Kilimanjaro Climb - Day 2

March 20th, 2011 - Night 1/Day 2

It is so cold and everything is wet.  I mean stuff that didn't get wet is wet because it's so damp here.  My sleeping bag is wet and luckily Felix had two and let me borrow one of his.

My hamstring is sore, but my head is better.  I need to poo but I don't want to.  Not yet.  Oie, what did I get myself into?

If I can get through the next 5 days, I know I can do anything.  Seriously.

You can do it Christopher.

I slept horribly last night because I was cold and woke up every hour having to go pee.  Geezeon.

First time camping and I'm doing it on a mountain.  Woohoo!

March 20th, 2011 - Day 2 Continued:

Today was a fun hike.  We went through raging rapids, saw a bunch of waterfalls, and literally climbed through slippery and dangerous rocks.  It was fun.

The part that wasn't fun was/is the rain.  It's miserable and literally all my stuff is wet.  Not fun at all, and man, it's a mental exercise more than anything physical.

The rain itself isn't bad, but when everything you have here is wet, including my notepad, it starts to get to you.

I'm hanging in though.  I'm gonna make it.

The sunrise view from our first campsite

It's cold up there

A porter.  You've got to imagine that these guys did the exact same climb as us, but with tables, pots, pans, tents, food, I even saw another group with a portable sitdown toilet.  Strongest people I've ever seen.

In a cave for lunch

Don't let the smile fool you, I was cold and wet

You wouldn't think you were on the same planet from seeing some of the landscapes on the mountain

Still quasi-fresh and clean

It's like trying to dry your clothes in a fridge