Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011
First Cave, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa

 
The 2011 Ascent for Alzheimer’s team members have had more glimpses of the locals today – the local wildlife that is! Team guide Sue Oakey talked of monkey sightings en route to tonight’s camp.

“We had a wonderful view of the Colobus monkeys in the forest, coming up through the big trees. They were soaring through the trees with their big, long, black and white fur flowing and playing with each other. It was really cool.”

Today’s team spokesperson was Anjulie Latta. “It’s really an experience unlike any we’ve ever had,” she explains. “Very slow, pole pole [African for slow] today. We met some other climbers along the route, and we met all of our porters and our team and our cooks. Everyone was smiling and happy and willing to help us, and it’s wonderful.”

Anjulie said the team had a great talk with Seamus at the Marangu Hotel last night in prep for today’s start. “He talked about the good [things to come], and he talked about what we could potentially be feeling as we get higher up in altitude and what to be prepared for. Sue has reassured us all that we’ve trained well and we’re moving at the right pace. So right now everyone’s feeling really good, but we still have a long way to go,” she explained. 

“We have a clear view of Mawenzi,” Sue said of the weather conditions on the mountain today. “It’s a little bit overcast on one side, but there’s a clear view on the other.” The weather report for Mt. Kilimanjaro over the next few days looks to be a mix of partial sunshine with a shower in places and a chance of snow at higher elevations (5,000m) on Thursday and Friday nights.

The Ascent team will hike Mt. Kilimanjaro via the Rongai route. They will ascend the mountain from the northeastern side along the border between Tanzania and Kenya, which offers a sense of unspoiled wilderness.
 
The next call home from the team is scheduled for Friday after they settle in for the evening.