Kilimanjaro, Day 2
Saturday, November 10, 2012 As I fell asleep last night, I thought that a 6am wake up might be pushing it, given the jetlag, my previous evening's 4am bedtime preceded by 26hrs of travel, not to mention the 10km hike at this altitude. As it turned out, I had no reason to be worried. I was asleep by 9pm and wide awake by 4am. I stayed in my very comfortable MEC Aquila -12C bag until first light, and emerged from my tent with my thermos in search of hot water and a good photo op.
I found both, made some coffee and saw, for the first time on this trip, the beautiful snow capped peak of this great mountain. I found a decent view of where we hiked in from, and marvelled at the reality of waking up above the clouds.
As I sipped my coffee I chatted with Alex our lead guide about his family and life as a climbing and safari guide. Like most of the Africans I've met, his stories are astonishing. He has 4 kids of his own, and he supported 4 street kids from Moshi, the small town where he calls home. He has seen two of the adoptees through university and a third completed a mechanic aprentiship not so long ago. His perspective is so valuable to me. His experiences and wisdom are so unique, the chance to share a conversation with people like Alex adds so much to these journeys.
We gathered for a quick breakfast of porridge, eggs, sausage (hotdog), toast papaya and citrus, packed our camp and were off up the mountain before 8:30am.
I packed out all of my gear again today, feeling confident that my pack was so perfectly distributed that it would hardly add to my physical exertion. I packed along our packaged lunch (same as yesterday) two hiking poles, and the obligatory 3L of water.
The two little fanny packs on the sturdy waist strap of the MEC EOS bag allow really easy access to things like my camera, lip moisturizer (it's a very macho-manly variety), snacks and hand sanitizer. The waist strap is fixed in the middle of the bag, but pivots with your hips allowing for natural movement. At the end of our day today, I was amazed at how great my back and shoulders felt. If I didn't know better I'd say that the pack actually makes me hike more efficiently.
Our climb started right at the sign-out hut, with a staircase-like pitch for 3 or 4 kms. Every third or fourth step was a high lunge up the equivalent of 2 or 3 regular stair-sized steps. The rock was slippery and wet, and as we switched back and forth I remarked at how similar it was to choosing your line when snowboarding or whitewater kayaking (I'd assume).
As we continued higher the vegetation continually changed. Our guide Praygod was generous with the names of plants and flowers, and constantly provided encouraging words in Swahili, "Pole, Pole sassa" for "slowly now", "sawa sawa hakuna matata" for "it's ok, no worries" and my favourite "Nguvu kama simba" for "have the power of a lion".
I reached into the left side pocket of my waist pack and found a sharpie, and asking Praygod to tell me all the sayings again I wrote them on my left hand and arm. For good measure I wrote the words for 1-10 next to the corresponding fingers as well, "moja, mbili, tatu, nne, tano, sita, saba, nabe, tisa, kumi". Thank you is "Asante", you're welcome is "karibu", and cheers is "hungea"... There, now we know Swahili!
We stopped for our packed lunch and the bird showed up, harassing us for our snacks. Everyone was hungry, and we didn't think Patrick, Alex or Praygod would be particularly pleased if we fed the giant avian mooch. Clearly it's accustomed to some charity from climbers.
As we marched on it began to trickle rain. Then the thunder struck, and the sky opened up and literally drained a lake onto us and the trail. Just before it really started hammering I ducked into a cave with Kevin to dig out my harcore MEC gaiters and put them on, in an attempt to keep the insides of my otherwise very waterproof Asics Lahar hikers dry. It proved to be good timing, and as we emerged from the cave the skies added hail to the rain, despite the fairly warm temperature. I hiked in shorts and knee high compression socks again today, and was never cold at all.
The climb became fairly technical as we made our way around some small passes with hand holds. I still haven't used the climbing poles, but I'm certain they'll be essential when the air is thinner (the air gets even thinner than this! WAY thinner, and I'm sleeping at 3850metres tonight...)
The last km of our trek was the first and only downhill section we've experienced since we departed from the Machame gate. It was a welcome change, and after over 6hours of hiking today, (one of those hours being extra soggy) our enthusiasm reappeared and we trotted into camp bright eyed and bushy tailed (author's licensed token exaggeration).
With a few hours before dinner I chatted with some Aussie hikers, explored a little, unpacked, ate popcorn, drank cocoa and had a little nap.
The fog cleared for the first time today and a full view of the town of Moshi ahead, and our destination; a now very clear picture of the stiff snowy peak, was visible.
When the fog cleared there appeared to be some cell reception as our guides and porters all had their nokias out chatting and texting. I've had less luck finding bars, but if you're reading this I got the email off somehow...
I'll wander around now with my left hand-clutching-phone extended into the air, while my right brushes my teeth, in hopes that the millions or billions or trillions of 1's and 0's that these words translate into in computerlanguage can zip down the 3000meters to a tower somewhere in Moshi or wherever. Wild stuff.
I doubt if there will be service as we ascend higher, so this may be my last real-time blog entry (thanks to my mommy for posting it). Rest assured that I'm feeling great, but I'm really respecting this mountain, the terrain, weather and most of all, the altitude and all that comes with it. I'll push hard as far as my sealevel legs and lungs will take me!
La la salama, and nguvu kama simba...
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