Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro Day 1

When you plan to climb mount Kilimanjaro, you plan to do a trip of a lifetime. Many can only dream to achieve this remarkable journey.

Peter Leonard and Daniela Radley hiked up Mount Kilimanjaro in late December 2008.

The first thing Dani said to me whilst giving me the run down for this article, is that you need to travel in the shoes that you will be climbing with.

Dani mentioned that if you loose your luggage en route, its the shoes that you will not be able to replace. Everything else is replacable.

The Jouney before the climb:

Dani and Peter took the train from Cape Town station to Johannesburg. They said it was an awesome thing to do and comes highly recommended. (celebrated the entire 2 days travelling to johies)



Then they flew from Johannesburg in South Africa, to Tanzania. (loads of celebration took place on the flight)



A toyota hi-ace bus is the standard form of taxi transport, which takes you direct to your hotel.



Once the two travellers checked in, they head straight for the bar and enjoyed a local beer. Celebrating their arrival. (Pisscats actually, but we will keep it low-key! - Ed.)



Dani mentioned that the accommodation was not as good as they were promised.



Meeting the guides and one other travel partner:
(from left to right:)
Stuart Hoy (hiker), Elipokea Mosha (guide), Peter Leonard (hiker), Frank Malisa (guide) and Daniela Radley (hiker).



After spending one night in the hotel, they headed towards the challenging mountain. Which by the way, they had still not seen. It was covered in clouds almost all the time.



Day 1 officially starts at dawn with a bus drive from Moshi to the Machame village (1500m).



This board explains the estimated times of arrival from one point on the route to another.



Once the porters, guides and hikers are ready, they head up onto the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro.



The first part of the hike is a long walk through a very dense rain forest.



Soon the hikers go above and outside the rain forest ...




Late that afternoon the party arrived at the Machame Hut (3000m). The porters errect the tents, provide some hot water for a washing up, and start preparing supper.




Soon the temperature starts to drop below freezing.



Dani and Peter were pleasantly suprised by the awesome meals which were prepared for them throughout the duration of this trip.



(Day 2 soon to follow...)