Day 2 - Kikelewa Caves 3600m

Today was the longest day so far around 8 hours, not particularly hard as such, but with the hot weather, the dust and the rise in altitude to 3600 this made things harder.

At around 6.30 we were awaken by porters, who had a bowl of water for us. Managed to get about 7 hours sleep last night which was good. At breakfast we had our first taste of kilimanjaro porridge. Porridge is one thing that I do not have at home and I am not sure what it is supposed to taste like but it was revolting! But you eat it as you know you have to keep eating and drinking whilst you are trekking, so I forced it down! YUK!

It is was quite steep this morning, not really hard compared to Mont Blanc, so Me and Si seemed ok with this. The landscape is also getting drier and the red dust is changing to grey/black volcanic dust which is most probably not doing our lungs any good. We stop to take regular breaks of snacks and water. We arrive at Second Cave for lunch and have quite an appetite. The terrain this afternoon is more rocky as we amble slowly on the path through moving around the rocks and boulders. This is our first taste of what lies ahead. THe guides also tell the group that we might start feeling the effects of altitude sickness as we go abovfe 3,000m for the first time. As we know from Mont Blanc he is right, what looks like a small hill becomes more difficult to climb up as you try and catch your breath. Russ and Karen particularly found today tough going, Russ had a second wind after the gel pack, and his SPO2 stats were not to low at 79. I think he needs to try and eat more which is hard at altitude but will get harder. Karen really suffered and her stats were very low we are going to giver her some dex tomorrow to see if things improve.

I am conscious that tomorrow is just going to get harder and harder, so while I still feel good I will eat and drink as much as I can. Managed to consume 4 litres of water today, and despite that still have a raging headache, so far Ibuprofen and paracetamol have not worked I am hoping to sleep it off tonight, again I am not to concerned as my stats have an SPO2 of 95, I think its just sunstroke a bit although did have buff and cap on all day.

Managed to speak to Rachel and the boys today which is always a boost, the phone signals are very few and far between, and I don't know how long this will last. Fingers crossed.

Spent alot of today thinking about dad too. I think this was because I had decided to attempt this mountain following his death, which to me still seems like yesterday. I think getting our first glimpse of this beautiful mountain this morning brought all the reasons to the forefront of my head. I am hoping that I can try and come to terms with his sudden death and am partly doing it for dad. You also need to take your mind away from the trek, as the terrain and view is constant, i,m sure it gets better higher up.

Apart from the headache and the heat, the dust has been unbearable it gets everywhere, and you cannot get it off, I have never wanted a warm bath more than I do now.

The one thing that is always a sight of ore is the porters carrying the equipment on their heads to the next camp, its an incredible sight and they do it at 4 times the pace you can walk at!

I think I have been nominated as the accountant for the trip which means at the end of the trip I have to collect in all the tips and distribute to all the helpers, all 28 of them, with a little speech, Pete where are you when we need you!

So tomorrow we head to the foot of mawenzi peak, this takes us to 4330m. Its short but a steep hard climb apparently and then we will do acclimatisation climb of a few hundred metres before returning to camp for a well earned rest! This I know won't be pleasant above 4000m, two camps at this altitude its going to be tough and we should have a good idea who is and isn't going to make it.