Nzuri (beautiful)
Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania
December 26, 2015
I had to get up at 4:00 to use the toilet, I delayed as long as I could due to the cold, but could not wait any longer. I have decided not to have tea with dinner anymore! It was crisp and there was frost on the tent. The good part was that the sky was absolutely incredible. It was clear, but the moon was very full and bright and you can see millions of stars. So incredible!
Bill was up early again and took some good photos of the frost on the plants. The campsite was really pretty. To the left was the summit and below us was Moshi. We are seeing progress! One of our popcorn bags opened, so we shared it with the mice and birds. They were very grateful!
We have become accustomed to hanging clothes out in the morning to dry, then putting them on while damp so they finish drying off Climb High - Sleep Low. I was concerned about Bill's cough and sore knees, but he had a very positive attitude and was not letting anything slow him down! Once we put enough layers on, we were ready to tackle Buranco Wall.
There was no using poles first thing this morning. We needed both hands free to grab the wall and scramble up. Buranco Wall was the most technically challenging part of our trek. It was a lot of fun and we were able to enjoy some beautiful scenery. There was one spot where Isaac gave us specific instructions on where to place our feet. Kissing rock was a notable spot where you had to shimmy across with both hands and your face is centimetres away from the rock face.
At the top of the wall we had a short snack break while the fog started to roll in again. The next section was very rocky and we were surrounded by lots of plants and streams. Once we crested the rocky section and started to descend a bit, we used our poles to get good "footing" on the rocky path Sunset over the Camp.
After another steep section it leveled out and walked through a gravel covered area. One section looked like a landslide and was an area where water runs off when the snow melts.
Bosco was teaching us more new Swahili words, Bill told a few jokes that Karen gave the thumbs down to and we continue to climb up another rocky section. We were rewarded with a beautiful area before the campsite that had waterfalls, senseao trees, labellia and really incredible rock formations.
As we finished the last big climb before camp and checked in, the rain started. Good timing!
We had our first hot lunch today and it was very good - fried chicken, fries, cucumber with tomato and pepper salad, and watermelon. This was a fairly typical hot lunch unless we had grilled cheese with cucumber/leek/lentil soup.
Hasani spent part of the afternoon trying to teach new Swahili words to Karen and I. We also played some Rummy while the weather cleared up. After naps and tea we had dinner. Then while the sunset and it was getting dark, Karen and I performed a puppet show for Bill, Isaac and Bosco. I don't think that they appreciated our artistic skills!
