The following is how today is described on the info page of the tour company :
"DAY 4 SHIRA 2 CAMP TO BARRANCO CAMP, Dec 10
"DAY 4 SHIRA 2 CAMP TO BARRANCO CAMP, Dec 10
Hiking Time: 7-8 hrs
Total Distance: 15km
Starting Altitude: 3840m
Final Altitude: 3950m (via 4630m)
Habitat: Montane Semi-Desert
Today we turn east and continue to climb “pole pole” (slowly, slowly) through increasingly rocky and barren terrain. We have lunch and ascend the rocky scree path to the Lava Tower (4630m). The trek now starts to become more difficult, as the trail steepens, and most hikers start to feel the affects of the altitude, such as weakness and lack of breathe.
From the Lava Tower, we descend steeply for 2 hours down more than 600m into the Great Barranco Valley. This descent affords fantastic views and some great photo opportunities of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. You will also feel here the clear benefits of this acclimatization day as we lose altitude down to the camp.
Barranco Camp is set on a col (flat area) enclosed on three sides by the Breach Walls, and the Kibo massif itself. Hanging glaciers glint in the sunshine above amidst the eerie landscape of plants such as the giant groundsels, and the uniquely endemic Giant Lobelia. This is definitely the toughest day so far, but incredibly beautiful."
I wake up freezing around 5 o'clock, all bottles have gone uncomfortably luke warm and it takes a while to fall back to sleep. Anayaya's sweet voice wakes me up from my brief early morning sleep. "vater for vash". Anayaya is his nickname. He shouts "a-na-ya-ya" from time to time for no particular reason. We don't know what it means, but the resonance of the word attracts our attention. Throughout the day we also start shouting a-na-ya-ya hoping it's not an offending thing to say. And always we hear him shout back like an echo.
I look for Isa 2 to exchange selam aleykums and to try to give my day pack to him, but he has disappeared from the face of the earth. Later we find out that he has caught malaria and had to go back down to moshi for treatment. I need a new target.
Total Distance: 15km
Starting Altitude: 3840m
Final Altitude: 3950m (via 4630m)
Habitat: Montane Semi-Desert
Today we turn east and continue to climb “pole pole” (slowly, slowly) through increasingly rocky and barren terrain. We have lunch and ascend the rocky scree path to the Lava Tower (4630m). The trek now starts to become more difficult, as the trail steepens, and most hikers start to feel the affects of the altitude, such as weakness and lack of breathe.
From the Lava Tower, we descend steeply for 2 hours down more than 600m into the Great Barranco Valley. This descent affords fantastic views and some great photo opportunities of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. You will also feel here the clear benefits of this acclimatization day as we lose altitude down to the camp.
Barranco Camp is set on a col (flat area) enclosed on three sides by the Breach Walls, and the Kibo massif itself. Hanging glaciers glint in the sunshine above amidst the eerie landscape of plants such as the giant groundsels, and the uniquely endemic Giant Lobelia. This is definitely the toughest day so far, but incredibly beautiful."
I wake up freezing around 5 o'clock, all bottles have gone uncomfortably luke warm and it takes a while to fall back to sleep. Anayaya's sweet voice wakes me up from my brief early morning sleep. "vater for vash". Anayaya is his nickname. He shouts "a-na-ya-ya" from time to time for no particular reason. We don't know what it means, but the resonance of the word attracts our attention. Throughout the day we also start shouting a-na-ya-ya hoping it's not an offending thing to say. And always we hear him shout back like an echo.
 |
| Anayaya |
I look for Isa 2 to exchange selam aleykums and to try to give my day pack to him, but he has disappeared from the face of the earth. Later we find out that he has caught malaria and had to go back down to moshi for treatment. I need a new target.
It's a cloudy morning. We can
briefly see the snowy peak behind us. We do not know what is under. Again
briefly we see some forest covered mountains like the ones we have seen at our
first camping site, only these are much further down. We have climbed 1000 m higher
since first night. Highlight of breakfast is fresh mango. It's Sam's bithday today. Maybe that's why we get this special treatment. Andrew eats
everything left over as usual. He is always very polite. He asks each one of us if we want the last omelette, last two slices of bread, more pasta or more rice
before he clears the table.
