Day 2: Simba Camp to Kikelewa Camp

Day 2 on the road to Kilimanjaro - we awoke to a saint's delivery of freshly brewed, hot coffee right to the front zipper of the tent (read: the instant variety - but that didn't matter much to me), it was like a nice, warm hug. At this point the air temperature was still warm, especially compared to what was to come. We filled our packs with the essentials - rain gear, lots of water, meds and some energy boosting snacks, all piled into our little dining tent for brekky, and then hit the dusty trail.

 

Our superhuman porters hung back to pack up camp. They take down all of the sleeping tents, sleeping bags, mats, kitchen tent - complete with all food items (to feed 11 hikers and 30 crew for 6 days!), cooking utensils, drinking water, washing water and our cute little dining tent - complete with tables and chairs, our "washroom"...cant forget that. I mean, it's a TON of stuff, and they pack it up with ninja speed, toss 'er over the shoulder and literally sprint right on past us, like an hour into our hike. We high five them on the way and I always slipped "my guy" Luca a few candies for the added energy burst, cause let me tell ya, he must have drawn the short straw having to carry my sac-o-shiz, lord bless him.

  

 

The plants were starting to get shorter, bushier and more desert-like as we gained elevation. We stopped for lunch just past the second cave...not too sure where the first cave was - must have missed the memo. 

 

So remember those amazing porters who passed us carrying all the gear - yeah, well they had already beat us to the lunch spot at Second Cave and set up shop. I think we had soup, I remember a lot of soup - could have been carrot or celery or onion, same base flavor different veggie chopped up and thrown in, but always hot and it filled the belly! We put on the rain gear because if you do catch rain, it is at this reach of the hike that you are almost guaranteed to get wet. We lucked out with great weather, and just had a bit of a light shower for an hour or so. #whoohoo

 

 

From Simba Camp to Kikelewa Camp we walked 12 km and gained over 1050 m in elevation (2626 m to 3679m). At this point, the fog was so thick we still couldn't even see the end goal, Kibo, yet.

   

  

But polé polé (slowly, slowly) we made it! Our over night camp sites were shared by several groups, but everyone is just so exhausted after the long days and nights sleeping on the ground, that we took it pretty easy and snuggled into the sleeping bags to stay warm!

(My very first attempt at taking vids haha - looks like I need to hone these skills a little more)

 

Embarking Kilimanjaro - Day 1: Rongai Route

 

Mount Kilimanjaro is undoubtedly one of the world's greatest natural wonders.

 

It is the largest freestanding mountain in Africa, the highest "trekkable" mountain in the world and has the only snowfields on the equator. It is technically the easiest to climb of the Seven Summits (the highest mountains on each of the seven continents), meaning that you don’t need ropes, pulleys, rock picks or special mountaineering gear, or even any previous mountain climbing experience to summit. Some supercharged facts there, right? I only know these things because it was pretty much the extent of my "research"...if you can actually call googling "Mt. Kilimanjaro" research....prior to climbing my first real mountain. 

 Ok, so no mountain climbing experience required?

Check.

 

To be honest though, nothing I ever could have read online would have actually prepared me for what was out there. I knew this was something that I was just going to have to do. I think that's part of the excitement, diving into the adventure head first... and knowing that I had some of my fav peeps facing the same crazy, big mountain was all that I really needed to know; we were in it as a team.

All for one and one for all.

 

After 20 hours of travel from yyc, we arrived to the Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort, a haven to rest up at. We settled in for some beverages in the common area and attempted to relax, except that there wasn't much of that happening once the crew that returned from the hike that day told us what they had just been through and what was in store for us. I mean a couple of them didn't make it to the summit, so it was gettin' real.

 

 

 

 

Off we went. Day 1. Rongai Route.

 

We unloaded our gear and met with our guides and porters...ALL 30 of the beautifully kind souls that it would take to get 11 of us trailblazers to the summit. We're talking food, water, bedding, clothing, cooking supplies, tents, a toilet...there was a lot of stuff.

 

 

We started out along a small winding path, through a pine forest. The trail was not all that steep, a slow 7 km hike through the beautiful country side. Its been said that climbing Kilimanjaro is like walking from the equator to the North Pole in a week; an ocean of green forest surrounded by dry savannah up to a snow covered mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

The first night's rest was at Simba Camp, we settled into our cozy little room for two. The lux shack below was our intimate family dining room...Bon Appetite!

 

Early to bed, Day 2 comes quick!

xo Tegs