Kilimanjaro Day 3: Shira Camp to Barranco Camp via Lava Tower

 Our guide Abraham warned us that this would be the hardest day beside summit day. It was a lot of miles and we would go up to just over 15,00- ft for lunch before descending back down to 13,000 ft to sleep. We started a little earlier because we needed to cover lots of miles. We also had one person in our group that was never on time and so I think we also started earlier because of that. Today we would trek from 12,600 ft up to Lava tower at 15,100ft and then down to Barranco camp at 13,000ft. We would cover 7.5 miles. It would take us most of the day. In Africa the guides always say Pole Pole which means slow slow. They are not joking around they made us hike so slow. I never hiked that slow in my entire life. It was CRAZY! They also say hakuna matata, which really does mean no worries:)

We woke up to a beautiful morning. Now that we were above the clouds the sun was always out. and warm.

I love that we got to sleep in the shadow of Kilimajaro.

Morning selfie. I am alive and well. The day before was steep with so many steps but I woke up feeling great!

A group picture to start our day!

We started hiking nice and slow out of the valley where we had slept. 

The terrain was rocky and pretty barren. We were hiking in the moreland zone.

Because we hike so slow it took us a long time to get to the Lava tower, where we were going to eat lunch. It was also all uphill to the tower. We took it nice and slow and arrived at the tower for a late afternoon lunch. The porters brought our toilet tent, the best thing ever, and our lunch tent to the lunch spot. This meant we could use the bathroom on out toilet and have chairs to sit on while we ate lunch. It was really nice.

Our guides Abraham and Maro are in this picture. Phillip is the other hiker. He is from New York and 26 years old. This is our little group that hiked Kilimajaro together.

I love that the national park has all these cool signs at every camp. It is fun to have a picture at each one. They also tell you the distance and time to get to each camp from this spot as well as the summit.

We ate lunch and relaxed for a little bit before continuing with our hike. The rest was mostly down hill to Barranco camp.

The lava tower on the way down. Timer pictures so we can get everyone in it:)

The land is barren

There were the craziest trees on this part of the hike.

So unique and interesting.

It was suprising to see water running through the canyon because it was so dry and dead looking.

These are the everlasting flower. They were all over the entire hike. They survive and thrive in very harsh conditions. They come in a few different colors.

Following Maro into camp. I liked the look of all the trees.

We made it to camp. It was a long day and I had a headache. I was also very tired from the sun. I hate wearing hats and I could feel the effects of the sun from being exposed all day at high elevations.

I can't stress enough how amazing it is to get to camp and have all of your stuff set up for you. It is so nice. (The tall skinny tent is our toilet. The best thing ever!)

We made it to another sign.

Getting ready for snack time in the mess tent.

Unfortunately this evening did not go so well for me. I started having a headache on the way down from the Lava Tower. Maybe because of the elevation, maybe a migraine. Who knows? The problem was it just got worse and worse. So annoying!!!!! I started to feel like I was going to throw up, which makes me think it was a migraine. I ate a tiny bit of soup for dinner but my stomach couldn't handle anything else. I was getting more and more sick as I smelled and looked at the other food. Finally I headed to my tent and grabbed a puke bowl on my way. I was feeling awful and bad for myself. I did not want to be sick and have them send me down the mountain. Finally I threw up. That made me feel a little better. I also used the bathroom quite a few times. I ended up getting a few hours of sleep and felt much better in the morning. I still wasn't ready to eat much but I felt physically well enough to hike, thank goodness!