May 29, 2012
I'm all packed and "washed" waiting for breakfast. I think my appetite is finally beginning to diminish. Crazy dreams last night, proof that I must have slept at least a little. The Vitales put in a crazy expansion on their pool and cleared out the woods all the way to the beach. Thinking warm thoughts! There is water dripping in the outdoor room of my tent. The sun is out and the ice is melting. Today is a 4 hour day, not as steep as yesterday. When we get to camp I'll have lunch and rest up to save energy for the midnight summit climb. Between the cold, porter party, snoring brits and the inability to get comfortable last night wasn't the best sleep of my life. I feel confident I'll be able to nap well at base camp.
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Finished Day 4: The Saddle in 3 1/2 hours. I left after the big group, passed them in the first hour and they still haven't arrived yet. I got to see what the altitude could be doing to me. This one woman, definitely fitter than I am, was falling behind at the beginning of the first incline, struggling to breathe and unable to carry her pack. I feel so fortunate that I'm feeling almost perfect save for the sunburned fingers and the occasional slight, brief headache. The first stretch today was a decline followed by a short but steep ridge, then a long relatively flat saddle that connects Mawenzi Peak to Kibo Peak. In this part Samuel told me a little history of Tanzanian tribes. There are over 100, most from Southern Africa speaking a Bantu language. They came during the great human migration. A few tribes in the north originate from Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. The tribes' way of life is largely the same, but some (like the Chagga in Kilimanjaro) cultivate bananas, some less "civilized" forage honey, others are agriculturalists or pastoralist nomads (like the Maasai) and others are businessmen. As far as religion goes there are many Christians and Muslims (who get along peacefully) and still a fair amount of local beliefs, like the Maasai who sacrifice a black sheep for rain. It's nice to learn a little something about the people while I am here as a sheltered tourist.
The rest of the saddle Samuel told me to take the lead and go whatever pace I wanted. He and Gabriel stayed behind and went pole pole. I thought about home a lot. What people were doing, if their company would have been good on this trip, if any of them were thinking of me, if they even knew where I was. Then we started going uphill and because of my quicker than pole pole pace my breathing started getting heavy. Kibo became more detailed in my view and I could see the summit path. I still felt confident that I'd make it to the top, but seeing the summit path put my ego in check a little bit. After sitting in the sun having a stare down with Kibo lunch was served. Delicious chicken stew, biscuits and pineapple juice. Tea, too, but the sun beating on my tent is making me hot for once. Good time to catch up on some sleep.
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I got a good few hours of sleep in before dinner. An angry Englishman in the next tent over keeps yelling curses. Not very relaxing. I carbo-loaded at dinner. Veggie soup, pasta with a beef sauce, toast and oranges. I ate as much as I could. I took everything out of my my pack that I will need tonight, pretty much everything I own. Samuel's evening briefing was more of a pep talk. We said how much we've enjoyed each other's company these few days. He appreciates my friendliness and kindness and I appreciate his stories and answering all my questions. Our plan is to go way slower than we have been and try to only stop at Hans Meyer Cave, Gillman's Point and Uhuru Peak so as not to lose momentum. It's ambitious but going slowly it's not impossible. I feel good about myself, my climbing partner this challenge and life. Let's do this.
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