Day 2 - Shira II camp

Trek Data: 17km, 6 hours (8,5h on the board) +1200hm
Starting Elevation: 2650 hm
Finishing Elevation: 3850 hm

The night was interesting, first 1 hour I was freezing and then around midnight I woke up overheated 🤣 so I took off all the layers and stayed only in termal underwear. Later on an animal concert started and it went with breaks till I woke up 😂🙈 / Peter came to wake me up around 5:30. Luckily I felt relaxed and Peter brought me warm tea ☕️. Around 6 he brought me water basin to fresh up and 7 the big breakfast was served and another medical check was done. 7:30 Georg and I were ready to depart for our long journey to Shira II camp. Usually people do it in two days (Lemosho trek 8 days) and for people doing the 7 days route it’s an one long day.

The weather was amazing and path to Shira I camp was very beautiful. After some time we left the amazing forest and got views of Mt. Meru and whole Shira Plateau. With many small break we were gaining quickly on elevation and reached the top of the elephant ridge 😆. Apparently that’s how the hill looks from far. At the top we got first glimpse of Mt. Kilimanjaro, unfortunately covered bit in clouds and we could see clearly the ranger hut of Shira I camp. It’s time for lunch 🤩. The way to Shira I took us with many breaks and photo stops around 3,5 hours 💪🏼 we were super quick compared to all the other groups.

In Shira camp my amazing team prepared lunch and tea for me. After lunch I sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine and view for maybe 40 minutes before we packed our bags again and departed for the second part of the journey. This 10km long walk to Shira II was beautiful but never ending 🤣🙈 the landscape didn’t change at all, the way was mostly flat and for the last 45 min it started to rain. You can really experience all kind of seasons here in one day. We reached the camp almost at the same time as the whole team and it was amazing to see how quickly they can set up the whole campsite 🤩.

Afternoon passed by quickly, I managed to get a good signal and text / call few people and I read a bit of my new book ~ Seven Summits 😎 and chill. It was really cold and I became super concerned about the temperature and my wellbeing 😂🙈. During the dinner I raised my concerns to the guide and for tonight I will get bottle with hot water for my sleeping bag and if it doesn’t help maybe he comes next night to sleep to my tent or sth like that. So I am now bit calmer and hope that it will work. Nevertheless I won’t ever take shower and warm bed for granted 😆.

In general the guide is more then happy about my performance and acclimatization. My oxygen level dropped slightly but it is nothing we should worry about. Georg even said that we might do the summit day one day earlier if everything goes well so let’s see 🤩, one day less in tent would be kind of nice 😂.

Wish me luck for following days 😁!Read more