I wouldn't claim to have had the best night's sleep! Lost one of the ear plugs around 1.30am so had to put up with tents unzipping constantly and people snoring. Eventually located it and had fitful sleep but managed to not need to go out for a wee so that was a bonus! Tash used the "she-wee" which I guess went okay as there wasn't piss all over the mattress/bedding.. :-)
5.30am we heard people milling about and getting there tea/coffee wake-up call, as did we and then a bowl each of hot water to freshen up "washy, washy!" - why is everything said twice? Why is everything said.. yeah right!!
Sorted our damp clothes and our duffel bags for almost an hour, all a bit of hard work to be honest, and then over to the Mess tent for breakfast. Everyone was the same as us and hadn't slept particularly well, hardly surprising. Lynn hasn't even camped before..God knows what she made of it, we're finding it hard work, that must be hell of a shock to the system.
Breakfast was good, porridge, pancakes, toast, sausage & eggs - they're certainly very capable chefs!
After that we got sorted for the hike, the tents were already packed away ready for the porters to start their own treks to the next camp.
We did stretches and warm-up exercises and then set off on our way for the next hike. Today we had Razak leading us, and again, we set off at a slow pace (even on level ground!). We continued our walk through the rain forest up and down, mostly down and again stopping many times to let the porters pass us.
At one point, which we stopped for an explanation, we passed from the Rain Forest Zone into the Moorland Zone, the obvious difference being the bushes and trees were a lot shorter.
After a midway stop we then had this monster climb, it just went on and on, it was very challenging, the sun a beating down and I was sweating buckets! I decided I needed help so I played my music, chuffed to be able to say that I've played JoolsD Choons on Mount Kilimanjaro!
After we summited this bloody great hill it levelled out and we were then walking across the moorlands that were flat and open, and as Phil commented it was very much like the moors in England - you could have been in Devon or the Lake District. The pace picked up and I kept my tunes on until we reached Shira 1 camp where our Mess tent was erected and we had lunch. This was about 5 hours since we'd left first thing this morning.
I must admit that I was starting to feel funny, headache, stomach ache, cramps - I didn't say anything and ate minimal amount of food saying I wasn't hungry. But more importantly I didn't want to let on in case that went against me - I knew I could just work through it, I wasn't getting kicked off the mountain! We broke camp and continued on our way and slowly I started falling back as I couldn't keep the pace and felt so very rough. It suited me walking on my own, I really didn't feel up for conversation or anything and just plodded along.
I wasn't the only one and the group did spread out today, the pace was a little quicker but that was to be expected as the second part was quite level ground. Lynn and Denise were feeling it too and quite often we'd stop but they still hadn't caught up with us by the time we'd set off again. I noticed that Chediel was carrying one of their rucksacks. They were both very quiet at dinner this evening, I hope they're both okay and still enjoying the experience.
Eventually, Shira 2 camp came into view but then it disappeared over the horizon and into the clouds and just when we thought we were there it was still another 20 minutes up another slope!
Some of the porters came down to assist and take rucksacks from us, Tash jumped at the opportunity and we were finally in the camp. A few photos (& registration) later and over to our tents and Tash was having her boots cleaned and then we were in our tent getting cleaned up and sorted. It was a stark contrast to last night, mainly because we weren't wet, as always, that makes hell of a difference; but we were just better clued up with what we needed to sort out for this evening and tomorrow morning. I still felt shit and wasn't looking forward to dinner. Went to the Mess tent almost last and chatted and joked with everyone. It's a lovely group of people which is obviously a bonus and makes this an enjoyable experience.
Again, the chefs made a great dinner of noodle soup, chicken stew with rice and fruit. I ate sparingly. We had our oxygen and heart rate recorded again (92, 65) and a briefing for tomorrow. We get a 15 minute lay in this time, so a 5.45am alarm call and we will be testing ourselves at 5,000 metres, we will then walk down to another camp for the evening at 3,900 metres. The whole idea is our first acclimatisation ascent. I must admit that I am a bit worried after today and also Borneo at 4,300m. But I'm here now so there's not much I can do about it!!
After dinner, everyone was keen to have an early night and went to bed. The night sky was completely clear meaning it is bloody cold but also absolutely full of stars, it's a spectacular view. Used the toilet for the first time, surprisingly easy, although Tash went in after me and said she nearly gagged! Ha ha! I don't think that's 100% my doing!
I then spent 30 minutes writing this diary entry for today. Another interesting day, shame I felt so rough, I suspect it was heat/sun stroke climbing that mental hill.
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