Day 1- Shira 1 Camp

So…I had meant to write each day, but:
A: there was no connectivity and
B: I could have written and uploaded later, but by the time I hit the tent each day, I was just DONE! To be totally transparent I am sitting in the Amsterdam airport attempting to recreate each day using the itinerary and any photos I have from that day.
So here goes:
Had breakfast with Cynthia and met some other people that were going to be a part of our team. Most people were staying at the other hotel, (which we found out later was much nicer), but this is where we met Tina and Haythem- a couple in their 40’s who were absolutely wonderful. Tina is first generation American whose family is from Lebanon and Haythem was, I believe, also first generation American whose family hailed from Egypt.
We also met Kelly, a young woman in her 30’s who was traveling on her own and had traveled and hiked extensively. It turned out that Kelly was part of a second Altezza group leaving that day, but we maintained the connection throughout as the groups would be staying in the same camps each night.
We boarded the Altezza van which took us to the Aisha Máchame hotel where we met the staff and received any rental equipment we had opted for.
And then we all hopped on the van that would take us on a 2 1/2 hour ride to the Londorossi Gate of Kilimanjaro National Park.
En route we made a stop for a potty break at a market. Cynthia went in and was surprised to see that the toilet in the ladies room consisted of a 6x12 inch hole in the floor. A good introduction to the squatting pee that would become daily routine while on the trail. Some of the ladies had bought this device called the “SHE WEE”. It consisted of this contraption resembling a trough which you were supposed to slide under you and pee into. It attached to a pipe that you could aim. It essentially was like having a penis so you would not have to pull your pants all the way down to wee. I had bought one as well, but had decided to leave it at home. I don’t think either of the ladies that had it with ever used it as it required some practice in the shower so as not to get pee all over your clothes.
We pulled into the entrance of the park and disembarked. While the Altezza guides were getting us all registered we had lunch at a shelter, served by Damas, who would be our waiter throughout the trip. Cynthia and I both developed quite an affection for this man, who would wake us up with a cup of (instant) coffee each morning. Cynthia nicknamed him “Mr. Coffee” and that’s how we referred to him throughout the week. I didn’t even know his real name until the last day!
Lunch is where we met the rest of our team members- and what an international group it was!
Cynthia and I were clearly the most senior of the group. Next were two Turkish brothers- Bahadir and Hamdi. Bahadir was 58 and a pulmonologist, (Yes, Lord!) and Hamdi (52) was an engineer and no longer lived in Turkey, but the two of them had done Everest Base Camp, (which Cynthia kept thinking was “Space Camp”) in recent years. Bahadir was more quiet and inward, but Hamdi was a chubby jolly guy who I thoroughly enjoyed! Then there was Tina and Haythem, who lived in Washington DC, Inara, an internist who was from Latvia but lived and practiced in Madrid, Dmitri and Julia from Russia, Jamila, a young woman from Moscow, Chelsea and Gaspar- Gaspar was a US Marine and Chelsea a nurse- they were currently stationed in West Africa, and Branch- a 22 year old marine who worked security at the US embassy in Malawi. Thirteen of us in all. The 4 Eastern Europeans mostly kept to themselves and spoke Russian to each other and not much of anything to the rest of us for most of the trip.
After lunch we boarded the van to go to our drop off point- about 10K up the road. That 10K made a world of difference weather-wise. The wind was blowing and everyone was scrambling to find fleeces and hats in their day packs. The porters, (the unsung heroes of the whole operation), took off with all of our 100 liter duffels perched on their heads, along with all the tents, sleeping pads, chemical toilets, food, and all the various and sundry equipment to supply our team for the week. They carry all of this and make it to camp in 1/2 the time it took us, and we were only carrying day packs!
Altezza had rated the first two days “low difficulty”. Hmmm. We didn’t have to go far, but it was quite steep, (although it was called Shira Plateau), and very windy. We finally saw Shira I camp with all the colorful little tents set up. This started our daily routine of getting to our tents, getting sleeping bags set up, having tea and popcorn for snack, washing up, dinner, med check, next day briefing and bed. On day one we also had toilet training, (and by that I don’t mean literal toilet training- doh!- but how to operate the camp toilet).
Now, I feel the need here to tell the reader that this girl does NOT camp! I looked at our little two person tent in which we had to fit 2 sleeping bags, 2-100liter duffels, and 2 day packs and wondered how I would EVER survive!
I had heard that every night was cold cold cold, but I thought that maybe the first couple wouldn’t be THAT cold. WRONG! My sleeping bag was rated for -20F, I had the warmest liner, and still my feet froze. That misery was mitigated somewhat by the surprise distribution of plush bunnies stuffed with warm hot water bottles. We all came to treasure those bunnies each night as one of the few creature comforts at our disposal. Altezza should really sell those things in the gift shop after the trek. I would have bought one for everyone I know!Read more