Sunday 19 August 2001
SPRINGLANDS HOTEL to MACHAME HUT/CAMP
"Welcome to the Jungle"
Breakfast set a template for what we ate the rest of the week on the mountain: eggs, toast, sliced fruit, tea, hot chocolate, coffee, dehydrated milk, unidentifiable cheese, and undercooked sausages that resembled American hot dogs in appearance.
We checked some luggage into a secure storage room, checked out of our rooms, then waited in the driveway for our van which we eventually discovered, was waiting outside the gates and across the road. A brief break for more photos then we piled into the van. To my surprise some current American pop and dance tunes were playing on the radio. The skies were overcast.We then drove into Moshi proper.
ZARA HQ was our next stop: a mob scene of vans, climbers, porters and guides. Zainab stolled through the crowds with everything well in hand. Here we met our lead guide Godlisten S. Mkonyi, who first introduced himself as "Godi". I had fun with him by speaking some Chagga (language of the tribe that lives on Kilimanjaro’s lower slopes) which I learned while researching the trip. We had many laughs during the trip.
After leaving Moshi (900 m above sea level), we drove 45 minutes or so up to Machame Gate (1800 m / 5904 ft). There were brief interruptions en route when the van became stuck in the slippery mud on the steep grade up. A few locals were enlisted to help Godi and crew push the van. For their troubles they were given rides further up the road. I joked after these "ordeals" that we should all receive the gold climbing certificates only awarded to Uhuru Point summiteers.
Machame Gate looked just like it does in all the photos. We got out, left our bags next to the van for the porters to gather, then went back down the road to the gate office to sign in then get our rain gear and gaiters on. The mist in the forest was quite thick at this elevation, adding to the sense of the unknown.
Back at our van, Godi told us that most of the food had not been sent up with us and therefore some of the crew would return to Moshi to pick it up. Meanwhile, we were to hike on ahead with Adrian, one of the porters. Godi then discreetly took me aside to tell me to watch out for the group and our belongings. I had heard rumors of locals going up to Machame camp to steal and even of porters appropriating small items like Swiss army knives from unsuspecting climbers, but this was a sobering warning all the same. I clued in the group once we started up the trail.
The trail out of Machame Gate begins as a jeep/4x4 track. Easy hiking. After maybe 5 minutes we stopped to take off our rain gear as Godi correctly predicted it would not rain. This section was a pleasant hike with surprisingly little mud. Nik and Ianko spotted a Colubus monkey somewhere in the foliage. Andrea and I joked about the 2 Bulgarian monkeys we observed. Next came the genuine trail portion of the hike. At the beginning of the trail a porter was finishing off a large joint, clearly enjoying himself. We did not ask for samples, saving our energy for acclimatization instead.
The grade increased sharply as we climbed with exposed roots poking up everywhere. Only occasionally did we have any large mud patches to deal with (due to the dry season I think). Every so often we stopped to drink water, take photos, or move to the side to let a gear-laden porter pass. Gradually, the sun appeared as we climbed above (through, really) the mists. We stopped at a clearing where lunch bagswere handed out. There were a few outhouses in the vicinity for our convenience. Lunch was fried chicken, a biscuit, some fruit, orange drink and some candy. Soon, other hikers stopped in the clearing, crashing our scene. After we ate, a young porter named Philip took over escort duties from Adrian who sped ahead with some of our other porters to set up camp by Machame Hut.
The trail got extremely steep in several places. Hands were needed to grasp trees and roots as we hauled ourselves up large steps on the eroded trail. Nik, Ianko and Andrea quickly moved on ahead of Philip and me at a good clip. This became the norm for most of the trip. More and more, I found myself needing to stop for rest and water breaks. It made me feel bad at first, but since we were making such good time overall I stopped caring after a while. Eventually Nik, Andrea and Ianko spotted Kibo off in the distance through the trees, the afternoon sun shining brilliantly on the summit glaciers. An encouraging site.
