Today we packed up and left our luxurious base camp and headed out to our trailhead in Mt Kilimanjaro NP. We left at 7:30 am and drove 3 hours on"traditional" roads (4 WD jeep track) and signed in at the gate. We started hiking at 7000 ft, had a beautiful picnic lunch (with the most amazing mangoes) and continued hiking to our first camp (Mti Mkubwa) at 9000 ft. Our tents were ready and we met our porters, had some hot beverages, and relaxesd the rest of the day.
We are doing just fine so far. The pace they set for us is amazingly slow- we will appreciate that up higher. Doreen was up in the front of the line most of the way up.
I'm crashing your blog, Diane. It sounds like an amazing trip already...I'm sooo jealous! I can't wait to see pictures of giraffes w/ skyscrapers in the background, not to mention all of your high-altitude photos. 63 porters? Wow, that is some serious support! With cooks and guides, there must be something like 100 people in your group? It sounds safer (so far) than I had imagined.
ReplyDeleteI agree with York: I am way jealous! Looking forward to many amazing photos! Hoping you haven't had to say "ninatapika" yet!
ReplyDelete