Glacier retreat testimony

at Uhuru - top of Kilimanjaro - 5.895 m

Reaching Kibo hut - 4.700m

3rd day at Kilimanjaro

Name: Paula Pereira

Position: Official Health Service by HPP Saúde

Location: at Horombo Hut

Altitude: 3.800 m

2nd day at Kilimanjaro

Name: José Abecasis Soares
Position: Founder of the ICE CARE Project

Track: from Mandara Hut to Horombo Hut
Altitude: 3.800 m

Silva Watch Info:
Steps: 19.000
Distance: 11,5 km
Time: 5:20h
Heart rate: 123 bpm

1st day on Kilimanjaro

Name: José Abecasis Soares
Position: Founder of the ICE CARE Project

Track: from the Park's gate to the Mandara Hut
Altitude: 2.772 m

Silva Watch Info:
Steps: 12.000
Distance: 7,3km
Time: 4h
Heart rate: 112 bpm

Kilimanjaro here we go!

Today we woke up to a clear sky and a perfect view of the mountain! Kilimanjaro invites us to visit him! We are on our way...

Working with the Maasai people

A school becomes a church and a kitchen becomes a meeting room. They received us as if we were family, because they knew we were going to talk about very important issues for the livelihoods of the Maasai people and cultures. More than 300 people attended the meeting. First the prayers, then the elders and after this, my turn came. I explained the causes of global warming and how it’s affecting the Kilimanjaro’s glaciers and consequently the climate of their region. Then it was time for the photographers to present their work, showing the human consequences of the drought. In the end we talked about ways of working together and solutions to mitigate the problem.

PÁPA-LÉGUAS!

This ICE CARE expedition was for first time, open the 'social-tourists' - for those who want to travel and at the same time provide some support to local communities. The program of social-tourism was created in partnership with PÁPA-LÉGUAS, and should be repeated at least once a year. The needs of the Maasai people to tackle climate change are so many, that we should establish a permanent volunteer program on the field...but...for now... annual visits are the best we can do.

Maasai and their new Asus Eee PC!

Three of the MPC Photographers spent the night with us in our camp and the next morning was another opportunity to explore some more of the possibilities of the new Asus computer.

When the night came...

Richard and some of the MPC Photographers joined us at sundowner, where we drank, sang and danced in the Maasai traditional choreography, jumping and screaming. When the night came, no one wanted to risk an encounter with leopards and lions so we had to stick 15 people in a land rover and drive into the woods....result...a flat tire....

Sundowners....

Sundowners were new to me. Joana had been telling me about this and I was eager to experience it! The concept is to cross the savannah, starting at our camp and up to this huge rock blocks about 2 hours away. From the top the view is breathtaking and the track there is biblical! We walked without any kind of protection, and always accompanied by zebras and antelopes. That night we had had the company of a lion in our camp, so none of us was completely relaxed and prepared for a 2h walk in hunting territory. But everything went very well, thanks to the Maasai who accompanied us, and to the relationship that their people have been establishing with the wildlife for generations.