Days on the Serengeti begin much like they end, surprisingly cool and surrounded by a mix of zebra and wildebeest. According to Swai, recent rains during the beginning of the dry season brought back some of the migrating Wildebeest, adding to the smaller in number sedentary populations. Our two main objectives for the day were…
Month: July 2012
Safari: Day 2 – Serengeti part 1
After a great introduction to a safari at Lake Manyara we jumped into what has to be the quintessential safari destination, the Serengeti. When first planning our trip to Tanzania we were looking at the three day safari as it was cheaper and easier to get the time off. Luckily Kate put her foot down…
Safari: Day 1- Lake Manyara
Now comes the easy part, sitting in a land cruiser for five days and finally seeing and appreciating Tanzania. So much of the trek up Kili was focused on being able to make it through the days without any problems from the hike or elevation that it was easy forget to relax and enjoy the…
Kilimanjaro: Day 7 – Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate
Done, off the list! We woke around 600 am, ate porridge (surprise), and hit the extremely muddy (rainy season was over?) trail. Day 7 was a short easy hike off the mountain. Getting closer to the gate we passed the stretcher/wheelbarrow that had been used earlier in the week for the individual with a broken…
Kilimanjaro: Day 6 – Barafu Camp to Uhuru (Summit) to Mweka Camp
Cold and dark. Our guide said the snow wouldn’t be on the trail and there would be no steep rocks to climb, he was trying to keep us from being nervous. We were the second group out of camp at 1140 pm which was nice to have the trail to ourselves. Day 6 is not…
Kilimanjaro: Day 5 – Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp
Barafu means ice in swahali, getting closer. Short hike today followed by lunch and a short nap before waking at 1100 pm tom get ready for the summit. Starting to think we might actually pull it off. We were getting closer, but knowing we would be climbing in a few hours was unnerving, but a…
Kilimanjaro: Day 4 – Barranco camp to Karanga Camp
Today we climbed the Barranco Wall. We could see the wall from camp and the trail that was going straight up the wall. Our guide told us the day before that the trail was steep, so at that point I was expecting vertical. We didn’t use poles today, since we needed our hands to climb…
Kilimanjaro: Day 3 – Shira Camp to Barranco Camp
Day 3 is the hike to Lava Tower. Today we climbed high and slept low to better acclimate ourselves. The lava tower is at 15,190 ft and Barranco Camp is at 13,044 ft. The information tells us to watch out for signs of altitude sickness today (we found them). The hike was fairly easy and…
Kilimanjaro: Day 2 – Machame Camp to Shira Camp
Day 2 starts for me with the same headache and nausea and clouds. We get to breakfast and it’s toast, porridge (like brown grits), and some form of eggs. The hike starts up rocky slopes. The hike was definitely more challenging today, but beautiful! The scenery changes as we move out of the rainforest into…
Kilimanjaro: Day 1 – Machame Gate to Machame Camp
The actual trip to get to Moshi took about three days. One day’s drive to New Jersey (Friday), Saturday from New York to Istanbul, Sunday toured Istanbul, and Monday get to Moshi. By the time we get to our hotel, we are pretty tired and jet lagged. We have the day to recover, which we…
emma jean jones 