I had a bit of a dry throat this morning and tried to remind myself to drink more. One is supposed to drink at least 3 liters of water a day, plus absorb more through soup and tea at meals - to help with acclimizating to the altitude. I was only drinking about 1.5 liters.
Today was a short day with a morning hike, lunch at camp, rest and then an acclimization hike. Finally it was cool enough to wear a fleece - my one shirt was getting rather stinky! We left camp at about 8:15am. The landscape has been changing - more and more volcanic rock, less flowers and plants. The peak over my shoulder is where we were headed: Mawenki. Except thankfully we were not going to the top but rather a campsite on the side!
So far everyone is feeling okay. Some had started taking Diamox right away. After talking with 2 guides, I decided to wait as they suggested, to see how I felt. By the end of the day, I had passed my highest altitude level (Dead Woman's Pass on the Inca Trail) and still felt pretty good.
The campsite was next to a small freshwater lake. From a distance, it looked green but this was just grass growing around the edges. This was from where we got our next day's water supply. It was very cold waiting for lunch - I had my windproof jacket, heavy fleece, medium fleece and light fleece on as well as hat and gloves and was still chilled. Several groups came in while we were having dinner and I felt very badly for them as they must have been frozen.Lunch: Zucchini soup, fried chicken & fries, peppery vegetables, rolls, avocado, friend plantain (Immodium number 3).
After a rest, we went for an acclimization hike. This is a short hike to higher altitudes (I am guessing to see how your body reacts) and then back down to sleep where there is more oxygen. It was pretty cool looking down to the clouds and camp and then over and across to Kilimanjaro. The space in between is called The Saddle. While we stood and admired the views, Jonas, our quite stiff guide, suddenly started singing in a beautiful voice and the other porters joined in. It was very moving.Today we also saw our first casualty of the altitude. A woman was being carried down on a homemade stretcher sling by 4 porters. It reinforced in my mind the seriousness of what we were doing. I found I was already noticing the effect of altitude - just walking to the loo and back left me breathless for a few minutes. At supper my oxgen level was down to 86. However this was still considered good.
By 6pm it was 5 degrees in the tent. Jonas advised us to wear our down jackets - mine was enormous. Dinner (pumpkin soup, spaghetti and cookies) and then bed at 7:30pm.
