Dallice M Tylee: October 15th: Day 5 Kilimanjaro Trek

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

October 15th: Day 5 Kilimanjaro Trek

Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

"The easy day". LOL. It starts before the sun is up.

Another beautiful morning and the Barranco Wall loomed over us. Intimidating, but no way around it - literally. Up we went.

Actually, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and before long we'd scrambled, kissed the rock and were making our way 90 minutes steeply up the wall with hundreds of other people. Passengers/trekkers and porters alike. My fear had not actually been the climb, or even the heights (not great for me) but the fact I had nowhere to "make money" along the first half. I made up for this in less-than-discreet places on the second half!

Once at the top, we and all the other trekkers, were taking time to breathe and congratulate ourselves. Fun was definitely had!

Also at this time, I welcomed taking my poles out of my pack and using them. There is a lot of beauty in using some upper body strength to take pressure off my knees. I am glad all of my training hikes were done with poles and that I focused heavily on up-down hikes. (Just sayin'... the tendancy to watch YouTube obsessively and focus on my perceived weaknesses has 100% paid off.)

Side note: In 2023 there were two major wildfires on Kilimanjaro in this area. They burned for weeks and were put out only when the rainy season arrived. Every so often we'd see a cable on the ground. I asked about it. It used to be wifi... until it was burned in the fires and it was never repaired/replaced.

Today was definitely an up and down day. We dipped into valleys and climbed over ridges all the way to Karanga Camp. One of the highlights being that delightful time, a kilometer from camp, where porters appear out of nowhere to take our bags, lessen our loads and share the remaining journey. Other highlights include stunning views over clouds to Mt Meru and that hilarious time that our waiter, Emmanuel appeared, stealth-like behind me just as I was going to take Zar and Imogen's picture and said "I will do it" (not a question) as he took the phone from me. We all laughed... Perhaps he felt I was less competent. More likely he just really wanted to help! He disappeared a second later and we didn't see him again until 2 hours later when he called us to lunch at Karanga Camp.

Lunch... Yum. Rice, veggies, stewed beans with tomatoes - a group favorite. Fresh mango and pineapple.

The sun was making intermittent appearances and the tents were toasty. It was a good "washy-washy" day and in preparation for no washy-washy tomorrow since Base Camp is dry (no water nearby for porters to hike in) I gave it my best effort. Then I trimmed all my toenails and dusted my feet with talcom powder and thanked my feet for their service thus far. I was one step closer mentally and physically to Summit Night. For the first time, I really felt I had this. My training had been paying dividends and my team was nothing short of awesome. The weather had been holding nicely and mostly I just felt Mama Kili was calling me ... like really inside my head now, beckoning me home. It's hard to explain. But it was reassuring and warming.

We had all afternoon to nap. Yes!!! (I did sleep just fine last night though; socks and toe warmers, tights and joggers, baselayer and fleece, hat and balaclava. Hot water bottle. Sleeping bag, down liner and silk liner... and then summit jacket stuffed inside. Plus my down jacket around my feet which were already clad in down booties!)

Another hearty dinner full of hot carbs, veggies, fruit and lively conversation was followed by card playing with the kids. Then as the sun sets and the cold settles in, it was back to my sleeping bag.