Visit to East Africa
- Hike to Machame Camp -
Journal:
"September 7, 1998 - Kilimanjaro (cont.) - Though we arrived at the gate at 10:30am, our porters do not show up for another hour. Each person's bag is weighed with an attempt to not give more than 18kg (~40 pounds) to a porter, though strong ones carry much more and one today is taking a basket of food weighing over 40kg (~90 pounds)! Though almost everyone uses a porter to carry their bags, organizing a day pack with water and food for themselves, I have opted to carry my own bag and attempt to reach the summit almost entirely of my own volition. I think of the mistake this might be when I weigh my bag in at 26.5kg (~55 pounds) (I only weigh 160 pounds myself). We are finally ready at 12 noon and the porters are off like a light. The trek starts in a jungle at about 1800 m. (~5500 ft.) and we are immediately engulfed in greenery - ferns, trees, and mosses everywhere. The trek is arduous as we are making a steep ascent with numerous mud bags made worse by those who started earlier. We see numerous birds and even some black monkeys. After six hours, I finally reach Machame Camp where David (who went ahead with the Aussies) is waiting for us. We see about 12 tents set up by the various guide companies and fires where the cooks are preparing tea and popcorn to curb our appetite before dinner. (we had had a lunch of mayonnaise sandwiches, a banana, and a fruit drink - and I don't eat mayonnaise). We sit down with the tea to recover from the trek and watch the porters inhale their cigarettes (I feel extremely unfit when I see them). One porter was suffering from the strain and we provided him some aspirin. Dinner was beyond our expectations: bread and butter, spinach soup, macaroni with a meat sauce, and rice with vegetables. After dinner we all gather around a fire and shoot the breeze - the porters and even Éle keep to themselves. After a couple hours, we all decide that sleep is more than needed and head to bed."
