The beautiful Mt Kilimanjaro
Trip Start
Dec 12, 2010
1
91
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Trip End
Jan 05, 2012
Kilimanjaro Africa, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Friday, May 6, 2011
After a delightful conversation I headed to the camp site where we ate dinner when suddenly the heavens opened and the place is sopping wet ! Already beautifully green and lush (due to continual rain) I wonder how the campers will fare tonight and feeling sorry for them offer that should they get wet or uncomfortable during the night they are welcome to use the ‘spare’ bed in my room. I decide to walk back to my room and in the 500 meters I must walk I get absolutely drenched and when I open the door to the room my nice new and very dry umbrella stares up at me from the table (DOH). Regardless I have a lovely HOT shower (YIPPEE) and just in the middle of lathering up I hear a loud ‘POP’ crackle…and then the power shuts down. Entirely in the dark, I complete showering and then check outside to find my room is the ONLY one cloaked in darkness! (Murphys law again?).
The bed side table lamps and one power point are all that still have power so I pack in semi darkness and plug in my laptop to charge over night (at least I can use the hairdryer in the morning ahhhhhh). I sleep like a baby waking up only once around 3am to pull up the warm blanket as it feels a little cool. 6am arrives quickly and my alarm wakes me and quickly I dress and repack my bag. Today is truly an important and historical day in my travels ! Not only is it Mothers day (and the first one ever spent alone – which is noteworthy) but also due to last nights rain I decide NOT to wheel my backpack through 500m of wet muddy road way to the truck and I unleash the straps (brand spanking new) out of their casing and ‘carry’ my back pack to the truck with my day bag hooked on my front just like all the REAL BACKPACKERS ! I feel a sense of pride as I strut to the truck (noting that the roadway is not half as bad as I thought it would be and I possibly could have wheeled the bag after all.)
I reach the truck, deposit my bag in the luggage cabin and head over for breakfast everyone seems to have fared well through the night apart from a little dampness everything was ‘hunky dorey’! Today we are driving only 5 minutes up the road initially to walk into Mshiri village which is situated high on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro (fondly known as Kili). You are able to participate in organized climbs (with a local guide provided) but it takes around 5 days to do as there are many levels where you need to stop to acclimatize to the high altitude. One of our group is hoping to go back in October to do the climb which is awesome. We have the opportunity to take some lovely photos of the Mountain because the cloud cover has moved, revealing the peak just in time for us. (the Peak is very often covered in cloud for the entire day). In total we walk two and a half hours up hill on very rocky dirt roads and then two and half hours downhill to return to the truck. By the time we reach the top we are all sweating profusely in the humid and warm weather and more than a couple of people are not super fit so they find the going pretty tough. We visit, as we walk, a primary school and a vocational program that affords young primary aged kids and education that will enable them to either attend high school later or to progress onto a vocational program which teaches carpentry, masonry, computer skills or handicrafts. We are treated to a wonderfully authentic African lunch of Beef stew, Lentils, beans with tomato, potatoes with a tasty sauce, rice and cooked bananas. Using their toilet was an experience and I had one of the girls stand watch for me as I used the ‘hole in the ground’ loo that consisted of wooden planks covering the floor space of 3x3 wooden hut with a piece of material for a door and walls that were not entirely snug fitting pieces of wood which were placed randomly and with gaps (big ones) side by side. From my side of the wall I could see EVERYTHING going on outside! I never did ask my ‘watcherwoman’ what SHE could see J
Our local guide was a lovely young man in his mid twenties named Praise. I learned later that this was a ‘religious’ name given to him at church when he was young by the missionaries however his real name is 20 letters long and practically unpronounceable so Praise it was ! This boy was a WEALTH of information and an inspiring man for one so young. He is studying wildlife conservation at college and hopes to one day become a guide for the Serengeti and is so passionate about his country and maintaining its wildlife and natural resources that it was a pleasure to walk with him and listen to his concerns and dreams for over an hour. For the meantime he is working part time during his breaks from study at the Mt Kilimanjaro National Project which ensures that his skills as a guide are enhanced and his practice/use of English is improved. I wished him well at the end of our tour because he certainly deserves to do well considering his enthusiasm and positive attitude.
