The Shira Camp sits squarely in front of Mount Kilimanjaro. The plateau is very large - about 6200 hectares. The mountain arises out of the plateau and dominates all else around it. It feels like we're camped on the tips of the mountain's toes...
We finished our evening playing a card game that Paul taught us called 'Cheat' (I had tried to get everyone playing Texas Hold'em the previous night in the hope of financing my trip out of the proceeds of my inevitable poker winnings, but a lack of chips was a problem - we ended up using tylenol and tea bags, which didn't work out so well as we would eventually need to consume both items). Considering he taught us the game, Paul sucked... the game basically involved bluffing and catching people bluffing. Paul's excuse for his pitiful performance (Sejon won) was that he trusts no one and is a compulsive liar... I know him too well to believe this is true, but he does need to work on his cardsmanship! Shame we never had the poker chips. I'd have really enjoyed taking Paul's money and goading his competitive streak...
After taking turns to visit our portable toilet (in the dark using head torches... I'll say no more, as I can assure you that it is definitely worse than you can imagine!) we all retired (shivering) to bed.
Tomorrow we would cross the Shira plateau to reach the foot hills of Kilimanjaro, rising to 4300 metres and thus facing the prospect of increasingly majestic views of the mountain as well as the increased threat of altitude sickness. We can't wait...
I love your blog on your kili climb...sounds amazing. I planning to do this in feb and i hope it is as good as yours.
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