High on Africa expedition, Machame camp
3000 meters
10 degrees Celsius
20:37

What started out as just another day through the rainforest, for many ended up as the first real-life encounter with a mud bath. Due to heavy rain during the past few days, the normally passable rainforest was turned into a suspended mud bath which made progress difficult and slow. As a result, our expedition back-up arrived at the camp site later than normal, providing an interesting start to Mt. Kilimanjaro.

As I sit here in the tent, I'm listening to tha chatter around me. Everybody is getting ready for a late dinner and in the meantime have retired to their tents for some re-packing and re-arranging. It's an exciting chatter, one where you can sense that there is something in the air. The tent has taken on on surreal glow, much in tune with the kind of technology we've brought onto the mountain.

It was a good day for the group. Hiking uphill continiously for 7 hours is not standard on too many hiking trails and everybody has had something to add to the mud bath saga. It's good fun.

Today also marked the day where the first South African expedition introduced environmentally friendly combustible material to Kilimanjaro. Tribe Safari, with the assistance of Air Tanzania and Pyro Fuels, South Africa have made the first fire with Pyro Logs as part of a field testing project to test the viability of such fuels. Our goal is to completely eliminate the use of firewood on the mountain and at the same time providing a good atmosphere for clients and heat for cooking and personell. We're happy with the results of the first test, and although initial indications are that the fuel is feasible, we'd like to compare notes with thye National Parks Board of Tanzania (TANAPA) and also the Kilimanjaro National Parks Board (KINAPA) Officials who visited our camp tonight were very curious indeed. Time will tell if this project will lead to a long term solution the the fire-making problems of Kilimanjaro and National Parks in general.

Our goal is to leave early for Shira ecampment and we should be at camp no later than 13:30 in the afternoon. Our next transmission will be from there.

Photographs attached are respectively of the first day, getting away with Air Tanzania, shots of Kili through the cockpit window and then also of the first day of the expedition.

Posting for High on Africa site :
Currently, we have a transformer blown to charge digital camera. Will hopefully be sorted out tomorrow with back-up camera.