Londerossi Gate 😄

JANUARY 2-Zero Day

The day was for planning, prepping, shopping, and resting. It went well. 

I loved this note Apprelle's mom snuck into her luggage!

JANUARY 3-Londerossi Gate

We hired a taxi for the day. Ahead of time we let him know it was an odd assignment.  

He drove us to Engare-Nairobe to start our hike. We have been trying to concentrate on spellings, it's challenging. Even city names are spelled differently on a regular basis. 

Estimates of the distance between Engare-Nairobi and Londerossi Gate varied wildly. As we left we had no idea how long the day's hike would be. 

It was longer than expected, about 14 km, but nice. Tough for such a short distance, but nice. Today's hike led us through the lower elevations below Mt Kilimanjaro National Park, it went through Kilimanjaro National Forest. I was fascinated.  

We paid a small fee to enter the National Forest. 

Firewood gatherers never used trucks, why bother when this mode of transport is so effective.

Well maintained longleaf pine stands were pruned for incredible acreages. 

This sign was reminiscent of signs from early in my career with the USFS in California. Not a bad twenty year old longleaf plantation.  

In addition to trees in this National Forest, they grow understory crops. Under the young longleaf pine, potatoes and carrots are grown. Incredible efficient use of space. Once the crowns close in understory crops are not viable. 

The absolute highlight of the day was reaching Londerossi Gate!  This is where we'll start the Mt Kilimanjaro climb on January 11th. The gate was buzzing with activity as swarms of prospective climbers, porters, and guides checked in and headed up to start their climbs. What  excitement to reach here. The elevation was about 7300'. We had about a 2400' elevation gain day. Not a bad starting spot for the climb next week:)

The taxi then took us on an adventurous ride through Masai country to Arusha National Park's Momella Gate. We had to work out details for our climb of Mt Meru starting January 5. With that chore complete it was time to get a place to sleep for the night. 

Everything is negotiable in Africa. Paying the asking price is foolish. Staci is becoming an artist at getting a great deal. She now goes in with a gameplan. My role is simply to be the co-star to her Oscar eligible performance.

We could not pay full price at the Momella Lodge. We ended up at almost half the asking price, and paid less than Staci's original low ball starting "bid."  We're still confused about how she pulled this one off, but laughed that her Aunt Rita was looking down at the crazy offers, and counter offers, and was smiling and cheering at the end result. 

Staci approved of my adlib of offering to sleep on the floor in the lobby for a reduced rate. We immediately paid for three nights at the low rates before they changed their minds. 

John Wayne stayed at the Momella Lodge as he was filming the movie Hatari. Hatari means danger in Swahili. I have never seen that John Wayne movie, but it's now on my bucket list. 

JANUARY 4-Zero Day at Momella Lodge

A preparation day. January 5 we start the climb of Mt Meru, the fifth highest mountain in Africa.