Kilimanjaro 2010 Day Two

Got up, had breakfast, packed up to head out for Shira Camp.


Congestion on the trail.

One thing to be aware of is that the locals who interact with you will do just about anything to ingratiate themselves with you in the interest of building up "tip karma". If you really are a clueless clod I suppose that grabbing your stuff and shoving it in your pack with no sense of order might inspire you to give them more money. Unfortunately that doesn't describe me by a long shot. TIP: keep your stuff out of sight from them and pack up early so they won't try this game.



It started raining after about an hour on the trail. Our rest for the night at Shira Camp was a mudhole with running water under and around the tents. They dug trenches around us with sharp rocks (handy and ever present) and gave us a tarp for a front porch and reduce mud getting into our tent. Very wet.



Shortly the sun came out for the evening and we could see the top of Kilimanjaro through the clouds.



We ate our soup and other courses, and prepared for bed. Again, they told us that we had to wait for morning for water so that it would cool after boiling, but luckily I was ahead a couple liters from my 4 liter start, so I was okay. I also figured out a way to "steal" water. LOL.

A minor disappointment, since the ZARA website mentioned you would need 4 liters a day to climb and they were only giving us 2 liters in the morning and none in the evening.

Kilimanjaro 2010 Day One Afternoon

So we got settled into the rythm for a couple hours, watching the porters walk a bit faster than us, balancing their loads on their heads, many with backpacks of various sizes and condition. Most of them had the oddest footwear. A lot of soccer-like casual shoes. The shoes and much of their clothing comes from charities in Germany. It's all they can afford, though many of the climbers (later discovered primarily women - hence a lot of pastels) give away their gear at the end of the climb.



I really wasn't sure what to expect, but it's a "trek" not a climb, so typical mountaineering schedules were not adhered to. We stopped once for lunch at noon and opened our box lunches prepared at the Springlands Hotel and weighing in at around 4 pounds.

Fried chicken leg and fried meat pie (their cows and chickens are very scrawny compared to ours) a hard-boiled egg (yolk very white, since their chickens don't get the minerals ours do to make very yellow egg yolks), an orange (green and very fibrous), a juice box of mango juice, and some kind of pound style cake. Note the bag of peanuts. Very heavy food. Took about an hour eating.

Then we went up the trail and it started raining so we got into our rain gear and continued on through the jungle canopy along the muddy trail to Machame Camp.



At the camp, we registered with the rangers and found our tents set up in the mud. We climbed in to get our gear spread out, got a small shared basin of warm water and soap to wash up in, found the mess tent and ate. Some nights they prepared a small bowl of hot peanuts and a large tray of popcorn.



Can't remember our evening meal, but most of our tent meals were three courses. They bring us hot water (which I normally first prepared as hot emergenC - learned to like that on Rainier a couple years ago). Then to hydrate after the meal had Milo, with a lot of hyperbole on the label, but it's just chocolate milk mix. We had various thin soups, toast with cheese, or chapatis, or fruit or sausages or chicken or beef strips. Lots of different things. Interesting combination, and the sauces on the side.

I'm allergic to peanut products, which I did mention about a dozen times to "Lydiah" at Zara, who reassured me each time that she had explained it to the cook, and that he understood, and had dealt with cases like mine before, and I was hoping that the lunch thing was just some form of screwup, since the box lunches were put together for all of us in huge piles the guides grabbed on the way out the door at Springlands.

Being near the equator, the days and nights are about even, so with the sun setting around 7 PM we settled into our tents after dinner to sleep.

Kilimanjaro 2010 Day One Morning

Woke up at 6:00 AM and took shower. There's a switch on the wall to turn on the water heater, but I discovered it only takes a few minutes to make enough for a shower.

I filled two Nalgene's (1 liter water bottles) from the bathroom sink and then used my Steri-Pen to treat them. I love it, since I can go to most places and get "free" water.

I ate breakfast at the really good breakfast bar (included with room) with goodies like made to order eggs, potatoes, sausages, fruit, toast, etc. I loaded up on carbs since I've learned to treasure this "last civilized meal".

Checked out, stored my extra bag, and waited around, got nervous, so another 1.5 liter water and filled my platypus with it, and then got involved in the hectic rush of buses pulling in and out of the gate.



Since Zara does groups for a dozen or so agencies, it was amazingly well ordered in spite of the apparent madness. Finally got my group, but we were sharing a bus with a split group. We headed up the road to Machame Gate.

It was Sunday morning, and people all along the road, even in very remote places, were walking to church in the finery. Very interesting.

We finally got to the gate and unloaded, and had to wait in line to check in at the ranger station, including name, age, sex, occupation and passport number. It would be so neat to see this data interpreted.



Very quietly and subtly, our porters loaded up, weighed, balanced their loads, all while we formed our small group of five with one guide Zakriah. It was so lowkey that it was later talking to Zakriah that I got it figured out ;)



The trail started off very wide, like a road, slowly growing narrow and damp. In the rain forest, and increasing humidity, we "pole pole" (pohlee pohlee - meaning slowly) made our way up.

Kilimanjaro 2010 Day Zero

Arrived via KLM to JRO (Arusha Kilimanjaro Airport), made the mistake (as warned on net) of getting in the wrong line (if you do not have a visa you need to look around for a not-so-obvious window). Baggage pickup easy. Easy to find the driver for Zara.

Driving trip long and eventful. Had to stop for an accident (car in deep ditch along road) and pick up a piece of luggage and take it to hotel. Co-passenger was a Russian from Seattle doing the private Machame starting in two days (was a fallback option if Amsterdam flight delays put me behind).

Got to the Springlands Hotel in Moshi about 11 PM. They gave me a 1.5l water bottle (cold) and a sandwich. I was nervous about the malaria warnings Dr. Hale of University of Utah Travel Clinic, so I put down the net, dumped my stuff on the other bed, and settled down for a fitful 5 hours of sleep.

Travel Tips:
This was before the amazing Mythbusters Exploding Undie Trick in Detroit, so getting through AMS (Amsterdam) was very easy and quick. For a while at least, this should not be the case. Most concession stores at AMS use $US quick and simple. Sports drinks are available, but have nearly 1/10 the concentration for most ingredients. If you want to get chocolate for your trek, this is THE PLACE! As of this posting date, at many of the concessions you can get drinks to take on board if you follow the rules exactly. There are showers and nap rooms available. Drinking fountains are available, but not obvious. Rest rooms might be "open door" and have female attendants.

Kilimanjaro

Summit Kilimanjaro, undisputed roof of African Continent, Jan 1 2010 at 6:45 AM.

Photo Gallery

More details and story to follow as time allows.