Kilimanjaro Expedition Dispatch
March 18, 2010 – Toughing It Out On Day Two
A view of the Breach Wall from
Barranco Camp
Hi, this is Patrick with the dispatch for day two. I awoke to some nice sunshine coming through the tent, about 20 minutes before the wakeup call.
After I got out of the tent into the beautiful day, I headed over to the cooking tent for breakfast. The cook is so good! We had some sausages and I had time to talk with Julius. He warned me that today was probably going to be the toughest day but I still asked if it was possible for me to carry my own tent. I did end up carrying it, and he was right, today was very tough! But today was probably also the prettiest. We went through three different ecosystems, rainforest, moorland and alpine desert. We climbed to 12,780ft/3,900m, which is the highest I’ve been.
While I’m talking, there’s a rainbow not too far ahead. It’s so beautiful up here. This is just incredible. I’m so happy to be here and I’m just so anxious to see what’s in store for tomorrow. I don’t have any headaches and the altitude doesn’t seem to affect me very much so everything is going well.
See you tomorrow. Bye!
Listen to Patrick's dispatch
Early morning sun lights up the moorlands.
Left: Giant Lobelia, one of many unique plants on the mountain; Right: The vegetation changes greatly as we gain altitude.