Kilimanjaro - Day2

The Lemosho route showing camp sites and other points of interest.

Click on map for larger image

Day 2 took us through the rain forest where lichen hung from many of the trees. Joseph, Carrie and Ian.
Text Box: Day2 - I had a bad night, by my standards. We retired early at around 8pm, exhausted. I slept for about an hour, then needed the loo. After that, I could not get back to sleep. A combination of a slight headache, discomfort from the thin sleeping mat, slight tummy trouble, necessitating regular visits to the loo and almost constant noise outside from other campers, then monkeys, warthogs and other creatures of the night. I think I slept after my 4th visit to the loo. I felt fine in the morning though with no headache. I eat a huge breakfast, then at about 8am started walking through a pretty forest section with various flowering plants including beautiful Protea blooms. Eventually we emerged from the forest to sunshine and views. Our lunchtime stop was hot with no shade under a sun which was now directly overhead. Carrie started having some serious tummy trouble which was a concern, but at this stage in our trek we assumed that these were all normal altitude problems which hopefully would go away in time. The ascent was non-stop. I estimated approx 4000 feet of ascent, before descending to the Shira Plateau and our camp at Shira1 (11,500ft/3500m). The plateau (a caldera from a huge volcano thousands of years ago) is huge and covered with lava stones and ash. I few hardy plants penetrate the soil, otherwise it is a featureless desert. We rested in our tents listening to thunder echoing around the mountain. Eventually the clouds parted to reveal Kibo peak in all its majesty - the summit cone of Kilimanjaro. The highest point - Uhuru peak was the other side of the mountain and not yet visible. Shira1 camp was quite attractive with various flowering shrubs set around a deep sunken stream, where our cook collects the water. All water is boiled, so no problems from bugs etc. In fact, there was no problem from any flying insects as we were already above their flying limit. We saw no animals today, but plenty of birds including two large ravens who were scavenging for food.