It is 6:30 am. I slept in a tent last night in a forest grove on the African Savanna. As the sun came up the forest has come alive. I hear birds and barking and howls and sounds I cannot identify. It is a chorus of chaos; erie beautiful, haunting. It is cold, but it s going to get much colder before it is over. Today we begin our ascent of Kilimanjaro.
The staff delivered coffee to my room and I enjoyed a cup as I read the bible. Afterward I thanked God for the opportunity to be be in Africa. I hope I learn from the experience of being here. I took a lukewarm shower in a tent at about 45 degree. At least the water was warmer than the ambient air temperature.
Once the sun was up fully the cacophony settled down a bit to a peaceful and occasional birdsong. We ate breakfast once everyone was up.
We packed our truck and headed out from the Ndarakawi Ranch towards Kilimanjaro. The drive to the park gate took about an hour. Once at the gate we had to register.
They weighed our bags to ensure the tour group is not overburdening the porters. I bought a map of Kili as a souvenir. We picked up Liberate and EJ; our head guide and assistant head guide then headed to the trail head. To say the road was rough is an understatement. We are riding in a range rover and it had trouble. Kaseem was a skilled driver, but this road got the best of him once. We all piled out and he backed up and made a run for it a couple of times. Finally Liberate and EJ jumped on the side board on the side where the tires were slipping and he made it over the bump. We hiked up to the next level place in the road to meet him. Lisa videoed the final attempt. The road, if you can call it that, to the trailhead took about another hour.
The sight at the trailhead was amazing. We had 25 porters, a camp leader, a cook, a medic and two waiters waiting for us. This brings our grand total to 32 support people to get 4 of us to the summit. After a quick lunch and a briefing we headed off. The start of the trail was tough. It was steep and we were soft. Once we got our rhythm it got easier. June is setting the pace. She is the heaviest of the group. I occasionally catch Liberate and EJ watching her. I can tell the guides are paying close attention to her condition. This is good because the slower pace conserves energy.
Along the route we see many wildflowers and monkeys. It is warm but not too warm, a good hiking temperature. We see a small beautiful flower called Impatiens Kilimanjaro. Here is a photo:
The hike to Forest Camp took about 4 hours. When we arrived we had hiked about 5 miles and ascended about 3280 feet to about 9281 feet in altitude. It was tough but not too bad. The camp is crowded. We have 36 in our party and there are 7-8 other groups here.
We met a German woman hiking by herself (with 6 support staff) named Susan. We chatted with her for a while. She was from Munich. We spoke about Munich for a while and exchanged emails. She had never heard of Arthrex but promised to look for their signs.
We had a good dinner then Liberate checked our oxygen and heart rate. After dinner it was dark so if you leave your tent a headlamp must be worn. We were all tired so we went to our tents early. I lay awake a long while listening to the bustle of camp. As it slowly died down I drifted off to sleep.
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