After going back and reading through my journal, I’ve decided to post a short (well, some might be shorter than others) entry for each day of the hike. I’ll be pulling a lot of it straight from my journal, so it will be mainly written in the moment, as if it was that day.
Hike Day 1 - Shira Camp 1, 11646 feet
John, our African Walking Company liaison, came to pick us up this morning to take us to the starting point for our hike. At the park gate, we got out and signed the registration book. Then they drove us up to Shira Barrier, where we saw some other groups getting ready as well. After starting, we hiked along the plateau for a couple hours before arriving here at our first camp, which is in a clearing on the plateau. During the hike, all the porters flew past us carrying everything on their heads! It’s amazing, they’re carrying a ton more weight than we are and are going three times as fast as us! There are about three other groups at this camp as well. Each has their own mess tent for eating and bathroom tent for doing their business. It’s oddly quiet here at camp. The only sounds are the murmurings of various people around the campsite having their private conversations. It’s nice. I like it. As I was hiking today, I kept thinking about “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Hemingway. Well, actually, I kept thinking about how the title is a bit ironic, considering how the story isn’t really about Kilimanjaro at all. It is more about a man on his deathbed looking back over his life and facing the regrets he has about it. That seems sad to me. I would hate to have regrets that haunt me, so I hope to continue with forging ahead and doing/experiencing all that I can.
I can’t believe that I’m sitting at my first camp of the climb. I’m excited to do this!
 |
| the jeep that drove us to the start of the hike |
 |
| registration area |
 |
| some other groups arriving |
 |
| the plateau |
 |
| Shira Camp 1 |
 |
| Kili in the distance |
 |
| Kili |
No comments:
Post a Comment