| Day 1--December 25: Getting Ready to Go! We started our climb on Christmas Day! We packed our bags at Mick's house in Arusha. Bobby Tours picked us up and took us to Machame Gate where they arranged porters and registered with the park. For our group we had a guide, a cook and six porters who carried our equipment and set up our tent. |
| Day 1--December 25: Hitting the Trail The first day we hiked about 18 km through rain forest from Machame Gate to Machame Camp at 3000 meters. We had perfect weather--a great way to start the trip! Below we are enjoying our dinner. |
| Mick, me, Ashley and Ryan Here is Nuru, our guide. |
| Day 2--December 26: From Machame to Shira Our second day started out perfectly! We left the forest behind and started to hike through the heather and moorland. Just as we stopped for lunch it started to rain, hail, and then snow! We ascended about 800 meters over 9 km Shira Camp. Everything was covered in snow when we arrived, but the rain soon stopped so we could set up camp. |
| Ryan devised a rock porch for the vestibule of our tent to keep our packs dry. It was a huge help! |
| Wet and Drying! |
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