DAY 2 - Machame Huts to the Shira Camp

Day 2, we wake to a cold and damp camp.

On this second day, we wake in a rather cold and damp camp. Quickly however we warm up to a great cup of hot tea....not coffee! Saimon forbids the drinking of coffee first thing in the morning (although we quickly find we can get our hands on some instant Tanzanian coffee in the mess tent). He is concerned that coffee will accelerate our heart rates to no good...also giving misleading readings of both heart rate and oxygen saturation levels first thing in the morning. Eventually, I did ween myself away from the coffee in this trek, but in the end I did not know whether some of my headaches were due to caffein withdrawal or altitude!

As we head off it is now clear we are heading above the tree line.

This morning we aim for an early start and end up leaving camp by 8:50. This leg of the trek is short, covering no more than 6 km; but at places it can be strenuous. Over approximately the first 4 km, we climb to the Shira Plateau which is at over 3895 m.

The nicely groomed path of the previous day give way to a real trail.

Our climb for the day began under a very bright sky and everyone did hold up quite well. As our climb continued, we found ourselves leaving behind the eery lichen and moss covered trees...and more than once we had a splendid view in the distance of Mount Meru...another volcano which forms part of this chain. Meru stands at just over 4560m and is actually situated some 50km away overlooking the city of Arusha.

One of our porters with a dramatic view of Mount Meru in the distance.

Well before we reach the plateau we inadvertantly discover the "smoky" atmosphere of the mountain. Before lunch, we stepped into clouds and of course into a rapid temperature drop. This atmosphere would follow us for the rest of the day.

The team hiking toward Shira Plateau "in the clouds".

From the Shira Plateau we decended a bit to the Shira camp at just over 3840m. We did good timing as we arrived by 3:00 in the afternoon...this provided us with our first opportunity to play Andree's version of Yatzee (she calls it Yum). This game has now become our tradition on these treks. Of course, for some unknown reason, Andree always seems to come out the big winner.

A very bleak atmosphere prevented us at first to enjoy the surrounding scenery.



Clouds lifting over the Shira camp.



Even above the tree line, the flora was amazing and seemed to be from another planet.