After so many days of preparation and travel and anticipation, what a thrill it was to finally be walking uphill.  We left our comfortable hotel at 8 AM in a bus headed east.  We’d reached the Kilimanjaro National Park entrance by 10 AM and after a further hour of getting organized and registered with the park, we were off.  It was raining lightly when we left our hotel, but it was merely cloudy and damp when we got walking through the big trees at the start of the Machame route. Moss was thriving and hanging from every branch and tree trunk and the trail was a little greasy under foot.  Before long, we were steadily gaining altitude.  The bus had taken us to 6000 ft and our goal for the day, Machame Camp, sat at 10,000 ft, so it was always going to be a tough workout.  It was certainly tougher for our staff as they raced uphill with far heavier loads than we were carrying.  We took short breaks every 90 minutes or so in order to eat and drink and by a little after 4 PM, the trees were getting smaller, the clouds were thinning and magically, our camp appeared… right where we’d hoped to find it.   The crew had built us a wonderful home and we simply needed to move in.  We sat in our dining tent for an afternoon snack and then, just before dinner, the clouds cleared enough to give our first magical views of Kibo -Kilimanjaro’s central peak- shining in the last rays of the sun nine thousand feet above us.   Dinner was excellent and by 8 PM we were crawling into our tents and heading for bed… pleasantly tired and ready for a night with perhaps a little less jet lag. 

Best Regards

RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team