Kilimanjaro Expedition Dispatch
August 6, 2008 – Ian and Michelle Explore Ecosystems of Kilimanjaro
Jambo from Mt. Kilimanjaro! Our guides Julius and Robert are great! We spent the first two days in Arusha doing some acclimatization hikes. Julius was a ranger on Mt. Kilimanjaro before becoming a guide and has hiked the mountain 338 times. We can’t think of two better people to lead us up the mountain. In addition to the guides there is a crew of about 20 people helping us. We have cooks, porters and even a waiter! We’re not used to camping and hiking this way but I can definitely get used to it!
Wednesday morning we got our first glimpse of Kilimanjaro. We couldn’t do a dispatch yesterday because we were in a remote camp near the border of Kenya but we hope that you had a great birthday Dan and sorry we weren’t home to celebrate with you.
We have also slowing been learning Swahili so that we can communicate with the porters.
View of moorland and Mawenzi volcano
Jambo, this is Ian! After the ride to the rendezvous we spent the first night at the snow capped cottages. BAI had us stay in a small cottage instead of a tent which was really nice. On Tuesday we hiked through the two different ecosystems of Kilimanjaro, the rainforest and the moorlands. During our hike in the rainforest we saw a baboon, African buffalo and several monkeys. We also stayed Tuesday night at Simba Camp and there were a lot of other hikers from all over the world.
We have our own mess tent and the food has been delicious! BAI is the best organized and equipped guide company. Julius has been taking our oxygen levels and heart rates each day to make sure that we are healthy.
This is Michelle again! We had a long day of hiking today. The terrain changed from the moorlands to the alpine ground. We stopped to eat lunch in trees that were formed by lava flow. Every night that we came into camp we were greeted by the songs. Everyone is really fun and cheering us on. Tonight we are staying at Kielewa Cave Camp at the base of Mt. Mawenzi.
Lala Salama, good night