The Mount Kilimanjaro Climb: Barranco Camp, Day 3

Day 3 of our journey up the mountain promised to be the most difficult to date, as we would climb up to nearly 4800 meters above sea level to view the Lava Tower prior to descending back to approximately the same altitude as Shira Camp for our third night of camping at Barranco Camp. This day of the trek would be pretty important for our acclimatization as it would give us an additional day at high elevation prior to attempting the summit. So we were excited to get started on the trek with our assistant guide, Jared, in the lead.

Immediately, the trail started to climb upwards. I think the hardest parts of the day was always in the morning when we are getting started, as we start to feel the sore muscles we developed on the previous day's climb. On Day 3, we felt the steep uphill climbing we did at the start of Day 2. Luckily, today was a more gradual climb, however it would continue for several hours before it tapered off. Still, it was quite pleasant, as we enjoyed beautiful sunshine and a stunning view of Kibo for nearly the entire trip up to Lava Tower.

Around 1PM, nearly four hours into our hiking, we stopped for a boxed lunch which included my favorite food so far in Tanzania, samosas. I realize that samosas are actually Indian food, but I appreciate how widely available they are in Tanzania. Delicious! By the time we finished lunch, clouds had rolled in and the air grew quite damp and cold. We therefore bundled up and continued along the trail to Lava Tower. At 4630 meters high, I was surprised that I was able to breathe so easily. Because it was cold, we wasted little time at this point, and instead began our descent to Barranco Camp.

I am sad that our trek to Barranco Camp was so foggy, for the landscape on this part of the mountain was definitely my favorite part of the entire trip. Lots of trees called Senecio Kilimanjari that look like palm trees. From our guides we learned that these trees are the tallest growing trees in a mountainous / high elevation region, and they grow up to 5 meters tall. Although the scenery was beautiful, the route to camp seemed to never end. While climbing the first four hours of the day, we definitely thought that we would welcome a downhill route; however, the steep descent really hurt our knees after a while. Covering the rocky terrain without falling took a lot of concentration, so we were so happy to reach Barranco Camp at 4PM, seven hours after departing Shira Camp.

We fell asleep pretty early that night, tuckered out from the day's work. In the middle of the night we heard someone puking, and figured that someone from another team had come down with altitude sickness. I had a headache that night, but other than that felt OK. Nevertheless, I decided to start taking my altitude sickness medication, as Day 4 wold bring us up to nearly 4700 meters above sea level. We were half way there!