Kilimanjaro Climb Part 4 – To Shira Camp

The previous entries in this Kilimanjaro Trip journal are the Introduction, Arrival in Moshi and To Machame Camp. Alice’s words (with the bare minimum of editing by me) will be in italics. My words will be in the usual font I use for these blog entries.

Today’s entry is Day 2 of the Kilimanjaro climb on the Machame Route. Day 2 is a hike from Machame Hut Camp (elevation 3000m/9900ft) to Shira Camp (elevation 3800m/12,464ft).

Elevation Change: 800 meters
Distance: 9 kilometers in 5 hours
Habitat: Alpine Moorland


Alice’s journal:

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April 1, 4:00 PM

I’m relaxing in my dry tent while the rain drizzles on and off outside. We just finished our post-hike snack of warm peanuts, biscuits, tea and hot chocolate in the dining tent, which doubles as sleeping quarters for four porters at night.

We really are treated royally. When we first arrive in camp we are given our own personal basin of warm water and soap to clean up. Our tents are already erected and the snack soon appears.

This morning started with nausea, I have no idea why. I popped a Gravol and was cured one hour later. It could have been last night’s dinner, altitude, or the handful of pills that I take every day besides my vitamins, I take Celexa, my hormone balance drops, an antibiotic (for whatever flu/cold I had), vitamin E, Diamox (for altitude) and Malarone (for malaria). I decided to cut out Malarone for the next three to four days and to quit the antibiotic tomorrow.

I’m so thankful that the two weeks of cold/flu/headache/whatever finally disappeared for me yesterday.

Breakfast was huge – fruit, enough porridge for ten, toast and omelette. I had to cut out after the porridge. I said that I had to pee but I was actually afraid of vomiting.

Our hike today was five hours to the Shira Caves. The weather was a mix of sun, cloud, mist, and eventually rain showers just as we entered camp. We had a great view of Mt. Meru at one point but Kibo [Mount Kibo is Kilimanjaro's highest crater, measuring 1½ miles from rim to rim.] remained obscured.



We saw poop evidence of jackals, a mountain rodent, small birds, and Raven White Neck birds today.

The vegetation was small trees, shrubs, and lots of flowers. Lobelias (phallic symbols), Senecio, Red Hot Pokers, Helichrysums (everlastings) are a few of the plants that I could identify.


Our camp is at 3800 meters (12,464 feet) and we reached a high point today of perhaps 13,200 feet. I felt great the entire hike though I felt the exertion and the real need to go extra slow. I am delighted to be at this altitude still feeling good.

Maria and I learned a bit about John and the porters today. John has a girlfriend in Dar el Salam whom he sees about four times a year. He has a 12-year old son from a previous girlfriend who is going to private school in Nairobi. John has his own house with a small grocery store in the front. He is being sponsored to go to Great Britain next year for a year of Leadership Training in Climbing. I’m glad to hear that he has a promising future.


Our assistant guide who will accompany us to the top is Milla. Then there are six porters who are doing a great job. They are mostly married with some kids. They know very little English and, judging from their gear, are poor.




The following comments are not from her journal but were written by Alice after completion of the trek:

Each morning, Maria and I would head out hiking with our guide around 9:00. In the next few hours the porters would pass us and arrive at camp hours ahead of us. We weren't really hiking that slow but the porters are quick and strong. Each day we tended to hike 5-7 hours except for summit day which was closer to 14 hours.

Our porters were absolutely great. Always friendly and very service oriented. Our guides were fluent in English and a few of the porters knew some basic words.

If you are planning a hike of Mt. Kilimanjaro please bring extra treats (e.g., good chocolate) for the porters. I celebrated my 50th birthday on this climb, so there were rounds of Toblerone Chocolate for everyone.




Back to Alice’s journal: I’ve learned a bit about the people that I saw in the fields along the road (from Moshi to Machame Gate). The Masai are traditionally dressed, nomadic and tend to their cattle. The government is trying to encourage them to live in permanent communities, have fewer cattle and to grow crops.

The government is trying to establish hospitals and education for the Masai but this doesn’t work if they are nomadic. Also, Africa is much dryer that it was ten years ago and it is difficult to keep all the cattle during drought years.

The people tending the fields are Chagga. They are largely Catholic or Lutheran, poor, and, as I mentioned earlier, the ladies never wear pants.

Maria is cold and having trouble drying her cotton clothes. They’re now strung over the fire in the cook tent.


Soup, fried rice, cooked greens, chicken thighs and apple for dinner.

To bed at 8:00. Sleep fine until 3:00 and not so well afterwards. The usual issues with having to pee and some bowel discomfort. Was 5° C in my tent but my bag was plenty warm.

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Dawn breaks over Kibo Peak, the top of Kilimanjaro, as seen from Shira Camp.

Here are some additional comments from Alice about the pictures below. Note the bare lava rock all around!:

This is a view of the outhouse from Shira Camp (Camp 2). I am now at 3800 meters (12,464 feet) and adjusting just fine to the altitude. I could feel the altitude the previous day coming up to camp but no major problems. I've previously been puking at 12,000 feet on Mt. Rainier but the Diamox is really working well for me.

Everyone asks me about the toilets. I was really pleased with the condition of the outhouses. It is the hole in the ground version and you need to squat. I was attending a “bootcamp” class at the gym in the months prior to this trip and my strengthened quads came in real handy in the outhouses.



The next part of this Kilimanjaro Trip journal is here.