We wake up to coffee in tent again and after a long night of rain, the clouds have moved off and the sun is shining (though it's not quite warm yet). Heidi is ready to roll (she's really such a trooper, I don't know if I'd have as much courage and stamina as this woman!) We look out over the mess tent and see our peak (there are 3 peaks on Kili.... Mawenzi, Shira and Kibo.... Kibo is the one we will summit the day after we stay at the base of Mawenzi). Again, we are amazed at the view and so excited for the opportunity that lies ahead. By morning most people who weren't feeling so hot the night before were feeling a bit better. All of us excited to start the day's journey.
Today we will travel for 3-4 hours (I didn't have a watch on, so I wasn't timing it, but it sure felt like we were traveling slower than the route map said we'd be going... I did, however, turn my garmin watch on periodically to check our elevation) towards Mawenzi Turn. We are told it will be short but steep. We start off passing a little gorge which had what I thought were dead cacti lining the sides (see photo)... however after posting my last pictures of the Giant Senecios I was corrected by Sally's friend David (for whom we were taking the pictures) that they are not cacti.... here's what he said: "Kristin, your 'cacti' pictures aren't of cacti but the Giant Groundsel, that was the plant I was on to Sally to get a few pictures of. Cacti are from the Americas, water storing plants from elsewhere are referred to as succulents." So, I stand corrected... these are simply "succulents". Anyway, there were a bunch of dead-looking cacti-imposters along the ridge and we had a good view of Mawenzi - where we were headed.
In order to pass the time, Rhiannon started us off with a game of "I spy". So, as we climbed, we spied things such as Kibo Peak, Hiking Boots, Guides, Poles, Plants, Hats, Backpacks, Hikers, Dirt, Mountain, Rocks and so much more. Once we'd exhausted that game we did another one that I don't really know what it was called but it was something like "I'm going on a trip and I'm going to bring...." and each person had to add something to the list as it went down the line then back again. Unfortunately I can't remember all (Heidi or Sally might be able to fill in) but I think we had a beer, hiking poles, a hot guy to carry us, dark chocolate, a massage, a good meal, a helicopter?, a can of Fosters, red wine, was there a horse? yeah, I should remember more (it went on for a bit) but, alas, I don't. You get the idea, though.... it was helpful during the steep parts to have your mind focusing on other things.
It was along this climb that we got our first glimpse of the Kibo Huts - the base camp where we'd be prior to the summit climb. Also, we saw the path that we'd be taking up the peak. It was a little daunting, but we put that out of our mind and just remained amazed that we'd be there by the end of the next day.
I'd heard the "Jambo song" (no idea what it's really called) when I was in Kenya years back and in looking at youtube videos prior to the climb, I realized the porters often sing it... so I tried singing it with Hubert - one of the guides- the first day... and again today (to pass the time). He taught me the rest of the words and we got Sally to sing part of it too... Jambo, Jambo Buana, Habari Gani, Muzuri Sana.... Wageni, Wakari Bishua, Kilimanjaro, Hakuna Matata. (hello, hello mister, how are you? fine thank you... tourist, you are welcome, in Kilimanjaro... there are no worries) so we spent some time singing until we came up to a point where we were able to see our camp below.
At the briefing the night before (each night they tell us what to expect for the following day) they told us there would be a lake that was for drinking only.... no swimming or washing. Why anyone would want to strip down at 4330m/14,200ft is beyond me... so it was funny. We had to check in at the camp and find our way to our tents. Everyone (all the different groups) was close together at this camp because it was wide open with no trees - and the toilets were lined up along the back. This is important to know because it caused quite a disturbance as we made sure we knew exactly which toilet was ours, but some others did not. Sally became quite perturbed when she went to use our toilet only to find one of "the 22" coming out of it... after having left a smelly gift. As we went on our acclimation hike (up to 4500m/14,753ft) it was all she could talk about (remember how I mentioned we didn't like "the 22" before?)
As we head up on the acclimation hike, poor Heidi vomits again. The guides rush to her side. Again, she feels better after the fact and again, they weren't worried. In fact they said someone else vomited 5 times already - we asked if it was someone in the group of 22, and they said no... Brown (one of our guides). We were completely surprised as we thought they'd be immune having climbed the mountain so many times. However, they said anyone can get altitude sickness - and he was proof. So, we continued up for the acclimatization climb and when we got to the top we could see the clouds roll in over the Kibo peak as well as into the campsite. We stayed up top long enough for me to "send and email" and for Judith to talk to her kids on the satellite phone she'd rented prior to leaving Canada. Then we headed down - slipping and sliding, with a little taste of what the ground would be like on summit day - loose rock and sand.
That night it was cold, cold, cold... again I had the porters fill my water bottle with hot water for my sleeping bag and again the freshette was a welcome item in the tent (I tried to drink all night long - in the morning realized I'd finished off 1.5L of water throughout the night - if hydrating was the way to beat altitude, I was determined to drink the night away). At night I could hear others up coughing, sneezing, (vomiting?) as the altitude was getting to more people. I had a slight headache when we went to bed but it was gone by morning. Others in our group were a bit worse off - all had either a headache, nausea or lack of appetite... but all were determined. Our team name was "10 on top" determined that we would beat the odds and all 10 of us would summit.