It starts snowing quite hard, then it rains. We walk in the heavy rain for hours, without talking, without singing. Everybody is soaked. My boots and socks and feet are wet. We don’t feel the cold as long as we move, but the instant we stop, the cold bites. So we make short stops, mainly for Andy to pee because he consumes large amounts of blackberry flavoured re-hydration fluid. He is obsessed with fluids just like Andrew is with food. It is torturous for the girls to pee.
I lag behind again on the climb to Lava tower. My heart is giving me a lot of trouble. It isn’t there the whole time though. It has its ups and downs. Hussein stays with me this time and this time I reach my goal: he takes my day pack! When I arrive at Lava tower, I find everone under a cave-like indent just like second day’s lunch break location. They are actually ready to leave, so I leave with them. I am in no mood to eat anyway. It is too unpleasant to stop and let your body cool down. Lava tower (I don't know if there is a tower to see there, it is foggy) is at a higher altitude than where we will sleep tonight. They say it is an acclamatization technique to do this. Climbing higher than your final altitude within the day is supposed to help you sleep better.
I want to be at a lower altitude at once. So we leave. The weather improves a bit in the afternoon and we are able to see the gorgeous valley we walk through with waterfalls and giant lobelia trees. We reach camp together, but I would have liked to stop more often to admire the view.
Barranco camp’s position is supposed to be very scenic but we don’t get a chance to see it fully. We can see the famous barranco wall from time to time between clouds. We are all scared of it, but Anna is terrified. She stays in her tent most of the time. She claims to be ill. But we all know it is her fear, her fear of heights. Barranco wall is one of the two scariest obstacles on our way and it really doesn't help seeing it from our campsite. It feels like it's showing off and telling us that we should be scared and that there is no escape. We will have to climb that wall.
 |
| mango breakfast |
It starts snowing quite hard, then it rains. We walk in the heavy rain for hours, without talking, without singing. Everybody is soaked. My boots and socks and feet are wet. We don’t feel the cold as long as we move, but the instant we stop, the cold bites. So we make short stops, mainly for Andy to pee because he consumes large amounts of blackberry flavoured re-hydration fluid. He is obsessed with fluids just like Andrew is with food. It is torturous for the girls to pee.
I lag behind again on the climb to Lava tower. My heart is giving me a lot of trouble. It isn’t there the whole time though. It has its ups and downs. Hussein stays with me this time and this time I reach my goal: he takes my day pack! When I arrive at Lava tower, I find everone under a cave-like indent just like second day’s lunch break location. They are actually ready to leave, so I leave with them. I am in no mood to eat anyway. It is too unpleasant to stop and let your body cool down. Lava tower (I don't know if there is a tower to see there, it is foggy) is at a higher altitude than where we will sleep tonight. They say it is an acclamatization technique to do this. Climbing higher than your final altitude within the day is supposed to help you sleep better.
 |
| no day pack:) |
Barranco camp’s position is supposed to be very scenic but we don’t get a chance to see it fully. We can see the famous barranco wall from time to time between clouds. We are all scared of it, but Anna is terrified. She stays in her tent most of the time. She claims to be ill. But we all know it is her fear, her fear of heights. Barranco wall is one of the two scariest obstacles on our way and it really doesn't help seeing it from our campsite. It feels like it's showing off and telling us that we should be scared and that there is no escape. We will have to climb that wall.
 |
| Barranco Wall behind us on the right |
Dinner is again the same dinner with a different name, but milo, artificial as it can be, never
ceases to please. We are through the second can already. I refuse to drink this
plastic hot chocolate at first, but it grows on me. I guess here, in the damp and
cold, you need something to look forward to. I must be right. We were all milo
freaks in no time.
Popcorn is another treat we look forward
to after each walk and before dinner. That magic hour is the hour of milo and
popcorn.
I save the second empty can of milo to
use it as a container in case I need to pee at night and it is too cold to leave the
tent. I am an experienced inside-the-tent-“pee“er, but I fail dramatically this
time. BEWARE! A milo box can hold less fluids than a bladder can. As the excess makes its way very quickly to my bag like a rain water finding its river bed, I reach for an already sweaty and muddy t-shirt to stop it. I need to remember not to wear that t-shirt.
Lowlights and highlights of the day:
and here are some moments of our lives:
Lowlights and highlights of the day:
and here are some moments of our lives:
 |
| hygenic kitchen |
 |
| no! we are not miserable! |
 |
| still life with water bowls and wet stinky boots |
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