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John Mascavage, David Pumpelly, John
Brislin's:
Visit to East Africa
- The Shira Plateau -
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| This shot is actually
looking out over the valley from our campsite. The fog has engulfed
almost everything. |
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Journal:
"September 8, 1998 - Trek to Shira
(cont.) - Solomon, our cook, already has the tea and popcorn waiting.
Dinner is again finer than expected: rice with vegetables, a delicious soup,
roasted chicken, and a dessert of mixed pineapple and peach. (I am
convinced that Kenya and Tanzania have no bad soups - we have them every day and
each has been wonderful). Tomorrow is to be a harder day so we decide to
turn in early (the fact that we didn't get a fire didn't help either). I
tuck myself in my one-man bivvy sack and attempt to sleep. Unfortunately
altitude is known to make sleeping difficult, and it's worse if you strained
yourself that day. So I spend the next 10 hours watching the stars and
seeing the full moon rise. I try to identify the constellations of the
southern hemisphere. I sleep intermittently for perhaps 2 hours."
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| The ground is filled
with bushes and shrubs, nothing higher than 3 feet. |
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These plants with hundreds of small white flowers were
everywhere.
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Our little outhouse - once you have been in it, there is
no going back.
The fog is a huge wall to the west, but clearer behind
us, toward the peak.
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Uhuru Peak in the distance over the plateau - our goal.
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Uhuru Peak closer up.
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Clouds start to pass overhead, but the fog seems to be
receding.
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Pumps and Brislin give a victory pose. Why
not? We're halfway there going by altitude ;-)
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Pumps' tent - Brislin stays with him (Kili in the
distance).
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Pumps, me, and Brislin at our campsite.
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The fog has receded and creates what appears to be an
ocean of clouds over the plain below, with the sun on the horizon. Left of
center a distant peaks pokes through like an island on the water.
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The earlier fog has passed us and moves beyond the
summit.
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