Baranco Camp

Enjoy!!

Headed down from Lava Cliff's 15,000 ft, we will be sleeping at Baranco 13,000ft...
After an amazing time at Lava we head off for camp..
sun and clouds today, but every where you look it's beautiful...I mentioned we are both taking, Malaira,Dyomox,Potassium...the side effect of the Dyomox is constant "peeing" and I do mean CONSANT!
Justo and Andrew both are reminding us to "drink,drink"! 3 to 6 liters a day:)....

I can not stress the strenghth and stamina of the Porters...we brought alot of snack food, and have given away almost all of it...I wish we had 10 times more! The porters have loaves of white bread that they eat:( They wear hand me downs such as..."Hello Kitty, women's pj's and a childs sweat shirt, shoes and boots that are too large, or even sandals?? Have I mentioned how Blessed we are!!

We make it to Baranco Camp at approx 3:30, signed in at Ranger station. This camp seems much smaller than Shira, but the view is breath taking!!
We washed up, found the bathrooms...they look nice but really just a "hole"...
Niko has a snack set up for us in the dinner tent...Popcorn and warm peanuts:) again I can't believe how many calories I am consuming I feel like I am eating way too much! Faustine then feeds us AGAIN! He really is a very good cook, Kristi thinks he needs to move to Estes and open a resutrant:)
We have really been missing communicating with family, so we plugged my cellphone  into the solar charger, and I tried sending a message...sent a text to my sister DD, it appears to go thru...even though I can't get anything back it feels so good to see 'SEND"!
Once the phones die we don't even know what time it is...

Andrew comes to have dinner with us, it was fun to visit and learn more about his culture.
We went through our health routine, I forgot to write down my oxygen level but I know it is in the 90's
It is extremely cold and windy at this camp! So we make our last trip to the "hole" and settle in.
I have resorted to ear plugs due to the wind and chatter...but still heard the cook tent tossed about from the strong winds!
Looking forward to tomorrow...The" Wall", little did I know what that really meant....I am a really good hiker but rock climbing is NOT my expertise:)

Headed to Baranco Camp

Good Morning!

Did not sleep well after our"lost in the dark" evening but rested and ready for an amzing and Looong hike to Baranco camp! Every day has been a "Gift" unwrapping it has been so exciting!
Our devotion for the day was so appropriate!
JUST ENOUGH...
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things shall be added unto you.
Math 6:33

Ok...up at 5:00 to prepare....I have to say stuffing a sleeping bag in to a stuff bag is excersise in its self:-)
(thanks Rob for the bag!) I'm not complaining(sort of) it has kept me very warm!
We get our bags packed for the porters to carry for us....and I think i have worked hard stuffing!! They are the most amazing guys..can't share that enough!
Andrew always gives us the itinerary and wants us to be up and ready early so we can be first on trail...they had no idea they are hiking with me, up early and ready to GO....
So Kristi and I are always waiting for them:)
Breakfast, and health check.

We get on the trail with Justo...Pole-Pole...we are beginning to hear these words in our sleep!! It means slowly-slowly! This has been hard(painful) for me, those of you who know me as a hiker know what I am talking about...
Ok the morning is spectacular, we dressed very warm, and 15 into the hike we are shedding clothes.
We are headed for Lava Cliffs today, it will be on of our highest points, over 15k ft!! I'm SO excited!
As we hiked today the weather changes dramatically, we shedded clothes, then the clouds rolled in and we added clothes, even though in some of these photos I look like a "hot" mess, I'm so glad I brought all I did.
I get cold easy...
We make it to Lava Cliff...STUNNING!!! Clouds are low, but then open up, spectacular view of Kili!!!
My heart is racing, I can SEE myself on the summit! We take lots of photos, have lunch, and then on to Baranco camp...
It has been fun to get to know Andrew and Justo, they are terrific guys, and guides! I realize how blessed my life is...I have SO much! This trip is beginning to change me from the inside out...it's truly becoming a "Life Journey"!

WOW I'm over 15 thousand feet for the first time in my life!!

