July 17
9250 feet – 11500 feet
4.5 miles, 8 hours
I didn’t get enough sleep
last night and this morning it really showed.
I wasn’t hungry at breakfast and had to force myself to eat the
porridge, egg, and toast that we were served, along with hot water and honey
(the hot water was my choice since I couldn’t have coffee or tea). If we didn’t eat, the cook would notice and
it was entirely possible we’d get a talking to.
Calories equal energy and without energy, I was going to get nowhere
fast.
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| Tim, Sandi, Jen, Steph, and Marc in front of the Big Tree! |
Today was a very steep
walking day. We were going to gain more
than 2000 feet in elevation during the four+ miles and even though they thought
it might take six hours, it took eight.
I stopped a lot and the hike was so hard it made me cry. Several times in fact. I spent a lot of time thinking about my dad
and memorizing the backs of the shoes in front of me. This is how I started to recognize my fellow
climbers, by the backs of their boots and any holes in their pants. Jen had a pink stripe on the back of her
boots, Tim had a hiking shoe instead of a boot, etc. Feet suddenly became very important. All I had to do was keep walking as long as
the person ahead of me was walking and I’d be good. One thing we all commented on was how hard
you had to pay attention to the ground in front of you. It was impossible to look around unless you
stopped. If you tried to look around and
move at the same time, there was a high chance of tripping or something silly
like that.
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| Water Break! "Maji" is Swahili for water. I learned that word quickly. |
I got better with the
Freshette today (I’ll have to include a picture of it…you’ll all laugh), though
I didn’t pee as much since we were sweating from all the exertion. One way or another, all that water had to
come out. At this point, we were
drinking about three liters a day, though sometimes more. That’s a LOT of water.
About halfway through the
climb, when I thought I was going to die, Jen brushed against the grass in
front of me and something fell into the path.
It looked like a piece of dried grass or some sort of skeleton, so I
touched it with my hiking pole and low and behold, it began to uncurl. I crouched down to pick it up to get a better
look and it was a small chameleon, in the process of changing from the color of
grass to the color of the dirt. It was
amazing!! The guides didn’t want to
touch it, thinking it was poisonous, but we did get him onto a stick and passed
him to the group behind us so they could take some pictures. That little lizard gave me a boost of extra
energy that I really needed.
 |
| Chama-Chameleon...he was super cute!! |
We had a Freshette
tutorial behind some trees, though still within hearing distance of the
group. It was interesting to try and
give pointers on how to pee standing up with the aid of a small piece of
plastic. Marc thought it was hilarious. “Sandi, you have to tuck it up really tight
against your butt, otherwise it might spray out the back…”
 |
| We came all the way over those hills - I was exhaustedly impressed with myself when I stopped to look back. |
With about a mile left to
walk, Kilimanjaro came into view as we turned an important corner. Up until now, she was a dream – we hadn’t
seen her, but there she was, in all her glory.
She looked so far away, though I knew we would get closer every
day. She was breathtaking, both
literally and figuratively.
 |
| There she is!! And still so far... |
Getting to camp was a
great relief. Since our camp the night
before had been so crowded, we had asked to be more removed from people and the
porters did a great job with our campsite!
We were far enough away from people that it almost felt private and they
welcomed us with singing. Talk about new
energy – they were loud, amazing, and did some dancing that made me want to
join in (I did, though not today). They
all wore the t-shirts that Jen had brought for them and put on such a show that
others were attracted to the scene, in particular a nasty German who pushed me
out of the way to film our porters. Wait
a second, buddy – this is OUR camp, not yours.
I was too tired to kick him.
 |
| Shira Camp - a perfect location. |
I had nasty acid reflux
tonight, probably from the diamox. I
threw up before dinner and felt quite a bit better, which was good (This would become a regular occurrence for me - I think I was throwing up before almost every meal by the end as a side effect of the medication and the altitude). We had cream of chicken soup and all sorts of
other wonderful treats, but all the food tasted like dirt and I had to force
myself to eat again. I heard this was a
side-effect of altitude and I’m really hoping that it goes away – having to not
enjoy eating and eating anyway for eight days would suck.
We took our diamox early and
I stopped drinking at dinner, so the sleeping was really very good. I did get up a few times, but not with the
frequency of the night before. People
who had climbed previously said it was important to get up during the night and
I’m glad I did – the stars outside were amazing and the snows up on the
mountain glowed in the dark. No camera
could capture that shot, but it will live forever in my dreams. She was there all night, watching over us –
encouraging us to keep going.
Kilimanjaro is one of the
most beautiful things in the world, especially by moonlight.
Some notes about our
fellow peeps:
- Jen loves to sing and has a gorgeous voice. She sang to me sometimes to keep me moving.
- Sandi is obsessed with ass. It’s really very funny.
- Tim is a wanderer and a very old soul – he doesn’t use his camera much, but each picture he takes has great meaning.
- Our politics are all similar and we mesh very well – it feels good to talk amongst ourselves.
- I don’t think I could ask for a better group.
Shira One was one of my
favorite camps, along with our last camp at Mweka.
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