Week 8 - day 3 of BZ adventure

Monday, February 17

Hiking time: 8 hours
Total distance: 9 km
Starting attitude: 2980m
Final altitude: 3840m
Habitat: moorland

We didn't sleep well at all. Porters talking, our tent was on a hill and we kept sliding down, I felt sick, and Lennie was exhausted.

We woke and prepped for the day; pack bag to be carried, ate a breakfast of toast, porridge and eggs which was delicious, got water topped up and purified (I added NUUN to my water today for electrolytes lost yesterday) and used the toilet - disgusting.

We were off for a difficult rocky 9km - suppose to take 4-5 hours. I arrived in camp at 3:15pm but amazingly felt good. I was accompanied by 2 porters today; Dennis the doctor and Mateo the guy in charge of the kitchen. I drank my water today, ate some of the packed lunch, went slowly the whole time, and didn't care what anyone thought. The climb was straight up hill the whole way on huge rocks, across passes, traversing (so happy for my Utah experiences to prep me for this).

Arrived and Lennie had been there for an hour - he is doing so well but said today it is the hardest thing he has ever done so I feel better knowing that. Camp is beautiful, flat (thank god) and really spread out so we won't be awoken by others tonight. I changed into dry clothes and went to bed for a couple of hours till dinner. Dinner was amazing, pumpkin soup, rice, green beans, and a delicious chicken and sauce dish.

One cool thing they do each night is check your oxygen levels and heart rate. Everyone is doing well so far but we are all a bit nauseous, I keep taking my Gravel and that helps a lot.

Tomorrow is going to be tough - we go up 4800 metres and descend a bit to sleep. The trail is not rocky like today but long 8-9 hours of hiking. It's getting real now. They say we should really feel the altitude tomorrow but headaches, tiredness, and nausea will be normal.

Got some beautiful photos today of the trail, porters, camp, and fauna. After dinner we all saw the amazing stars in the sky and have a beautiful view of Kili. It is totally overwhelming.