Kilimanjaro February 2013

In 2013, we worked with Next Step Ministries on their documentary film series in Africa.  Ian Taylor Trekking do over 25 trips to Kilimanjaro a year and Ian has climbed the mountain over 35+ times, so Next Step Ministries chose us to help assist them in this project.  Andrew Atwell is a director at Next Step Ministries and you can read more about his experience with us on Kilimanjaro HERE.  If you are interested in working with us for your teams Kilimanjaro Filming project, please CONTACT US.

Next Step Ministries Trip Itinerary

15th February: The team are landing in Uganda in the next two hours. They left yesterday and it’s a long way from Chicago to Entebbe in Uganda. The team have a number of engagements before Kilimanjaro, filming a documentary and highlighting great change and work happening on the ground in Uganda. They will also be visiting the Mt. Everest Primary school in Uganda which we built with Irish Charity Fields of life. This will be happening Wednesday the 20th February and should be an experience to remember. They are on the ground now and settled into the guest house in Kampala.

17th February: Ian is on his way to Uganda to meet up with the team. Ian is really looking forward to visiting the Mt. Everest Primary School in Kitandwe with the team. Ian and Graham Kinch raised the money needed to build the school back in 2007 – 2009. We hope to raise more awareness of the work Fields of Life are doing on the ground in Uganda and East Africa. On Thursday the team will move on to climb Kilimanjaro and hope more teams will be inspired  and look to come to Africa and service and climb Kilimanjaro in 2014.

19th February: Ian arrived in Kampala, Uganda yesterday evening and has joined with the Next Step Ministries group this morning.  Everyone’s spirits are high and they are enjoying every minute of this amazing adventure to Africa!  Today the team spent the day at the Treasured Kids Fields of Life School, and filmed their experience along the way.  Tomorrow will be the last day spent in Uganda before heading off to Tanzania and the great Kilimanjaro.  The team will be spending the day at the Mount Everest Primary School in Kitandwe, to see the wonderful work that Fields of Life have done at the school Ian and Graham raised the funds to build in 2009.  Tomorrow should be a great day for all involved, and I am sure the kids in Kitandwe are very excited to see Ian again as well as the rest of the team!

21st February: The Uganda side of the Next Step Ministries group journey has come to an end! They spent the last day in Uganda at the Mount Everest Primary School and had a wonderful experience.  It was great for Ian to see the school again that he put so much effort into, in order to raise the funds to build.  The new teachers quarters are in and the Kindergarten facility has almost finished. It was an all around great day and the group enjoyed the time they were able to spend with all the children in the school!  So, the entire team arrived in Tanzania last night, but not without some scares!  Two of the team members were held back at the airport due to some mix-ups with their flights, but luckily after some hard negotiating, they joined the rest of the group and were on their way to Tanzania!  Now, the trekking journey begins to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro! The group will get to bed early tonight for their last nights stay in the comfort of a hotel before they start the trek on Kilimanjaro.  Stay tuned for daily updates on where the group are on the mountain!  Good Luck to all!!

22nd February: The group left the hotel in Moshi early yesterday morning and were transferred to the Machame Gate to register for the Kilimanjaro climb before starting the seven day journey up the mountain.  The first day trekking takes the group through dense forests of fig and rubber trees, begonia flowers, and other tropical vegetation.  The group arrived the Machame Camp at 2,850m (9,350ft) where they spent the night under the beautiful African sky!  Tomorrow they will head to the Shira Camp.

24th February: All is going great on Kilimanjaro!  The group is looking very strong and enjoying every minute of the journey! Today was a testing day on the mountain as the group hit the Lava Tower at 4,630m (15,190 ft), which is a new height record for the trip.  The team slept out underneath the stars at the Barranco Camp at 3,976 m (13,044 ft).  They will have the beautiful and daunting Barranco Wall looming over them as they sleep, ready to be tackled in the morning. So far, the group is doing great and all are looking set for a summit attempt on Wednesday night.

25th February: Everyone is looking very strong and on track for a summit attempt tomorrow night.  Today, the group left the Barranco Camp early this morning and headed up the Barranco Wall with ease.  Once they reached the top of the Wall, they headed to the Karanga camp for the night.  Fingers crossed all get a good night’s sleep tonight as tomorrow they head to Barafu Camp and then on to the summit!

 
26th February: Everyone has made it to the Barafu Camp at 4,673 m (15,331 ft).  This is the high camp on Kilimanjaro where they will spend the day resting and eating to get prepared for the toughest night/day to the summit of Kilimanjaro!  They will leave around 12 midnight for the final summit push and hopefully by tomorrow morning, we will know how everyone has done!  Best of luck to the group!!

28th February: 100% success on Kilimanjaro!!  The entire group made it to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro yesterday morning, just in time for sunrise!  They had beautiful clear blue skies on the summit and extremely cold weather.  The group was very strong and made it all the way down to the Mweka Camp yesterday evening in time for dinner!  They woke early this morning and completed the final three hour trek to the Gate and back to the hotel in Moshi.  Big congratulations to all the group on your success, and enjoy your safari tomorrow!

3rd March: Everyone is back in the states and getting back to normal, after an extraordinary journey to Uganda, the Mt. Everest Primary School and the summit of Kilimanjaro. It was truly a special trip to Africa and hope thousands of young people will be inspired to take the next step in their journey, helping others in the US, Africa and build and rebuild lives.

This filming project was a joy to be apart and one that will truly enrich the lives of many. Thank you to the team who dug deep and achieved some personal goals in order to inspire others. Keep an eye out for the next step in the journey in 2014!!
 
Training for Kilimanjaro: The best information and preparation
Our Top 50 Tips for Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
Summit night on Mount Kilimanjaro with Ian Taylor Trekking