Kilimanjaro - My Journey to the Roof of Africa

Mt. Meru (Day 1):

Mountain Inn to Miriakamba Hut

Monday, January 7, 2013

I woke up at 6am but stayed in bed until seven. Breakfast was at 7:30 and I ate pretty much the same as yesterday. I had a little more chance to talk to the other Americans at breakfast. They were a little scared about their Kili climb. The girl who just flew in yesterday also felt a little sick. I hope they can make it but I'm really glad I'm giving myself more time for acclimatization.

I had to be ready to leave at 9am and my crew showed up on time. My guide is Faustin and my cook is Ambrus. There was also a driver and a lady, Esther, from the hotel accompanying us to Arusha National Park. We also gave a ride to someone whom they didn't introduce to me. We dropped him off at a town before the national park. I could finally see Kilimanjaro today. It was visible on the ride to the national park and I had a chance to take a few pictures when we stopped for something. We drove at least an hour to Ngongongare Gate where Esther had to register me. Then we drove some more to Momella Gate where the hike started. At this point, I was already hungry so I digged into my lunch bag. I wanted to eat the boiled egg but it smelled so horrible that I had to throw it away. I had plenty of other snacks though so I didn't stay hungry.

At this point Faustin let me know that I had to join a bigger group because they didn't have enough rangers for every single person. An armed ranger has to accompany every hiker on Meru because of the dangerous animals on the mountain. The group and the ranger left already but Faustin still had work to do with the porters so he assigned someone else's guide, Anthony, to me and we had to catch up to the group. I did not enjoy this first half hour very much because we had to walk pretty fast and I didn't even have time to take pictures. We saw a huge buffalo herd in the distance but I didn't have time to mount my telephoto lens for a closer picture. Finally, after half an hour we caught up to the group where I met the ranger, Gideon. He's a very friendly guy.

All of a sudden, I was part of a group of 16 people: ten tourists, five guides, and the ranger. First, I wasn't too happy about walking with a big group but after getting to know some of the people, I realised that this was indeed a lucky situation. I talked to a German tourist, Andreas, who was also traveling alone. He has climbed Kilimanjaro before but now he's back to do it again and again and again. That's right. He's planning to do three different routes this time so he can create an educational/informative video about the different routes one can choose to climb the mountain. Next, I talked to Michal who is from the Czech Republic. He is traveling with a client/friend, Martin, who is a very quiet guy. Michal has also climbed Kilimanjaro before. Next, I talked to Michael, another German guy traveling alone. He also climbed Kili 13 years ago as well as Aconcagua. It seems that everybody here is a big world traveler. I didn't get to talk to anybody else. The other five tourists are all together and seem to be a little older than us single travelers. Sometimes, I also walked with Faustin and started getting to know him. He's been a guide for six years and he will be my guide on Kilimanjaro as well.

We didn't see a whole lot of animals on the hike but we did see three giraffes at one point which was the highlight of the day. We also saw a bushbuck from really far and a colorful bird. We also saw the huge fig tree where we had our lunch stop and we visited Maio Falls.

It took us 5.75 hours to walk the 14 kilometers to Miriakamba Hut. This place is much more luxurious than I imagined. They have electricity, pretty nice bathrooms, and even soap and mirror by the sinks. They also have showers but no water in them. I have my own room with two bunk beds. Soon after we arrived, I met one of my porters. I can't remember his name though. He gave me some hot water in a bowl that I could use for washing my face and other smelly body parts in the shower. Then, I was invited into the dining hall for tea, biscuits, and popcorn. The latter was rather stale and very greasy so I only ate about half of it. I really love the tea though. I definitely have to take some Kilimanjaro tea home with me. It's too bad I could only drink one cup otherwise I would be up all night.

I joined Michal, Martin, and Michael for tea and dinner. It was much more fun to eat with them than all by myself in the far corner of the room where they originally set up for me. I got some empty soup for dinner which was really good. Then they gave me fried potatoes (too greasy) and pasta with meat sauce. The meat was so chewy that I gave it all to the porters and I ate Michael's leftover peas instead with my pasta. It wasn't a fantastic dinner but I ate it anyway because I need the energy. I gave some of the potatoes to the porters as well.

After dinner, I retired to my room where I spent an hour writing my journal. It's time to brush my teeth and retire for the night. I have to get up at 7am. I learned a couple of Swahili expressions today. Hakuna matata is my favorite. It means no problem and from now on this is my standard answer to most questions. The other thing I learned is jumbo which means hi and I also learned lala salama (good night). They taught me some more words but this is all I can remember.