Kilimanjaro: Barranco camp to Karanga (4)

I had a good night rest at the Barranco camp.

When the guide woke me up and handed me a large cup of tea I already knew that today would be a good day. The warm cup warmed up my hands.
All tents were covered in ice this morning. This night the temperature went down to -7 degrees. I'm happy that my sleeping bag is tough enough for these conditions. (My sleeping bag is filled with goose down and has a comfort rating of -13, Limit -21, extreme -42)

When I crawled out of the tent there were almost no clouds around the summit.
We are now walking at the side of the mountain and we must reach the base camp on the other side. From there a path will lead the way through the snow and glaciers towards the Uhuru peak. But that’s still two days walking away.

So first things first. When looking left from the summit I could spot the Barranco wall. A steep climb of 300m that requires some technique and agility. There isn't a fixed trail at the Barranco wall. You just try to get higher by looking for the easiest way up. It's very steep and you have to use your hands to pull yourself up or to secure yourself when you walk on the edge of a cliff. It didn't take long before the camp underneath us started to get smaller. Sometimes I took a small break to enjoy the view and to snap a quick picture. This is really a beautiful location.

The lava rocks gave me surprisingly a lot of grip because of their rough surface. This part of the journey is my favorite one so far. I had so much energy that I quickly left my group behind and started to make my own trail. “See you guys at the top!”
The guides started to call me spiderman for the rest of the day :)
I made it to the top in 45 minutes, an half hour quicker than the rest of the group.

After this section we had to cross three valleys where we always needed to ascend and descend around 250m. Some people slipped on their way down in the second valley. It's a very steep slope and the small gravel isn't providing you with grip.
From the second last top you could already spot the camp. And you could also see the road towards it. Not super motivating I must say. Again 200m down on a steep trail and 250m up on a slope with big rocks. At a height around 4000m this is an exhausting activity.

After diner I let someone check my hart rate and the oxygen saturation in my blood. The values were very good. 88% for oxygen (considering the height this is very good) and a hart rate of 68bpm. 

That means I'm fit enough to go to the base camp tomorrow also called Karanga Camp. Tomorrow evening we will be at a height of 4600m.

Headlamp out and time to close the sleeping bag, it’s starting to freeze again.

Kilimanjaro: Mweka camp to Mweka village (7)

Today I woke up with a big smile :D

Yesterday was a pretty though day, but it was all worth it.
Standing on the top of the Kilimanjaro was truly a very intense and wonderful feeling.

We had to wake up today at 5 am. No time to let the muscles rest.
We still had a 4 hour walk to do towards the Mweka gate. We take a different route down than the Machame route that we have been following for the past days.
At 6 am we started to walk towards the end point of the journey.

The route was leading us through a beautiful part of the rain forest. Going from rocky landscapes to the colorful rain forest is a nice experience.
As soon as we were under the treeline the whole trail turned green. We heard many birds sing and the mosquitoes were back again.

After a few hours walking we could hear monkeys shout. When we looked up there was a big group jumping through the treetops. There were at least 40 Blue monkeys.
A little further we could see the Collobus monkeys. They have enormous white tails. That makes it easy to spot them.

Suddenly the rain forest ends and we pass by a big gate. I notice that there are cars up here and there is even a bar. This was such a weird moment. I mean, after a few days in the wilderness it feels a bit weird to be thrown back into the civilization. 

We had to pass by the office of the local ranger to register our self so that they know we arrived save and sound. Soon a driver would pick us up and bring us back to the city.
After saying goodbye to the crew we took a last look at the mountain and drove again to the busy city of Moshi.

Living in the wild is always a great experience. Coming back to the civilization feels always a bit weird in the beginning.
A cold shower washed the dust from my skin that had been building up for the last days.
How does a normal toilet work again?

I can’t believe that the expedition is already over. Time has been flying by the past week.
I’ve seen the most beautiful far sights and stunning pieces of nature. Walked through the rain forest and ice fields. Seen some cool animals. Made a bunch of new friends. And stood on the top of the largest free standing mountain in the world.
Mission accomplished!

In the evening we went out for dinner and some beers to celebrate.
The next days will be about relaxing and getting some rest.
Well, relaxing…, I already planed a safari for tomorrow and have to leave at 6.30 am. Nah, no need to rest, thinking about the past week provides me with enough energy :)

So that’s it for this trip.
On to the next one!




Check out the essentials to know about a trip to the Killimanjaro on our website: Backpack on Track, Kilimajaro
And have a look on the video bellow to get a impression of the journey to the summit.