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DAY 1 - 2 August 2009 - Machame
Gate to Machame Camp
| Elevation (approx) |
1,800m to 3,000m |
| Height gains |
1,249m |
| Height losses |
49m |
| Distance |
10 km |
| Duration |
5 hours |
| Habitat |
Rain Forest |
As expected our avian neighbour woke us with a very loud
cock-a-doodle-doo bang on time, from his perspective, followed
by the Mosque and Church. Despite trying to close our ears to
the din there was nothing for it but to get up and get ready. By just after
seven we were up, dressed, trotting across the courtyard for
breakfast and champing at
the bit to get the trek underway.
Breakfast comprised a choice of bacon, eggs and sausage,
followed by fruit salad, cereal and toast, washed down with fruit
juice and coffee or tea, not forgetting of course the malaria tablet.
 By
08:30 we were perched on the dining area wall waiting for Fred
and co to arrive. We waited, and waited, and waited. Nine o'clock came and went, as did nine-thirty, then ten and
ten-thirty. Hmm, "not good". We found ourselves looking
all too frequently at our watches and generally winding each other
up about what might be causing the delay. We tried to stay calm and convince ourselves that in
the whole scheme of things a couple of hours would make little
difference to the forthcoming week on the mountain but to be honest this
didn't really work, so we were just a tad frustrated by the time
the team arrived, just after eleven. No reason was given for the
delay and we were not minded to ask, putting it instead down to what
our safari guide later described as AFT, or African Flexi Time.
One benefit of sitting around waiting was to remind us that we hadn't checked
with Fred that he had the portable toilet on his kit list, so when
the team arrived this was the first thing we asked, only to
receive a firm "No". There then followed a couple of
minutes frantic discussion among the porter team before they shot off to procure the necessary equipment and an
additional porter, leaving us for what seemed like ages with Fred, a driver and a normal
saloon car. Despite this additional little hiccup, by about eleven
thirty our kit was split between porters' van and the boot
of the car and we set off for the start gate, only to stop a few
minutes later at the firm's equipment store so that Fred could check
that the team had selected suitable kit.
Happy that the additional kit was OK we set off again only to stop
almost immediately to buy petrol. What amazed us
was that petrol costs about $1 per litre in a country where porters
on Kilimanjaro get only five or six times that amount each day. How
anyone can afford to run a vehicle is beyond us. Anyway, having put
a few litres in the tank we set off
again on what we assumed would be the "really real" start to our
adventure and were just thinking, "By by Moshi; hello Kilimanjaro",
when we suddenly pulled over at a small shop so that Fred could buy
some provisions.
 Following this final pit-stop we set-off
at breakneck speed, arriving at Machame Gate in what must have been
record time only to be held up again by the sheer volume of people
and traffic. We came a halt on a steep gravel section
and the driver must have done untold damage to his tyres, bodywork
and clutch before he finally got the car moving in a cloud of rubber smoke and clanking of stones being thrown in all
directions. We clambered out of the car, grabbed our packs and wandered off
to register our arrival. Some of the information requested is sensible, like climber's
name, guide's name and
firm but one can only wonder why they need to know profession,
home address and age of climbers. But hey, they want it and if you
want to
climb this very big hill they are going to get it too!
 There followed a long wait while Fred and co got ready, divvied
up the kit and got it weighed. We stood around, chatted with fellow
trekkers, nibbled on our delicious pack lunches and frequented the
toilets which, thankfully, are nowhere near as bad as the guide
books make out. At quarter past one we set-off into the forest -
finally, our Kilimanjaro trek had begun.
As it says in the guide books the path starts as a wide forest
track before turning into a more normal forest trail that weaves its
way up through the rain forest to Machame Camp and the end of day
one at 3,000m. It was great to be underway but having stood around
for so long it all felt steeper than expected.
 Once
we had left the 4x4 road and moved into the forest proper the
experience was amazing. It is difficult to describe but it was just
about everything we imagined a rain forest to be. If we had to pick
one plant which sums up the experience it would be the tree ferns. They look just like the ferns that grow in your garden or the local
forest but reach nearly ten metres high - simply awesome!
We were too late starting to eat lunch at the normal spot so, instead, simply sat on a log and scoffed chicken, burger, cakes
and bananas - neither of us have ever tasted such amazing bananas.
 While
overcast and quite dark in the forest it stayed dry for the 5 hours
it took to reach Machame Camp, where we arrived just before sundown. By the time we had
signed in at the ranger's hut with the same spuriously useful information, found our tent and got cleaned up for
dinner the sun had gone and it was pitch black. After dinner, which
was fantastic and far, far too much for us to eat, there was not
much we could do in the dark and unfamiliar tent so we left sorting
things out for the following morning and by eight o'clock we were
tucked up in our slightly too warm sleeping bags and drifting off to
sleep at the end of an eventful but enjoyable day 1.
You can view all of the pictures from day 1
here.
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