D02 Machame camp to Shira Camp (max height 3800m)

23 August 2011,

At 7:00AM we were woken up with ‘water for washing’ – a little tub with hot water, good to start the day with. I had a good night of sleep, only had to go to pee two times in the night, a number of times that is normal on the mountain. With the altitude it is important to drink lots of water, resulting in nightly trips to the wooden toilet building next to the tents. Although the sun was already out and shining, you could still see that it had been quite cold during the night. The ice on the grass means it had been below zero in the night, and it made us think about the temperatures we are about to encounter higher up on the mountain.

The morning dose of " water for washing"

After a great breakfast we started for our day two of climbing, leading through a wasteland with low trees and lower bushes. We started the first few hours with a trail that was steeper than day one, also the terrain got rockier as we ascended. After a few hours we could look back and see Machame Camp, the starting point of the day laying below in the distance. Quite impressive to see what distances you can cover in such a little time.

The lunch spot

During the way the mood is good. The weather was great, we had some splendid views, and we still had enough oxygen to talk, make jokes and sing songs. It would not take long for John to call us the ‘Kichaa’ group, which means as much as Crazy Group. We all had a crack on the situation where John thought someone wanted to be raped, while the person only asked if he could get his ‘reep’ from his backpack. It took a while and many laughs before John could understand that he only wanted his energy bar, and a new joke was born.

Around 14:00 hours we enter our campsite, Shira Camp, which is at 3800 meters and is located on the high plateau surrounding the top crater. We can already see the glacier dropping down from the top, seemingly close, but still many, many miles away. This mountain is enormous!

The camp for the night

After again an awesome lunch we headed for a walk in the afternoon to 4100 meters for acclimatization. I was happy to do this walk, because even only 300 meters, the difference in height gives an advantage for acclimatization during the night. The headache of yesterday evening was gone in the morning and did not return so far, so I was willing to do anything to keep it that way!

The team after the acclimatization walk to Shira hut

We returned in the camp just before sunset. It was a splendid view to see the sun go down in this moonlike landscape, with just an occasional bush or strip of green. After dinner the temperature dropped quickly, and again it was time to go to bed early. Tired of the hike and the effects of the altitude we went to bed around 20:00hours. It took me only 5 pages of my book to fall asleep. This night the pee encounters were even colder, there was even ice on the tent during the night.

View of the Shira camp from Shira hut

The team at end of day 2 - Shira camp 3800m

Shabby, Jeroen, Martin, Peter, Floris, Maarten, me, Joris, Wouter

Written by: Wouter Pomp