The story continues one step at a time to the Summit!!

Marcy

Lost in the dark...

Good Morning!

I am so glad I journaled while I was on my journey because I could not keep track of my days!
After exploring and Up climbing at Shira we settle in for the eveing.
Faustine prepares us a very nice meal, soup(standard at each dinner) Again the soup stays so hot, it's very comforting:)
We are served by Niko, and takin very good care of by all the guys!
Andrew comes in for our physical check, and to give us the next days itinerary.
My pulse oxy is 95, so I'm still doing great!

As the sun goes down it's cold but not quite as cold as last night:)
During our exploring Kristi and I try to seek out the best "bathroom" area....the out house structure is disgusting...and I mean that in every sense:( I'm sure you all will be interested...there is no toliet paper, so you have to CONSERVE, wet wipes, napkin etc....:)
As we ready for bed we decide we should make a QUICK stop in the trees before we settle in....
If you have ever been in the mountains at night...there are no street, or city lights, and when there is no moon and cloudy it's DARK!
We take a very small flashlight, and head to the trees...it is dusk so we can see where we are headed.
After we get done doing our buisness we both realize it's REALLY DARK! Through laughter we head to where we THINK our tent is...
Shira camp is very spread out but it can't be this hard , right??
We search, and search, and search.....going in circles and going to the wrong tents...oh forgot to mention you have to pay attention to tents staked out too:)
Ok....NOW it's really getting cold, wewore no gloves because it was to be a quick pit stop, right!
Kristi syas"I remeber that tent(that we keep running into) I say great where in camp is it located...she says..I don't know:)
We are both getting panicy, and try to decide do we shout...ANDREW....we are lost!! No we decide that will sound crazy....I'm holding the tiny flash light and my fingers are frozen.
We FINALLY go back to bathroom tree area and start over........we see our cook tent the ONLY pointed tent in camp, it was right in front of us!!! I also did not mention we both have very bright head lamps...in the tent packed nicely in our backpacks:) Note to self...wear your head lamp at night:)
Moral of the story we made it back to our home sweet tent! We both had to put hand warmers in our socks to warm our feet back up!

The journey continues one step at a time to the Top!!

Marcy

Headed to Shira!

Good morning, ready for the journey?!

We are up at 5:00 preparing for our second hike day....beautiful morning! No clouds, as I shared Mount Kilimanjaro can be elusive, but she is beautiful this morning! I'm sure I have to many photos...
Breakfast of eggs(they are completely white) pancakes, fresh fruit that is SO good! Hot coffee on a cold crisp morning, I'm used to my one cup of coffee looking out into the cold:)
We prepared for the day...brushing teeth is just a community affair:)
Andrew did our regular check to make sure we are good for the hike...my pulse oxy 95...I think I'll have enough oxygen to make it:) Still not happy taking all these drugs, but it is what it is....No headache!
I'm ready for the day

We head out at 8:00, leaving the rainforest today and heading into the Moorlands. I feel so rested and excited, it is so hard for me to go SLOW....but you who know me well would be proud of me, I stayed behind the guide:) He set the pace.
The views this morning are incredible, my heart is over flowing with Thanksgiving!! Our devotion..
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know...the riches of the glory of His inheritance.  Eph 1:18
It is still so surreal that we are really here!!
Andrew and Justo have been amazing, they are SO kind..they make us feel very special! I will continue to share throughout the story...the Porters are TRULY amazing, with cheerful smiles they get up, tear down the camp, travel with weight of approx 30 to 60lbs on their heads and necks for miles uphill...I want to help evvery single one of them!
We stop for lots of photo ops.
We make it to Shira camp around 1:00ish, not even hungry but they like to feed us so...lunch is served.
oranges, small bananas(they were SO good), soup, pasta w/meat sauce & grilled cheese?? Again you all know me calories are always on my mind...they feed us WAY to much food. They were almost ofended if you did'nt eat:)

It is MUCH colder here at 13k ft, clouds moved in. We explore camp, and then take a rest, we are to up climb at 4:00 to acclimatize to the altitude. Kristi and I have not been able to talk to any family or friends for days...it feels very starnge to be cut off, we are so used to communicating at our fingertips! No service, and now batteries on phones are low, we don't even want to check the time, and lose all battery:) I really miss Michael and want share so much news:) We brought a solar charger so will try to figure out how to make it work, as I said clouds are thick and no sun...
Day 2 has been more than I could have ever imagined and it not over yet...

