0100-Kilimanjaro
0101- British Airways
0102-DFW
Trip
to Africa
With
Barry and Royce Raven
Summary:
In the fall of 2000, Barry and I made a decision to travel to
Tanzania, Africa and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and go on a short
safari. We made all our reservations in February of 2001. We
departed DFW on 1 October 2001. We arrived in London on 2
October 2001 and took a bus and riverboat tour of London. We
departed London and arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on 3 October.
We took a taxi tour of Nairobi and then took a shuttle bus to
Arusha, Tanzania arriving late in the day. On 4 October we
checked in with our tour company, Predators Safari Club, and
drove to Kilimanjaro National Park and started our climb of
Kilimanjaro. We arrived on the summit of Kilimanjaro at 0630 on
the morning of 8 October 2001. We returned to Arusha and started
our three-day safari. We returned to DFW on 14 October 2001.
1
October 2001 Bridgeport
to London, England
Peggy
drove Barry and Royce to DFW for connection with British Airways
Flt 2192 to London. We boarded the flight on time at 3:35 PM.
The plane was a Boeing 777.
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0100-Kilimanjaro |
0101- British Airways |
0102-DFW |
2
October 2001 London,
England to Nairobi, Kenya
We arrived
in London at 6:30 AM. Since we had a 16-hour layover, we took the
Gatwick Express Train to Victoria Station. We then took the Big
Bus tour of London. The tour lasted from 9:30 AM until 5 PM.
The tour included a boat ride on the Thames River. After a snack
at Garfunkels we returned to Gatwick Airport via the Gatwick
Express. We left Gatwick at 10:25 PM on British Airways Flt 2069
for Nairobi, Kenya.
 0200- London Bridge |
 0201-Barry |
 0202- Parliament |
 0203-Big Ben |
 0204-Ferris Wheel |
 0205-Tower of London |
 0206- Westminster Abby |
 0207-Buckingham Palace Gate |
3
October 2001. Nairobi, Kenya
to Arusha, Tanzania
We arrived
at Nairobi JKIA Airport at 6:30 AM. We had an eight-hour layover
so we took a taxi tour of Nairobi. At 2 PM we departed Nairobi on
a Pallson's shuttle bus for Arusha, Tanzania. We arrived in
Arusha at 7 PM and were dropped off at our hotel, The Ilboru
Safari Lodge. The lodge was outstanding,
4
October 2001 Arusha
to Marangu Gate to Mandara Huts
After a
good nights sleep and breakfast at the lodge, we were taken to
the Predators Safari Club Office. Nabeela Khan briefed us
on our schedule for climbing Kilimanjaro. Our guide, Aloyce
Manyanga, was introduced and we were on our way to Kilimanjaro
National Park. On the way, we toured Arusha and Moshi arriving at
the Marangu Gate at 12:30 PM. We checked in at Reception and
started our hike on the Marangu Route to the Mandara Huts. The
hike was through the rain forest and we arrived at the huts at 4
PM. The distance was about 7.5 miles. The altitude change was
from 6100 feet to 9100 feet. Our hut was a dormitory style
building with three rooms. Each room had three bunk beds. The
beds had foam mattresses and pillows. Our roommates were from
Germany, Holland and Norway.
After
getting settled in our room tea was served. Visited with our
roommates before dinner and went to bed at 8:30 PM.
5
October 2001 Mandara
Huts to Horombo Huts
We checked
in at Reception and were assigned to a small hut # H-19 with
three bunk beds. Two guys from Australia were also assigned to
our hut. The men were a day ahead of us on the climb and
they were on the way down for Kilimanjaro. Mark Rigby and his
friend Dean gave us lots of insight to the rigors of the final
climb up the mountain.
Had tea at
2 PM and dinner at 5 PM. The dinner consisted of chicken, rice,
potatoes, and fruit. It was very good but they always provided
too much food. Went to bed at 8:45 PM.
 0501- Trekking |
 0502- Porter |
 0503Kilimanjaro |
 0504-Royce on Trail |
 0505- Horombo Huts |
 0506- Senecio Kilimanjari |
 0507- Horombo Arrival |
 0508- Horombo Huts |
 0509-Dining Hall |
 0510Kilmanjaro |
 0511- Mawenzi |
|
6
October 2001
Horombo Huts
This was
an acclimatization day. We got up at 6:30 AM for breakfast.
