Looking at my watch it read four degrees it felt like it as well. Crawling out of the tent, the camp lacked the usual morning bustle.
Six people from the group were still on the mountain, the morning was fresh however a lot warmer than it was six hours ago in the dark. The morning coffee was welcome, breakfast was hard to digest I lacked the appetite. Alfred would be leading us back across the saddle ahead of the group, there was little point in waiting for their return, they were going to be in need of sleep after their night hike. The camp was quieter than when we arrived the previous day, porters packing up camp sites preparing for their return journeys.
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| Kilimanjaro Porter |
Our walk began, porters passed us laidened with their heavy packs, they seemed to bear these with what appeared to be relative ease, I wondered so many times how often they had walked these paths they were so familiar with. I looked back to the way we had come and saw a moment that I so wanted to capture.
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| Kilimanjaro Guide |
A guide stood along the path motionless, dressed in black with a mask covering his face protecting him from the elements, behind him was Kimbo base camp and above the clouds had covered the path that led up to the summit.
Across the saddle the walk seemed never ending a different route to the one we took when we approached Kimbo the previous day, the sun was out and felt strong its warmth hidden by the breeze and moisture from the passing clouds. People passed us occasionally on the path towards Kimbo Huts, with the look of anticipation and the curiosity of what laid before them.
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| The Saddle Kilimanjaro |
As we approached Horombo Huts, I felt consumed by exhaustion, the sight of this place lifted me somewhat knowing that the days walk was almost done. Sitting outside the registration hut were a number of larger huts, nothing spectacular to look at but that is not what caught my attention, outside the hut stood a man wearing shorts and a t-shirt with a towel around his neck he was drying his hair. I felt the pang of jealously, this guy had had what I had dreamed of having and was in desperate need of for the past two days "A Shower".
The clouds moved in so quickly, from being in the suns warmth to being surrounded in the damp coldness of clouds. Horombo Huts was so much more civilized in comparison to what we had been used to, a real luxury, however our own simple living remained the same. That afternoon gave way for time to reflect upon the last twenty four hours.
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