Kilimanjaro: Day 1

June 3rd, Wednesday!

The room was comfortable, but I didn't sleep well. Too excited I think. I requested a wake up call for 8am, but I think I was up by 6am or 6:15. I fired up the GPS at 7:00am just in time to find out what time it was. Next international travel adventure totally requires a watch!

I took my time getting ready and came out to the little restaurant across the courtyard for breakfast. It was complimentary, so I had a slice of paw paw, watermelon, a little banana, juice that tasted like guava or passion, tea, toast, an omelet, and a sausage. I'm going to be such a fatty when I get back to the states.

I'm just waiting for Godfrey to pick me up. He's supposed to be here at 9:30am. Of course, I have no idea what time it is now.

I'm just sitting outside in the courtyard... it's very overcast, and the temperature is perfect. I hear roosters and oddly enough, I'm pretty sure I hear a bird speaking Swahili. This place is pretty cute. I wish I had taken some pictures, but you can see it here: http://www.pvim.com/photos_accommodation.htm

Godfrey, his father, and most of the crew came to pick me up on time and stopped by the post office so I could mail two postcards. I have one more to send, but I'm waiting to see if I make it to the summit before dropping it in the mail.

On the drive over to the gate, I got to sit in front and we picked up one crew member along the way. It was pretty wet outside but not raining. The clouds were practically on the ground in many places. Luckily, the visibility was enough to see pedestrians all along the way. The driver honked at them as we sped by at 100 km/hr.

We passed acres of corn fields that are expected to fail due to the lack of rain. It's been a terrible rainy season this year.

When we arrived at the gate, I took pictures of the famous archway into the park and signed the registration book.


While waiting for the rest of the paperwork, I watched hopeful men outside the gate selling rain covers and hoping to find a crew that needed another porter. My crew consisted of Godfrey my guide, a cook, and four porters. Godfrey, Abus, Willie, Baboo, Johnny, Juma...


The first leg of the journey was through the cloud forest and it was cool and beautiful. It was cold at first so I put on my Patagonia R1 over my long sleeve Cap1, but I was hot in less than 20 minutes. Here are three of our crew heading off ahead of us:

...and Abus our cook carrying a heavy load on his head.

We saw very few people along the way and even passed a group, but were passed by others. It's hard to tell how slow I was in comparison to a good pace, but it was slow. Very slow.

We reached the lunch spot not too long after and Godfrey handed me my Chrisburger box lunch that he had to carry for me because my pack was too full. It was tons of food, but I tried my best to eat it all: Fried chicken, egg and burger sandwich, little banana, apple juice triangle (not a box, mind you) and something else - I forget now.


We saw a waterfall and decided to climb down to it. Crossing a log nearly gave a a heart attack. I thought for sure I would fall and I didn't even have my pack on! It was worth it though. It's a little difficult to see, but the waterfall is just over my shoulder:
Godfrey took the funniest picture of me. Actually, I wasn't even meant to be in this picture... I turned around just in time to block part of his shot.


We also saw lots of flowers along the way:
...inpatients...


...macalelias...
...everlastings...The camp was probably 2 hours beyond the lunch stop, and my tent was set up when we got there.


The porters put my bag inside and then gave me a bowl of hot water and soap to wash my hands.

Popcorn and my choice of hot drinks were set up on a table with a table cloth and chairs. (Tanzanian tea, Cadbury drinking chocolate, instant coffee, instant milk, brown sugar, and honey)

I had hot chocolate and tea, some popcorn, and then we went on our afternoon walk (climb high, sleep low). The sun was just beginning to set:

(There's Meru in the background.)

I got an idea of what the first 20 minutes of tomorrow's hike will be like, and Godfrey took me to a restroom that I was probably the first to use this season. The pit toilets are not as bad as I had expected, although it's hard to aim.

When we returned to camp, dinner was ready. They moved the little table inside because the temperature had dropped. (Little two person table.) They put so much food in front of me. First course: two bowls of creamy cucumber soup. Next course: seasoned boiled potatoes with chili sauce. Next course: a warm shredded cabbage and carrot salad and to top it all off, some super awesome red meat, likely beef, but maybe goat. Oh! I almost forgot: a bowl of some type of vegetable soup.

It was way too much. I tried to eat it all, but seriously, one can only eat so much! Afterwards, I just hung out and watched them make ugali, which is boiling water mixed with white corn flower to make something the consistency of stiff grainy mashed potatoes. It doesn't taste like anything by itself. Godfrey ate some with greens. I was too stuff to even take a bite.

Here's a picture of Abus cooking for me:

...and here's Willie giving me my first ugali cooking lesson...

I showed them the pictures I took and they really liked that. When I get back, I'll have to send them to Godfrey.

I went to bed shortly after which entailed getting my sleeping bag out of its stuff sack and finding my travel pillow. At first, the sleeping bag didn't feel warm, but I soon discovered that heat builds inside, but doesn't escape.

Around 12:45am, I had to pee, but I was afraid! I thought, I can sleep through this, but no - there was no way, so some time after 2am, I finally ventured out to the pit toilet. It was surprisingly comfortable outside, probably because I was practically on fire in my sleeping bag. The camp was bright too because the moon was nearly full. I was really happy to have the eye mask from my Virgin Atlantic flight because it was a lot brighter than I expected. Regardless, the stars were out and I could see the milky way. The southern sky was beautiful.

I slept on and off 'till 6am and then finally woke up. It was actually hard to sleep with so much food in my belly. I'm sure I hear animals outside my tent periodically throughout the night.