Home » Tanzania Kenya » Mount Kilimanjaro (Machame Route), Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater - May 1999

In February 1999 me and Kasia Janota decided that we wanted to go to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and to see other places. We did some research on the Internet and we found a company that provided reasonable outfitting resources.

Mount Kilimanjaro (Machame Route), Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater - May 1999

TH
2004-08-08 22:11:03

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cook, and three porters. The cook took care of all food - baskets of vegetables and meat were waiting for us. The drive from Moshi to the Mount Kilimanjaro National Park gate took about 50 minutes. The journey passed through the village of Machame that is located on the lower slopes of the mountain. Once we reached the park gate, we made our final preparations for the climb. Porters arranged their packs, containing food, water, firewood and other equipment. We made sure that we had our small backpacks with us as the porters were traveling very quickly. We left the park gate and walked through the rain forest on a winding trail to the first uniport hut which is located at an altitude of 3 048m. We continued a short distance until we reached the Machame hut. Porters put up the tents for us and prepared meal. We could enjoy our dinner and overnight. We have now reached an altitude of 3 100m. As soon as we approached camping area I did see interesting view of Kilimanjaro in rays of setting sun. After dinner I realized that something was wrong - one porter disappeared. I asked Ben and he told me that the missing guy returned to Machame to buy more food. We were hoping to see him back in the evening. It did not happen. Next day Ben told us that the porter must have given up. From now on the group consisted of six persons only.

DAY FOUR: 23 MAY After breakfast we left the glades of the rain forest and entered moorlands. We followed a fin of volcanic rock sticking out from the mountain. Then we crossed the little valley walking along a steep rocky ridge covered with heather until the ridge ended. We knew that we had to drink a lot of water to better adjust to high altitude. We always carried small backpacks with warm clothing, cameras, water, lunch and snacks. The main weight was borne by our porters. At this point altitude sickness begun affecting me slightly: mild headache and short breath, drinking water and taking pills did not help much. ...