Day 3: Climb to Machame Camp
MOUNTAIN ROUTE OVERVIEW
Our group will start climbing after registering in the National Park’s Climber Log and eating lunch. They’ll start hiking on a forest road through the rain forest – which is why it’s wet and humid climate where they start climbing. To the right and left of the road are Mount Kilimanjaro’s giant red germs and impatiens. The path will get narrower and steeper as it winds through the rainforest. After another hour of hiking, the landscape will start changing as they enter the moorland zone and approach their first camp. Upon arriving at camp, porters will welcome them with a tent that’s already pitched and hot tea with biscuits. After resting, they’ll debrief about the following day’s climb and eat dinner. If the weather is good, they’ll see a beautiful sunset and catch a glimpse of the first snow-capped peak of Kibo!!
MOUNTAIN ROUTE STATS
Starting elevation 6,000 feet
Ending elevation 9,900 feet
Elevation gain 3,900 feet
Distance hiked 6 miles
Average hiking time 6 to 7 hours
JOURNAL ENTRY BY KEENER GILL
THE TREK HAS BEGUN!
The day began with final packing of our expedition bags and a big breakfast at the Mount Meru Hotel. From there it was a two hour drive to Kilimanjaro National Park. Any last doubts were overcome by the excitement of our getting started on the trek we’d all come to Africa to experience. After a very hearty lunch at the Ranger station, our crew of 10 stepped off on our trek to summit Kilimanjaro from the Macheme gate of Kilimanjaro National Park. We spent the next nearly 5 hours hiking 7.75 miles climbing from 6000 feet to nearly 10,000 feet in elevation. While our guides Gabriel, Samia, Wilford, Philemon and Sampson purposely set a slow pace for us for the first day, we were all quite impressed that our small crew was preceded up the trail by a support crew of 35 porters and 2 cooks - all of whom carried everything for our week long adventure. The uniform of the day was boots, gaiters, shorts and t-shirts for most of the crew. The cool temperature as we climbed a well maintained trail through a tropical rain forest masked the sweat pouring from our brows and backs. Many of the crew remarked that they didn’t recall any of their training hikes being straight uphill for seven miles! Our guides took efforts to point our the varied flora and fauna along the trail - highlighted by blue and calibash monkey sightings, the elephant trunk flower which can only be found on the slopes of Kilimanjaro and an amazing waterfall along the side of the trail. As the sun reached the horizon we broke through the rain forest and arrived at Macheme Camp for our first evening’s stay. The porters had set up our tents and were awaiting our arrival. After arranging the gear in our tents we gathered in the mess tent (a giant dome which comfortably sits all 10 of us at a large table) for snacks and camp orientation. The hot cocoa and tea were quite refreshing and the popcorn was devoured. This was followed by an amazing dinner of leek soup, potatoes and schnitzel topped for dessert with banana crepes. We definitely aren’t going to starve on this trek! As a couple of us, including myself, were falling asleep at the dinner table most of us made our way into our tents to settle in for the night. With thoughts of our families competing with the aches of our bodies, it didn’t take much effort to get to sleep and gather much needed rest for day two of our climb.