Kilimanjaro Expedition Dispatch
March 8, 2008 – Making our way to High Camp
Today is the 8th of March and I am calling your from Karanga Camp at 13,900 feet. I am currently looking up at the gleaming white glaciers on the southeastern plank of Kilimanjaro. We are organizing for the day today, getting ready to climb up to a very important camp for this summit team. Our high camp, on the way to the crater rim of Kilimanjaro where we will spend the night tomorrow in the crater at about 16,000 feet. At high camp there is no water source so right now as I speak, the porters are packing up the big jugs of water that we will carry up to this dry camp which we plan to drink and to prepare our meals with.
The team is enjoying the sun today. Those butterflies in the stomach I mentioned yesterday are probably even more pronounced today as we know our summit attempt is getting closer.
We just did what we call our ‘sponsor banner fire drill’. When we have a beautiful spot like this and we want people back home, across Canada to know about it, especially those who have been supporting us - we get out all of our sponsor flags, stack our cameras on a rock and we start clicking away. We just did a great sponsor banner fire drill, and now the team is getting their packs ready and we’re going to start climbing for Kosovo.
One more thing I will have to mention which happened this morning is just before breakfast, Mark had a conversation with Joel from his room at the Arusha Hotel, where life seems pretty good. He says he feels very weak after his episode of clearing his lungs from altitude illness, but he is thinking of trying to play a round of golf today at Arusha’s golf course. He is also excited for the rest of his family members to arrive in Arusha, Pam, Dave and Michelle in a couple of day’s time. When we get off of the mountain, the family adventure will continue in northern Tanzania.
Right now I would say that as we climb high in this beautiful morning sunlight, this team’s payoff time is coming closer from months of planning and dreaming. I think there are going to do great. Please stay tuned as we give you reports from high camp, the crater rim, and from our camp on top of Kilimanjaro in the crater. Who knows? If we are lucky, from the very top of Kilimanjaro Uhuru Peak sometime in the next couple of days.