Kilimanjaro- Day 3

Waking up day 3 was slightly easier than the rest. We had finally caught up on sleep and adjusted to the 7 hour time difference. We were completely exhausted by 9pm most days and found ourselves asleep by 930 at the latest.  However, no amount of sleep or hearty breakfasts seemed to provide enough energy for the duration of our extremely lengthy hikes.

We woke to a similar story: wake up at 5:45am, tea in "bed", water for washing at 6, breakfast at 6:15.  Despite being used to the routine, we were moving quite "pole pole", which means "slowly" (and also was our mountain motto).  We eventually left camp and set out on our trek to the Moir Hut campsite.

 This was the day many people began to feel altitude sickness. Our Italian friends we met along the way had unfortunately experienced bad headaches and decided to speed up their journey, as to spend less time on the mountain. We, however, still felt great. 

Our walk through the Mooreland was so interesting: it was certainly the most crowded trail, as we walked with groups that eventually diverged off to Shira 2 camp. We all inched up a dried stream bed (as our porters raced past) surrounded by low-hanging neon colored Spanish moss. It easily could have been a movie set. 

We stopped to have lunch on an outcrop that overlooked the expansive Shira plateau and confirmed we were officially above the clouds for good now. We continued on to Moir Hut, an abandoned ranger post, and passed large caves on our way into the valley.

By this time other groups' porters began to recognize our "Wadada Watatu" group and would cheer us on upon our arrival into camp!

After a short break and attempt to dry clothes and set out solar chargers, we ascended a steep ridge as an acclimatization hike. After about an hour up and 200 meters, we rested to take in the Lion King view. Behind us the steepness of Kili's peak and its glaciers started to come into focus. The excitement was building! We took a lot of photos as the view was promising and reminded us that in 3-4 short days we would be at the peak.

Our descent was great: as you climb you must make tiny zig zags, but the way down you can just ski in the loose gravel!

We returned to yet another delicious meal by Boni, and Nick was waiting for us with our "romantic" candle. No surprise, we quickly followed this by heading to bed to rest for Day 4: The Day of [just 3 more] Ridges.

Kilimanjaro- Day 2

Our first morning waking up on the mountain was confusing and startling. Nick- our waiter woke us with a "hello girls", tea in "bed" and hot water bowls for washing. We sluggishly came to, fumbled around our unfamiliar backpacks and got ourselves ready for the day.  We managed to make it to the mess tent for our first breakfast, which was shockingly massive.

 We started with fruit and porridge, which was very tasty and just like a smoother and sweetened oatmeal.  We thought this would conclude our meal so we filled up on this only to soon find out there was more.  Eggs, toast, and sausages came out next on a large, intimidating plate.  We knew we would need the energy for our hikes ahead so we forced down as much of the food as possible.  Upon finishing, we took some photos and continued on to leave Forrest camp and the rainforest portion of our hike.

Our chief guide, Frederick (who we called baba- meaning "dad" in Swahili), and our assistant guide, William (who we called Willie, of course) were such good sports with all of our photography.

The ecosystem visibly changed quickly as we began to enter the Mooreland.  The hike was 6 kilometers and very interesting and beautiful.  We stopped half way through and had lunch of fried fish, cheese and cucumber sandwiches, vegetables, and salad, all at a table and chairs (carried by our porters) on the side of the mountain.  We ate until we were thoroughly stuffed, stretched, and refilled our drinking water for the remainder of the day.  All of the porters sat with us, waiting for us to finish, so they could then eat and pack up the equipment.  Despite their delayed start, it wasn't long before they steadily passed us on the path with friendly "mambo", "Jambo", "wadada watatu", and high fives along the way. 

 

After we got in the path, the very steep climb didn't seem as intimidating.  We were intrigued by the strange plants and birds that lived at such high elevations.  The further we got, the closer we approached a ceiling of clouds. 

It wasnt long before we reached the clouds and we walked through them to our next elevation.  I recall yelling at Stephanie, "it feels like clouds!" Because that was the best i could describe it.  The clouds were light, yet wet with a slight chill, but mostly refreshing feel.  As strange as it sounds to say, they felt like a breath of fresh air.  We took many photos on the hillside with the clouds below and behind us and felt very proud of this accomplishment.

