Day two, 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.
We were woken at 6.30am with a cup of tea and a bowel of hot water for washing and breakfast in the mess tent was served at 7am. Porridge was on the menu and I ate a couple of bowls washed down with plenty of tea. The whole routine runs like a military operation and Raphael the tent master and one of the five ‘helping porters’ had our tents down before I had managed to pack my sleeping bag and mat into my kit bag. I won’t make the same mistake tomorrow. We also have our own toilet tent with a sit down chemical toilet just for the six of us, so relative luxury compared to the long drops of the camp.
Like everything else in camp this has to be carried up and back down the mountain. Timmo, another of the five ‘helping’ porters has the dubious honour of being in charge of servicing and carrying the toilet. I am used to trekking with one rucksack, which I carry and has all my worldly belongings in, so having to pack two bags takes a bit of getting used to. I have my day rucksack which has everything I need for the day but there is also my Exodus supplied kit bag which has my other allocated 15kg of ‘stuff’ in it. This is dutifully carried up the mountain for me by ‘Goodness’ who carries it on his head! I’m a little uncomfortable with the ‘colonial’ overtures of all this but at the end of the day, this is how the operation runs and these guys are getting a comparatively good wage for doing it. It is good employment and they are happy doing it so who am I to complain. I’ll also make sure ‘Goodness’ is rewarded for his efforts at the end of the trek.
When we set off a good pace is established and we climb steadily upwards through through the Lemosho Forest. It was a very pleasant walk through the forest in the cool of the morning with the sun shining through the gaps in the trees. As we gain height the sound of the crickets and birds slowly fades away and eventually after about two hours walking, and at about 10,500ft we climb out of the forest and into the Heather and Moorland terrain. Above the treeline, the views start to open up. Straight ahead of us is the Shira Ridge, which we were heading towards and would cross over before the end of the day. Behind us were the rolling hills and vast expanses of the plains of Tanzania and Kenya stretching out towards the Serengeti and beyond. It gave us a sense of just how big the landscape of Africa was. The weather was on the turn but the skies were still blue and the greenery of the forest canopy and rolling plains contrasted nicely against the blue sky.
We stop for lunch just before crossing the Shira Ridge and it gives us an opportunity to sit for a while and admire the view of the plains one last time before they were hidden by the ridge as we crossed over it. Lunch finished we climb the final short ascent to our crossover point on the Northern extremity of the ridge at about 11,000ft. We had not seen Kilimanjaro itself since we started walking as the Shira Ridge hides the mountain from view. Crossing over it, we should have our first close up view of the mountain we had come to climb, away in the distance across the Shira plateau.
Unfortunately for us the weather had taken a turn for the worse and the mountain was shrouded in cloud. In the distance, our second campsite Shira 1 can be seen sitting in the middle of the plateau. As we made our way down to the campsite I got talking with our third lead guide, Gasper and as we talked it started to drizzle. Fortunately we were nearly at the campsite and it was good to arrive and get into the tent out of the rain. As Gasper explained, getting wet on Kili can be a pretty miserable experience. There are no fires allowed, there are no drying facilities and it’s cold a lot of the time, certainly when the sun goes down, so if you get wet, its very hard to get dry again.
Fortunately, after an hour or so the rain stopped, the sky cleared and just after dinner Joshua called us out of the mess tent and we were treated to a spectacular first close up view of the mountain we had come to climb, magnificently basking in the evening sun. Being on the equator, the sun went down quickly and as the sky had cleared Dave and I decided to wait for the stars to come out and maybe a photo opportunity. We weren’t disappointed and I managed to get some star shots over Kilimanjaro whilst standing in awe underneath a vast inky black canopy, sprinkled with a billion stars all twinkling in the African sky. As I climbed into my sleeping bag, very satisfied, the temperature was dropping, Shira 1 is at 11,500ft and in the middle of open moorland, I think it’s going to get cold.
For map and route of this walk click ‘learn more’ below.
