In recent news, Rochelle and I survived the trip to Mt. Kenya! Spoiler alert: we made it to the top! I'm still recovering, catching up on pathology work, preparing for a trip to the Masai Mara, and going through pictures. Here are a few of the pictures from the first day to our "base camp" at Old Moses on the mountain's Northwest flanks. An amazing day ending with a fun time at climbers camp.
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| Assembling the team and fitting everybody into the van. |
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| Making some last minute purchases. US gear is everywhere here, and we found this lady rocking a UW Huskies hat! |
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| Sammy (our guide) and I with more of the team in Philip's van. He's holding a wrapped up chapati (flatbread) that we just bought on our last minute stop. We're just about ready for the last leg of the drive. |
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| We get our first great view of Mt. Kenya from the road. The mountain is an extinct stratovolcano volcano that spreads out over many miles and is truly massive. It is estimated to have once been taller than Kilamajaro! Its broad flanks were formed of massive lava flows and its central eroded spires are impressive. We, of course, much closer in the coming days! |
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| At the national park gate. The porters and cook pack our groceries. I was really not used to this concept. This is the anti ultra light. Light is not even a thing in this world of mountaineering, though. It's all about men, backpacks, and sweat. And having a professional guide is a good idea on Mt. Kenya. |
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| A truly unique wildflower! |
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| On Mt. Kenya, the vegetation progresses from subalpine tropical forest (below) to a brief bamboo forest (not pictured), to rosewood forest (above), to moor. |
Dueling dying rosewoods.
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| We've reached the moor and are following the road to Moses camp, seen on the hill ahead. Mt. Kenya is getting closer! |
We got fairly close to an Eeland antelope. These are the size of a small cow.
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| Sun sets just as we reach Moses Camp. |
Made it!
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| Saw a dik dik while taking in the view at the camp. This guy is more like the size of a large housecat. |
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| The dining area at Old Moses. The climbers bunks are behind the doors to the left. |
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| We had a great time eating, drinking, and wearing Rochelle's puffy jackets the first night! |
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