Arrival in Tanzania

After a long, grueling plane ride which seemed to last for days, we stepped off the plane in Ethiopia. Our lungs were immediately assaulted by the dry, dusty air, but it was morning, and cooler than expected. No fancy jetway for us, buses brought us to the airport building to wait for our connection to Tanzania. There were plenty of duty free and other shops to occupy our time, and plenty of smokers on hand to further assault our lungs and sinuses.

On the road again, and after a quick stopover in Mombasa, we flew to Kilimanjaro, a new airport in the middle of nowhere. It's between Moshi and Arusha, which are both nowhere so it really is in the middle.

Just before landing, we caught a peek at the top of the mountain, poking up above the clouds in perfectly clear air, with the snow gleaming brightly. The snows of Kilimanjaro of Hemingway fame.

We finally arrived at the climate controlled airport - its temperature controlled by the climate, a blistering 90 degrees and the only wind a dusty one. But we're standing at the foot of our goal, the majestic Kilimanjaro, now hidden by dust and clouds. We're assured that it hasn't been moved. An hour's drive over bumpy, dusty roads (even the pavement is dusty) and we finally arrived at the Springlands Hotel, our home for the next two nights.

The rooms are tiny, but adequate, and without air conditioning. It's about 90 degrees here also, so we're really missing the air con.

There are a lot of people coming and going from here. Some have already climbed the mountain, some are getting ready to go, and some are going on safari from here.

The good news is, you can't tell by just looking at people which ones have already climbed. We're not seeing any stunned, blank looks, or exhausted faces. Everyone is smiling, either from anticipation or from pride of their accomplishment.

After a buffet dinner, we all turned in early to try to stabilize in the new +9(FL) and +11(CA)time zone.

Day 1 - Springlands Hotel, Moshi

Mary Ann and Ryan were the first to make it to breakfast this morning, Tanya (today's birthday girl) and Stan were last. After breakfast, we sat in the courtyard and watched the various groups getting themselves together to begin their climb or safari. It was all pretty chaotic, but efficient.

When all was clear, we arranged for a driver to take us into Moshi. Upon our arrival in town, we were introduced to our guide (none of us can remember his name), who took us on a walk through the markets. Lots of fruits and vegetables, clothing and shoes. And a very interesting meat market. Every time I go into one of these meat markets in third world countries, I swear I'm going to become a vegetarian. There's nothing to compare to the multi-sensory experience of a meat market!

We made it back to our hotel in time for lunch, and a brief siesta. We spoke with some climbers who had just returned from the Machame route, the one we will be doing. The man we spoke to said it was not difficult, except for the night of the summit. But they all made it, "even the 57 year old" (gulp! most of us are at least that old, some of us a good deal more). Tanya and Stan talked to the 57 year old. He was pretty beat. They said he looked a lot older than 57. He probably looked 57 yesterday.

At 5 pm we met with our guide, Eli and his assistant Stanley. They told us what we needed to do tonight to prepare, what should go into our day packs and what should go into our duffle that the porters will carry for us. After dinner tonight, we hope to get a good night's sleep -- despite the heat -- to prepare for tomorrow. Then it's pole pole (slowly slowly) to the top!