The Journey continues one step at a time to the Top!!

Marcy

Machame Camp

Good Morning!!
Yes still on the first hike day but so much to share....
As I shared we made it to Machame camp about 3:00ish...
we get to do a little exploring....I am learning that if you don't see Kilimanjaro early you usually don't see Her!

Again those of you who know me well know I have an issue with migraines, and this was one of my worries..well you guessed it, I have one?? It was so hot and humid, the excitement, and change, not sure what brought it on but now it's time to deal with it:)
We begin to meet our crew for the next 7 days....We have a waiter, his name is Niko (we can't pronounce his whole name) he greets us with a wonderful friendly smile! Our dinner tent is set up, and they usher us in for our end of hike snack....Popcorn, Mango cookies, hot chocolate all served on a silver tray! I know I just said it was so hot, but WOW did that steaming cup of hot chocolate taste great!
No matter how I feel this just made my day!
Our tent and camp was already set up when we arrived, so after our snack, we climbed into the tent to organize, and rest....we both have narrow mats, tiny pillow and our bags were waiting. I still can not give you the visual picture of these guys carrying our 30+lbs bags on their heads!! So VERY Thankful and Grateful for them!

They let us know dinner will be served at 7:00. The evening begins to turn crisp and cool and the clouds begin to settle....SHE has been so elusive but now we finally really get to see her....I can't take enough photos. Yes I get just a little excited when I see a summit in my sights!
Dinner is served...the menu is fish in a vegi sauce with potatoes and cabbage,lime and tomatos...it was really good! Niko was so attentive! We felt a little out of place being served....
Andrew comes each evening to give us an itinerary for the next day and to check our health.
He goes through a check list of questions, and takes you pulse oxy to see what your oxygen level is...
before we got to Africa we had to start a regimene of Malaria, Diomox( for high altitude), and potassium.
My oxygen level was 93, and pulse was 59...I really felt great, except for the headache:)
Faustine the cook also came in to greet us and check on us and say "Jumbo"!( it means Hi) He has a wonderful mischievous smile!

Niko brings us a tubs of hot water to clean with, but it's hard to figure out how with so many people around.
we decide at this point the importance of wet wipes!! If I can give any advise, DON'T forget your wet wipes!
After a long day it's time to settle in...but we still have to make a bathroom stop before we crawl in!
I also did'nt share, they want you to drink at least 4 to 6 liters of water...side effect of the diomox is you "pee" constantly:) Sorry it gets more graphic as we go...

Ok we are in...I sleep until 1:00, and then again until 2:30...porters talk until late into the night:-)

Up at 5:00....

The Journey continues one step at a time to the Top!

Marcy

Day 3 First day of Hike!

The day arrives to begin the Mount Kilimajaro Hike!!! Up at 6:00, and enjoy our LAST shower for 7 days....even though Bristol cottages tells you 24/7 hot water...luke warm is what we got. I had no idea how wonderful luke warm would feel:)
Kristi and I share a devotional every morning at breakfast...
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened,that you may know...the riches of the glory of His inheritance.    Eph 1:18
It was truly amazing how His words were right on to what we were experiencing!

We enjoy a light breakfast, use the bathroom several times...enjoying the comforts that we really did'nt have any idea how much we would apprciate later:)
We have to leave some of our things and are concerned with the safetly but again we just have to trust...and we did'nt want the proters carrying to much weight.
7 guys arrive to pick us up....You want to talk intimidating...out of my comfort zone.
We have no cell service, no way of communicating...They save the two middle seats in the van for us and our gear....It is hot, the guys have been in the van for awhile....the door closes, let's just say it did NOT smell fresh...and no windows to open:)
Ok do you think we are scared yet?? I also have to say I am SO excited for this climb, mixed emotions:)
We get to experience more of the driving patterns of the people hear, can't express my prayers at the moment...Lord, just get us to the gate safely....

