Start: Baronko; 4,000 meters
End: Karanga Valley; 3,930 meters
Hiking time: 3:50
Another cold morning, this time because Baronko Wall cast a huge shadow over our entire campsite. In fact, Baronko Wall was our first obstacle. For well over an hour, we made our way up the wall, using two hands to steady ourselves as we climbed and clung to the wall. Of course, porters were all the while passing us (one even wearing a Toronto Maples Leafs toque!), balancing buckets and bags on their heads.
I made up a great game while hiking but no one wanted to play it with me! In alphabetical order, you have to name an international city but the trick is you can’t use the same country twice. E, X, and Q were tough. I played my new game a couple of times and am quite pleased with it!
The rest of the hike passed by quickly and we had time to stop off and take some fun pictures with Mt. Meru.
A typical afternoon at our campsite of warm water to wash our hands and face, a snack of popcorn, a nap, and watching the cloud channel as Shailey and I have taken to calling it when we just stare at the sky through our open tent flap.
G and Jimmy led us on a two hour hike before dinner. We reached the top of a good sized hill where G talked about the history of European climbers and Kilimanjaro. The first foreigner to climb the mountain was a German man in 1889. It took him and his crew of local porters eight weeks to reach the summit! I am certainly having a great time hiking but I think our eight days will be enough for me in the end!
4 Responses to Kilimanjaro, day 5