Keg Spirit Foundation Kilimanjaro Expedition Dispatch

August 8, 2010 – Big Tree Camp: The Journey has begun!!

We departed the Arusha Coffee Lodge in a caravan of three Berg Adventure Land Cruisers before a drive of nearly three hours to the Landrossi Gate to register with the Tanzania Park Service. As we drove through the gate, the first thing I saw was the handsome, smiling face of Jussi – his plan worked; Oxford University is now back in our good books for teaching him well!

Once we registered, we exited the gate to drive up a somewhat sketchy road to the start of the Lemosho Route up the mountain. We managed to get there with only one flat tire and having to leave the road to let oncoming traffic pass by only twice. That was no small feat!!

When we arrived at the trailhead, we were greeted by a truly wonderful sight that none of us will ever forget! A group of about sixty guides and porters, all decked out in “Keg Spirit Foundation Kilimanjaro Climb” toques and caps, were joyfully singing and dancing to welcome us as we were about to begin our ascent of Kilimanjaro. The Swahili songs coupled with their exuberant dancing was absolutely fantastic. “Jambo Bwana” (“Welcome Big White Man”) was a highlight!!

When the celebration subsided, we had a lunch of fresh fruit and vegetables with all sorts of other treats laid out magnificently on a long, well decorated table. Then we set off up the mountain.

The climb was through a beautiful lush forest – at times quite steep; at times a gentle traverse. Although the total gain in altitude was just over 2,000 feet starting from 7,100 feet to a little over 9,200 feet, we covered a lot more up and down than that in valleys and in rolling trails. The team all faired well, and were once again greeted by our jubilant porters, cooks and guides with song and dance.

When we arrived, our camp was set up in a very comfortable manner indeed! There was a sea of yellow two man tents in the centre with our dining tent, cooking tent, and staff porters around the perimeter. The dining tent was set up for post-hike tea, popcorn, cookies and so on. Very civilized!!

Following tea, we got settled in our tents, got changed and generally took stock of the campsite environment which will in fact be our environment for the next eight nights. Charged up, changed out of our hiking gear and hungry, we then sat down to a first rate dinner of celery soup, salad, steak, fried potatoes and sautéed vegetables. The only thing missing were a few bottles of great red wine, but I guess that’s a non-starter on Kilimanjaro!

By the time dinner was over it was a bit past 9:30pm, just over twelve hours since we had left the Arusha Coffee Lodge. We all went to our tents, tired but unbelievably happy about Day One of our adventure.

Our tent was like the closing scene from The Waltons: “Goodnight, Hartley. Goodnight, David.” From the next tent we hear Leo asking Jussi if he planned to wear long johns during the night. Not so Waltons like…

Until tomorrow…stay tuned!

– By David Aisenstat