Kilimanjaro - Day 2

After a good night's rest, we were woken at 6:30am by Meki with the now famous "Morning Call". Meki had a very deep voice so we joked that it sounded like the grim reaper coming to get you every morning. We had to get up 'pole, pole' so about 20 minutes later, smiling Shabe and Meki would come back to the tents, this time with hot tea or coffee. We would slowly drink the tea or coffee, pack up our things and get ready for the day's hike. Breakfast started about 7:30 and always consisted of crepes, porridge, omelets and sometimes sausage. Jamaica said that we had to each eat at least one bowl of porridge as it would help with digestion up on the mountain. At first, we really didn't like the porridge. It was a bit runny, but with a little bit of honey, it was eatable. However, by the time the trip was over, I think we all grew to love that porridge.

At about 8:45 we set off for the hike. Today was a long hike (~11 miles) that took us through the jungle into the burning forest. As we hiked, porters carrying all of our things would pass us on the trail. It was amazing how they carried all of these sacks, bags and baskets on their heads! We were barely getting up with just our day packs and they flew by us like it was nothing weighed down with all the gear. The picture to the left here is the porters, passing us in the jungle.

The hike was long, hot and tiring. However, because of the pace that Jamaica set, we were all able to keep going. We stopped a number of times both for lunch (same delicious box lunch) and to enjoy the views. The picture to the right is us hiking in the burning forest. I think you can see the reason for this name, as the shape of the trees looks like a fire burning.

Today, we got our first glimpse of Mt Kilimanjaro. The name means hill (Kili) of 2 different colors (jaro). The 2 different colors are the contrast of the white snow and the black earth of the mountain. It is a truly spectacular sight! The camp that we finished at today was Shira I (3500m). From the camp, we could clearly see the mountain. It was very inspirational!

The camp was again set up for us once we arrived. Tonight was the first night that the evenings and nights were really cold. We were actually very surprised by the drop in temperature as the sun went down and the wind began to blow. But we were all prepared with our gear, so we were able to hang out and sleep comfortably.