As with most expeditions, High on Africa started off at Johannesburg International airport in a hive of activity. We couldn't have asked for a smoother start to the project. The staff at Air Tanzania were helpfull and very understanding that ours was not just another expedition, and with minimal fuss, we were all soon in our seats and enjoying the arial views of Lake Malawi along the way. An additional plus is the absolutely awesome view of Mt. Kilimanjaro from the cockpit of the Air Tanzanzania Boeing 737. Captain Lessane was most gracious to allow me to share the most privelaged view from right behind his seat. Photographs of this will be added tomorrow.

Arriving in Tanzania, the normal fuss of getting through an airport brimming with red tape is naturally not a problem. However, explaining to the friendly customs official that the 150 kg of Pyro combustible briquettes was actually to the benefit of Tanzania and mankind in general, took some carefull footwork and loads of patience. We've just had dinner and have mostly retired to bed early. The weather is somewhat ominous with low cloud obscuring Kilimanjaro completely. According to the locals they have not had sight of the mountain for 3 days. This bodes well for getting lots of snow at the summit, but not so good for the lower slopes in the rainforest. Tomorrow should prove to be muddy and slippery and all the clients have gone to bed with preperation in mind.

Myself and Dawie are still at it and are finalising the last packing details for all our equipment. Even the members of our group have grabbed the feeling of Safari On-line and have all offerred assistance in portering it around. It's exciting and we are looking forward to actually getting going finally. It's been months of planning and now it's simply a matter of getting down to doing it.

We meet with the Tanzanian National Parks Board tomorrow morning and will do our first demonstartion of Pyro, the environmentally friendly combustible fuel. The meeting is at Machame gate and should be a first step in getting the ball rolling in getting all camp fires within the Tanzanian Parks Board environment friendly. We'll keep you posted on this as well.

This is a short posting as we have much to do and careful packing to do. Tomorrow will see all of today's pics as well as the updated version.

Lance