Baranco Camp

I sleep fitfully for for the first time last night. This is a big step forward for me. It rains twice while I lie listening to a sleeping camp. The sound of the raindrops on the tent is comforting but does nothing to lull me to sleep. In the morning I wonder if I imagined this, as there is absolutely no evidence of rain.Every now and then I hear a tremendous roar in the distance, the sounds of massive rock falls, but acually this is the sound of the glacier ice moving forward and cracking. The sound is ominous and challenging at the same time.

We arise to another magnificant morning. The Baranco wall is revealed in all of it's vertical splendour. As is our first view of Kili and some of her glacial ice fields.

Kilimanjaro is old and tall enough to dictate her own weather patterns. By mid morning, she has accumulated a good following of cloud. By mid day, she is completely dressed in them. We have spent our last two days in those clouds. It is fascinating to watch them ebb and flow over our campsites according to her whims. When you are in the cloud, life is cold. As soon as they retreat, the sun shines on warmly. It is just like living in Cape Town, many clothing changes required daily!

We scale the Baranco wall with ease. In fact, its vertical challenge is a great alternative to the trudgery of the last few days. The rest of our walk to the Karanga campsite is quick and uneventful.Somebody once descibed this campsite as a refugee camp on a hill. It is an apt description. We arrive before lunch and wonder why we don't just head onto the next camp, just four kilometers distant, instead of wasting the day away. Many people do just this but for us, this first afternoon of leisure is a special prize. Tomorrow will be a big day for us. It will involve the short four kilometer walk, a nap, then after arising at 23h00, a walk to the summit and a long walk down again.

In my afternoon of leisure I need to keep on fighting the urge to do something. And so I find a rock outside of camp, where I can sit all on my own. Once again I am in the clouds. Suddenly the clouds of mist shift and I see the secrets that were veiled. An incredible panarama of a valley and the trail into this camp down its steep sides. Then as soon as it appeared it was gone again. In the whiteness, I wondered if what I had seen was still there or if perhaps it would all be different when the mist shifted again.

Crows wheeled all around me, their wings sounding like power kites as they passed overhead. Movement on the ground suddenly caught my eye, a four striped mouse scuttled pastl; so named for the four stripes on its back. I watched in fascination as tens of mice then abondoned their hiding places all around me and scuttled along well worn mice size trails. I got to observe as they played and fought. A rare insight into the life of a shy rodent!

What it is to be still and be able to rejoice in the moment.This trip has been an incredible gift even if this is as far as I get to go!