I’m writing this from camp 2. I haven’t had time to write anything up to now. 36 hours of traveling brought us to our hotel in Moshi Tanzania at 2 AM. The hotel was having plumbing problems so neither of us were able to take a proper shower (Dan I think is still wearing the soap) and at 9 am we were driving to the trailhead. We were hiking at noon and arrived at the Machame camp in pouring rain at 5 pm. Mercifully, our tents were already set up and dinner came promptly. I may have fallen asleep a couple of times during dinner, but I somehow got through it and ultimately had a good nights sleep.
And that was my introduction to Africa. My only other adventure in what they used to call the third world was in Nepal, and thus it’s impossible for me to resist comparing the two, which isn’t really fair. In Nepal you fly to a cultural capital. Here you fly to their version of Idaho falls. And nobody lives on Kilimanjaro, just as nobody lives on the Grand Teton, so there is no cultural element to the hike. The trails are just as crowded, mind you, but there are no villagers on the trail. Rather all the hikers are just tourists like me and their guides and porters.
… of which we have 16… for us 2 westerners. I’m having trouble wrapping my head around that. Sixteen porters and guides! I can only imagine what they must think of us.
The hike itself has been, well, uphill. We started at 6000’ in a hot, humid rain forest. Trees at the start were 150’ tall which was quite lovely and serene. The trail went up an inclined plain for 4000 vertical feet. The serenity never changed which alas is the nature of hiking in a deep rain forest. No views whatsoever. At some point when the conversation stopped and I got tired of counting the sweat drops off my forehead, I put on headphones. And then the rain started and the umbrellas came out and we went from uncomfortably hot to uncomfortably damp and cold. Such is life in the mountains.
In comparing the hike to Nepal, at least the trail isn’t dusty. Muddy yes, but not dusty. My lungs feel a lot more comfortable here, at least so far. The dampness that insinuates itself into absolutely everything is a bit of a shock to the system, but what was I expecting?
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