Hi everyone,
Here is day 2 of our Kilimanjaro climb which is from Mti Mkubwa to Shira 1 camp; out of the rainforest and onto the Shira plateau.
Day 2 Statistics
- Total Distance 4.86 miles/ 7.8km
- Total Time 5hrs 42 mins
- Altitude gain - 2840ft / 865m
- Final altitude 11600ft /3535m
The temperature started rising without the tree cover and our pace slowed as the climb began to increase in gradient so we started taking on more and more fluids. That was good in one respect as it reduced the weight on our backs, but didn't help with our need to pee all the time. The need to pee is compounded because we were taking tablets to combat the symptoms of altitude sickness, one of the side affects of which causes you to go to the toilet rather more than usual. Going to the loo on a mountain is not the nicest of experiences, especially for women and usually involves squatting over a hole in the ground that they call a "long drop". Some are not so long!!
The journey across the Shira Plateau did afford us one thing though; our first view of Kilimanjaro on the hike. It literally takes your breath away and no picture can do it justice.
After nearly 6 hours trekking, we finally made to it Shira 1 camp where our tent had been set up by the crew and we were treated to dinner and a wonderful view of Kili from our dining tent. I set up the camera for a sunset timelapse while we ate and you can see that in the video at the bottom of this post.
After dinner it was the usual health check by Deuss and Evance (they check your pulse and oxygen levels and chat about how you feel). There were no symptoms as yet - tomorrow would be a different story for me though!!
Thanks for reading, day 3 coming soon..
