Once at the gate we met our crew. According to the organiser there were about 45 of them for each team; I was in the 'smaller' one with 12 while the other consisted of 13 members. The crew were mainly porters, that is, people carrying our stuff, then there was the cook, assistant guides, about 4 for each group, head guide and a couple of summit porters, that is, the guys who took anyone of us who would get sick of altitude or give up during the last summit night. Very comforting, eh?!?! Well, seeing them all batched up together waiting for us was impressive.
We identified (once again!) our bags, signed our names on the gate's 'visitor' book and set off pole pole (slowly slowly) with one guide, Liberat, leading us and the other, Ibrahim, at our tails. It took us a while to get used to walking slowly but none of us regretted it by the end of it.
Most of the path was really dusty. Little kids poorly dressed and bare-foot, came running out of their run-down huts to beg for our chocolate supplies. Unfortunately, we had to disregard them and continue with our walk. We got to the rain forest....finally a bit of fresh air(!) ... and spotted 2 colobus monkeys in the trees; black and white with fluffy white tails. We also came across our very first long drop, that is, mountain toilet. Well, it basically consists of a wooden little hut with a hole in the ground inside it. Simple as mother nature, really! While the others thought it not bad, as in clean enough, I chickened out at went for a pee with a view, instead, that is behind a massive rock!!!
We continued to head up until we left the rain forest and came to a lesser green area. We got to the first campsite for the night; Simba campsite where we found our tents already set up for us. Suddenly, Kibo (one of the volcanoes) decided to reveal its presence and magnificence from behind the clouds. It was a spectacle and we were all awed at the same time, wondering if we were ever going to make it to its top! It looked so distant, unreachable and cold.
We were not allowed to rest before acclimatising, which basically consisted of proceeding upwards for about 20mins, taking a break then coming down to campsite again. The idea is to go higher from where you actually sleep for the night so your body gets used to altitude, in other words is able to cope with less oxygen especially when going higher up the mountain. Back at the campsite we found tea and popcorn waiting for us in the Mess tent. As dusk fell on us, Mawenzi's peak (the second volcano) made it's presence felt; a scary -looking jagged piece of rock, unlike Kibo's snow-capped peak. No wonder they refer to them as brother and sister....related but different! Delighted in seeing the 2 peaks in competition to one another, we enthusiastically reached for our cameras and took photos standing on a wooden bench which squeaked under our weight.
Dinner took us all by surprise. A full 3-course meal which was even better than what we had back at the hotel. Three cheers for the 'stomach engineer', i.e. the cook, Dennis!!! Oh yes, for the rest of the journey our meals were the treat of the day :) After dinner we were briefed for the next day by Ibrahim; walk for 6 to 7 hours to Kikelelwa cave campsite which stood at 3600m. We were currently at 2700m. He was quite solemn when giving his briefs as the rest of the guides although he's articulation was the best. Ibrahim, was one of Tosha's (the head guide) assistant guide and had about 7 or 8 years of experience up and down the mountain. Tosha, had actually climbed up and down the mountain over 300 times!!!!!!!!!!!
That evening we lingered in the Mess tent, sipping tea, milo and hot chocolate laughing at the Irish girls' comic travel stories. At one point nature called me. I had not been outside in the dark yet. So, as soon as I left the tent I was (literary) star-struck!!! The black sky was full of bright shining stars, some huge others fragments forming mini Milky Ways. Wow! I can clearly recall it now at a blink of an eye.
Later in my own tent (was lucky to get one all for me own!!!) I reflected on the day and prayed that the next few days would be as easy and fun as this. Well, as Eduardo correctly advised us during our first briefing back at the hotel; "Live day by day; think about today and not tomorrow!"
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