After breakfast we made pictures of the area, assembled our day
hike gear and started our hike at 8:30 AM. We hiked up to
Zebra Rock and on to the Mawenzi Saddle and back to camp,
arriving at 11:30 AM. The round trip distance was 6.9 miles
and an altitude change from 12,340 feet to 14,260 feet and back
to 12,340 feet.. Had a good afternoon nap. Had dinner with
three nice French ladies. Went to bed about 9 PM.
 0601-Day hike to Saddle |
 0602-Day hike to Saddle |
 0603-Day Hike |
 0604-Zebra Rock |
 0605-Royce |
 0606-Royce & Guide |
 0607- Kilimanjaro |
 0608- Mawenzi |
7
October 2001
Horombo Huts to Kibo Huts
Got up for
breakfast at 6:30 AM. Packed gear and started hiking to
Kibo Huts at 7:30 AM. The trek went through the moorlands past
the last water hole then across The Saddle and by Middle Red Hill
and Triplets Peaks. The Saddle is a broad desert zone between
Kibo and Mawenzi Peaks. We arrived at Kibo Huts at 12 PM. The
distance was 9.4 miles and an altitude change from 12,340 feet to
15,500 feet.
Checked in
at Reception and were assigned to Room 2 of the sleeping quarters.
Our roommates consisted of two Finish Ladies, a British couple,
two German ladies, one German man, and one Canadian man. One of
the German girls was very sick. Her friend took her back
down to lower altitude and we never saw them again.
We ate
dinner at 4:30 PM and went to bed at 6 PM. Slept very well and
got up at 11 PM. Put on all our cold weather clothes and secured
all the rest of our gear. We were ready to leave at midnight for
our assent to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
 0701-Korombo Huts Huts |
 0702-Heading to Kibo Huts |
 0703- Kilimanjaro |
 0704-Trail |
 0705-Trail to Kibo |
 0706-Kibo |
 0707-Barry at Kibo Huts |
 0708-Kibo Bunk House |
 0709- Dinner at Kibo |
|
8
October 2001
Kibo Huts to Gilman's Point to Uhuru Peak to Kibo Huts to Horombo
Huts
We
departed Kibo Huts at 12:10 AM on the final assault of the summit
of Kilimanjaro. The climb took us past Hans Meyers Cave and
Ratzel Glaciers edge arriving at Gilman's Point at 5 AM. We took
pictures and rested about 10 minutes and struck out for Uhuru
Peak. The sun came up 6 AM. We arrived at Uhuru Peak at 6:20AM.
The distance from Kibo Huts to Uhuru Peak is about 3.8 miles
almost straight up. The altitude change is 15,500 feet to 19,344
feet.
We took
pictures and rested about 15 minutes, then started our descent
back down the mountain. We arrived at Kibo Huts at 9:30 AM,
changed clothes, packed our gear and headed back to Horombo Huts
arriving at 12: PM. Took a nap and ate dinner at 6:30 PM. Went
to bed early and got a good nights sleep.
9
October 2001 Horombo
Huts to Marangu Gate to Arusha
Got up for
breakfast at 6:30 AM. Left Horombo Huts at 7:30 AM, stopped
at Mandara Huts for a coke and short rest. Continued on to
Marangu Gate arriving at 11:30 AM. Checked out at Reception,
received our Summit Certificates and departed the Kilimanjaro
National Park at 1 PM. Arrived back in Arusha at 4:30PM. Spent
the night at the beautiful Ilboru Safari Lodge.
10
October 2001 Arusha to
Tarangire National Park to Tamarind Tented Camp
Steven,
our guide for the safari, picked us up at 9 AM. We went to the
Predators Safari Club for a safari briefing. We sent e-mails from
the Internet Café, exchanged some money, picked up our lunch and
drove by Steven's house to pick up his suitcase. We drove through
Arusha to Tarangire National Park. This park offers wide
panoramas of open acacia woodland and grass savanna, where huge
herds of elephants (often two hundred strong) and other unique
residents, such as fringe-eared Oryx and lesser Kudu roam free.
We saw elephants, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, jackals, dick
dicks, lions, Oryx, waterbucks, and lots of monkeys. At our
lunch stop we saw some of our mountain climbing friends. They
were on safari with other companies. During lunch we saw a lion
stalking wildebeest but the lion never made a kill.
