Day 4 - 1000m and more! (Feb 14)

Simba Camp to Kikelelwa Camp via Second Cave
Distance: 11.75 km; altitude gained: 1040m
Simba Camp - 2635m (8645 ft)
Second Cave - 3487m (11,440 ft)
Kikelelwa Camp - 3675m (12,057 ft)

Our tent at sunrise (~6:30 AM)

After a very rainy night, we awoke to a clear sky and a beautiful sunrise shortly after our 6 AM wake-up "call".  This was our "test" day to see how quickly we could get ready in the morning.  The quicker we got ready, the later we could sleep the next day.  But, it was also cold.  And we were tired. Our 6 AM wake-up call quickly became routine and comprised of two porters (who also served as our "servers" at mealtimes) rapping at our tent.  "Wake up time!"  This was promptly followed by their request to enter the tent.  They would unzip the main tent and then unzip our sleeping compartment and offer Olivia and I mugs, hot water and tea, coffee or hot chocolate, plus all the various accompanying condiments (sugar, milk, etc...).  We would then sip our tea from the cozy comfort of our sleeping bags before dragging ourselves out into the cold air to change and pack our luggage for the porters to continue to haul up the mountain.  After day 1 (and probably since we took so long to get ready), Joshua told us not to bother trying to stuff our sleeping bags in their sacks as part of the packing routine.  "Leave it to the porters," he told us.  But Olivia was a trooper and would fight with her sleeping bag each morning to stuff it into the sack, even as the altitude nearly made it a losing battle each morning. 

Day 3 - Climbers, meet Kili! (Feb 13)

Now it really starts!  Today is the first day of our climb, but we still have a long ways to go before we even begin.  We'll be taking the Rongai route up the mountain, which is the only route up the mountain starting on the Northern side of Kilimanjaro, adjascent to the border with Kenya.  This means that we have several hours in the bus before even starting our hike. 

Day 2 - Exploring Arusha (Feb 12)

View of Mount Meru from my patio at the Onsea House

Despite a stressful night of dealing with luggage issues, I woke up feeling refreshed after a great night's sleep at the Onsea House bed and breakfast.  I walked out to the patio of my "house" to an incredible view of the beautiful, lush hotel grounds with clear view of Mt. Meru (elev. 14,977 ft./4,565 m) in the background. It was hard to believe that we'd be climbing another 5,000 ft higher in the next week!