We have finally begun our trek up the mountain! We started off this morning doing some final weighing of bags, porters are only allowed to carry 15 kilos or 35 lbs of our gear, and then loaded up the bus. We were on a bus with everyone that is going to be a part of getting us up the mountain. In total it consists of 5 of us hikers (Brad, Suzanne, Mike, Kristin, and Me),1 American guide (Tom), 2 local guides (Jonny and Robert), and 18 porters!! It’s a crazy amount of people!!!
After everyone was loaded we started the roughly 5 hr trip to the trailhead. Before getting to the trail head we had to make a stop at the Londorossi Gate. Here we ate lunch while the porters offloaded all the gear and got everything weighed. This would be the first of many weigh stations. Porters have to get everything weighed at every camp we stay at. This ensures that they aren’t carrying to much and also that the amount of garbage we produce also gets weighed so they know it’s not getting left on the mountain!
After the weigh in it was off to the trail head. There’s nothing like taking a huge bus up a rutted out dirt road! At one point we were leaning so much to the right that we all thought the bus was going over… A little scary but we made it! We also got to see some Calibus monkeys playing in the trees… They move to much so I wasn’t able to get any pictures but they are black and white with big bushy white tails!
The hike today was only a couple of hours and not that bad. It is slow going up… Pole pole (po ley, po ley) would become the biggest mantra on the mountain… Meaning Slowly! Twenda sasa (let’s go now) would also become a regular saying!!! We are camped at Big Tree camp and a little over 9,000 ft. In elevation.
Once we got into camp we met Amiri who is going to be our waiter for the remainder of the trip. He is the one porter that we will have the most interaction with since he brings us hot water once we are in camp and will also bring us our food in the mess tent. I also met Julius, I’m guessing he is my porter since he pointed out my tent to me once we were in camp. After we got settled we had popcorn and kahawa (coffee) and the addiction to a card game called last card would begin!! After many rounds of cards and dinner it was bed time!! Tomorrow brings what we are told is one of the harder days!
Cinderella Adventures 