Kilimanjaro: Machame to Shira (2)

I made it through day 2!

Last night I had about 1,5 hours of sleep and I was worried that I would feel tired all day. The thought that I'm climbing one of the seven summits is providing me with a serious amount of energy so I didn't felt sleepy at all.
Not being able to find sleep is actually one of the symptoms that you can experience when your body is adapting to a higher altitude.

We slept at a height of 3000 meters and the temperature was dropping towards 10 degrees, which isn't very cold considering the height.
In the morning the guide brought us some tea, which was nice to start the day with. Afterwards we cleaned out the tent, packed our bags and quickly had breakfast. 

Around 8.30 am we could start hiking. The first part of the track was very steep and it was basically a boulder field we needed to get across. It was also very dusty and the low vegetation could not protect us from the blistering sun. There was so much dust that I put my sunglasses on to keep the sand out of my eyes.

We past by a series of jaw dropping viewpoints today and every time we looked in the distance we couldn't believe our eyes.
For a while the beautiful mountain Meru could be seen. Clouds were whirling around the top, this created a nice shadow play on the sides of that mountain. 

After 4 hours on the road we spotted the first Moorland Lobelias. These trees are shaped like a pineapple when the tree is still young. When it grows bigger it starts to look like an exploded cabbage. Funny little trees.
When looking into the distance my eye spotted a small crawler. A chameleon that didn’t hide well enough :)
It willingly cooperated in a photoshoot. Funny little creatures.
The guide told us after 5 hours that the hardest part was behind us. However, just 5 minutes later we had to climb with our hand and feet next to some steep overhanging rocks. Our guide seems to have a weird sense of humor. 

Near the end of the day the weather changed and soon the first raindrops fell on the dusty trail. Suddenly the thick raindrops changed into a hail storm.
Luckily we were close to the end point, it took us just another 20min. to reach the Shira Caves campsite.

After a few hours the clouds were pulling away from the top of this old volcano and we could see all the way to the glaciers on the summit. A magnificent view.

My belly was singing the song of the lions. It was a pretty hard day and by the end of the afternoon I got really hungry. Tonight we had rice and a local variant of goulash on the menu. Very tasty.
Well, at this point I would eat everything :)

Kilimanjaro: Shira to Barranco (3)

Let’s start with last night.

Because of the risk of altitude sickness you need to drink around 5 liters of water everyday. So that means that you need to run out of you’re tent at least two times during the night. It really starts to freeze now during the night, so it's difficult to crawl out of your warm sleeping bag to go outside.
However, this night I didn’t mind the trouble, because once outside I could see the snowy top of the Kilimanjaro bathing in the light of the moon. The stars around made this scenery stunning.
A few more days and I will hopefully be at the top…

During the day we had an acclimatization walk planned. This would lead us to the top of a rock that is called Lava Tower.
When we started walking we saw that the ground was frozen. A small stream that we passed a little later was frozen solid.

The vegetation started to change again as soon as we reached the 4000m mark.
The low bushes disappeared and now the rocks were king of the scenery.
Ice cold wind made us stop to put on an extra layer of clothing and we definetly needed gloves.

By noon we were close to the highest point to reach today and we paused for lunch near some lava rocks. Normally I keep myself busy during a break by hopping around, or walking a bit without the backpack. I want to keep my body temperature at the same level as it is freezing all day long. But over here that wasn't necessary. Surprisingly these rocks were warm. We also smelled some typical volcanic gasses. The volcano isn’t active anymore, but it still has some energy left that reaches up to the surface. This was ideal to keep a bit warm during the break. 

At two o'clock we reached the Lava Tower. We were now at 4628m above sea level.
At the top we walked straight into a cloud, which limited our view.
Unfortunately I started to get some headache over here. One of the symptoms of altitude sickness.

When we finally started to descent we saw more frozen rivers. A little more down grass started to grow again. And soon we walking in between the funny pineapple trees.
There was already a huge temperature difference noticeable when we passed the 4200m point on our way down.
The river was flowing again and we took a small break to watch a nice waterfall. It made me dream of a warm shower. But that is still days removed from now.

When we arrived at the camp site we had to register at the office of the park ranger. As we were waiting I had a look at the group. Some of them looked really bad. As soon as they saw their tent they rolled out their sleeping mat and rested. 

Today’s height difference clearly made some victims. Hopefully they will feel better tomorrow morning. But I’m afraid that not everyone will reach the summit…

Again a stary night and a different view on the summit compared to yesterday. We are now much closer but still need a long way to go.

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.