Shira 2 Camp – 23rd February
I woke up this morning just early enough to witness the
sunrise from behind the Kibo massif.
This was further enhanced when our porters moved the
entire mess tent canopy to provide us with an open air setting for our
breakfast, a truly spectacular experience!
Breakfast with a view.
Even just after a couple of days you can see a massive
improvement in the groups admin with everybody pretty much packed up and ready
to go BEFORE we get the five minute warning!
Setting off, ON TIME!!!
The first leg of today was across the expanse of the
Shira plateau which consists almost entirely of the low level plants and bushes
that are characteristic of the “Moorland” zone.
Everlastings.
Lobelia.
Compared to the previous two days the going was easy and
so it was perhaps no surprise that we arrived at the foot of the Shira
Cathedral ahead of schedule.
Approaching the Shira Cathedral.
The views back were epic and behind the ridge on the far
side of the plateau was a bank of cloud rolling past as a gentle reminder of
how high we actually were!
The view back across the plateau.
We had been warned that the ascent to the top of the
Cathedral would involve a bit of a scramble (where walking begins to move a
little closer to climbing and a more “hands on” approach is required) so only a
relatively small group elected to make the ascent.
The Cathedral crew.
The view from the summit was even more magnificent and
looking back to the rest of our group below you could see a bank of cloud
formed right at the edge of the plateau but refusing to advance as if
restrained by an invisible barrier!
YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
Reunited with the others there was little over an hour
left until we reached our final objective for the day, Shira 2 Camp.
The walking was still easy however as we made the small
climb up to the camp I noticed that a niggling headache was starting to
develop.
The highest point a helicopter can reach.....but don't PANIC!
I knew that several others in the group had experienced
this the day before and woken up “bright eyed and bushy tailed” so I wasn’t
overly concerned but it was an unwelcome reminder of the threat of AMS!
A hot lunch was a welcome treat upon our arrival at the
camp and the rest of the afternoon was spent with more cards and banter
punctuated by brief (but regular) breaks to admire the view as the cloud broke
to reveal Kibo in all it’s glory.
My tent buddy James contemplating the mountain (or a visit to the loo)!
Another very welcome interruption was the arrival of some
familiar faces as Reto & Vreni had popped over from their trek on the
Machame route. Although it had only been
a couple of days it was great to see them again and to discover that they were
enjoying Kili just as much as I was.
I’d also like to think that they were already at the
Shira 2 when they told the rest of the group that they had heard my voice and
thought they’d wander over and say hello!
Feet in the clouds.
After such a magnificent start to the day it seemed
fitting that it would end in an equally spectacular manner and from our perch
almost halfway up the mountain we were treated to a grandstand view of a
electrical storm within a towering thundercloud, (thankfully)several miles
away.
After 20 mins trying to catch the lightning (and in the interest of saving the camera battery)....I gave up!
Mt Meru is to the left of the cloud.
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