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Title image - BAI takes you to:  Kilimanjaro
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Philmont Staff Association and Friends Kilimanjaro Climb and Safari Dispatch

June 19, 2011 – We Made it to Kossovo Camp

Kossovo Camp as the sun goes down

Kossovo Camp as the sun goes down

Let’s start with the quote of the day from Elizabeth Lockwood: “We’re going to make it!”

We stepped into our gorgeous camp at nearly 16,000ft – Kossovo Camp at 15,090ft/4,600m. Above us, we can see the trail all the way to Stella Point on the rim of the Kilimanjaro summit crater. It is still 3000ft/915m above us, but we have figured out a pace that slowly gets us where we want to go. Our distance today wasn’t far, but we gained 2000ft/610m of elevation. As we climbed, Kilimanjaro was to our left. A blanket of clouds covered the plains below and the skies to our right.

We stopped for lunch at Barafu Camp where we all registered at the round metal hut that is the ranger station. We ate lunch and then went back to the trail. There were climbers coming down from the summit and others making camp and preparations for a midnight departure. Those hope to reach the summit and then descend all the way back to the forest camp in one day.

A beautiful climb today – short and steep

A beautiful climb today – short and steep

We saw a large team carrying a litter down the hill. It was an evacuation of a climber who had injured his leg all the way up at 19,000ft on the mountain. The brave, dedicated wardens of Kilimanjaro National Park were doing a great job of coordinating a rescue, as they always do when there is an emergency. We are sure the rescue team will get the injured person off of the mountain today and we are sure that he will have great care during the evacuation and once he reaches medical help at the bottom of the mountain.

We will start out tomorrow after a good breakfast and be in the crater by early afternoon to enjoy this remarkable place and then make ourselves at home in the highest campsite on the continent of Africa. It has proved to be a challenging and rewarding day, but “Pole pole”, moving slowly slowly, we will make Elizabeth’s predictions come true.