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Published: September 24th 2014
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Here I am in our RMI tent drinking tea after getting a personal history of some of the land with our guides Eric and Charles. It feels like our team is so spoiled by everyone here on the mountain. Every night we have multi-course meals in this tent, and today we even had a hot lunch of macaroni! Hot macaroni on a cold day in a tent...never thought it was possible.
The altitude really got the best of us today. We went from the Machame Camp at 10,000 to Shira Camp at 12, 570. It's officially the highest point I've reached. While it was only 2.75 miles of hiking, it felt intense with the new elevation. Yesterday I took the first round of Diamox (altitude sickness pills) and was still a bit weirded out about my adjustment to the altitude (rapid breathing at night). Thank goodness my body is adapting! No real problems occurred in my body hitting the 12,000 mark, but everything just felt more difficult. I could tell everyone was taking longer breaths. It was almost like we were breathing as if we were running or sprinting--huge breaths in and out to adjust to the thinness of the
air. If this were on normal levels of elevation (like 5,000) this hike would have been no problem. It was strange for me to finally experience this level of altitude and the adaptation, as I had been reading about it and even took a seminar before the trip of AMS (acute mountain sickness).
Our hike itself was a blast. We played all kinds of trivia (random--very random), shared "fun facts" and hummed to the beat of the song, in which everyone had to guess what it was. Combine that with the altitude and it became really fun and interesting!! It was overall a great bonding experience with my team. This group of strangers were becoming close friends. What a team we were becoming. The further we got up, and the more we had to scramble up the mountain, the more we looked out for each other. The scenery itself too was fascinating. The vegetation was beautiful, and the White Neck Raven was not backing down on our food! When we got to the camp itself we explored the famous "Shira Cave" in which Eric and Charles took my dad, me, and a few other teammates for a
walk and brief history of the area. I felt touched that I was being given this info by two selfless men in the bushes and vegetation of Kili. Unbelievable. They took us to the cave and explained the way people used to survive in the cave (fire from sticks, sleeping in the corner of the cave). They discussed the danger of rhino extinction, and the causes. They even took us up to higher camp where we built a rock house and discussed watcher towers and yes, outhouses! We took pictures, shared knowledge, and I fully soaked in the experience.
Now I'm sitting here in the tent (as you know) and am getting Swahili lessons from our porter Alfred, while dinner is being cooked by the other porters. The work ethic of these guys is truly unbelievable. They're carrying coolers behind their necks, have baskets on their head, bring food, water, chemical toilet, tables, chairs, silverware, tablecloth, and all of our tents EVERY TIME. And their hearts are so big. Alfred cooks, is a porter, barber, builder, AND has two young kids (5 and 2) and named his youngest after a Seattle couple suggested a name (represent WA!).
My heart exploded. This man does absolutely everything in his power to support his family. Things at home just aren't going to be the same after this. It's ridiculous to me that we fret over things that really just don't matter in the US (like the Internet being down, or your coffee spilling). These guys just want to support their family. Anyway-Alfred is teaching me the basics of food and drinks (cold water, hot water, water for drinking, chicken, eggs), and he threw in my favorite--coffee with milk. Some of us also learned hello, goodbye, I love you. I have it written in my journal--some of it written by Alfred himself. I will cherish it.
Well I'm off. Tonight is popcorn and tea for snacking. Then dinner. Tomorrow we hike 5-6 hours, and only increase elevation by a few hundred feet at the next camp. However, we will reach our highest elevation on the way at the Lava Tower--about 15,000. That should be interesting! I'm looking forward to getting to know my guides, porters, and team more along the way.
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