The next day, Friday, August 24, we are met at the hotel by our guides in an Austrian 6 wheel all terrain vehicle (similar to a Hummer) that holds 14 people in the back. We all get into the back of the truck with our gear. We drive for about 3 hours to reach the Londorosi Entrance Gate, which is the western entrance to the Kilimanjaro Park. After checking in with the Tanzanian park service about noon, we drive to the trailhead at about 7000 feet, where the road ends and the trail begins. It is not much of a road and is mostly mud. Our all wheel drive truck is slipping back and forth on the way up to the trailhead, where we unload all of our gear. The trail starts in the forest zone of Kilimanjaro. While hiking through the rain forest, we see several troops of Colobus Monkeys on the trail and signs of elephants, lots of dung and trails that they use to move through the forest, but we do not see any elephants. The elephants are hard to see because of the dense jungle foliage and because they shy away from humans. Buffalo, baboons, and several types of antelope also live in the forest zone. Many other types of mammals, including leopards and rhinos lived in the forest zone in the past, but they are now extinct on the mountain. The forest zone encircles all of Kilimanjaro between 5900 feet and 9200 feet. Most of the water on Kilimanjaro originates in the forest zone. We reach our campsite, the Forest Camp (at 9100 feet), around 5:00 p.m. That night, we eat dinner for the first time in the mess tent. Like all of the meals to come, it is very good. It consists of hot soup, pasta, potatoes, and fruit. After dinner, our guides bring in a birthday cake to the mess tent to celebrate Marsha’s birthday. Unknown to us, the guides carried the cake up the mountain from Moshi. They bring it into the mess tent singing “Happy Birthday” in Swahili. It is a nice end to the first day. After that, everyone goes back to their tent. The temperature drops rapidly at night on Kili. We sleep in 2 person waterproof tents in sleeping bags rated to minus 20 degrees F, with Marsha and Haley in a tent, Cameron and Travis in a tent, and Hal in a tent.
Cayuse 