We drive through Machame village, again I had no idea until my eyes where open to this site, much more than poverty to me, it was almost beyond discription... We make it to Machame Gate, our starting point! We are the first few people there...Andrew had warned us we need to be early...he was SO right.
There are so many villagers standing outside the gate just waiting for work...$7 a day to carry 30 to 60lbs on their heads and necks! At all gates in the Park you have to sign in...So we get signed in for the climb. Yep,now it's getting real! Lots of other people have now shown up, it's getting very hectic feeling...
Andrew let's us know we are ready and will proceed with Justo, and he will follow. We leave the Trailhead at 10ish...
Very Humid and hot hike through rain forest, we are dripping wet. Again so many men, and just Kristi and I...Justo has us stop for lunch about 12:30 and provides us with a box lunch...some kind of hamburger meat,egg in a bun, chicken, small banana's(they were so good), we eat little, just to hot.
Long Hard day (mostly due to the heat) mileage was not much, maybe 6 to 7 miles...
We arrive at Machame camp around 3:00ish...We sign in and our campsite, and home sweet home for 7 days is set up and waiting:) I am really excited at this point! I get my first glance at Kilimanjaro!!

The Story continues one step at a time to the Top!!

Marcy

Day 2 the journey!

Our First day in Moshi Town, Tanzania...

We slept pretty good, slow and relaxing start to the day. We are ready to explore and see our surroundings!
It was dark and late last evening when we arrived...
The court yard is lush and so green...humid, but not to hot, yet:) Bristol cottages has 2 outdoor eating areas, nothing has walls? I'm definetly not in Colorado.
Breakfast is on the agenda they have a table set up with hot water, milk, some kind of ceral(I think it is shredded wheat) fruit. We order an omelet, and toast because really thats all we could figure out...seemed easy:) The food was not what we expected...But I'm not really sure what I expected?
The eggs are white no yellow to them at all? The best part is the hot water stays SO hot, not like home when you order coffee and 3 minutes later it's getting cold.

We prepare to meet up with Vincent, Andrew, and Justo from Bryson Adventure Tours...they want to go over up coming days! They fill us in on what to expect....I truly had no idea, even though I had been preparing for months??
The generous hosts that they are, Andrew and Justo take Kristi and I on a tour of Moshi...it's a tourist town, how differnet can it be from Estes Park.......OH MY GOSH! Thats about all I could think of as we left the gates of the cottages! The guys are taking us out to lunch to an Italian restaurant, suppose to be very good...My mind is racing, after viewing the town can I really eat at a restaurant here!!
The traffic is mind boggling..no cross walks, you cross at your own RISK...Remember we don't speak the language, and the guys are hard at time to understand, you don't think i am Out of MY comfort zone!!!
We go to the office to meet Bryson the owner, very nice and happy to see us. The two people that were to climb with us lost their luggae so it looks like it's just Kristi an I.
Ok now for the restaurant, it's Italian serving Indian food....it's and out door eating area again, it's seems We stand out like sore thumbs! We begin to ask questons and get to know Andrew and Justo. So many questions to ask...they have a lot of questions for us too. The food arrives, it looks intersting, of course the guys dive right in, we gingerly begin to taste...IT'S REALLY GOOD! They were right!
We head back to Cottages, wow is it ever hot and humid here! Andrew tells us to be ready at 8:30.
We have a final relaxing after noon, early light dinner...served Masala tea that was SO good!

Off to bed...but of course those of you who know me well, sleep did not happen I was way to excited. Whenever I go on a big hike, sleep eludes me:) I did rest though:) We are right of main street so the noises are very loud...including a Mosaic that prayers are said over a loud speaker:) We also have a friendly Rooster that did'nt really know what time it is...

More to come...one step at a time to the Top!

Marcy