On Saturday, December 17th at 9 a.m., after two days of travel, we finally landed in Arusha, Tanzania at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Only one runway for outgoing and incoming flights so there was only one plane on the tarmac when we arrived, ours! We stepped off the plane and instantly felt welcomed by the warm sun and smiles of ground crew as they unloaded our luggage from the belly of the plane. It was large, an Airbus. With our first-class upgrade, we were well-rested and ready to start our adventure! We were greeted by our guide, Bridget, who directed us to a private waiting lounge until our friend Nick arrived an hour later on a different flight. Customs was quick and worry-free while we waited. They took us aside in a separate room with our passports and our East African Visas, verified our travel details, personal information and took digital pictures of our fingerprints, all of which was standard. Once Nick arrived we were all relieved to be together again and Bridget led us to our van to meet our driver and headed to our first lodge. It was about an hour drive but there was so much to see that it felt like hours. It was all new, to all of us. Goats roaming everywhere. People of all ages walking everywhere. Carrying everything on their backs, on their heads. Sounds and sights could keep a person busy for a lifetime! We turned down a dirt road (most roads except the main one were dirt) and soon arrived at our lodge for the night, Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge. It wasn’t in the mountains but it was nestled in a green, forested area that provided peeks of the surrounding peaks. We pulled up to a modest sign with a gate and unloaded our bags to head to reception and check in. It was magical (or maybe the jet lag, or both!) as we walked across a narrow brick bridge overlooking a lake surrounded by a lush forest. You could hear birds and insects everywhere. We would have to explore once we settled in. We climbed up a little stone path and entered the lodge grounds. Stunning, well-kept, manicured lawn sprawling across the property. We checked in at reception and were led to our Garden Rooms. By now it was almost 2pm and we were told to meet our Kilimanjaro guides for a briefing at 5pm and dinner shortly after so it was off to our rooms to nap off a little jet lag and shower for the first time in two days. We had an hour before we had to meet with our Kili guides (a separate tour group from our lodge) and so I wandered the grounds for a bit. Just off the beaten path from the Garden Rooms was a grove of trees full of monkeys, swinging from the tree tops. They were cute but not too curious and stayed a fair distance away while we took pictures and heard them “chatting” with each other. They seemed so human-like in so many ways. After dropping our bags off at reception, we were led to our private lunch spot, on the other side of the lake from where we arrived. Plates arranged around a petrified wood table, seated in a cozy rock ledge, we had better views for lunch than we ever could have imagined ~ it was hot, humid and beautiful! We met up with our Kilimanjaro guides at 5pm on the back patio of the Main House. These would be the people whom we would trust our lives with for seven days in a foreign country attempting to summit a mountain at 19,341 feet. The world’s tallest free-standing mountain. The tallest mountain on the continent of Africa. And then there were three. Meet Saidi, Michael and Alloys from Nale Moru. Their primary language was Swahili, but they knew enough English to communicate what was needed, for the most part. They smiled, shook our hands, and then got down to business spreading out a map of the mountain and explaining the route we would take in detail including weather, topography and distance. They said that one of the reasons they have such a high success rate in summitting is because of the slow speeds and careful attention to our bodies (mental and physical.) They explained that they would be taking our pulse oxygen readings each night before dinner and would attend to anything that could compromise continuing the hike. Each guide reviewed each of our gear bags in great detail, questioning our attention to warmth, weight and waterproof gear. I was thrown an extra rain poncho and an extra-large black North Face down jacket and was told I’d need them. I was skeptical but took them anyway. With no more room in my bags, the porters would have to carry them until they were needed. Not something I was used to back home in Colorado. Saidi, one of our two lead guides, said they would pick us up at 9 a.m. the next day and to be dressed and ready to go. And that we would. An hour later, they left and we got ready for dinner. What we thought would be our final proper meal until we finished our hike seven days later. The weather was beautiful as we sat out on the moon-lit patio for dinner that night. Malaria pills in hand, wine in our glasses and a traditional homecooked meal on our plates. We headed to our rooms, hoping to sleep well for our last night in a bed for seven days. I think most of us barely made it until 9pm, with our alarms set to 7am to ensure a final shower and breakfast before heading to the gate for pick up.
1 Comment
Elizabeth Harrelson
2/20/2023 11:38:52 am
That petrified table is amazing!
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