We continued on and as we neared the end of the challenging hike, we, for the first time, caught a glimpse of what we were aiming for.  The weather had lifted and we could finally see the peak of Mt Kilimanjaro for the first time since we arrived in Tanzania.

Although the iphone doesnt don't justice, the photos snapped on Stephanie's camera are quite impressive.  The nearly 6,000m mountain stood impressively against the horizon and wasnt to leave our sight for the next 6 days.

 Riding on this excitement we reached Shira camp which was located in a plateau. We were able to use the long exposure on Stephanie's camera and captured some amazing photos of the stars that night, out of our own curiosity and in support of the Reach for the Stars campaign. Temperatures significantly dropped and we were exhausted after two challenging, but exciting days and decided to go to bed early.  We were anxious for the days ahead and to get closer to the mountain peak.

Kilimanjaro- Day 1

After a refreshing 9 hours of sleep (despite waking every 2 hours with anticipation) we dress in our first choice of Kilimanjaro outfits.  The weather was to be approximately 60 degrees F, so our original idea of shorts and tank tops was canned.  I decided on thin wool socks, running capris, a wicking tank, plus a long sleeve base layer on top. Before we reached the mountain, I had added knee high smart wool socks, gaiters, and my Goretex rain jacket and pants, as it was sprinkling on and off and much muddier than expected.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at our hotel which consisted of fried egg (they ask if you want one side or two), fresh fruit, "toasty", coffee, and juice.  We met our guides at 0800 and shortly after, met our third trip companion, Kirsten.

Kirsten is a 20 year old from Oregon who loves all things outdoors and mountain related. Her positive energy and free spirit was contagious and many times during the trip we benefitted from this.  She was doing volunteer work in South Africa for 3 weeks and decided to climb Kilimanjaro "on her way home".  We made a great team with Kirsten's mountain experience and our world travel experience. We adopted her as our little sister and devised the team name "Wadada Watatu" which means the 3 sisters.  We didn't  know it then, but by the end of our mountain climb we became famous as other climbers and porters would yell "Wadada Watatu!!!!!" as we walked by.

We all piled into a heavy duty Land Rover and drove from Arusha, through Moshi, and to Kilimanjaro National Park... But not without hiccups.  First, we were driving down the road when a public bus pulled us over to tell us that our "mattress" came loose.  We are still not sure what that meant and despite turning around, taking everything off the roof rack and back again, the warning was confusing and inconclusive.  Later, after we got on our way, the vehicle filled with smoke, coming from somewhere on the dash. The driver and our guide, Frederick, fiddled with a few things under  the hood, and then voila!, we were back on the road again.  Finally, we are on our way back to the mountain.

When we arrive there are approximately 100 people waiting to check in, have their permit checked, and the porters to sort an weigh the luggage.  We waited for what seemed like eons and then finally piled back in the car to drive to the start point.

We drove on a small, windy, muddy, and very bumpy road, toward the start.  We passed many farms including "Irish potatoes", carrots, wheat, barley, and lots of maze. There are countless workers, as young as children, walking alongside the roads carrying loads of goods in their heads, in carts, or on their bicycles.  The roads worsened and soon even the Land Rover had difficulty passing. At one point we all had to get out of the car so that the driver could complete a dangerous (and extremely frightening/exciting to watch) maneuver.  Saving the vehicle from flipping, the driver was pleased with himself and invited us back in.  However, it wasn't but 5 minutes later when we got stuck behind several vehicles who were stuck in the mud and informed us it was impossible to pass.  No more vehicles could drive to the start of the Lemosho Route.

Having experienced this often during the rainy season (which this is not), Frederick told is we would have to start our Kilimanjaro hike here, approximately 1 hr from the start.  We panicked a bit, but packed out day packs, tied our shoes and Climbed out into the mud.  Almost immediately, Stephane took an unavoidable spill and we took that as an obvious warning from the Kilimanjaro perils.  After wiping the mud off of her hands, arms, and pants, we set out on our rainy, and longer than expected hike.

