A personal journal recording and reflecting on my walks around the world.
Day 3 Shira 1 camp (11,496ft) to Shira 2/Shira Huts camp (12,779ft) via Shira Cathedral (12,671ft)
We wake up to a freezing Shira 1 campsite with the ground frozen solid and ice frosting the tents. After two days of walking I am starting to get into the rhythm of this walk now and the developing daily routine that consists of walk, eat, sleep, repeat.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day Three Shira 1 Camp to Shira Huts Camp”
Day 2 Big Tree (Mount Mkubwa) Camp (9,137ft) to Shira 1 camp (11,496ft)
Night one in the tent was a pretty restless one. We’re still relatively low and it’s warm so I didn’t sleep too well. Dinner last night was something to behold, soup and bread followed by potatoes and fish with a fruit pudding. All this, prepared in a tent by Milton, our dedicated chef who will be looking after us over the next eight days and cooking on gas stoves that will have to be carried up and down the mountain. We certainly won’t be going hungry.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day Two Big Tree Camp to Shira 1 Camp”
Day 1 Lemosho Glades (7,838ft) to Big Tree (Mount Mkubwa) Camp (9,137ft)
I’m sitting writing this at the end of day one sitting under one of the ‘Big Trees’ of Big Tree camp with Colobus monkeys playing in the trees above me. Backtracking- Yesterday I landed at Kilimanjaro international airport and was by met Joshua our Exodus/Africa Walking Company team leader and lead guide for the next eight days. A baking hot journey in a Land Cruiser (no air con) to the hotel followed and when we arrived we were greeted with hot towels to freshen up and wipe off the red soil that had been kicked up and deposited itself on our hands and faces on the journey, like we were being welcomed by the Red Earth of Africa itself.
Continue reading “Kilimanjaro Day One Lemosho Glades to Big Tree Camp”
Kilimanjaro – A Mountain Top Experience
There is really only one reason that a Hill Walker would find himself landing at Kilimanjaro international airport and it isn’t to go on safari to see the ‘Big Five’. It is, of course because they are about to embark on a walk up Africa’s highest mountain, a walk to ‘The Roof Africa’. Climbing Kilimanjaro has long been on my bucket list and over the next eight days, God willing, I will make it to the top of the worlds highest, free standing mountain.
Bhandar 7,198ft to Shivalaya 5,905ft
It’s another leisurely start to the day. Breakfast outside in the sunshine again and we were joined by the female lodge owner and some of her family. No porridge on offer so had boiled eggs instead and I have never seen such a Yellow yolk before. Got some pictures of birds on the wall and a great picture of a little girl who wandered over to see who the strange, scruffy and smelly white guys were.
Sete 8448ft to Bhandar 7198ft
After our efforts getting over the Lamjura La Pass yesterday we are in no mad rush to get going this morning and we have a leisurely breakfast sat outside in the sunshine. As we get ever lower, the temperature gets higher, the walking gets easier and we get fitter. The bird life has also returned and we sit eating breakfast to the morning chorus above our heads. When we finally get going it takes us just two hours to walk down to Kenja at 5,362ft.
Junbesi 8776ft to Sete 8448ft
We were up early for what is going to be a hard day compared to the last few days we have had. A bright, sunny morning greets us as we leave the lodge at about 8.30am. It’s uphill from the start as we tackle a short sharp incline until we reach the crest of the ridge that takes us away from the Junbesi valley. The path meanders along, up and down for a while and then, the main event of the day, the climb up to the Lamjura La pass starts in earnest.
Jubing 5,499ft to Tragsindho 9,612ft
I’m sitting in the lodge in Tragsindho watching sport on a Television, Aston Villa v Norwich on ESPN. Civilisation it seems is looming ever closer. Last night we were warm and muggy at 5,499ft in Jubing. Tonight in Tragsindho we are at 9,612ft and the heater is back on in the dining room. If you include all the up’s and downs of the day we have climbed over 5,000ft. Continue reading “Nepal – Jubing to Junbesi”
Namche Bazaar 11,306ft to Choplung 8,727ft
After the hard work of the last week we enjoyed a well earned rest day in Namche yesterday which we spent drinking coffee and eating cake. Today, we are back on the trail and saying farewell to the high mountains that have been our companion for the last week. In some ways I have completed what I came here to do, I have fulfilled my dream of seeing Everest, and more having trekked back to Namche via the Cho La Pass and Gokyo valley. But what we have done up to now is what many trekkers do on a visit to Nepal. What we are about to do however is a bit different, we are going to walk out to Jiri and the road head. Continue reading “Nepal – Namche Bazaar to Jubing”
Dragnag 15,387ft back to Namche Bazaar via Phortse (12,467ft)
There is no rush to get out of bed today as compared to the last four days we have a couple of easy days walking ahead of us to get back to Namche Bazaar and a rest day. The Cho La Valley resort, our home for the night was very comfortable and we had a lazy breakfast before setting off, walking down the quieter side of the Gokyo valley, as recommended by Mark for our stop tonight at Phortse. Continue reading “Nepal – Dragnag to Namche Bazaar via Phortse”