Day 1: The Journey begins to 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!

UPDATE FROM THE GROUP

“Day One”

We are in Tanzania! I, Gary from Maryland, came from Baltimore-Washington International to Boston Logan airport to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. Met up with Michael and Tammy from Tennessee in Amsterdam. What a ride! It went very smoothly and that was great. When we arrived in Tanzania, I thought my first name was “tip“. That is those who were handling our bags were quick to have a hand out.😆 We got a bit taken…but it’s all good! We met up with Matt who came in from Switzerland. The country is really beautiful, even at night you can tell. When we got into the van, Chris, our driver was wonderful. Friendly with a smile and ready to answer any question. We had about an hour ride from the airport, and driving on the left side of the road, we ran into a lot of cargo vans who were in front of us. Chris was clearly comfortable weaving back-and-forth to pass the traffic. But, we were a little frightened. L O L. It was like a perpetual game of chicken weaving in and out of the traffic. But we made it! And getting to the hotel with everyone ….called Mount Meru in Arusha, everyone could not have been more accommodating and friendly. It did take us by a little surprise when a guy went around the van with a stick that had a mirror on the end. When we said, what are you doing? He said he was checking for explosives. That was both disturbing and comforting! lol. We got into the hotel, tired, and ready to eat something. Which we did in the food in the grace with which it was delivered was great. When you’re in another country, your antenna is up, trying to figure out what the cultural norms are. To tip or not to tip?Lol. We did get to eat….good food….went to bed and woke up to an incredibly beautiful day. A soft breeze on the patio, where there was a breakfast spread that was so full. Grateful, and we are ready to continue our adjustment, and get oriented to what we can expect for the climb. Later this afternoon, our guides will check the things that we brought and make sure that we have the right things. We will put things in our day pack for the first part of the climb first day. And we will put the other things in a duffel bag which the porters will carry, and we will be exchanging things from our day pack to the duffel bag, all along the climb. Here’s the one thing that we have been told we need to do : listen to the guides! We did hear a story this morning about one of the last groups that just left having to be medovac’ed out after the first two days. A bit sobering. 😆This will be a test mentally and physically and a spiritual growth experience and opportunity! ☺️😀 Thankfully she is okay. This is really exciting!! Grateful for this adventure.

~ Pete Hiskey