The Mount Kilimanjaro Climb: Shira Camp, Day 2

Day 2 began with a wake up from our porter and waiter, Karim. He brought coffee to our tent as we dressed and packed up. After breakfast, which consisted of porridge, fried eggs, toast, and fruit, we hit the trail with Goodluck. Today's hike would take us 800 meters higher to Shira Camp, however at a distance of only 9KM, today's climb would be considerably more steep than that of Day 1.

After a couple hours of hiking, we had traversed out of the forest, through the heather, and were safely into the moorland. We saw many different plants and trees, and for most of the hike we enjoyed a great view of Mount Meru, a nearby mountain smaller than Kilimanjaro but still picturesque. We took a break for lunch and noticed we were literally "in the clouds" so it was starting to get cooler. We hiked for a couple more hours after lunch, arriving at Shira Camp just as there was a break in the cloud cover. It was beautiful!

From Shira Camp we enjoyed great views of the Shira Ridge on the Western side of Mount Kilimanjaro; we also took in our first unobstructed view of Kibo, the mountain's summit which we would tackle in a few more days. Capped with snow, it looked both far away and very cold! How would we make it up there? That night we went to sleep with many layers, as the cold mountain air 3800 meters above seal level was becoming noticeable...


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Location:Kilimanjaro National Park