Hey Mountain Zoners, this is Vern Tejas with Alpine Ascents' Team Tuskers Mount Kilimanjaro climb. Boy are we happy to be here.

The team has arrived; all their bags have arrived. We just made a wonderful drive from downtown Nairobi all the way down to the booming little metropolis of Arusha. We're standing in Arusha right now, in the backyard of the hotel we're staying at, by the swimming pool.

The team is healthy and very eager and looking forward to getting on with this wonderful climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa.

So we invite you to come along with us and tomorrow we go to the mountain and begin our ascent. I'll be doing daily dispatches so that if we have something that comes through unintelligible we'll still keep you guys abreast of the situation. So come on along, climb to the top of Africa with Alpine Ascents and MountainZone.com.

Ciao for now.

— Vern Tejas, Alpine Ascents International Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent