Day 1: Arrival in Arusha, Tanzania

Today marks the beginning of an incredible journey! Everyone has arrived safely at Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. Similar to Mount Kilimanjaro, which comprises of three volcano cones, Mount Meru is also a dormant volcano and stands at 14,968 ft. Let’s hope our climbers have good weather on Mount Kilimanjaro because on a clear day, you can see Mount Meru from Mount Kilimanjaro which is 43 miles west! Keep an eye on this trip journal! We’ll be posting everyday from now until the end of the trip!!

JOURNAL ENTRY BY JOHNNY VRBA

1 Day, 12 hours, 13 minutes, and 10 seconds later we finally arrived at Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. The trip was separated by long connecting flights, lots of crying babies, and hours spent standing in customs lines...yet the obstacles of this travel day seemed to melt away as we caught our first glimpse of the coveted Mount Kilimanjaro. On the drive to the hotel we waved to the locals who lit up with huge smiles when we yelled “Hello” out the window. After settling in at the hotel we were greeted to a healthy buffet of fine food and desert which helped overpower the ache of 4 continuous airplane meals. We will get good rest tonight so we can bring joy and smiles to a local grade school tomorrow.