Some hours after lunch, Godi caught up with me on the trail. He expressed surprise that we had advanced as far as we did. Philip went on ahead to Machame camp. More start and stop hiking for Godi and I. During rest stops (more for me than Godi) we discussed how my group came to pick ZARA and so on. Nik and Co. got up to Machame Hut perhaps an hour before Godi and I did. They sat on the benches to wait for us.
Machame Hut camp (3000 m/ 9,840 ft) is comprised of a metal hut where park attendants sell bottled water and beers and several fields radiating out to the east and southwest. A maze of trails connects the fields to the hut, various outhouses and the main watersource--a stream off to the south somewhere. After Godi and I arrived, I signed the climbers' log—standard procedure at a few of the camps on the trail.
We moved out to our campsite on the extreme eastern edge of the east field, on a slight rise. There were several other groups staying downhill from us, particularly a noisy group of French hikers. A snack of popcorn and tea was ready soon after our arrival. We unpacked and got our sleeping bags and pads ready for the evening. Ianko and Andrea had managed to secure the larger of the two tents allocated to us. Nik and I didn’t mind much at the time. While unpacking our sleeping gear in our tent, I noticed that the tent's zippers were badly damaged. We initially thought we could work around the problem—this would prove naive.
Nauseous from either the altitude change or the food, I took both a cipro pill and a loperamide tablet as a fix-all. I started feeling better in minutes, whatever the actual cause was, and had no similar problems during the trip. Insects were not a problem the entire first day though we applied repellent at the park gate. Apparently their absence at Machame had to do with the season. I don’t recall any mosquitoes other than perhaps at Springlands.
Before dinner I went over to meet some of the porters and Prosper, the assistant guide whom we saw very little of during the climb. We passed out some candy to the crew as a bit of an ice-breaker though formal introductions were never made.Godi and some of the crew played cards while meals were prepared. They pronounced it "cahdi". They often placed "i" after many nouns, e.g., "meati", "foodi", and "bhangi"(marijuana being known as "bhang" in may parts of East Africa).
In case you're wondering: The outhouses were about what I expected, but far from filthy. The stench was tolerable at most of the ones we encountered on Kili. The Bulgarians exected bidets, but none could be found.
The views from Machame camp offered something in every direction: the top of Kibo to the east; Mount Meru, 45 miles to the west; the remains of Shira Peak to the north/northwest; and cloud-covered villages to the south.
The evening chill crept in quickly, so Nik and I broke out the pant-legs to our convertible shorts and started digging into our bags for fleece jackets. We were quite pleased that the ever-fashionable Ianko approved of our choices in fleece. Soon, we all ducked into the tent assigned for meals. Though the tent was clearly larger than the one assigned to Nik and me, it was barely big enough for a table, 4 chairs and four people. We somehow contorted ourselves into the tent though Ianko, who is around 2m tall, sat with one leg inside and one outside the tent. It took additional intricate maneuvering to get back outside again. The situation recalled the classic American party game Twister. Our meal tent also served as a sleeping tent for 4 of the porters and as luggage storage for Nik's and my gear bags.
By supper’s end the stars had started appearing. The lack of light pollution coupled with our altitude allowed us to see the Milky Way as few of us had before. As a bonus, the annual Perseid Meteor shower was going on as well. Nik spotted a few shooting stars fairly early into the climb. I caught one or two during the summit night frolics. The clever Ianko brought along star-charts. Show-off.
Settling into our tent verged on slapstick for Nik and I. We soon discovered the tent was on a slope because we started sliding toward the far end. Not the most comfortable situation, plus, our noisy French neighbors were chatting on a few yards away. After some switching around of sleeping angles, we were in somewhat better straights. In between trying to fall asleep—difficult despite our exhaustion—and taking the obligatory walks to nearby bushes, we had a hilarious conversation, the details of which neither of us recalls. One of the last things I do recall from that night was a park ranger walking around the camp with a flashlight, no doubt on the lookout for would-be local thieves, a real problem in a land of immense poverty.