Thu 4th Aug '16 - Day 6

Mount Kilimanjaro

Day Four              8km       Barranco Camp 3,900m – Karanga Camp 3,995m – Barafu Camp 4,673m

The strong wind persisted through the night and I’m grateful I don’t have the same toilet needs of the half the group who almost religiously get up to go to the toilet in the dark – though not often venturing far from the tent. In fact, one of the guides suggests just perching on your knees and leaning out the tent to avoid having to put your shoes and head torch on. Bit gross, but perhaps practical in the cold. In the tent and in the sleeping bag the wind is thankfully not an issue. Usual morning routine of coffee along with a bowl of hot water delivered at 06:30 – using our very stilted hello and thank you in Tanzanian. Time to pack up again, breakfast in the canteen at 07:30 at the same time handing over all the water bottles and camelbaks to be filled (we had all brought water purification tablets but turns out the porters add their own anyway so we all finish the trek with a mountain of unused pills), then leave at 08:00. Well almost 08:00 – by the time we’ve had more hot drinks, porridge, omelettes, crepes and toast its normally at least ten past. And at least a couple of us pop off to brush our teeth after breakfast. Sean seems to take the blame for making us late regardless, because on the second morning he dropped his glasses as we left the campsite and had to run back to get them – holding us all up for all of 60 seconds.

First up we’re faced with the Barranco Wall which still looks imposing though you can make out a long line of people making their way up. We initially cross a few streams to get to the foot of the wall and whilst there is a bit of scrambling the ledges we walk on are wide enough so you don’t feel as if you’re about to topple off despite the appearance from the bottom.

The walk to Karanga is 5km and takes 4 hours due to the hills and valleys we walk up and down and through. After a break at the top of the Barranco Wall (up which Demi had David’s camera and leaping about like a mountain goat taking snaps of us) we descend through an exposed wind swept plain where vegetation only appears to the sheltered side of any rock on the surface large enough not to be blown away. It’s mostly bunches of flowers that look like daisies and almost creates the effect of a cemetery where the flowers are placed next to every headstone.

            

As we continue round the mountain and drop in to a final valley which has both shelter and water we can see the Karanga camp on the opposite side at the top. We discuss how the entrepreneurs who put in the first flying fox or rope bridge could make themselves a lot of money from either the thrill seeking trekker or the tired/lazy bunch. Until that comes to fruition we in the meantime take the traditional foot route and slide down in to the very dusty conditions, cross the stream at the bottom and Pole Pole make our way up the other side to Karanga camp.

This camp is on quite a slope and is very exposed so we’re grateful again for the porters who have rushed ahead and put up the canteen tent and Nicolas the chef who has lunch underway.

As we’re being served our carrot soup, chicken and potato stew and oranges its decision time. Originally we stop here for the rest of the day, camp overnight and tomorrow morning walk the 4 hours to Barafu (and up to 4,673m), camp there and set off around midnight that night for the last push. The proposal, which is more of an encouraged suggestion is to bring forward tomorrow’s walk to this afternoon, camp at Barafu tonight and then leave at 4am tomorrow morning to head to the summit.

At almost 4,000m we all are mostly fine so agree to push on (though we had heard Demi say Barafu to one of the porters who overtook us this morning, so we wonder if the decision had already been made and we were simply steered in that direction).

The afternoon walk is more taxing, only 4km but rising up around 800m (just above the altitude of the Lava Tower where we had lunch yesterday) so the pace is slow going. The amount of chatter in the group is definitely inversely proportional to the altitude – myself, Jason, Sean and David all generally quieter the higher we go. In fact, Shane is the only exception to the rule throughout the trek.

As we leave the Karanga Camp we bump in to an Australian father and his 10-year-old daughter. We had met them as we waited to depart from Machame Gate and have passed each other several times over the days. He had done the walk on his own in May and was now back with his little girl. She seemed to be struggling, holding back the tears as they said yesterday was a tough for her. Though we hear as we descend that they actually push on that day and ascend that night. However, she gets sick and is then piggybacked all the way to the bottom by their guide. This makes her, the climb, not the descent, the youngest Australian to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

The walk away from the camp leads us in to mist and fog, the terrain not almost barren of vegetation. After an initial ascent period we round what could be a disused slate quarry and then make one last push for the day up a steep hill to Barafu Camp.

We go through the daily process of finding the administration hut to sign in and then to our tents which are perched on a wide rocky ridge with 360 degree views. Mount Kenya (4,985m), across the border in Kenya, the 2^nd highest mountain in Africa one way, the route we’ve walked today the opposite way, in between them is the route down off the mountain and opposite to that and still looming over us the peak of Kili.

A special mention for the toilets at Barafu which had amazing expansive views which partially made up for their general unpleasantness throughout the whole trip.

As we’re getting ready for dinner the mist clears and blue skies emerge affording us some breathtaking views. All the while the peak of Kilimanjaro looms over us. And somewhat upsettingly, what appears to us to be the peak is in fact just a lip over which we can’t yet see. Whilst we’re closer than ever it seems hard to believe we can get all the way to the top in just one more push.

Dinner is taken a little earlier at 18:00 and is a relative feast to boost us up the mountain – popcorn, sweetcorn soup, cheese on toast (which I’d mentioned jokingly during the day as something I’d really like – as indeed Clem had done on Day One with the popcorn – as if John was listening in both times and then reporting back to chef Nicholas), a mound of spaghetti with vegetables in tomato sauce and topped off with fried chicken. Finished off with watermelon.

At the dinner table John gives us a brief briefing which consisted of – we will wake you at 3am, feed and leave at 4am. And with that a growing sense of nervous exciting expectation we are in our sleeping bags by 19:15.