Greetings from Arusha

We had a great flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro on KLM.  The KLM staff was great, but the Dutch are funny --when they translate something  into English almost all the sentences end in "of course", eg, please put seat back in the upright position for landing, of course, or please stow all hand luggage in the bin above the seat, of course. 

The Arusha Kili airport is something out of Casablanca---we landed there in a 777, but deplaned onto the tarmac.  The lines for immigration were long and disorganized, however, there was no line for customs so we just walked out the door marked nothing to declare---no paperwork, no disclosures, nothing.  We were met by our guide, Alpine Ascents, and we met the rest of the people in our group.  They are from the US, UK, and Sweden.   Two of the Swedes were actually Mexicans working in Sweden.  There are 3 medical doctors in our group.  One is a cardiac surgeon, one is a urological surgeon, and one is a plastic surgeon.  We joked that if the group had a heart attack, uninary tract problems, or needed a tummy tuck we were all set.  There are 17 total in our group, 15 climbers and 2 guides.  Our guides are a wonderful husband and wife  team named Don and Sara Carpenter from Victor, Idaho.  They own and run the American Avalanche Institute, are expert skiers, and have guided technical and non-technical climbs for many years. 

We were then taken to the Arusha Hotel, where we checked into a nice room. The room is just how you would imagine it in Africa, complete with mosquito net covering the bed.   We got a good nights sleep.

The next morning we met as a group for an orientation and logistics meeting. 

  

We did a full gear check.  The gear check is really importatnt because they have to make sure you are prepared for all conditions on the mountain so you stay safe. 

We learned in this meeting that our group of 17 people would have about 70 support people helping us on the mountain.  This staff includes porters to carry the gear, cooks, a toilet tent crew, tent crew, and assistant guides.  We are about to leave the hotel for the trailhead.  We will not have access to the internet for the next 7 days. 

Follow us on the guide's cyber cast at  http://www.alpineascents.com/kilimanjaro-cybercast.asp
Below the header picture, click on "Summer 2012 roster", go to Team 7.  Be sure to find team 7 as there are 2 Alpine Ascents teams on the mountain.  You may be able to follow us on Google Earth via the link the website provides.

Our guides main priorities are safety on the mountain, a great experience for  all, and a successful summit if possible. 

Acunamatata means all is well!  We will post again when we  return off the mountain.  We encourage you to post comments here on the blog. It makes it feel like you are here with us.