Day 1: 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

It’s our first day in-country for some of us as we start gathering for the trek up Kilimanjaro.  Which reminds me…what do you call a Zania that’s off-brown in color?

A Tan Zania

Or, if you want to think of the country we’re in…Tanzania.  Look, it’s also Fathers Day today and as a father of 3, I can’t pass up the chance to start with a Dad joke no matter how lame it is.  I can hear my kids groaning from 8 time zones away.

Today, Sunday, is supposed to be the gathering day with tomorrow spent getting to know one another, doing gear checks & getting final briefings before starting the hike on Tuesday.  But, while some were arriving, we were also getting updates on 8 fellow trekkers (half of our group!) that are experiencing travel delays.  A family group of 7 traveling together are working hard to get here late Monday night which leaves them little time before turning around and getting in the van to head to the base of Kilimanjaro on Tuesday morning.  Please keep them in your prayers.  The 8th person, Kally Huffty, looks like she’ll be here tomorrow morning giving her 1 full day to get rested & ready.

Of the group that is here already, there is a mix of excitement, anticipation and a sense of “what’s next and what have I signed up for”.  Kind of like life.  And like our lives, we’ll do this one step at a time and we’ll do it using some of the words we’ll hear a lot in the coming days:  Pamoja, Pamoja. Together, Together

Mark Towler