We survived our extra mileage unscathed and were met at the Lemosho start with a very steep mud ramp.  We laughed as this too was a seemingly perfect "Welcome to Kilimanjaro!" sign. 

We were covered to our knees in mud and spatter; thank goodness for Goretex, our gaiters, and walking poles (legs "3 and 4" as we called them).  Despite the sloppy start, the rainforest truly was majestic. It was steep and slippery, but had bright green plants everywhere.  Even under the full vegetation roof you could still feel small drops of rain.  When you felt a lot of drops, or larger drops, we knew to look up immediately because that meant there were monkeys shaking the branches above us.  The black and white monkeys have long white fluffy tails that hang down from the branches and reveal their cover.  They almost look like skunks but were surprisingly camouflaged in the thick leaves of the trees.  We could hear them yelling in the distance but luckily the ones closer by were quiet and peaceful.

We finished our hike just at dark and arrived at Forrest Camp, which was extremely crowded. Apparently everyone starts at this camp before splitting off into different routes and paths. Our own section of the campsite consisted of 1 large tent for us, 1 smaller tent for Kirsten, a mess tent for our meals (and was a sleeping tent for porters), a cooking tent (which dubbed as the guide/porter sleeping tent) and a bathroom tent- which was a boxed toilet seat over top of a bucket.  

Dinner was delicious and there was an abundance of food.  We ate via head lamp and candle light (we taught our "waiter" porter, Nick, to say "romantic" when he lit the candle for us) and had more condiments and beverages than we knew what to do with.  Coffee, tea, 2 kinds of hot cocoa, hot water, chili sauce, tomato sauce, honey, peanut butter, jam, and butter accompanied every meal.  We ate until we were overly full and were beyond ready for bed.  Despite all of the craziness of Day 1 we were excited and optimistic for the rest of our adventure.

We have Arrived!

We Have Arrived!

We're in Africa! After a very long 14 flight from Washington DC to Ethiopia and then a connector into Kilimanjaro Airport, we have arrived safely and sleepy.  

On our way in, our airplane flew right next to Mount Kilimanjaro and we had the opportunity to see its daunting peak above the clouds. In that moment, it all felt very real. 

We spent the day today driving around Arusha, a town near by, with a very kind Tanzanian- pronounced "tan" "zany" "en"- named Jimmy. (Did that pronunciation blow your mind like it did ours?). He took us to the mobile phone store and a yummy "beef burger" shack where we dodged unruly vehicles, busy Africans, and saw the famous Clock Tower- which marks the exact lateral center of the African continent.  It was a lot to take in after directly coming from 24 hours of travel.  

This evening we met with our master guide, Frederick, who proudly informed us our journey together would be his 537th climb up Kilimanjaro. Yes, you read that right.  Our cook was there as well and although quiet, seemed to enjoy our goofy questions.  It seems that Frederick knows us already because his main piece of advice was "DON'T THINK TOO MUCH!!".  He assured us that it is very rare people don't summit with him and that we would work closely and honestly for maximum success.

Feeling excited and nervous, we set back to our room to do our final bag pack and elevate our swollen travel legs.

Unfortunately, it seems that despite all of our phone efforts today and previously, we will not have a cellular device to use for texts/blogs/tweets while on the mountain.   Both our plan and back up plan have been defeated by Africa's rurality and isolation.  We have a few unlikely last minute options, so keep checking this blog for updates, but it's safe to assume our communication will be delayed.

However, not all is lost and you can still follow us on our journey day-to-day. We will be carrying a GPS unit that will update our coordinates to the Internet via the following we address:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jspglId=0fNQzyp4p2nqXhLycn6HdhdxkpN89qddt

Also, the guide company we are climbing with will be blogging with updates on their website: http://www.teamkilimajaro.com/blog

Our route is the 8 day, TK Lemosho Route,

advantage series, led by Frederick and named

something similar to juli's first and last name

Initials (Or a combo there of). 

We promise to write full blogs and stories as 

Soon as possible, under the circumstances.

Again, we thank you for your love and support

And we'll see you from the top!