I awoke early in the morning, just before dawn, so got up to wander a bit and watch the sun come up. When we arrived at the camp the night before, the first thing we noticed was that this camp was a junction for the other hike routes up to the summit. This meant there were dozens more hikers than we had seen at the camps previously, and the term “tent city” came to mind.
On the third day we woke to another short but strenuous hike, just over five miles, but because we walked very slowly to help acclimatize and not get too winded, we did okay. The first three miles or so were a long but gradual uphill climb through lava fields. We sang snatches of songs we couldn’t remember all the words to, and played movie trivia.
Day two of the hike was relatively short, only a few miles, but very steep and rocky, and about another 2,500 feet of elevation gain. Everybody in the party did well, and the day felt much easier. This was due mainly to the fact that it was dry instead of drizzling, and we had the whole day to make the hike, instead of just a few hours on the day previous.
We got to Tanzania! After a three day trip with stops in Detroit, Amsterdam and Nairobi, including almost a full day layover in Amsterdam that we spent touring the city and sleeping in the airport terminal, we got to the hotel in Arusha, Tanzania. After awaking from the night before our hike, we enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel, and a long shower, knowing it would be my last for almost a week. We got into a LandCruiser driven by Goodsell, Goody for short, and off we went.
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