Keg Spirit Foundation Kilimanjaro Expedition Dispatch

August 9, 2010 – Shira One Camp, 11,500ft/3,505m: Our Journey Continues

We were awakened in our tent at 6:00 a.m. this morning by smiling porters bearing hot tea. Considering this was the first night in decades that many of us have spent in a pup tent, we were generally well rested. That having been said, we were not allowed to linger over our tea – we were told to roll up our sleeping bags and air mattresses, repack our duffle bags, get our day packs set up and report to breakfast. Doing that with two guys in a pup tent constituted quite a work out in itself!

We gathered in the dining tent for our daily briefing and a very tasty hot breakfast of porridge, eggs, sausages, toast and fruit. By the time we were done, the camp had been largely dismantled and the first wave of porters were already on their way to set up our next overnight camp at Shira One, which is where this dispatch is now being written.

Our morning hike continued through the forest and covered some steep terrain, both up and down. We learned to dread the steep downhill stretches most of all: The ground we had worked hard to gain was being lost, and there was certainly another steep uphill climb waiting for us to regain those lost few hundred feet of altitude.

Three and a half hours later we reached a lovely plateau where the Berg Adventures crew had set up a lunch camp where we could relax for an hour and have a meal. Sure enough, in the middle of nowhere, there was a tent set up where we had piping hot mushroom soup, fried fish, vegetables and fruit – very, very impressive.

We set off to continue our hike in the afternoon which took us from 10,000 feet to 11,700 feet and then down 200 feet to our tent. Once again, plenty of up and down. At some point in the afternoon we found ourselves literally out of the woods on the lower part of Kilimanjaro, but were under no illusion that we would not soon enough be figuratively in the woods at higher altitudes.

Unquestionably, the highlight of our afternoon was our first look at Kibo, the largest of Kilimanjaro’s three craters and the one which holds our goal – Uhuru Point, the highest spot in Africa. I cannot think of adequate words to describe the majesty of that sight; it was at the same time inspiring and intimidating. It also begged the question: “How are we going to get from here to there?”

We arrived at another expertly prepared camp, got settled and gathered for tea – all of us a bit weary after seven hours of rigorous hiking, but all feeling well and in great spirits. Shortly after tea, we had an excellent dinner, although it was notably cold, with many of us trying to manage our utensils with gloves on!

Cold, but well fed and feeling excellent after a day of good progress up the mountain, sleep was welcomed by all. There was a lot less chatter at the camp than the previous night.

Tomorrow awaits!

– By David Aisenstat