Day 3

Shira Camp, 12,355ft. to Barranco Camp 13,066ft.

From moorland to semi-desert habitat: black rocks, boulders and very little vegetation.

An extra trek up to Lava Tower (about 15,000 ft.) helped us acclimate to the thin air before heading down to our third campsite 2000 ft. lower.

We attempted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in July 2013. This is how it went...

Day 4

Barranco Camp 13,066ft. to Barafu Camp 15,239ft.

Having read others’ accounts of their experience made me fearful of Day 4 and the Barranco Wall, a steep, 500 ft. scramble up an imposing face of a mountain. However, our group hopped up that wall like we were true mountain goats and conquered it in no time. This was perhaps one of the most fun parts of the trek for me.

Today we left the rest of our G Adventure group behind. We didn’t like the crawling pace, the frequent rest breaks and the constant complaining about the long walk. So the four of us set off towards the next camp on our own without a guide. It wasn’t hard to find our way; just follow the train of porters passing us at 10 times our speed.

At almost 15,000 ft., Barafu camp lies on a flat, barren, exposed area on the ridge of the mountain. In this alpine desert landscape, we find no vegetation. The mountain is strewn with giant slates of rock and gravel piled on top of one another. The air is definitely thinner here, and walking does take some effort.

When we arrived, Lyle spied a shiny roof about a football field’s distance away from our campsite. “Oh, that must be the newly built restroom!” After weighing the option of using the old hole in the ground that was close to our tent against the newer restroom that would require scrambling down and then back up again, we decided a clean restroom was worth the effort. Our excitement turned into disappointment as Lyle and I approached the building…only to realize it was just a roof and some unfinished walls with nothing inside! And then we still had to walk back up.

We arrived early to Barafu camp. Our tents were still being constructed. We found a ledge and let our legs swing as we watched the porters finish making camp. An early dinner of spaghetti, a couple hours or sleep (or no sleep for some of us) and up we go at 11 PM. A little hard biscuit dipped in some maize soup, and it was time for our final ascent to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.