Click for Pictures
Click for video of porters carrying supplies
Today we will travel for 3-4 hours (I didn't have a watch on, so I wasn't timing it, but it sure felt like we were traveling slower than the route map said we'd be going... I did, however, turn my garmin watch on periodically to check our elevation) towards Mawenzi Turn. We are told it will be short but steep. We start off passing a little gorge which had what I thought were dead cacti lining the sides (see photo)... however after posting my last pictures of the Giant Senecios I was corrected by Sally's friend David (for whom we were taking the pictures) that they are not cacti.... here's what he said: "Kristin, your 'cacti' pictures aren't of cacti but the Giant Groundsel, that was the plant I was on to Sally to get a few pictures of. Cacti are from the Americas, water storing plants from elsewhere are referred to as succulents." So, I stand corrected... these are simply "succulents". Anyway, there were a bunch of dead-looking cacti-imposters along the ridge and we had a good view of Mawenzi - where we were headed.
In order to pass the time, Rhiannon started us off with a game of "I spy". So, as we climbed, we spied things such as Kibo Peak, Hiking Boots, Guides, Poles, Plants, Hats, Backpacks, Hikers, Dirt, Mountain, Rocks and so much more. Once we'd exhausted that game we did another one that I don't really know what it was called but it was something like "I'm going on a trip and I'm going to bring...." and each person had to add something to the list as it went down the line then back again. Unfortunately I can't remember all (Heidi or Sally might be able to fill in) but I think we had a beer, hiking poles, a hot guy to carry us, dark chocolate, a massage, a good meal, a helicopter?, a can of Fosters, red wine, was there a horse? yeah, I should remember more (it went on for a bit) but, alas, I don't. You get the idea, though.... it was helpful during the steep parts to have your mind focusing on other things.
It was along this climb that we got our first glimpse of the Kibo Huts - the base camp where we'd be prior to the summit climb. Also, we saw the path that we'd be taking up the peak. It was a little daunting, but we put that out of our mind and just remained amazed that we'd be there by the end of the next day.
I'd heard the "Jambo song" (no idea what it's really called) when I was in Kenya years back and in looking at youtube videos prior to the climb, I realized the porters often sing it... so I tried singing it with Hubert - one of the guides- the first day... and again today (to pass the time). He taught me the rest of the words and we got Sally to sing part of it too... Jambo, Jambo Buana, Habari Gani, Muzuri Sana.... Wageni, Wakari Bishua, Kilimanjaro, Hakuna Matata. (hello, hello mister, how are you? fine thank you... tourist, you are welcome, in Kilimanjaro... there are no worries) so we spent some time singing until we came up to a point where we were able to see our camp below.
At the briefing the night before (each night they tell us what to expect for the following day) they told us there would be a lake that was for drinking only.... no swimming or washing. Why anyone would want to strip down at 4330m/14,200ft is beyond me... so it was funny. We had to check in at the camp and find our way to our tents. Everyone (all the different groups) was close together at this camp because it was wide open with no trees - and the toilets were lined up along the back. This is important to know because it caused quite a disturbance as we made sure we knew exactly which toilet was ours, but some others did not. Sally became quite perturbed when she went to use our toilet only to find one of "the 22" coming out of it... after having left a smelly gift. As we went on our acclimation hike (up to 4500m/14,753ft) it was all she could talk about (remember how I mentioned we didn't like "the 22" before?)
As we head up on the acclimation hike, poor Heidi vomits again. The guides rush to her side. Again, she feels better after the fact and again, they weren't worried. In fact they said someone else vomited 5 times already - we asked if it was someone in the group of 22, and they said no... Brown (one of our guides). We were completely surprised as we thought they'd be immune having climbed the mountain so many times. However, they said anyone can get altitude sickness - and he was proof. So, we continued up for the acclimatization climb and when we got to the top we could see the clouds roll in over the Kibo peak as well as into the campsite. We stayed up top long enough for me to "send and email" and for Judith to talk to her kids on the satellite phone she'd rented prior to leaving Canada. Then we headed down - slipping and sliding, with a little taste of what the ground would be like on summit day - loose rock and sand.
That night it was cold, cold, cold... again I had the porters fill my water bottle with hot water for my sleeping bag and again the freshette was a welcome item in the tent (I tried to drink all night long - in the morning realized I'd finished off 1.5L of water throughout the night - if hydrating was the way to beat altitude, I was determined to drink the night away). At night I could hear others up coughing, sneezing, (vomiting?) as the altitude was getting to more people. I had a slight headache when we went to bed but it was gone by morning. Others in our group were a bit worse off - all had either a headache, nausea or lack of appetite... but all were determined. Our team name was "10 on top" determined that we would beat the odds and all 10 of us would summit.
Click for Pictures
Click for video of porters carrying supplies
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