In the
late afternoon we left the park and drove a short distance to the
Tamarind Tented Camp. The camp is located in the bush on the
border of the Tarangire National Park. The camp consisted
of a dining tent, a kitchen tent and about 10 lodging tents. The
tents were scattered around in the bush. Our tent was on the
perimeter of the camp. In fact, we were the only two guests in
the camp. We cleaned up and went to dinner. Following
dinner I returned to camp with a Maasai guide. There were
elephants close to our tent and the Maasai scared them away from
the area. At about 11 PM Barry woke me up and we could hear
elephants walking by the tent. Barry shined a light on the big
bull elephant and he didn't like it. The elephant had three
companions that we could see. The big bull went to the next
tent and tore down the shower stand then came back to our tent
and tore down our shower stand. He was shaking our tent and it
sounded like he was going to rip our tent down. Gee, we were
scared but didn't know what to do. The bull elephant drank
the shower water and walked off. We didn't sleep much this
night.
11October
2001 Tamarind
Tented Camp to Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
We got up
at 6 AM and went to breakfast. We were told that the
elephants came to the camp kitchen area during the night and
tried to knock down the camp water tanks. The Maasai had to drive
them away. They assured us this had never happened before.
We left
the camp about 9 AM and drove to Lake Manyara. It was a 40-mile
drive on horrible dirt roads. The Lake Manyara Park is relative
small but contains a variety of habitat and diverse animals and
birds. The lake area is noted for its tree-climbing lions but we
didn't see any lions. Since we didn't get much sleep in the
tented camp we didn't stay in the park very long. We opted
to go to the next lodge and get some rest.
We drove
over about 20 more miles of bad roads before arriving at the
Ngorongoro Crater. The Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge is located on
the crater rim and that is where we were heading. The lodge over
looks the Ngorongoro Crater. We checked in at the Reception Desk
and went to our room. We then took a tour of the lodge. It
was one of the best lodges we had ever seen. We had a drink in
the bar, had dinner and retired for the night.
12
October 2001 Ngorongoro
Sopa Lodge to Crater to Kirurumu Luxury Tented Lodge
We got up
early, had breakfast and started our tour of the crater. This
oval shape 180-sq.mile and 2000 ft deep crater is a repository of
Africa's finest wildlife. All the big five (Lions, Elephants,
Leopards, Rhinos, and Giraffes) are present living a privileged
existence on the crater floor. We saw all the animals except a
leopard. We had a full day tour of the crater, which included a
box lunch at an animal watering hole.
We were
taken to the Kirurumu Luxury Tented Lodge for an overnight stay.
The lodge had permanent tents setup overlooking Lake Manyara.
The food at the lodge was the best we had on the trip.
13
October 2001
Kirurumu Tented Lodge to Arusha to Nairobi to London
This
morning we returned to Arusha in time to board the Pallson
Shuttle Bus for our trip to Nairobi JKIA Airport. We arrived at
the airport at 6:30 PM and boarded the British Airways Flt 2068
at 10:25 PM.
 1301-Back to Arusha |
 1302- Village |
 1303-New Construction |
 1304-Barry at Lunch |
 1305- Jacarand Trees |
 1306-To Nairobi |
 1307- Garage |
 1308-Going Home |
14
October 2001
London to DFW to Bridgeport
We boarded
British Airways Flt 2193 at 9:45 AM and arrived at DFW on time at
1:45 PM. Peggy pick us up and we drove to Bridgeport arriving at
3:30 PM
 1401-Ray Hubbard |
 1402-Dallas Area |
 1403-Dallas Area |
 1404-Love Field |
 1405- Downtown Dallas |
 1406-NAS |
 1407- Mountain Creek Lake |
 1408-The Ball Park |
 1409-Fort Worth |
 1410-Fort Worth |
 1411-DFW |
|
Epilogue:
We had a very successful and thrilling trip. The trip started
shortly after the World Trade Center destruction. British Airways
had just resumed service to the United States. Security at DFW
had been tightened but there was no delay in the departure
schedule. The British Airways flights were prompt and the service
was excellent. We flew on a Boeing 777 from DFW to London and a
Boeing 747 from London to Nairobi. The security in London and
Nairobi were about the same as DFW. At the Tanzania border with
Kenya, the security was very lax. We heard about the bombing of
Afghanistan from an American couple while we were in the Horombo
Huts. In fact, these were the only two Americans that we
saw on the trip. We were not surprised about the bombing. We
were hungry for details but didn't get any further information
for several days. The Safari companies reported that they had 50
to 70% cancellations after September 11. The people that we had
contact with in Tanzania and Kenya were very interested in what
we thought of President Bush. We gave them a good report on our
President.
Royce
& Barry
The
End
