Day 2: To Shira Camp (~11,000 feet)

Moving out of the rainforest. 

Today was a long day with lots of ups and downs--literally!

We moved out of the rainforest, into heather-dominated moorlands, and onto a plateau. It was BEAUTIFUL! Just after our lunch on a small ridge, clouds began to come in. It was amazing to watch them roll up the mountains just as I've watched them hundreds of times in the White Mountains and elsewhere. It's hard to believe we're really on Kilimanjaro, really in East Africa. Only the vegetation and extreme dustiness of the trail act as reminders that we're not in New Hampshire anymore. As we approached 11,000 feet at the plateau, I began to feel the altitude for the first time, but dinner and chocolate teamed up to keep us feeling good!

Lunch with a view. 

After lunch, we hiked through this layer of clouds. Amazingly,
the layer of clouds stayed below us for the entire trek, giving us
blue skies and sun for most of our hike!

Our pace has intentionally been "polé polé" (Kiswahili for "slow") for almost all of our hiking, which is kind of nice and gives us plenty of opportunity to chat and get to know each other better. (Though it did feel really good to speed up as we crossed the plateau.) 

Crossing the Shira Plateau

As we gained elevation, rainforest gave way
to shrubby heather moorlands. 

We again walked into a fully set up camp with our bags in our tents and hot drinks and popcorn ready for us in the mess tent. After changing into out of our dusty hiking clothes and trying to clean as much dust as possible off of our hands and faces with with the bowls of warm water and soap our porters brought us, we again gathered in the mess tent for games of cards and conversation.

Approaching camp. 

Fun at camp. 

Just before dinner, the clouds surrounding the peak cleared and we got our first glimpse of the summit! It still looks--and feels--very far away. Kind of intimidating; very exciting. One step at a time--polé polé-- and Wednesday morning will find us all the way up there. I can't wait until summit day and the "skree skiing" that will come on the way down!

The other benefits of the clear sky were the billions of stars we can suddenly see now that we were above the clouds! They are AMAZING! We can follow the milky way all the way down to the ridge. We even found the Southern Cross, which most of us had never seen before. I only wish it was warm enough to stargaze longer or even sleep outside!