Kilimanjaro- Day 5

Day five was much better than day four and may have been our favorite day on the mountain.  We would still occasionally struggle with the thin air, but we were feeling confident in our climbing abilities and knew we were over half way to our goal.  

Today was another acclimatization day as we conquered more ridges and entered into the sub-artic desert ecosystem.  The only wildlife we saw were many large ravens, a few lizards, and some mice.  However, our guides informed us that jackals and even buffalo were known to visit such high altitudes.  At first, we didn't believe them but soon saw evidence that proved us wrong.

First there was jackal droppings or "jackal Johnson" as we called it.  It was identifiable by the large amounts of mouse fur visible (jackals are scavengers but will also feed on small rodents, reptiles, and birds If necessary).  Then to our surprised, we came across a large stretch of buffalo tracks.  From the tracks we determined there were several animals and even one or two baby buffalo with them.  These animals climb to such high altitudes to lick the salt and minerals off of the rocks and caves in this unique ecosystem. 

Day 5 was similar in kilometers to day four but only took about 4 hours in total.  We were shocked when we saw campsite and said, "we're there already?" As we felt we could have hiked for another half a day.  This is the first and last day this happened.

We did an acclimatization hike after lunch and resting for a bit.  We read, took naps, stretched, and chatted with our crew.  Our extra hike had us ascend another 100 meters and return to camp in order to follow the adjustment strategy of hike high, sleep low.  We were all feeling very good after the hike and enjoyed our campsite this day as it was unique to Team Kilimanjaro.  This meant it was very quiet and not crowded.  Our rest was long, quality, and uninterrupted. 

We played some American music for our porters and had a mini-dance party, although dancing at 5,000 is extremely difficult.  We had tea and popcorn around 5pm (which was a daily activity), dinner around 630 and then we, per usual, were ready for bed.

Day 6 was to be a crazy day.  This was the day we woke up normally, did a half day of hiking, early dinner, then early bed as we were to wake at 11pm for our summit climb.  We were anxious about the day ahead but enjoyed the final bit of relaxation while we had it.  There were many hooting stars this night.