Day 6 - 21st September
I awoke at about 2 am needing to have a pee. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but it was. I couldn't get the zip on the sleeping bag to open. I was pulling and jerking as best I could but it wouldn't budge. And I couldn't just crawl out of the bag, because the little area that was left open for my face wasn't big enough to get my shoulders through, let alone the rest of me. I pushed one hand out and managed to twist it round to the zip, but to no avail. This was annoying. Eventually, after about 15 minutes of struggling, it suddenly unzipped all the way without any problems. But I didn't trust that zip. When I returned I didn't zip it up at all, I just folded it over onto myself like a big blanket. And in future nights when it became really cold, I zipped it up but only three-quarters the way so I could still escape if I needed to.
Geoffrey woke us early at 06:30, and after a cup of tea we started packing. Breakfast was at 07:00 consisting of porridge, eggs, pancakes, sausages and toast. I saw some birds around camp so spent some time photographing them, in particular a few White-necked Ravens. Another camper called me over to the ranger station, I thought to see some more birds, but when I got there I saw the view of the lowlands was obscured by a sea of cloud - and we were well above it. But he turned me around to look in the opposite direction - and I got my first good look at the top of Kilimanjaro, clear with no clouds. It looked impressive and I called the others to see it too.
The majority of our gear is hauled up the hill by the porters, but each climber has a day pack which has essential items in it like wet weather gear, water, medical kit, valuables, headlamp etc. Yesterday I also carried my cameras with me, and extra three or four kilos. There hadn't been much opportunity to photograph things so I put my DSLR in my main pack and just carried a pocket camera in my pocket. And a good decision that was.
We set off at 08:00 for our first destination which was six kilometres away, but at 3600 metres (we were currently at 2600 metres). I found walking today to be much harder, and every ten metres high we walked the more exhausting it became. I lagged behind the other three and stopped to rest frequently. Ibrahim, the assistant guide, stayed with me and halfway through the journey he took my pack and carried it with his. I reached the lunch stop at about 12:30 and the mess tent had been set up for lunch. An hour later we set off again on another six kilometre hike, but thankfully we only increased our altitude by only 200 metres.
Before leaving for Africa I had done some training - walking ten kilometres around town, up and down hills, I even joined a gym so I could walk on treadmills on steep inclines. But all that was worth diddly-squat because it happened at sea level. And in the rarified atmosphere I now found myself, my lungs were struggling to get the oxygen I needed. I was breathing through my mouth, because my nose couldn't suck in enough air to keep my lungs satisfied (unless I was resting), so my mouth and tongue were drying out rapidly from the dry air. So was my lower lip, from all the air being sucked and blown over it. It was very tiring. I stumbled at one point when my foot didn't clear a rock, but I caught myself with only a mild graze to one knuckle and a torn fingernail. Very lucky that time.
Eventually arrived at our second camp at 17:30, totally exhausted. Didn't eat much for dinner as I didn't really have much of an appetite and I felt pretty miserable. Went to bed straight after dinner, cold and very tired, and feeling like sh*t. I only zipped the sleeping bag halfway tonight.
New species: Abyssinian Crimsonwing, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Tropical Boubou, White-necked Raven.
Hix
I awoke at about 2 am needing to have a pee. This wouldn't normally be a problem, but it was. I couldn't get the zip on the sleeping bag to open. I was pulling and jerking as best I could but it wouldn't budge. And I couldn't just crawl out of the bag, because the little area that was left open for my face wasn't big enough to get my shoulders through, let alone the rest of me. I pushed one hand out and managed to twist it round to the zip, but to no avail. This was annoying. Eventually, after about 15 minutes of struggling, it suddenly unzipped all the way without any problems. But I didn't trust that zip. When I returned I didn't zip it up at all, I just folded it over onto myself like a big blanket. And in future nights when it became really cold, I zipped it up but only three-quarters the way so I could still escape if I needed to.
Geoffrey woke us early at 06:30, and after a cup of tea we started packing. Breakfast was at 07:00 consisting of porridge, eggs, pancakes, sausages and toast. I saw some birds around camp so spent some time photographing them, in particular a few White-necked Ravens. Another camper called me over to the ranger station, I thought to see some more birds, but when I got there I saw the view of the lowlands was obscured by a sea of cloud - and we were well above it. But he turned me around to look in the opposite direction - and I got my first good look at the top of Kilimanjaro, clear with no clouds. It looked impressive and I called the others to see it too.
The majority of our gear is hauled up the hill by the porters, but each climber has a day pack which has essential items in it like wet weather gear, water, medical kit, valuables, headlamp etc. Yesterday I also carried my cameras with me, and extra three or four kilos. There hadn't been much opportunity to photograph things so I put my DSLR in my main pack and just carried a pocket camera in my pocket. And a good decision that was.
We set off at 08:00 for our first destination which was six kilometres away, but at 3600 metres (we were currently at 2600 metres). I found walking today to be much harder, and every ten metres high we walked the more exhausting it became. I lagged behind the other three and stopped to rest frequently. Ibrahim, the assistant guide, stayed with me and halfway through the journey he took my pack and carried it with his. I reached the lunch stop at about 12:30 and the mess tent had been set up for lunch. An hour later we set off again on another six kilometre hike, but thankfully we only increased our altitude by only 200 metres.
Before leaving for Africa I had done some training - walking ten kilometres around town, up and down hills, I even joined a gym so I could walk on treadmills on steep inclines. But all that was worth diddly-squat because it happened at sea level. And in the rarified atmosphere I now found myself, my lungs were struggling to get the oxygen I needed. I was breathing through my mouth, because my nose couldn't suck in enough air to keep my lungs satisfied (unless I was resting), so my mouth and tongue were drying out rapidly from the dry air. So was my lower lip, from all the air being sucked and blown over it. It was very tiring. I stumbled at one point when my foot didn't clear a rock, but I caught myself with only a mild graze to one knuckle and a torn fingernail. Very lucky that time.
Eventually arrived at our second camp at 17:30, totally exhausted. Didn't eat much for dinner as I didn't really have much of an appetite and I felt pretty miserable. Went to bed straight after dinner, cold and very tired, and feeling like sh*t. I only zipped the sleeping bag halfway tonight.
New species: Abyssinian Crimsonwing, Red-faced Crimsonwing, Tropical Boubou, White-necked Raven.
Hix
