By the way, last night I was lucky I was able to set my alarm clock on the phone correctly. I was unsure of Tanzanian time, so I walked straight into a little shop on the territory of the hotel and asked a lady at the counter if she knew the time. She pointed to the clock on the wall, which showed 1:30. I walked out with a bit of a doubt and bumped into a girl from the reception. "Excuse me, do you know what time it is?" I asked her. "Yes, look up here", and she pointed to the wall with another clock showing 12:30. "Do you think this clock is accurate, because I just saw another clock showing 1:30?" "Yes, yes, it's correct" - she smiled touching my shoulder in a very sisterly manner. I decided to risk and set my watch for 12:30 - it gave me an extra hour sleep so who was I to argue. So, it was 12:30 a.m. last night when I went to sleep. After waking at 6:30am, and the long first day trek up the mountain, I am very sleepy right now, even though it's not even 9 p.m. yet!
Alarm clock woke me up at 6:30 a.m., I got up from under the net, which did save me from mosquitoes. I took my last shower for the next 7 days. I enjoyed it very much, even though the water was cold, because I couldn't figure out how to turn on the heater to make it hot:) Then I dressed for the 1st day of trekking in the 1st climate zone of Kilimanjaro, which is called Rain Forest and went for breakfast.
At the table I ended up sitting in front of a girl named Maria, who just completed her climb and willingly shared her experience with me. She explained how everything works, told me where to rent the sleeping bag and poles on territory of the hotel, where there is a safe to leave valuables, where to weigh my duffel bag to make sure it's not more than 33 lbs (15 kg) and gave me some other organizational tips. She was really very sweet and helpful. I was all set and ready to go with my thoroughly packed duffel bag, sleeping bag, a bit heavier than expected daypack and poles. I would come up and talk to Antonio and Ernesto from Puerto Rico, the guys from my climbing group I met the night before, asking them some questions and wondering who else is in our group. 10 or 15 minutes before our bus left the hotel, we met with Dave from Missouri, Al and Julian from Britain, Phil from Arizona and Robert from Kenya. Maria was also there and it felt bitter-sweet to say good bye to my first friend I met in Tanzania. She had a chance to talk to the guys from my group and told me that I was very lucky. I had exactly the same thought! The moment I saw my whole group together I felt that we would make a great team:) Our chief guide Theo came up and introduced himself and, leaving all our material valuables behind in a safe place in Spinglands hotel, we embarked on a journey of 37 miles (62 km) with the elevation of 13,961 ft. (4,255 m)
As we were driving on the bus I was trying to catch a glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro, but it was nowhere to be seen. There were clouds of dust flying up away from the wheels and clouds in the sky looking down at those who will be attempting to reach beyond them in just a few days. About an hour later we were at Machame gate and started the climb of the mountain which we hadn't even seen yet.
There was only one moment when she showed her face. It resembled a killer whale peacefully floating at a distance. Then she disappeared again. I wonder if it means anything? Besides, I am still trying to understand why I am climbing this evasive mountain...
Today has been relatively easy and the altitude is not very high either. We hiked for about 6 or 7 hours (it's hard to tell, because I don't have a watch). My day pack turned out to be heavier than I thought and after a couple of hours my back started hurting. It was not too bad and I am sure I would still be able to get to the camp, but Robert, one of the guys in my group, was very kind and offered to exchange our backpacks. His turned out to be much lighter and I was very grateful for his help. Obviously, men don't carry as much stuff with them as women do:)
It started raining as we were approaching the camp. I didn't put on the rain jacket, because the rain was very light. As it was dripping on my face, I was thinking that I won't melt and it also reminded me of the time I would hike in the rain in Griffith Park. I've always liked walking in the rain! My shoes got covered with mud and therefore felt heavier. In the end everything got a little bit wet, but not unbearably so. When we accomodated ourselves in the tents, I was going to put on tennis shoes I brought to walk in the camp. Then I decided to keep the hiking boots on. It's enough to have 1 pair of boots completely dirty, when you don't have a chance to clean them.
Right before dinner our group gathered in the "dining tent" for the first time. There was a table and 8 chairs. We had a snack of warm pop-corn and tea, which tasted really good. It was nice to sit, relax and socialize before dinner, which turned out to be very delicious and nutricious. One of the things I am really appreciative for, is that we don't have to set up tents or cook during our climb. Everything is sort of taken care of, and we just need to walk and adjust to increasing altitude. I think I can definitely do this!
Tomorrow is a new beautiful day:)
can you tell me more about the food? i am also using zara as my tour organizer. i ask because you mentioned that it was healthy and delicious but i am a vegetarian and worry about getting enough protein for the trek. i am planning to bring a jar of peanut butter to supplement the food that zara provides but wonder if the pb will be enough. good idea? bad idea? d.
ReplyDeleteOne of the guys in my group was a vegetarian and they cooked fish specially for him, while we were eating chicken or beef. The food is mostly rice, potatoes and other vegetables, eggs for breakfast, fruit for desert. I found it delicious and everybody else was satisfied as well. I would suggest that you also bring energy bars and may be some mixed nuts and/or chocolate to snack on in between meals. It always helps to have some reserve:)
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