Keg Spirit Foundation Kilimanjaro Expedition Dispatch
August 8, 2010 – We Are Off!!
In about an hour, we leave our lovely base in Tanzania, the Arusha Coffee Lodge, for the two hour drive by Land Cruiser to the gates of Kilimanjaro National Park. We’ve been working towards this moment for many months; we’re excited and ready to go!!
We arrived to see our own custom
Keg Spirit Foundation sign at the Lemosho Glades.
The team has all arrived from many different directions, mostly through Amsterdam. The only member not yet with us is Jussi, who has somehow decided that arriving at the park gates by helicopter after travelling from London through Nairobi late last night was the way to go. What do they teach those people at Oxford?
In Arusha, we have been briefed and prepped by Wally, Leila and a few of their colleagues at Berg Adventures. I’ve known Wally and Leila for some time now, and as expected their great knowledge and professionalism has given us all great confidence as we face this challenge, and their warmth and humor has immediately endeared them to us all. We’ve only met a small fraction of the Berg Adventure crew who will be so key to our well being on Mount Kilimanjaro, and what an outstanding group of people they are!! The group could not possibly be more optimistic as we embark on what will be a truly monumental life experience.
With that, thank you all for following our progress with interest. Your support (both moral and otherwise) means a great deal to us as we set out in an effort to do our part to help The Keg Spirit Foundation carry on its good work.
You’ll hear from us tonight from Big Tree Camp after our first day of trekking and before we turn in and spend the first of eight nights in tents on Mount Kilimanjaro.
– By David Aisenstat
David Aisenstat on the plane from Nairobi to Arusha
Neil Aisenstat
Doug Smith
Hartley Richardson somehow looking fresh after a wild series of flights
Left: Lush vegetation at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro;
Right: We'll spend the night here at Big Tree Camp tonight