cross first from the West towards the Southeast part of the mountain and ultimately climb all the way up to the top of Kibo.

All Text, Images and Audio Files © Berg Adventures International 2006