Haraka Haraka Baraka (hurry, hurry, no blessings)
Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania
December 24, 2015
Bill and I slept OK, but Karen did not. We woke up around 5:30, washed up, got a peek at the peak and had breakfast. Breakfast normally consists of porridge or millet, bacon or sausage, eggs and toast. Overall we were really happy with breakfast and it provided good energy for our daily treks.
By 8:30 we were all sorted out and ready to go. We immediately started climbing up, up and up! It was a more challenging climb as the terrain was very rocky. It required big steps and careful foot placement. It was hard on Bill's knees.
During our climb we discovered that overnight Bill earned a new nickname due to his snoring, Simba (lion) or Simba Billy. During the day Karen illustrated her expert climbing skills and surefootedness and earned the nickname Mountain Goat
. I was still called Mama and continued to be called that for the rest of the trek.
When we stopped for a snack break that morning I saw a striped brown mouse and gave him a few crumbs. At our lunch break spot (Bill was kind enough to carry our boxed lunches), I rescued a porter's peanuts from a bold raven, who was not careful enough and dropped them. In exchange, I left some bread crust behind. Looks like safari started a bit early on this trip!
The landscape has changed now that we are climbing in the Moorlands. The shrubs and trees a shorter and less dense, a variety of grasses and some small flowers. We were not hearing or seeing very many birds. We saw an interesting plant called labellia that may be indigineous to this area. There is some interesting old man beard hanging from the trees too.
We were learning some new Swahili words from Bosco and Bill and Karen exchanged a couple of jokes - centipede and supplies, to pass the time
. The first half of our hike was dry and warm, the second have was cool and wet. It was slippery climbing the rocks so I was using my poles to help navigate except in one area where we had to grab the rocks and climb.
After our 5 hour hike we were pretty exhausted, so we retired to our tents and had a nap. I made sure to do some stretching after each day of trekking as I was using lots of muscles that I don't normally use. I think it made a big difference because I always woke up the next day feeling good (other than the sore spots from sleeping on a thin firm mat).
Karen and I were in the dining tent playing cards and we could hear our porters giggling before Bill rejoined us. He explained that the had headed the wrong direction after using the toilet and could not find our tents. At one point he looked up and could see some of our porters waving at him to come back in our direction!
We headed to bed around 9 or 9:30...