Tuesday September 23, 2003
We spent yesterday afternoon reading, sleeping, and sitting out talking to Stephen. He says that he enjoys Rongai more than any other route on the mountain due to its remoteness. Not many clients come this way – his last time here was in July. We had the campsite to ourselves last night.
This morning we woke up late. I am sleeping a lot (11 hours last night plus a nap in the afternoon) and this is supposed to be good for acclimatization. We had the same breakfast today as yesterday, and packed up camp. We walked for about 1.75 hours today, up to Third Cave. There is one other group here – from the looks of things, just one couple plus their guide crew. I believe they are spending 2 nights camped here. We are now at 3700m/12,000 feet, and Stephen says this is about the time that some people start feeling the effects of the altitude. We are trying to drink lots of water and stay healthy. My throat is very sore when I wake up in the morning, because I am sleeping with my mouth open – presumably to get more oxygen. At Kibo Hut tomorrow night, we are supposed to sleep with our tent unzipped in order to get as much oxygen as possible. The scenery here is more rocky, with less vegetation. We can’t see the summit right now due to the clouds.
Last night we took a few photos of the porters, and they really enjoyed seeing themselves on the LCD on the back of the camera. We still have not figured out all of the porters’ names. We know Stephen and Niklas, the assistant guide, but the porters are harder to understand, and none of them speak fluent English. One of the porters is nicknamed ‘Magazine’ due to his propensity to tell tall tales.
It’s now about 4:30 pm and we are having tea. We both enjoy ‘Tanzania Tea’, and we are eating peanuts and popcorn. We both still feel good, although every now and then I get a fluttery feeling in my stomach and I am not sure if I am imagining it or not.
For lunch today we had a bowl of carrot soup, which tasted the same as the cucumber and mushroom soups before it, but definitely had carrots in it. Then we had a sort of cold potato and vegetable salad, that neither of us were crazy about due to the weird creamy dressing on it. There is something disconcerting about eating something so similar to mayonnaise after 3 days in the (unrefrigerated) hills. We were not very hungry anyway, perhaps due to the altitude.
At 2 pm one of the porters took us on an acclimatization hike to about 4600m/15,000 feet. We did not go so far as the School Hut. Tomorrow we go to Kibo Hut at 4700m, and then onto the summit at 12:30 am. I am getting nervous about it. Even though I still feel well, the closer we get to the mountain, the taller it seems. I worry about feeling the altitude effects suddenly and about not being able to get up the last (steepest) section. Also about going without a bathroom for 12 hours while trying to stay hydrated! I also worry about the cold. It is much more noticeable here than it was at Second Cave. Mostly the cold is due to the wind that is more prevalent up here, and also the clouds that surround the peak and blot out the sun. Every time the sun does come out, the temperature seems to skyrocket.
There are two other groups camped here. Both are here for their second night. Both groups are very small – an older gentleman and a couple. We spoke to the man, who was on his way back down the path as we were going up to the School Hut. He was angry about his extra day of acclimatization here, calling it a ‘bloody waste’, saying he should have gone on to Kibo Hut today. However, he was here in February but did not make it to the summit; so the extra day will probably serve him well in the end. We think he may be South African, because he sounds vaguely, but not quite English, and to be here for the second time in a year, we think he can’t have traveled too great a distance.
Cook Family Travels 