I don't know what the time
is, but my digestive system as every morning takes me out of the sleeping bag.
Outside everything is covered in frost – the tent, the vegetation, even the
dust. I go into the most leaning toilet and while I pull my pants down I wonder
if the shitty tower of Shira will fall down, while I am inside. I go out
victoriously with my hands up in the air, I hum the Rocky theme song, I turn
around me and go to receive the applauds of the just awaken sleeping beauty-machines.
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| All is frosty |
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| Defrosting 1 |
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| Defrosting 2 |
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| Good morning |
D.C. comes to check whether Ivan
and Stan got a good sleep. He starts laughing when we tell him about Ivan's
unexpected shortage of sleeping bag. He presumes that the bag belonged to a
Chinese or a Japanese guy, but in the end doesn't reveal whose smell was coming
from the bags. While we pack our bags and drink tea, our breakfast gets ready.
The porridge is again on the table and only Ivan acts as if he likes it. We put
some honey in a desperate try to make it taste a bit better. The second part of
the breakfast again includes toasts, omelette with vegetables and a sausage.
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| Kibo is where it is suppose to be |
While the crew packs the
tents and the other luggage, the rest of the mzungus and their porters leave the
camp one by one. We joke that we are going to close down the camp and then
leave. One local guy goes to all the nearby tent spots and marks something in
the dust with a stick. Then he comes to our spots and I notice that he writes
"Zara", which is one of the larger companies. After he moves on I
erase the name with my leg and write some obscene word. We share our "act
of heroism" with D.C. to which he awards us with his laugh and tells it to
the rest of the crew.
Our walk starts with a slight
uphill section, the vegetation is low, there are lots of dried out flowers
around. We reach another flat field, maybe it's the second floor of Shira's
plateau. We pass an American group which started 20 minutes earlier and they
greet us with respect in their eyes, for example.
 |
| Blossoming herbariums |
 |
| Uphill |
 |
| Shira plateau |
After the next uphill we
notice a dirt road somewhere in front of us. Soon we cross it and it turns out that
it leads to the starting point of Shira route, which is not a very popular one
as it starts at 3,600 m/ 11,800 ft and might lead to poor acclimatization. We
stop to rest near a wooden toilet and all of us make use of this unexpected and
lonely convenience. While we rest one mountain sparrow visits us hoping that
something will be left out for him to eat.
 |
| Mountain road |
 |
| Hitchhiking |
 |
| Sparrow kilimanjaricus |
The heathers have grown again
to more than 2 m/6 ft. Two hours from the start we reach a crossroad – one of
the paths leads to Shira 2 campsite (that's us) and the other one to Moir Hut,
Arrow Glacier, Lava Tower and Barranco camp, which is our destination for
tomorrow. The closer we get to Shira 2, the more I feel the insufficiency of
oxygen in my lungs and if I go a little bit faster my head starts feeling dizzy.
We see some of the strange giant groundsel trees/plants.
 |
| Let it be reggae |
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| We still have some energy for some funny poses |
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| Giant groundsel |
We split up as I follow my
own tempo and D.C. makes me company once again. The last half an hour we are
walking in the clouds and I shift to the lowest gear, it's rather hard for me
at this point. I have a headache and wonder whether I am going to throw up from
the altitude sickness on the third day already.
 |
| Where is the coverage |
After a total of 3 hours I
reach Shira 2 campsite (my friends being here for 5-10 minutes) at about 3,950
m/13,000 ft. The others are looking for mobile coverage, while Ivan signs us in
the ledger. We are the first to sign up for today and we left the camp last.
The whole campsite is wrapped up by the clouds, you cannot see the next tent. I
hope that it is going to clear up till dinner. In an hour we get lunch – french
fries, something like small pies with vegetables and a spicy sauerkraut. The
gasification later will be quite dangerous. After our quick lunch we go for a
rest in the tents.
At 3 o'clock and something we
go out to stretch our legs and to look for the elusive mobile coverage at some
rocks. In an hour we have tea with popcorn and the planned walk round the camp
is cancelled because of the bad weather. After the tea we go to our tent and
make something like a farty. We train for the summit day as we fill the tent
with anything but oxygen. While we play at some word games the sauerkraut's
time has come and we get our eyes filled with tears.
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| Where is the coverage |
Around 7 o'clock the dinner
is ready – leek soup and pasta with vegetable stew. We are not fascinated, but
stuff ourselves to the rim. We manage to push all of the oxygen from the mess-tent
as well. I don't know who's to blame – the thin air or the food. While we drink
some tea and Milo Sasho asks us whether we know anything about the Stanley company
(the thermo flask) and tells us the whole story from yesterday, being very
serious. And we find it very funny. We go out and finally the clouds have
cleared out. We can see Kibo perfectly, as well as Arusha in the foot of the
mountain and Mt. Meru next to it. While the guys play some game back in the
tent I stay out and create some starry masterpieces. After 40 minutes of beauty
and cold I join them in the tent and the evening ends with some stupid jokes,
which don't seem stupid to us at all, because of the chemical composition of
the air inside. A then we are going to sleep here, at least it's warmed up.
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| Shira 2 camp |
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| Kibo 1 |
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| Kibo 2 |
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| Kibo 3 |
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| A night panorama |
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| Mt. Meru |
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