Sean phoned to say that they’ve arrived at Karanga camp.  The group have settled in well.  Everyone is resting before dinner and possibly more sherry.  There are a few clouds in the sky but nothing serious.

“We’re at the top of Baranco wall and cruising. We had a tot of sherry last night so everyone is flying up the mountain! Erica didn’t eat her porridge this morning so she’s huffing and puffing. It’s nice and warm with great views”.

 ‘It’s a lovely clear morning.  We couldn’t climb this ‘hill’ without the Tanzanians- they served us bed tea at 6.30am. What a great start’.

Today’s climb involves ascending the great Baranco wall (which isn’t as bad as it looks). Thereafter the trail descends to Karanga valley and over gently sloped hills up to […]

From Sean: We’ve just had our first view of the mountain – it looks magnificent.  We’ve had lunch and are heading up.  The weather is clear and hot.

From Sean last night:  It’s been a great day.  Everyone is relishing the comfort of their goose down sleeping bags after 8 hours en route. Lunch was cucumber soup, chicken and chips and fruit – yum. We’re expecting rain tonight.

The walk today becomes steeper with fantastic views as they trek along narrow […]

Message from Sean last night that they had all arrived at the hotel in Kilimanjaro after a long day of travelling from Joburg to Kilimanjaro. 

Today, after breakfast and a short briefing about what the day entails – about what gear to wear, altitude etc, they’ll drive to Umbwe gate at 1800m.  The […]

The group departing this Saturday for Kilimanjaro consists of fourteen climbers, mostly from South Africa and four from the UK and Canada. They’ll be feeling excited and nervous about the climb.  A few in the group haven’t climbed to altitude before, but Sean will make sure the pace is slow and comfortable.  He also makes sure everyone eats […]

Sean phoned late last night to say yesterday was a magical day.  It had rained so hard (Sean called it ‘hard core rain’) from 11pm the previous night to 5.30am that morning that the rivers had swollen and were overflowing.  At one stage the crew thought that they may not make it home as the […]

Today, the group will descend to Nyabitaba which takes around five hours.  There is an option to overnight at Nyabitaba but our crew is pushing through all the way down to Nyakalenjiga.  Below Guy Yeoman, the route descends the cliffs of Kichuchu.  Beyond Kichuchu, the path crosses the Mubuku River twice before climbing upwards to Nyabitaba to complete the circuit. The descent […]

From Sean last night: We’re at Guy Yeoman hut, resting before tomorrow’s long nine hour trek back to the park gate.  We’re feeling great descending into lower altitude where there’s more oxygen in the air.  We’re  happy to be coming off the mountain and going home but there’s also a bit of sadness about leaving […]