10-23-17

Day 1: Mount Kilimanjaro hike! (10/23/17)

Meet Team PolePole :-)

Max (Sydney, Australia), Jagadish (Anne Arbor, Michigan), Bob & I (Phoenix, AZ) and David (Washington DC). We are ready & excited about our adventure together...let's go!

1st we present evidence that our shoes started out clean. It only took a 1/2 day for our shoes to be covered in mud & soaking wet. :-/

We loaded up our crew & bags on this bus & drove 2 hours to Kilimanjaro Park.

Along the drive we saw 2 herds of zebra! We were all excited...our 1st wildlife in Africa and it's zebras (love them!). We stopped, watched & took some pics.

Arrival at Kilimanjaro Park to register all hikers.

This is also where they weigh all of the porter's bags. Maximum weight 40 lbs or they start throwing items out.

It was actually interesting to watch the process of requirements for all mountain tour companies.

While porters & officials were working out the bags Simon (our cook) surprised us with an amazing lunch nearby. Wow!! So yummy!

Another 30 minute drive after lunch & we arrived at the trailhead. Unloading the bags in rain. :-(

Taking shelter from the rain while we get geared up.

Max, Bob, David & Jagadish - my guys are all smiles.

The fearless five ready to march in the rain...

Off we go!

It's wet alright.

And pretty steep too.

Us with our head guide, Raymond.

Day 1 hiking was all in rain forest.

It was gorgeous! And wet...much like a rain forest. LOL.

Our spirits were not dampened (yet). It felt good to be hiking and we were taking it all in.

From the beginning of our hike we were in awe of our porters!! And as our week unfolds our admiration for their strength, hard work, kindness & good spirits only got stronger. Truly impressive how they carried these heavy loads on their head & back!

We certainly had tough conditions right out of the gate!

More on our rainy Day 1 tomorrow...