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!

Day 1: To Forest Camp (~10,000 feet)

All of our gear, ready to go!
Photo by Christine Castrucow

Our first day on Kili! Yesterday we met our Serengeti Pride Safari (SPS) leaders (and co-owners) Lema and Erika in Arusha to hear about the trip, have our gear checked, and go on a short walk around the forest near our hotel. 

This morning, we loaded all of our gear and all 17 group members into safari vehicles for the drive to the trail head. As we got closer to the mountain, the roads got rougher and rougher. Our first stop was at the Ranger Station to check in our entire group: 17 guests, 4 guides, 2 assistant guides, and over 80 porters! This seems like a staggering number of people, but Tanzanian law mandates that porters may only carry ~50 lbs each; SPS works really hard to make sure that our porters are treated really well, so many of ours will carry less than that at times. After we'd all checked in, we drove over to the Lemosho trailhead itself. It began to rain and the road became a muddy track. We ended up walking the last bit of the road, and came upon the mess tent all set up for lunch. After a delicious lunch, we set off!

The road to the Lemosho trail head

The trail cut through dense rainforest. 

The trail was steadily rising but not too steep (most of the time), though the rain made it slippery at times. The trail climbed through dense, beautiful rainforest that reminded me a bit of the ones I've visited in South and Central America. After about three hours of hiking and chatting with our fellow hikers and guides, we arrived at Forest Camp. By the time we got there, our porters had set up our tents and hot drinks and popcorn were waiting for us in the mess tent. The porters also brought our duffel bags to our tents with bowls of hot water and soap to wash off the dust from the trail. This is seriously luxurious camping! As the night got chilly, I sat in the mess tent and played cards with a bunch of other people in the group. Dinner was delicious and crawling into my sleeping bag at the end of the night felt great!

Some sections of our
first day's hike were quite steep!

Sophie snuggles into our tent on the first night. 

Dinner in the mess tent. 

Yum!