The Mount Kilimanjaro Climb: Machame Camp, Day 1

We first awoke around 5AM to the sound of the Muslim call to prayer at the nearby mosque. We settled back to sleep, only to wake again about an hour later to the crow of a rooster living outside our window. We awoke the third time in a panic, nervous that we had overslept and missed our Kilimanjaro climb. Luckily, we had only slept 20 minutes too late, and this being Africa, we were not expecting our team to be too punctual. Hakuna Matata! It's Africa! No worries.

The Goodlucks met us at our hotel, along with an assistant guide and cook, and together we drove out of Moshi and through the village of Machame to the Machame Gate of Kilimajaro International Park. We waited for what seemed like a very long time as the team assembled our park permit, selected porters, and packed up the bags. We said hello to other climbers, too pictures, and peed about a million times. Then finally, we were ready to hit the trail...

"Pole pole" are two words we were expecting our guides to frequently say throughout the trek, and they didn't disappoint us. I have a tendency to hike quickly, especially uphill, and Mount Kilimanjaro cannot be conquered unless one walks very slowly. So "pole pole" we traveled 18KM from 2000 meters above seal level to 3000 meters above sea level to our first camp site, Machame Camp.

We settled into our tent (which our team of porters set up for us prior to our arrival - they do NOT travel "pole pole" up the mountain) and enjoyed some popcorn and tea prepared by our cook before dinner of cucumber soup, fish, potatoes, vegetable salad, and avocado. It was an amazing meal! And although the day's hike didn't feel too stressful, we were tired and went to bed early, excited for the next day's journey!


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Location:Kilimanjaro National Park