Kilimanjaro Climb Day 2 On the Mountain

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Today was more challenging, steeper for sure. I felt very strong again today. In the morning Shoshanna was not feeling so well. We adjusted her day-pack in a way that distributed the weight more evenly and that helped her tremendously.

The landscape changed and became more rocky. In some sections you had to use footholds and handholds and to 'scramble' up the mountain. Another difference was we were alongside cliffs most of the way. Because of this I hiked with Shoshanna the whole time after lunch today.

Before we got to lunch I was springing right along again and one of our guides, Genesis, said to switch packs with him. He set his pack down and I tried to lift it with one arm and could not. We had stopped for a break and our group was howling - including Shoshanna! It was heavy! I used both arms and got it on my back and carried it for about 35 minutes until we reached our lunch camp. The guide was very impressed!

Lunch was a hot lunch today and was fantastic. We had soup, cheese, vegetables, fruits, it was very good.

I like hiking with Shoshanna, we talked about how much we are enjoying the trip and what our next adventure will have in store for us.

At camp when we arrived the porters were singing and dancing. It was awesome. We thoroughly enjoyed it and I was able to get it on video.

Not showering and using the great outdoors for nature's periodic calls is starting to get old, but I guess it was always this way at one time. Suck it up. I can, however, say with confidence that my next shower may be my all time favorite to this point in life. Cool.

We are at 12,840' now. For both Shoshanna and I, altitude is effecting us only when we use a burst of energy like a short jog to another tent. We start breathing hard at that point. No other symptoms thus far thankfully.

While we trek I do some wild stuff like climb big boulders for photo ops, etc... Because of this our head guide has nicknamed me Kima! This is Swahili for 'blue monkey', he chose blue monkey because in Africa the blue monkey is best-known for it's climbing ability and abnormally large testicles. I like my new nickname. Goodnight.

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