17 September 2017: Day two breaks with the unpleasant news that three sizable kit bags didn't make it to Tanzania, having been left behind at the airport in Amsterdam. This presents a conundrum because not only is our guide missing his clothes, sleeping bag, and other necessary gear, but the group is also without emergency oxygen supplies and medication for AMS symptoms. Mark manages to scrounge up some clothes and a sleeping bag, allowing us to start the climb. However, if the emergency oxygen and medicine don't arrive before camp 4, we might not be permitted to continue toward the summit.
After weighing the porter bags at the hotel (these are the items you won't need during the day, carried up the mountain for you—weighing no more than 12 kg / 26.4 lb), we board a bus and head for the park entrance. The bus ride (more harrowing than any mountain trail) proves to be a test of patience. First, we stop for the local guides to enjoy "pap-en-vleis," a traditional African dish of porridge and barbecued meat (promptly shovelled down using index and middle fingers as spoons) then we get pulled over by a Bubba Smith lookalike (remember the big black dude from Police Academy...). After paying the customary bribe, we're allowed to continue along a seemingly endless, bumpy gravel road. There's palpable excitement on the bus when we finally reach the entrance of Kilimanjaro National Park. However, the excitement is quickly dampened by a light shower and an unbearably long weighing process. With only one scale available, everything has to be weighed. The total weight of equipment and gear determines the number of porters accompanying us up the mountain. Three hours later, we head off for Big Tree camp with 56 porters in tow!
The lower slopes of Kili are cloaked in typical rainforest vegetation—towering trees, ferns, dense shrubs, and a leafy canopy 20-40m high. Every now and then, a stream crosses the path, and we manage to spot a couple of Black-and-white colobuses (or colobi), Old World monkeys native to Africa and Asia. Personally, I'm not one for forests; they're claustrophobic, and all that greenery doesn't appeal to me. I prefer deserts like the Namib, where I can see the horizon. After a four-hour hike, we reach Big Tree camp (2,650 m / 8,694 ft).
The camp is buzzing with activity. It's overcrowded, and our team manages to squeeze into a clearing at the top end of the camp. Finding a large enough space for the dining tent is a challenge. After what feels like an eternity, the dining tent is set up, and we sit down for dinner. Our local guides serve up a bowl of hot cucumber soup accompanied by a few slices of white bread. The cucumber soup isn't to my taste, but thinking it's all we're getting, I force down as much as I can. Just as I finish my second bowl of soup and five slices of bread, another guide enters the tent with a large bowl of spaghetti bolognese. Damn. I dig in anyway.
Notes on Day 1: We climbed in September, but I reckon the rainforest section is always hot and humid. You don't need to carry warm clothes, but do pack your waterproofs in your backpack. Wear a hat. Because of the heat and humidity, you need to carry more fluids than you would higher up on the mountain. Water and rehydrate sport mix worked well. Wear long pants and boots. Lots of shrubs and mud.
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