Twende (let's go)
Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania
December 25, 2015
It was chilly last night, so I did not sleep well and we were up early. The fog and rain had lifted so we had a good view of the campsite and the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. The site is much larger, so we are not in close quarters like we were on the first night. Bill was able to take some good predawn photos of Mount Meru.
At breakfast we exchanged gifts and Karen gave me a beautiful long necklace that I will be wearing at work on a regular basis. Bill surprised me again with tickets to Kinky Boots (Matt - wanna join me?) and a gift certificate to Momofuko! He also handed over a birthday card from Marlene with a Starbucks gift card (how thoughtful, thank you!). Karen liked her Hello Kitty tin of cookies!
When we started off it was bright and sunny, so we had to peel off a few layers once we started hiking
. The climb was not as steep today and the path was dirt and gravel instead of mud and rocks like yesterday. The vegetation is very different now that we are in the subartic area. There are very short trees (the tallest were chest high) and sparse plants and grasses with lots of lichen on the rocks - black, yellow, white, crimson red, green... In one area there were large rocks strewn about. It looked like a giant had stood at the top of the area and randomly threw the rocks down the side of the mountain. The bearded lichen was red here instead of white like yesterday.We climbed above the clouds, but the fog rolled in and caught up to us, so the layers went back on. Then the mist started and that led to rain for the next 5+ hours. 3/4 into our trek we were getting wet and very cold. We stopped to eat our boxed lunch, added some more layers, rain pants and hand warmers (best stuff ever!).
An hour later we reached the highest point for the day, Lava Rock, 4600m, Isaac called this our Ticket
. He said if we can make it to Lava Rock without having altitude sickness, then we are guaranteed to summit without any problem! We are all tired and cold, but are not feeling sick. I took the altitude pills when we first arrived in Tanzania and they made me feel ill, so I stopped taking them. Karen has been taking the pills, but they make her feel dizzy and tired. Bill has been taking them and feels totally fine!
We began to descend toward the camp site for the evening. It was too bad that it was not sunny because it was incredibly beautiful. We returned to the Moorlands and were seeing more plants, trees and flowers again. There were some amazing soaring rock structures and some pretty streams and waterfalls along and across the path.
At the campsite we were greeted by ravens, alpine chats and lots of brown striped mice. One even popped into our the "foyer" of our tent for a visit!
We had a great Christmas dinner - leek soup, pasta with meat sauce and a surprise Birthday cake. The chef Bruno was a superstar and had been carrying it for the past three days! Our team joined us in the tent and sang Happy Birthday in English and Swahili. It was a great treat and it was nice to be able to share some cake with them!