Kili trek: day 3/8

We follow the same routine everyday: wake up at 6:00 AM, wash yourself, get dressed, pack your bag, head for breakfast (where we had again some porridge, which we couldn’t eat), have a morning briefing, measure your heart rate (67bpm) and SO2 (95%), and leave.

When we woke up this morning everything was frozen, literally frozen: the ground, our tent, it was very very cold. Everything was covered in a white crystal cloth, and we are not even close to the summit.

We took a last glance at Kibu point before leaving, and that gave us the strength to keep on going and face the new day ahead. Although it was a very cold morning, it was splendid. The sky was clear and blue, we were above the clouds and we could see mount Meru above the clouds. As it was so early in the morning, we could still see the moon and some stars bordering Kibu point.

Today we walked from Shira 1 camp to Shira 2 camp, towards Shira Cathedral, through the Shira Plateau. We crossed the small water stream that borders the camp, which barely had any water, and started our course leaving the camp behind. Most trekkers head straight to Shira 2, but Jonas planned an acclimatization walk, meaning we will walk higher (3.872 m), then walk down, and them climb go higher again to Shira II (3.850m ASL). The next 3 days we will have small increase in altitude (from 3.610m in Shira I Camp to 3.900 in Barranco Camp), but will climb higher during the day to have a better acclimatization. While in Shira Plateau we will find Mount Kibu on our felt hand side, for most of the trek. It's beautiful, although you can see there is not much snow left.

The Shira plateau is one of the highest plateaus on Earth, and it is beautiful, it is a combination if moorland and grassland. The Plateau is actually a caldera from what was the smallest of the 3 volcanoes (4.005m) on Kilimanjaro, that collapsed. As we walk, we are stepping on the lava of the last eruption of this extinct volcano and we can see the remaining rims of the caldera.

We were lucky enough to see a Dick Dick, but that was all. Jonas explained us that before we could find herds of elephants, buffaloes, but due to the increasingly human presence in the area they were chased away.

We were walking for a while when we started to see trees and bushes that were ripped off. Jonas explained that these were maintenance works, to keep the road passable for tourists, but it seemed like was being done randomly, without any supervision or planning. Men were working to widen the trek, but we couldn’t find any reason to do so. It’s a small path, that is not taken by many people and it should be left as it is in order to ensure the renovation of the ecosystems. We asked a few of them what were they doing and they didn’t know. It was heartbreaking to see how the mountain is being devastated and ripped off for no reason.

here and there we stop for picture, rest and for fun, as you can see...

We started climbing, and it was steep, till we get to the base of the cathedral. We took a short break for snacks and toilet. Up to now we were alone, but a big group joined us to climb to Shira Cathedral. The place was busy now, and they were much faster than us. As you can see, i didn't take of my light fleece of, plus the base layer and a Tshirt.

For this particular trail the trekking poles were of no use, so Isaac kindly carried ours so we could use our hands and find the balance to climb the rocks till we made it to the top (3.872m ASL). The sight is beautiful, we can clearly see Mount Meru, and the landscape is shaped by big monoliths covered in green. It’s completely different from what we saw until now. After taking the pictures that testify we made it, we started descending, and headed Shira 2 camp.

Here the landscape changes again, is drier with many rocks and fewer greenery and it is warmer than before. We kept Pole Pole, the trail is very rough and after the heliport, I was feeling so hungry and tired due to hungry that I had to ask Jonas to stop.

Sometimes, is hard to deal with the Guides, because they want to stick to their plans and routines, and we have different needs. We had a rest and I ate a snack close to some caves (that worked as toilet and it was disgusting), thus I was feeling stronger we got back on track.

We keep on climbing, and after 6:02h of walking, we arrived to Shira 2 camp where as usual, we made our registration and headed to our campsite for lunch. 

We are in between Mount Meru and Kibu point, and this is one of the most beautiful and scenic camps of all. We can see mount Meru with its cloth made of clouds, and Kibu point with its snows. It’s astounding.

Beatus prepared us a beautiful lunch: chicken with sweet and sour sauce, chips and avocado salad. For dessert we had an ultra-sweet pineapple, that gave us enough sugar to compensate our tiredness. After lunch it’s nap time, and I use it the best I can. I slept until 4PM. We walked around the camp, trying to find a signal spot to call home and to see the sight. We watched a beautiful sunset over Mount Meru and we went for lunch at 6:30 PM. We had a delicious pumpkin soup with croutons, for main we had a meet and vegetable goulash with sautéed potatoes and for desert pineapple again. I can’t recommend enough Beatus and Jonas, they kept us very well fed and were able to keep the diversity. Many others just have potatoes for all the trek. They couldn’t stop surprising me with the quality and diversity of the food.

Jonas came to render us some company, to explain us tomorrow’s trek and measure heart rate (77bpm) and SO2 (93%). Still OK, but we can see it’s slowly changing.

At around 7 PM we went to our tent and try to have some rest. Whereas Paula falls asleep in 3 minutes, I have to role from one side to the other and wait for the tiredness to come. I continue to struggle with sleep. The nights are getting colder and it also contributes to worse resting nights.