We had a great day trekking to the Machame Camp on Kilimanjaro today.
The day began with a quick breakfast then about an hour drive to the Machame Gate. The slow drizzle at the hotel had increased to a driving rain as we checked in with the park officials and met our porters.
Thankful to have full rain gear we left the park entrance on a road. Thankfully the rain stopped quickly so we shed one layer and transitioned from road to a well groomed trail albeit covered in mud for most of the way.
The entire day was spent gaining 3840 feet in a dense tropical rain forest. I felt like I was in Costa Rica or Hawaii, s not Africa.
Along the trail I head the sound of wailing monkeys. I looked up eagerly to see my first African wildlife but was quickly disappointed when I heard “Hello, hello?” It was one of our local guide’s ringtone for his cellphone!
But soon, I was not disappointed as an aggressive and quite noisy crew of Blue Monkeys used the tree canopy as their private playground above us. They paused occasionally to inspect our team invading their space.
It took us 6 hours to reach our tent camp right at the edge of tree line. The clouds have not lifted so no good views of Kilimanjaro proper quite yet.
Everyone is doing well and we are about to have dinner before turning in early in anticipation of another great day tomorrow.
3 thoughts on “Kilimanjaro’s Rain Forest”
Hoping the clouds lift for ou Alan!! Enjoy the journey!
yes it is raining here in colorado too.
So very excited to follow your trip up to the roof of Africa. I summitted on 1st March 2010, and it is such an incredible mountain in every way. We went from the tropical heat at the bottom to blizzarding snow and ice at the top, and every day was entirely different from the one before. Hope the clouds clear for you so that you can get to see the majesty of the Serengeti below and the glacier up above at 19,000 feet +. Best wishes for a wonderful climb and for another great fundraising effort for your charity. You are truly inspirational to so many people – thank you for everything you do.
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