KILIMANJARO-1
(Last updated 7/2/03)
Overview from the south of the 50-mile
wide Kilimanjaro massif looming in the distance (left); Kili,
formed by eruptions which started only about 750,000 years ago,
is made up of three volcanoes, with the ancient Shira (at 12,500
ft) now a plateau on the west, the newer Mawenzi (at nearly 17,000
ft) a cluster of pinnacles across a wide saddle to the east, and
the glaciated dome of Kibo (at 19,340 ft) at center
Day One starts with a tortuous climb
from the lodge in 4x4's up the southwest side of the mountain
to arrive at the Machame Gate (at 6400 ft) of Kilimanjaro National
Park, the start of the Machame/Mweka trekking route. The first
task for our head guide is to choose porters (left) from the local
Wa-Chagga, the tribe that has farmed the lowland savanna slopes
(2500-6000 ft) of Kili for centuries - a total of 22 porters,
ranging in age from 18 to 55, and including several women, plus
3 guides and a cook, accompanied our trekking party of 7; weighing
the packs (right) - the base weight is 33 pounds, with extra wages
for heavier loads.
Some of the porters heading out - they
carry all of the camp equipment, including tents, food, and water,
all of our personal gear, including sleeping bags and clothing,
and all of their own supplies as well (left). We step aside to
let more of the porters pass as we climb north through the montane
forest (6000-9000 ft) on the wet (>95% of the mountain's water
falls in this climate zone), muddy, and deeply rutted trail (right)
Wild date palms, figs, Podocarp (yellow
wood) and Nuxia species, and the trailing fronds of lianas make
up the bulk of the forest on Kili's southern slopes (left); a
red-hot poker towers over a bed of scarlet Impatiens kilimanjari
(center), the latter found nowhere else in the world; for comparison
the cultivated version of the Red-Hot Poker, a Kniphofla spp.
Above 9000 ft, entering the climate
zone of heath and moorland - here the heathers, mainly Erica arborea
and Phillipia excelsa, are giants, reaching up to 30 ft or more;
our campsite at the end of Day One is near the Machame Hut, at
about 10,000 ft - but unlike the sleeping huts along the much
shorter, tourist-laden Marangu route, our huts are only for cooking,
and we sleep in tents among the lichen-draped giant heather
Day Two starts with a glowing silhouette
of Kibo illuminated through the heather by first light (left);
details of Kibo's western flank, dominated by the Lava Dome, become
visible in the rising sun (right)
As we emerge from our tents, we find
that the porters (left) are already up, loading jugs with boiled
water and doing other chores to prepare for the day ahead; the
peaks of Shira mark the western edge of the slopes of the plateau
to the north, our trekking destination for the day (right)
Our head guide Jakob - sporting a lichen
mustache (left); climbing through the heather (center); passing
the last of the heather with the Shira peaks in the background
(right)
Entering the fog-shrouded moorlands,
dominated by giant forest groundsels like Senecio kilimanjari
(left); lunch break, at nearly 12,000 ft (center); a porter passing
by with an extra load of heath for our evening fires (right)
Lobelias, another giant moorland groundsel
(left); above the heath and nearly out of the fog at last (right)
Camp (at 12,700 ft) on the Shira Plateau
at the end of Day Two, about a mile east and above the Shira Hut
(left); the porters eating their evening meal on a rock shelf
below their communal sleeping tent (right)
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