Awoke before the alarm, as I wanted to be on the front foot. If you have followed these blogs you will know it was something I learnt on the trek prep weekend I attended, which stood me in such good stead for this trip and for my business and personal life. I didn’t want to be rushed as I had rushed to the airport, rushed on to flights, into and out of the hotel, I wanted to enjoy this.
First thought was I loved the 9cm thick mattress I rented last minute, what a godsend.
Second thought was wow, what a view of the mountain behind us which we had now really been able to see unlike before as we were in the minbus or in the forest.
Checked out the portaloo, had breakfast and filled our Camelbaks, making sure to set the flowmeter to make sure I drunk at least 4litres of water, final pack and then we were off.
We left the glades of the rain forest and continued on an ascending path, crossing the little valley walking along a steep rocky ridge, entering in the moorland zone covered with heather, where the ridge ends. The route now turned west onto a dry river gorge.
This was a real change as we left the man main forest path and we did allot of scrambling as well as hiking, for 8.5 hours. It was warm, still in shorts and a short sleeve shirt.
I was pleased to see Shira camp, despite being one of the last ones into it. I was finding it hard, but incredibly enjoyable.
Seeing our porters who had rushed ahead of us, loaded with tents on their heads and backpacks, often with a loaf of bread clipped on, with a tray of eggs on top, was the most superb sight. It made me feel emotional, emotional but driven.
We climbed a total height of 3,000ft but only covering 3 miles. Yes three miles distance, I know, I had my Garmin satellite device with me. Having our packed lunch on the large rock overlooking the moorland was something else.
I was starting to get a headache, the first signs of altitude sickness. We were at 12,500 ft.
The views we saw today were amazing, looking behind and in front. When we made camp it was buzzing, dusty, windy and I was tired. It soon turned dark, cold and more windy. We assembled in the mess tent, for a very welcome dinner of soup, beef mince and rice.
Excited talk filled the air as people felt better and warmer with food.
https://www.justgiving.com/Tony-Mattravers/
