Sunday 20th September, Machame Camp

We were transported from the hotel by bus to Machame Gate, at 1800m, by our local guides and completed the formalities of signing in with the National Park. We have to wait here for our guides to select the team of porters that will carry our kit and supplies up the mountain. The loads carried by the porters and our permits also need to be checked before we can start. This process can take a few hours to complete and we amused ourselves by watching the monkeys in the tree’s near the gate.

Eventually we set off with a support crew of 84 people for our first day’s trekking. Today the trek follows a good well prepared track and is almost completely in the rain forest until we reach camp. The track followed the line of a ridge and within the forest the flora and fauna are abundant. The local plant Impatiens kilimanjari is seen growing all along the side of the trial.

After about 5 hours walking the forest thins dramatically and gives way to giant heathers and scrub before we finally arrived at our campsite at Machame Hut, at 3000m. It was a clear evening when we arrived and we had a good view of the mountain from our tents.