I didn’t get off to sleep properly until about midnight but then was dead to the world.  Caroline gave us a knock on the door at 7am.  David and I both leapt into action.  Within twenty minutes we were ready for breakfast.

The breakfast was just as good as the tea last night.  Coffee, mango juice, bananas, toast and bacon…beautiful.  Afterwards we went back to our room to collect our bags and go back to the reception area.  As we were collecting our bags some cleaning ladies outside tried to come in and carry our bags – we sent them packing!

As David was leaving the room the cleaning ladies jumped on him and tried to grapple his bag from him.  To his credit, David grimly held on to his bag and eventually fought them off.  They weren’t too pleased but they did leave me alone.

After another suicidal bus journey that lasted nearly an hour we were at the Kilimanjaro National Park.  We stopped off on the way to take some photos of the breathtaking view of Mount Kilimanjaro’s peak.  Our bus really struggled on the incline and shook violently even in first gear.  I was pleased to get off it…

We signed ourselves in at the Park Warden’s office and had a meeting with Caroline about altitude sickness.  The time had come.

We introduced ourselves to our guides Godliving, Naftel, John and James.  It was 43° again but we pressed on regardless through an incredible rainforest. Without pausing we slowly wound our way up the track, with the guide carefully regulating our speed so as to avoid altitude sickness.

We stopped about two hours into the trek for lunch and had cheese sandwiches and mangos, which were beautiful.  Along the way we saw some boys playing around in a waterfall.  The scenery was incredible but the temperature was still rising as the trees stared thinning out.  The only real problem was that I had sticky hands after having chopped and eaten the mangos out of my hand at lunchtime.  My hand was stained yellow!

We kept ploughing on and out of nowhere we came across Mandara Huts which was to be our accommodation for the night.  It was such a feeling of achievement to have finally arrived at our huts.  It was the same feeling I had when I walked through the Marangu Gates earlier in the day.

After ditching my baggage I got chatting to John, Anne-Marie and Caroline.  The four of us were to share a four-bedded hut tonight.  I say ‘bed’; it was actually a space on the floor where I could unroll my sleeping bag.

After a brief rest the group went on an excursion to Maundi Crater.  Along the way we saw Colobus monkeys in the trees.  I’ve always wanted to see them and there they were about ten feet in front of me.  We carried on up to the crater and were rewarded by incredible views of Kili and the surrounding area.  We could see Lake Tanzania which is cut in half by Tanzania and Kenya.  Along the top of the crater there was Thyme aplenty along with other plants I have never seen before.

On the way back at Mandara Huts we saw yet more Colobus monkeys.  We made it back to our hut at around 5pm and I spent 10 minutes with David trying to get a good photo of a Blue monkey that was just behind my hut.

After a brief stint updating my diary I went for a shower.  It was absolutely freezing but seeing as it will be my last until I return to Mandara Huts I tried to make the best of it.

Having got dressed I made my way to the dining hut where we were served up with a feast of potatoes, pasta, beef, bananas and soup.  It sounds like a strange combination but it worked and gave us the carbohydrates we will certainly need.  After another meeting we went back to our huts to sort out our baggage for the morning.  I’ve developed the utmost respect for our 28 porters that are with our group.  They carry the heavy bags on their heads, climb the mountain faster than we do and still have the energy to cook our tea.  Respect.

Afterwards, I went back to the dining hut to update my diary, accompanied by John and Anne-Marie and did a little reading too.  Whilst sat there I noticed the most beautiful array of stars in the night sky.  The three of us decided to go for a stroll and have a look at the night sky.  What a great finish to such a wonderful day.  We went to bed at 8:30!

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