Here's my new blog on Mt. Kilimanjaro

I have been posting my climbs of Mt. Kilimanjaro on my From Butiama and Beyond blog since 2008, but have now decided that my experiences of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro deserve their own blog. So this is the reason why I have launched Blog Kilimanjaro which will be dedicated to all types of subjects on Mt. Kilimanjaro, from my logs on my previous climbs (over the next weeks I will re-post all the information on Mt. Kilimanjaro from From Butiama and Beyond), logs on future climbs, various tips for climbers, and any other relevant news, including information on my annual charity climb: The Mwalimu Nyerere/Mt. Kilimanjaro Charity climb.

I hope readers will learn something from my experience of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro 7 times. And counting.

Yes, Mt. Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania and Hans Meyer is from Leipzig

Last year the best elements converge to enable me for put together an interesting blog post but I did not find out until much later. Maybe not of interest to everyone, but certainly of interest to people who read about Mt. Kilimanjaro.

I visited the German city of Leipzig in November 2011 and my visit had a lot to do with Mt. Kilimanjaro. I visited Benjamin Leers and Maurice Housni with whom in December 2011 I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro while they filmed a documentary that is about to be released. To promote the climb and the documentary, we were interviewed at a radio station. Mt. Kilimanjaro was on the subject of most conversations during those few days I was in Leipzig.

Several months after I returned to Tanzania I discovered that the genesis of the mountaineering chronology of Mt. Kilimanjaro is rooted in Leipzig. Hans Meyer (1858 - 1929) was the first European to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro on 6th October 1889.

The monument at Marangu Gate on Mt. Kilimanjaro in honour of Hans Meyer.

He worked at his father's publishing house in Leipzig and later became a professor at the University of Leipzig. He was buried in Leipzig.

Meyer reached the summit with Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller. Their climbing team included nine porters, a cook, and a guide called Yohani Kinyala Lauwo (1871 - 1996). Lauwo is described in some literature as the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Next to Hans Meyer's monument at Marangu Gate is a monument that honours Yohani Kinyala Lauwo and his team of porters who accompanied Hans Meyer to Mt. Kilimanjaro's summit. 

The Kilimanjaro Uhuru Climb: day 2

On the second day of the Kilimanjaro Uhuru Climb to mark 50 years of Tanzania's independence,

Deo Semiono and Aneth Tillya.

we stopped briefly for a rest and I told John Semiono, left, of Zara Tanzania Adventures and Aneth Tillya from Leopard Tours Arusha, that they will be the most photogenic couple on this climb.

Looking good on a photograph has nothing to do with the ability to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. They had both qualities and reached the summit a few days later.

As a group of porters approached Aboubakar Malipula (with back to camera), a cameraman from Clouds TV, took some low angle video footage.

When we resumed the trek towards Shira 2 camp, his colleague from Clouds TV and host of Kambi Popote, Anthony Nugaz, edged his way up the Seven Hills section, the most testing part of the day's trek.

On my way to Kilimanjaro

Once again, I am ready for Kilimanjaro. The mountain, not the lager.

This morning I packed my climbing gear and some clothes in two bags and waited for the bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) to take me to the Musoma - Mwanza road for a bus trip to Mwanza and an onward connection to Moshi. It is amazing to see how much can be loaded on a motorcycle.

Post related to this one:

http://madarakanyerere.blogspot.com/2012/01/if-there-is-one-thing-that-tanzanians_25.html

The weather on Mt. Kilimanjaro

Inside my tent at Barranco Camp on Mt. Kilimanjaro, at an altitude 3,900m above sea level, it is 11°Centigrade.

Outside it is probably 5 degrees colder with a clear sky and a gentle wind.

posted from Bloggeroid

The weather in Moshi

Moshi is the Tanzanian city from where most Kilimanjaro climbs begin. It is regularly mentioned as one of the cleanest cities in Tanzania. It rests between 700 and 950m above sea level.

It is mostly cloudy in Moshi. The temperature is just above 26° Centigrade. There is a slight wind.

Mt. Kilimanjaro (in the background) is covered by thick rain clouds, and the ceiling is probably as low as 1,500m.

Posts related to this one:
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2011/01/the-mwalimu-nyereremt-kilimanjaro_13.html
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2011/01/the-mwalimu-nyereremt-kilimanjaro.html
http://blogkili.blogspot.com/2008/10/why-i-quit-smoking-my-kilimanjaro-climb_23.html

posted from Bloggeroid

The weather in Moshi

It is 27° Centigrade in Moshi and cloudy. It is raining on Mt. Kilimanjaro.

posted from Bloggeroid