Pole pole, man

Kilimanjaro Day Two

We woke up at around 7:00 the first day, and were woken up by Bima, my favorite porter who was also our "waiter" for the trip. He brought coffee straight to our tent. I felt like such a princess. I was supposed to be camping, but I was being way more spoiled than I am at home. I was also upset that we had someone waiting on us like that at first. I wanted to be camping, not sitting at a table with a table cloth and multiple courses. I also hated that the porters and the clients (us) were on such unequal terms. It would have been cool if we had all eaten together. Dad invited our guides to eat with us, and Epa did every night, which was awesome. I wish Erick had too, but I don't think its the norm to do so. 

After Bima brought us coffee, John tapped on our tent door to show me this bird he had caught. John was awesome in that he always had something to show me or tell me about the mountain. That and he had the most relaxed attitude of all the porters. He was one of the first porters that I met, and taught me my first few words of Swahili. The caption of this blog, "pole pole" means "slow slow" in Swahili. That is the mantra of Kilimanjaro. You have to go really slowly up the mountain, partially to preserve energy and partially to make sure that your body is adjusted to the severe changes in altitude. 

 Our first breakfast on the mountain. Breakfast always started with some sort of hot porridge or oatmeal, followed by toast, an omelet, sausage, and various exotic fruit such as papayas, pineapple, or passion fruit. I probably gained weight on this trip, and might be the only person to say that.

Tent city. People just walk around from tent to tent and say hello. Everyone hiking has a friendly attitude and wants to get to know other people. We met some incredible people from Israel, Italy, Turkey, Wales, Scotland, England, Hong Kong, Ireland, the U.S., Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, India, and Canada. 

Each night, the surrounding environment changed significantly. On the second day, we started to be at the level of the clouds. 

Only one of the really cool plants we saw along the way.  I think this one is called a fire brush or something like that.

Mushi, carrying our bag of sleeping bags and toiletries on his head. I felt so guilty for not carrying my own bag, but no one does on Kilimanjaro. I would never have made it to the top otherwise. The porters are only allowed to carry a maximum of 20 kilos, but most carry more than that. 

Me at Shira Camp. Some people take Diamox, an altitude sickness medication, in order to make sure that they will make it to the top without being crippled by altitude sickness. My dad, a physician, practically mandated that I take it, but by Day 2 the side effects were so annoying that I stopped taking it. I could barely walk on the second day because of stomach cramps, but after I stopped taking the Diamox, I didn't have a single issue again until I reached 18,000 feet (which everyone feels, regardless of the diamox). It all depends on how your body reacts to it, but I know many people who have summitted without the help of Diamox, so its not necessary at all. 

There are so many caves on Kilimanjaro. Its not allowed now, but people used to sleep in these caves at night instead of tents. 

Me with a group of Turkish people. They were the most outgoing and friendly people that we met, so I now generalize Turkish people as being incredibly friendly. The spoke very broken English, but called me Smiley Girl because there was rarely a moment during the entire trip that I wasn't ecstatically happy. 

When we first got to the campsite on Day 2, we couldn't see the summit because of the clouds. Later in the afternoon, the clouds cleared and we had our first view of the summit. I was completely awestruck. It baffled me that we would be up on the top of that majestic mountain within 3 days.

Dinner night 2. 

Casual sunset view as I brushed my teeth. The natural beauty of Tanzania is unlike anything I have ever seen before. At any given time, you can look up at the sky and you are guaranteed a breathtaking view.