The procedure, for those interested, is this:
A 6am you drag the luggage that you won't be taking up the mountain, to reception. You fill out a form regarding how many bits of luggage you want them to store securely, including a full inventory of valuables that will be stored in the hotel safe while you trek. A copy of this form is given to you and without it, they say you will not be able to retrieve your stuff after the hike! (You wonder where you will hide this valuable scrap of paper that will be safe, yet easy to find after hiking with it for 8 days....)
The Habari Adventure van, filled with porters, food and everything needed to live on a mountain for 7 days, arrived to pick the 4 of us up around 7am. There was a quick stop at the Habari office to get a few rented things... And t-shirts! And photos!
It was a good 3-4 hour drive to Lemosho Gate - Kilimanjaro National Park. Once there, our guides registered us and we signed the hikers book, officially starting our trip to the summit.
We filled our camelbaks, emptied our bladders one last time into ceramic loos and ate about half of the generous boxed lunch we were each given; samosas, chicken, boiled egg, petite banana, apple, yogurt, peanuts, a sandwich, cake and juice box! I shoved the peanuts into a front pocket and joked about luring a Colobus monkey with them. Sue said "you will not. I've got my eye on you!"
There were pics of the Habari Team, complete with our chant "One Team. One Dream" and we were off. Uphill in sticky damp red clay, amongst the tall trees and enthusiastic undergrowth. Before long we came upon our first Colobus monkeys - unless you count the few seen from the van on that 11km rough road to Lemosho Gate an hour earlier. I didn't.
Sadly, cell phone pics are all I afforded myself after opting to leave the Canon safely at the hotel for this adventure.
Todays hike to Mti Mkubura Camp was 4km long and all in rain forest. What else lives in the rain forest? Blue monkeys - cute little devils with raccoon-ish faces. Happily munching leaves near us, safely ensconced in bushes with vines for escape routes, we got pretty darn close. We stopped about half way to finish our boxed lunches and for me to pee! That's right, I'm the most prolific pee-er of the group. So saturated was this body that ALL water etc going in, was coming out! The others simply didn't believe that I wasn't capable of emptying my camelbak until 6pm... still peeing.
The jungle was immense, ancient, smelled sweetly and was alive with noises. Light filtered gently through and from time to time, direct sunlight lit the path and warmed us.
We arrived at 3:10pm. The last 1/2km was backback-free. Our porters doubled back and took our packs. What a freakin' treat! I AM being treated like a queen.
We registered, took pics at the sign, then got familiar with what it means to be in camp.
After dinner, Abdi and Evance do their briefing for tomorrow. I love this and always write it down, so now you get a peek about tomorrows plan too.
Wake up: 5:45am. Woken by waiter, Emmanual who brings hot drink to tent!
Wash: 6:10am
Pack everything.
Breakfast 6:30am
Leaving camp: 7:00am
Mti Mkubura Camp to Shira I Camp: From rain forest to moorland. Walking 7km and ending at 3600m ASL. But we hike up to 3800m before coming back down 200m. 5-6 hours of hiking.
We will be exposed once out of jungle, so pack sunscreen, sunglasses, sunhat, warm hat, rain gear, snacks and 3L of water (2L water in camelbak, 1L electrolyte solution in Nalgene)
Wear t-shirt, fleece and rain jacket.
Swahili Lesson:
Lala Salama = Sleep well
Usiku Mwema = Good night
No comments:
Post a Comment