Day THREE: Flowers of Kilimanjaro

We also utilized our time to take some pictures of the flora in the Heath and Moorland Zones.

Carduus Keniensis: A “giant rosette thistle” that was abundant on much of our climb. It is native to African alpine regions on Mt. Kenya, Mt. Elgon, Kilimanjaro, and the Aberdares. 

Lobelia Deckenii: A giant lobelia plant that lives in the Alpine regions in East Africa. It begins as a small round plant, pictured here, but can grow to 3m high.

Each rosette produced can take decades to flower after which it dies. Each plant can have between 1 and 18 rosettes.

I thought this small alpine plant was quite striking – alas, as of now its name remains a mystery to me! Searching for small, white flowering plant oddly is not specific enough to identify this gem.

Day THREE: Optional Hike to the Caves

                We arrived to Shira 2 Camp and had the option a couple of hours later to see some caves. Having seen the numerous signs prohibiting sleeping in caves, two of us out of the group felt an obvious need to photograph ourselves sleeping in caves. :)

                This hike was a nice leisurely one which ventured over to another campsite along the route and enabled us to take lots of fun photos of the plant live without slowing down the rest of the group on our main hikes. It also led to us getting better mattress pads to sleep on so all in all a VERY productive trip! 

Photo Credit: ArcherVision

  

First, we must establish that since the beginning of our trek, we have been warned extensively through ubiquitous signage that we are not allowed to sleep in the caves. We never saw a cave on our hike, except for at a great distance. So upon learning there were some to visit, we jumped at the chance.

And took a nap! :-P

Day THREE: Shira's Cathedra and Shira's Plateau

                Today we were supposed to go to Moir camp. This would have taken us to the Shira plateau and sleep at Moir camp, at the edge of a dormant lava flow of Shira, one of the three dormant volcanos (Kibo, Mawenzi, Shira).  However, the night before we changed our plans. We went instead to “Shira’s Cathedral” one of the summits of the Shira crater (12,800 ft.) at the edge of the Shira plateau.  This used to be Shira’s crater until it collapsed and was filled in by lava flow from Kibo. It was an added acclimatization hike for us and gave us some practice at the steep scrambling that we would need later for the Barranco Wall and for the summit itself.

The view from my tent in the morning, hard to believe I was going to the top!

A favorite landscape picture on Shira's plateau.

Kilimanjaro -- making us all feel so small! 

Favorite landscape picture #2 - Shira's Plateau.

Adding a rock to Shira's Cathedral.

This is "grandfather moss" which was on most of the trees and gave a bright shock of orange color to a sometimes desolate landscape.

Favorite landscape picture #3! - Looking out to Shira's Plateau from Shira Cathedral climb.

DAY TWO: Mti Mkubwa to Shira Camp

                 Today was another 8 hour hike into the heath and moorland zone. The first half of the day we were still in the forest and then the air became drier and the flora changed.

Changing zones... not in the forest anymore!

Lunch time… watch out for the crows! The guide told us to hold on to our lunches just in case. This crow even called his friend over.

Clouds rolling in...

At camp, our first sighting of Kili on the hike!

Day ONE

We arrived to Londorossi Gate with a starting altitude of 7,742 ft. There were many signs of do’s and do not’s that we passed on the way in. One said that if you have a cold you should not go above 3000m. That was unfortunate because I was in the middle of a pretty bad cold. I decided not to say anything… It also said “No sleeping in caves.” Apparently this was a problem back in the day.

Photo Credit

My first steps of the trek!

The first sights we saw were actually forest turned farm land. The soil near the dormant volcanoes was very fertile.

Finally made it into the native forest…

It was a little muddy… but we made it to the campsite!

Day 0: Arrival

                I arrived late in the evening and was picked up by a Climb Kili driver. On the plane over I finally thoroughly read all of the literature that they had provided about a month ago in a nice organized packet. Note to readers: it would be wise to do this BEFORE getting on the plane. By the time I got to Tanzania I was so worried about all the things I had forgotten or had just learned would have been useful things to bring..  Aaah! I also was suffering from a cold so my incessant coughing, runny nose, and sore throat were not helping me to be calm and collected.

                One important thing they cited was that you should travel in your hiking boots and make sure to have some essentials in your carry on in case of lost luggage (which they listed out.) Oops. I had brought all my conference attire in the carry on so if I didn't get my luggage I was kind of out of luck.

                Luckily, when we got to the airport my bag was there… The other woman who was meeting Climb Kili at the airport however was not so lucky, so we waited as she reported her missing luggage. This took an hour because there was such a LONG line in the “lost luggage” office.

Crisis #1 – Averted.

                When I got to the hotel, they were really confused on how there were 3 people (2 women and I… they had only booked rooms for 2) but in the midst of the confusion I’m pretty sure I got the suite. :) 

I’d never slept in a circular bed before, let alone one with a mosquito net curtain… :)

They even had a FANCY pool... :)

Journey #2: Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro!

                This journey actually started in November of last year. My abstract was accepted for a conference in Tanzania. I thought, if I’m flying all the way there, I should make the most of my time there, right? The first thought that came to my mind was, “I’m going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro!” but thought for sure this would be on the other side of the country from wherever the conference was. Once I discovered that it was in ARUSHA and I’d be flying into the airport called KILIMANJARO I had pretty much made up my mind that this was meant to be. I was going to make it to the highest point in Africa. :)

                So, I chose a company (ClimbKili) and made the reservation.. no turning back… Should have probably trained a little more than I did but I jumped on the plane in early January ready to make the trek and then go to my first international conference!