Team Success on Kilimanjaro

Along with all of our great suc­cess­ful sum­mits in the North­west this sum­mer, Kil­i­man­jaro con­tin­ues to be a win­ner for our trekkers abroad! If you are a trekker look­ing for a trip of a life­time, we have teams join­ing us 9 months out of the year to stand on the sum­mit of the high­est peak in Africa. Groups are con­firmed through Feb­ru­ary of 2014 and many more options to come! Call us to find out how you can be a part of this unfor­get­table adven­ture and stand on the sum­mit like this team below:

“On July 19 our first three clients arrived and were greet­ed by Richard and Noël from our Moun­tain Mad­ness team on the ground in Tan­za­nia. They were then tak­en to Itikoni Pri­vate Camp and giv­en time to set­tle in. It was rain­ing, but warm in the mess tent thanks to heaters.

“The next morn­ing we were able to fit in a quick game dri­ve in Arusha Nation­al Park before the rest of the group arrived that evening. The remain­ing clients arrived the fol­low­ing day and despite a lost bag, had unevent­ful arrivals.

Break­ing Bread. Ben Mal­i­ty photo

“The next morn­ing we awoke at 8:30am and after a deli­cious break­fast start­ed our trip brief­ing. After a quick gear check and tasty lunch, every­one fin­ished pack­ing. We fin­ished in enough time to take a short hike to the waterfalls.

“The next morn­ing brought a 6:30am wake-up call with break­fast at 7:15am. We said good­bye to the camp staff and drove to the Lon­dorosi gate. It had rained dur­ing the night but as we were head­ing to the Lon­dorosi gate the skies were clear and sun­ny. Unfor­tu­nate­ly how­ev­er, Richard’s vehi­cle got a flat tire, not once but twice at two dif­fer­ent times so we had to stop and change them. After sign­ing in at the gate we drove to the trail­head and start­ed our trek. Every­one arrived at our first camp feel­ing good and ready for din­ner! The food pre­pared by the cooks was excel­lent and every­one agreed. To be able to offer our guests tra­di­tion­al food, such as Machalari, which is from the Chag­ga tribe, only served to enhance the experience.

Ben Mal­i­ty photo

“In the morn­ing we all woke up feel­ing good and we start­ed our hike at 8am head­ing to Shi­ra camp after a won­der­ful break­fast. On the way a cou­ple peo­ple felt a lit­tle nau­seous but by the time we arrived at camp and got ready for din­ner every­one was hap­py and feel­ing good. How­ev­er, in the fol­low­ing days as we made our way up the moun­tain, more than a few clients began to feel the effects of alti­tude with headaches and nau­sea. Despite not feel­ing great, every­one kept a good atti­tude and no one want­ed to give up. 

Up we go. Ben Mal­i­ty photo

“A cou­ple more days of work­ing our way up the moun­tain we were in posi­tion to head for the sum­mit. With a wake­up call of 4:00am we had a deli­cious break­fast and start­ed our hike to the sum­mit. With the num­ber of porters and guides that we have on this trip, it worked well for peo­ple to climb at their own pace. As it worked out, the entire group arrived at the top togeth­er and it was a great moment for every­one. After a cou­ple peo­ple feel­ing very sick ear­li­er on it was great to see every­one push through and reach the top of Africa at 19,340ft. After the sum­mit we all went down to Mwe­ka camp with a much need­ed lunch stop at Bara­fu camp. 

Suc­cess at the top of Africa. Ben Mal­i­ty photo

“That evening we all cel­e­brat­ed with singing, danc­ing and deli­cious food. This is also the last time the clients are with the porters and it was clear many strong con­nec­tions had been made over the course of this jour­ney. After the par­ty end­ed every­one was ready for bed. As is usu­al­ly true after a gru­el­ing day of climb­ing, we all had a good night sleep after the long descent from the sum­mit. The next morn­ing, many woke up feel­ing exhaust­ed and sore and ready to get off the moun­tain. After a short 3 hour hike down, we arrived at the gate. After sign­ing out we had lunch and then drove to the Moivaro Lodge which was eas­i­ly a favorite of the group. After get­ting set­tled in their rooms we all met before din­ner and talked about what they had just accom­plished and I gave every­one their Sum­mit cer­tifi­cates. For those who were then going on to the safari I gave a quick brief­ing about what the next cou­ple days would entail. For the oth­ers, it was time to say our goodbyes. 

“The next morn­ing, we depart­ed at 8:00am and head­ed to Ngoron­goro via Lake Man­yara Nation­al park. We went on a game dri­ve and saw many ani­mals includ­ing a group of ele­phants with lit­tle babies, which was a thrilling site for all of us! After­ward, we had lunch in the park and drove to the Ngoron­goro Crater. After a quick check-in, the camp man­ag­er took us to a place where we learned how the Maa­sai per­form the ​‘Meat Feast’ (Enkang oo-nkiri) as well as the mean­ing behind it. 

“The next morn­ing, the group head­ed out at 8:00am. We arrived at the crater and saw some lions and many ele­phants. We spent more time with the Maa­sai Boma and every­one got the chance to see what dai­ly life is like. All in all every­one felt very sat­is­fied both the cul­tur­al expe­ri­ence as well as the wild ani­mal view­ing. A lit­tle rest and relax­ation before head­ing to the air­port made for a won­der­ful con­clu­sion to an amaz­ing trip.”

- MM Guide, Ben­hadad Mality