On the Lower Route from Marangu to Kibo (2000-03-08/11)

After reviewing a book set in Africa, I began recording in this blog stories of my trip there, especially of my climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, and the people I met along the trail. Below is an outline of these events, from Marangu to Kibo.

I woke up at Marangu Hotel to a beautiful sunrise. After we packed and ate a large breakfast, the staff gave us a briefing and assigned us our guides and porters. I had a team of four:

• my porter,
• my guide,
• my guide's porter, and
• our cook.

We got into the truck—my guides and porters climbed in back while the driver showed me to the passenger side of the cab. Then we were off to Marangu Gate. From Marangu Gate we climbed over several days to Mandara and Horombo.

From Horombo Hut to Kibo Hut, the moorland vegetation gave way to alpine desert. Most people put on jackets.

From some points on the climb from Horombo Hut, I could see Kibo Hut at the base of Kibo as a tiny metallic sliver in the distance. My picture of Kibo from one rise includes for scale people on the trail ahead.