Up at 4 am for an early departure to Mt. Kilimanjaro airport. We saw Kili for the first time, as we flew into Tanzania from Nairobi--wonderful feeling after all this pre-climb activity to finally see the snows of Kilimanjaro! Martina joined us and is as psyched as we are to start the climb. She was in Kenya a week ahead of us for her Save the Rhinos campaign.
We had to drive for 2 hours from the airport to the base of the mountain. The roads were very good until the final climb to our hotel. Since it was Sunday morning, we saw many people walking home from church. Sights included: Maasi warriors--tall and elegant, red blankets draping them, often with their spears or long sticks. The woman wore long, hooped earings. Almost every van that was driven by locals, was packed, with people hanging on the sides or riding on the top and somehow hanging on. We saw hugh termite hills in the red clay soil.
Food is great--spicy and delicious. We had an African stew last night, and beef strongoff today for lunch. The hotel is beautiful--has a waterfall, a pool and lots of stone and wood.
We get our kit inspection tonight, go to bed early (we are really low on sleep!) and start out tomorrow. We have a 2 hour drive to the northern side of Kili and a half-day hike ahead of us.
I should be able to text to my blog from the mountain.
Happy Trails,
Linda and Dave
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