Kilimanjaro
Day 2
Our first view of Mt. Kilimanjaro
August 7, 2003
We started the day early to watch the sun rise through the trees. I slept poorly,
but managed to eat and find energy to hike. After breakfast we began on a very steady,
but rapid ascent to Shira Camp at 12,600 feet. About an hour after we first began
we stepped around a corner to see a perfect view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the first time
I had seen the peak this trip. It was breathtaking, but yet seemed so far away.
We took a break here to take pictures and get some water in our systems.
Soon after our break we continued on and left the forest and entered the area devastated
by the fire of ‘96. It was hard to tell the entire extent of the damage due to our
altitude gain; we were now above the heavy vegetation line and so couldn’t tell
what was caused from the fire and what was just never there.
We arrived at camp around 4:00 with plenty of time to relax and enjoy the views.
I felt great upon first arrival, but soon after sitting down, I got a terrible headache
that lasted for a few hours. To get my mind off of this I tried to enjoy the views;
we had a great view of Kilimanjaro to the east and Mt. Meru to the west, but that
didn’t work so I tried to play cards with Neal and Jake, only managing to get rid
of my headache after drinking a lot of water and getting some food in me.
The camp was beautiful; it was sunny and about 75 degrees or so, everyone was in
nothing but shorts and t-shirts, but the sun was quite vicious. As the sun began
to set, we received the most incredible views of Mt. Meru, a neighbor volcano, on
which Arusha stands in the foothills of. Mt. Meru is about 14,000 feet, and if one
wants to climb it they must hire an armed ranger because the wildlife on the mountain
is dangerous.
Mt. Meru as viewed from Kilimanjaro
At dinner Mary and Kerrin joined Jake, Neal and I. We had a series of riddles throughout
dinner; a meal that consisted of fried bananas, tomatoes and veggies that were surprisingly
good. All the riddles were solved except one: is there were three carnivores and
three missionaries on one side of a river and they all had to get to the other side
of the river on a boat that could only hold two people at a time, how would they
get across... but here’s the catch, if there are ever more cannibals than missionaries,
the cannibals eat the missionaries. Mary complained about these riddles, yet continued
to remain in the conversation.
After dinner we went out of our dinner tents to see the clearest sky I’ve ever seen;
the moon was nearly full and the stars were bright, the glaciers on Kili were reflecting
the moonlight; it was gorgeous. I went to bed, plagued by the riddle, however soon
after lying down solved it and wrote it down before I lost it in my dreams.
Kilimanjaro - Day 3