I'll be posting pictures of the climb and daily comments of our experience beginning June 2nd with our arrival in Mailisita which is in the foothills of Kilimanjaro.
Day 1 Sunday June 2
It's Sunday
night 6/2/13 and we've finally landed at Kilimanjaro airport. Overall the flights were good after a 2 hr.
delayed start in Chicago due to weather.
Five of us came together: Dan, Brian, Bill, Erika, and myself; with
Jonathan arriving tomorrow. Most of us
need to get our visas and then we can pick up our luggage and then we can find
our driver for the 45 min. ride to the Stella Maris Guesthouse in
Mailisita. We're all tired from the long
flight but excited to get to the guesthouse to see our friends and begin our
adventure.
I awoke early Monday morning and saw to my surprise the most clear view of Kilimanjaro that I've seen in 6 years coming here.
One could see the complete mountain range as well as the snow covered mt. top. This is the most snow they have had in a number of years so we should be in for an interesting climb.
Today was
scheduled as a recovery day but we decided to go into Moshi and pick out
paint colors and furniture for the cafe on the 3rd. floor plus hit the ATM for
Shillings for the week and pick up some last minute supplies.
We also spent some time over at the school and talking with the children. Many of them remembered us from last year and were surprised to learn that we were climbing this year. The workers were working on laying the first course of blocks in prep for our building next week.
We met with our main guide this evening and went over an orientation and equipment check in prep. for a 9:00 departure on Tuesday morning. We'll have around 18 porters, 3 guides and a cook supporting us during our trek so we'll be a fairly large group. We're all excited about our upcoming adventure and are anxious for it to begin. The rest of the group has turned in for the night and I'm about to as soon as this is posted.
Thanks to all of our families and friends who have supported us on this fantastic adventure. Please keep us and our support team in your prayers for a safe trek. I'll post updates as I have web access, so until then Asante Sana (thank you).
